Creative Escape: Tuesday thru Thursday

OK, since I have SO many details and pics to share from Creative Escape 2009, I thought I'd break them up into a couple of separate posts ... Tuesday thru Thursday first, and then soon I'll post the happenings of Friday thru Sunday. Otherwise, this would be the longest blog post ever!

But first, I'd like to shout out a BIG thanks to my sweet Sal for tolerating all the madness that is CE ... listening to me yap about it for months and months beforehand ... agreeing to the expen$e of it ... running to Best Buy with me at the last minute to get a new reader for our camera's memory card ... getting up at 3:30 AM to take me to the airport, all so that I could catch an early flight & enjoy more time in Phoenix ... giving Buddy & Aruba so much TLC while I was gone ... and for picking me up at the airport in the middle of the night when I got home (loved seeing your smiling face when I got off the plane!). Thank you Sal, for CE ... it's much more than just a scrapbooking weekend; it's "soul food" for me and I appreciate it!

Tuesday at Creative Escape:

Here's what my blog's countdown clock looked like as I left for Phoenix ... it was definitely time to let the fun begin!

I arrived in Phoenix tired after a long cross-country flight from Florida, trying to adjust to the time zone difference. I had some help from the Aji Spa (LOL), which is at the beautiful Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort where CE was held...this is the resort's gorgeous pool area (photo courtesy of my fellow CE'er Timi F., shown below, right, with Kyoko):

I was certainly on my way to feeling better after Aji's refreshing "Mo'otk" massage ... 80 minutes of pure bliss that's specifically meant to help with jet lag and travel fatigue. Citrus scents + a scalp massage + a heated foot mask = Heaven. Loved it! :-)

Feeling refreshed, I met up with my friend Diane (I'm waving hi Diane!), who also flew in that day, from Montana. We enjoyed a nice pizza dinner together ... all while watching a stunning Arizona sunset (see it in previous post).

I went back to my room fully intending to blog, but fell into bed instead.

Wednesday at Creative Escape:
Lots more CE'ers arrived on Wednesday, and it was fun to meet up with everyone again, and to make some new friends too. I've met the nicest gals through CE ... made wonderful friendships. I loved seeing everyone wearing zebra stripes in every form of fashion too, what a hoot!

That morning, Diane and I jumped in a rental car and went on a scrapbook "shop hop" around Phoenix. Such a great time! It was a whirlwind visit to 5 stores, then we ran out of time (and energy). We did a "loop" around the city, as best we could ... Phoenix is huge! We went to Melrose Vintage (downtown Phoenix), Scrapbooks Etc. & Mystic Paper (both in Mesa), and Scrapbook Barn & Scrapology (both in Gilbert). It was the first time I used the GPS in my iPhone ... I had it all programmed with Phx sb store locations, and we were able to just zip from one to another, cool!

I caught Diane in the shopping act at Melrose Vintage:

And, of course, I wore my now-famous shopping shirt that says "My husband lets me buy all the scrapbooking supplies I can HIDE." It's a riot and gets laughs at every sb store I visit!
I love seeing all the cute displays, each store really has its own personality. These are scenes from Scrapbook Barn (and they have some clever page kits!):

The other fun part about shop-hopping was that we met up with other CE-ers doing the same thing! Here's me and Kyoko after a fun shopping spree at Mystic Paper (yes, Sal, that's a bag in my hand! you caught me! *tee hee*):

We ended the day with a Mexican dinner (enjoyed some awesome veggie tortilla soup!), and then went back to the hotel. It was late, and I collapsed into bed.

Thursday at Creative Escape:
Thursday was the official start of CE. In the morning, I waited for the opening of the on-site "CE store". That's when all the unique CE-themed goodies are put out, and it's first-come, first-served ... they sell out quickly and when they're gone, they're gone. We all had fun browsing around (note the gals in the zebra hats!)Last year I was disappointed to miss out on some neat items at the CE store, but this year I knew better!

It was also time to pick up our registration materials, which included our CE totes in the most yummy shade of green. And I had all the teachers sign my CE tote ... what a fabulous keepsake! The bag even includes a pocket for our water bottles ... and of course, they gave us bottles with zebra CE labels! I just love all those little touches that the CE staff adds to the event!

The registration table looked so calm and orderly before hundreds of frenzied scrappers descended on it (love the zebra balloons)! And look at all those pretty beaded lanyards awaiting our nametags ... so exciting! Like I said, lots of special touches at CE! Why use a string when you can wear "jewelry"?Barb and I were goofing around with some of the CE photo props ... except the zebra & lime green bag that I'm holding is real ... it's mine! And I let her wear the crown, LOL:
Then I was off to the hotel lobby to meet Esther, who had so kindly coordinated a giant order of gourmet cupcakes for us from Sprinkles. I got there and saw boxes and boxes of cupcakes ... thanks so much for all that effort, Esther! I ordered 2 flavors, coconut and key lime. Oh! So! Yummy!
All of Thursday afternoon was split between the Trunk Show and the Technique Boutique. As the name implies, the Trunk Show is where each of the 8 CE teachers has a table displaying his/her crafts. So many beautiful projects! It's also a chance to meet and hang with the celebrity teachers, get autographs and take photographs. Before the event, I had a CE craft apron made, and I blinged it up with glitter and rhinestones ... then I had the teachers all sign it in lime green ink during the Trunk Show ... it came out looking spectacular, another fab keepsake that I'll treasure! (photo credits: the shots of me with the teachers were taken by my CE pal Diane, thanks!)

me & Heidi Swapp

Heidi loved what I did with my apron, which thrilled me because she's the Creative Queen!

