let the fun begin!

Skek thash! (that's "good day" in the Pima Indian language, pronounced skook thash)

Wow, another whirlwind day of fun on Wednesday here at CE.....and the event hasn't even officially started yet (it gets underway tomorrow)! So many of us arrived early to participate in all the fun stuff going on, to meet each other and enjoy this beautiful resort. I've already met so many sweet gals! Thanks to so many of you.....Teri, Cindy, Barbara, Kyoko, among others.....for the RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) that you brought for me:

Here's me and Teri, who's from Boston:

My day started bright and early on Wednesday with a "bus tour" that only a scrapbooker could love! CE staff took us first to Scrapbooks, Etc. in Mesa; it's the largest scrapbooking store in Arizona!

It was extra fun because we arrived before the store opened to the public, so we had the (huge) place to ourselves!

I especially enjoyed the "wall of ribbon"!

Woo hoo, we all had a blast there!.....here I am with my new goodies and my receipt (Sal, cover your eyes!), and of course I was wearing my now-famous (and totally apropos) T-shirt.....don't I look happy?

Then the bus continued on to the Bazzill Basics Paper warehouse. Bazzill's textured cardstock is a staple among scrapbookers, a component of every project and page. So it was cool to go there for a tour to see how it's cut and packaged (it's made elsewhere). And, of course, there was more shopping to do.....they give everyone a "pizza box" and you can fill it to the rim with cardstock in the colors of your choice for a flat, discounted price.

Afterwards, I relaxed back at the resort. And to get into the CE spirit even more, I painted my toenails pink to go with my green sandals.....the official CE colors are pink, green, black & white. Everyone here is decked out in that color combo, from clothing, to shoes and jewelry, and some even with pink dye in their hair! Now that's scrapworthy!

I had a poolside dinner Wed night with Barbara, a friend who lives near me but whom I hadn't met until I joined the CE message board. We watched the sun set over the mountains and saw 2 wild horses galloping in the distance -- spectacular! Then we found the first of 6 treasure chests that have been hidden around the hotel grounds by CE. Our CE Welcome Boxes included a treasure map and clues, and each chest holds a surprise that we have to document. We found the first chest in the lobby and it contained tiaras and a message that reminded us that "Everyone wants to be a princess, especially on vacation."

We'll have to finish finding the other 5 treasure chests on Thursday because prizes will be awarded soon!

The fun continued Wednesday night with a party for those of us on the message board, kind of a meet-and-greet type thing. It was so great to finally be with everyone in person; I've been chatting with them online all of these months! And all of the Susans from the group got together for a photo op; we've been distinguished up til now only by our home state. From left, Susan from North Carolina, Susan from Atlanta, Susan from New York (my CE "twin"), Susan from California (??? not sure of your state, so sorry ???), and me from Florida:

And here's me & Kyoko, who's from Japan (gosh, I'm starting to look pretty tired by this time!):

Lots more fun is in store for Thursday, as the event gets underway. I'll be back Thursday PM to share the surprises and smiles that the day had in store. CE is full of neat twists.....even our hotel room keys don't have the standard Sheraton logo on them, instead they're printed with "Creative Escape, enjoy" in -- what else? -- pink, black & white. Nice touch and something great to include in the scrapbook!

Good night!