I'm always looking at Heidi's projects on her blog, so it was nice to see them in person at the trunk show:

Sharing a fun moment with Debby Schuh:

from L to R: Diane, Lorraine, Tim Holtz & me

Amazing Story: Lorraine & Diane were friends & neighbors in Australia, while Diane lived there for a few years, back in the 80s. They had not been in touch since, but fate re-united them at Creative Escape! Neither knew that the other was attending CE 09, and they just happened to meet up on the airport shuttle on the way to the resort. Isn't that incredible?!?!?

The Technique Boutique is a series of "stations" where you do an activity or project. They teach some of the techniques that we'll need to use in the workshops, and also give away product samples. Fun stuff! I also got to spend time with my friends Mona (from Hawaii, lucky girl!) and Myra:
As if that wasn't a great enough beginning to CE, a fun Welcome Ceremony was held Thursday night ...

I love that CE is an event with attendees from all around the world:

The event co-founders, Heidi Swapp (my fave sb'ing designer!) and Doug ("Mr. Bazzill"), of the Bazzill Basics cardstock company, gave an overview of the event, formally introduced the teachers, and made the announcement that we had ALL been hoping for ... that there will indeed be a CE 2010 ! The crowd (all 650 of us) went WILD in our zebra stripes !!! Such HAPPY news! And to give you an idea of why I was (and still am) so exhausted ... the fun continued immediately after the Ceremony ... we were constantly on-the-go! ... of the 650 attendees, 300 of us had been on the CE message board for the months preceding the event ... and all 300 of us gathered in the hotel lobby for a P-A-R-T-Y !!! It was a great chance to mingle, hang out, chat, laugh, and even win door prizes. It was almost funny to see hotel security hanging around ... I suppose 300 scrapbookers could cause trouble, right?!?!?

"The Susans", as we're known, got together for what is becoming our annual tradition, a group photo ... from left to right ... me (a.k.a. Susan from Florida), Susan from North Carolina, Susan from New York, and Susan from Atlanta:

We're wearing CE T-shirts that were designed by one of the gals on the messsage board, it's a stunning work of art ... and I blinged mine up with rhinestones, of course! (it's the same design that's on my apron, pictured above)

Once again, I went back to my room Thursday night thinking I would blog for a while, but instead collapsed into bed. I needed some rest for an early start on Friday!

More CE fun in an upcoming post.....

round 6 ... the LAST one!

Today Buddy had his final round of chemotherapy! Oh, happy day!
:-)

To celebrate this milestone, the cancer clinic gave him a bag of treats with a sticker on it that says "Happiness is ... the last day of treatment!" Love that! It is so going in his scrapbook!
And his remission progress report had some celebratory artwork on it too!
Buddy was no doubt getting tired of the chemo routine ... they said he was "naughty" during his treatment today. Oh Buddy! Kind of funny.

In keeping with our tradition, Buddy and I celebrated together at Sonic on the way home. Here he is in the back seat watching Mommy inhale a grape slush, LOL (although I've really gotten addicted to their mango limeade too!) ... what a cutie!

It seems that every time we go to Sonic after chemo, we've had the same carhop. So today he was especially happy for Buddy, so nice!

Looking ahead ... the next phase of Buddy's care will be metronomic therapy, beginning in about a month. He'll be taking pills that will deliver a continuous anti-cancer treatment to his system. And he'll continue getting periodic remission exams and follow-up X-rays, to make sure the cancer is staying quiet.

Congratulations, Buddy! You've had a rough summer, but you've been such a trooper and we love you!

And thanks to everyone for your support and concern over the past several months! It meant a lot.

P.S. ~ I'm (still) putting together some blog posts about Creative Escape ... it has been a busy week since I got home Monday morning.

jet lag...

Hello, here I am! Awake. Finally. I tell you, for someone who loves to travel, it seems that I'll never adjust to jet lag. It hits me harder with every long flight I'm on!

Anyway ... after coming out of my stupor, I was able to get caught up on some stuff here. And next on my list is to blog all about Creative Escape. I've never been so delayed in writing about a trip, geez! Thanks for your patience ... please check back here over the next day or two and I'll have all the fun details and pics posted. Promise!

I had to run a few errands today, so I stopped in a brand-new Michaels store that opened near me, in Boynton Beach, over the weekend. I was at CE during the store's grand-opening, and couldn't wait to get over there and see what the new store was like. They have a nice scrapbooking section ... it's set up more like a traditional scrapbook store than just a general craft store. And those weekly M's coupons sure are a plus! If you attended CE you might be interested to know that they carry Heather Bailey's cheery & colorful product line too! And they have the coolest little shopping baskets ... they have wheels and a "pull-up" handle, like luggage, that let you pull it behind you as you browse around the store. More fun than a traditional shopping cart! :-)


Catch you back here soon!

Happy September,

Saturday early AM

Hello! I'm a bit more energetic now and don't feel like I'll fall asleep in the middle of a blog post ... perhaps I'm finally coming off east coast time?

Friday was fabulous here at Creative Escape! Four amazing workshops, a delicious sit-down dinner, and then another fun project in the evening as part of CE's "Friday Extravanganza". I'll have to give you pics and details about those after I get home ... for now, I've only downloaded miscellaneous photos from my iPhone, and none from my camera. So I thought I'd start sharing a few scenes from this amazing week. Until I get home and have a chance to empty my camera's memory card and can give you the whole scoop!

A couple of iconic scenes welcomed me back to the southwest: a stately cactus and a breathtaking Arizona sunset that I enjoyed from my room's balcony:

You may recall that the official colors of CE are pink, green, black & white ... and that this year, as a twist on that, the b&w took the form of zebra stripes. That has been wild ... we look like a herd of zebras meandering throughout the hotel, LOL! It has been crazy seeing what everyone's doing with it, including me! From zebra-striped purses, shirts, hats, sb'ing tote bags, to my sandals ... complete with the pink & green ribbons that I added. Not to mention my pink & green toenails! What a hoot! The CE photographer even approached me to ask if he could photograph my feet for --- what else? --- the CE 09 scrapbook! Too funny!

Well, unfortunately, that's it for now ... my laptop and I are both running out of juice.

I'll be back with more fun details & pics either sometime this weekend, or on Monday after I'm back home ... and recovered from the jetlag.

Enjoy the weekend,

Susan

Friday early AM

It's the middle of the night here in Arizona, which seems to be the only free time that I have to blog!

I've been constantly on the go here at Creative Escape ... one super fun activity after another, and lots of socializing ... I have so many details & pics to share with you, but I can barely keep my eyes open right now! Sorry!

One thing I just have to share tho is news that just can't wait! It was announced tonight during the Opening Ceremony that there WILL be a CE in 2010 !!!! Holy cow,we were all kind of stunned after all of the rumors swirling that the sour economy was taking a toll on the event. Imagine a room full of 600 jubilant scrapbookers when we were told this news! People were immediately texting the 2010 event dates to friends & family. And it'll be held here again at this beautiful resort, how wonderful ! I am totally thrilled!

I guess I'd better get to bed ... geez, I have to wake up soon! On Friday CE gets off to an early start with 4 workshops and then an "extravaganza" that lasts late into the night! Hmmm ... so I might be MIA again ...

zzzzzzz,
Susan

exhausted...

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long time, no write...

I had a smooth trip out to Arizona, but I've been on the go every second since my plane touched down!
And now it's late Wed night and I'm exhausted! As in beat. Bushed. Wiped.
But I assure you it's from all good things. :-)

I need to collapse into bed. I'll be back here with pics & details soon...promise!

Susan <--- who's blogging from the tiny screen of her iPhone, so cool!

here today ... gone tomorrow

boarding pass printed? check!
Hurricane Bill gone? check! (whew!)
scrapbooking supplies packed in zebra-print tote? check!
craft apron (for the "messy" workshops)? check!
pink & green & zebra-print stuff to wear? check!
everything's packed in -- what else? -- my new zebra-print duffle? check!
scrapbooking & travel magazines to read on the plane? check!
Phoenix sb'ing stores programmed in my GPS? check!
Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" on my iPod? check!

OK then, I guess I'm ready to head to Phoenix to attend Creative Escape 2009!

My flight departs Ft Lauderdale (very) early AM tomorrow. {yawn}

But that's OK ... I can't wait to get to Arizona for CE 09, to see 600 of my scrapbooking peeps and get the fun started! The event doesn't officially begin until Thursday, but I'm arriving early to enjoy the beautiful resort (and spaaaahhhh), relax, spend time with friends, and -- of course! -- check out some of the local scrapbook stores (a.k.a. "shopportunities" LOL). Like Utah, Arizona is loaded with them! Perhaps you remember the fun I had scrapbook "shop hopping" my way around Utah earlier this year? (check out my March 23 and March 27 blog posts)

I'm excited !!! As Kramer says while pointing to his head in one of the Seinfeld episodes, " ... up here, I'm already gone...". One of my favorite lines, so kooky! LOL

So I'll meet you back here on Tuesday night ... I'll be blogging live & daily from the 107-degree desert southwest!

T minus 2.5 days ...

Wow, it's almost time for Creative Escape 2009 !!! Ah, that long-awaited and fabulous scrapbooking event...

Today I'm busy packing and finishing up last-minute stuff before I head to Phoenix on Tuesday. I'm behind on everything (!!!) ... but, in my defense, I was preoccupied with Buddy's medical emergency this week. By the way, he's doing well today ... still somewhat tired (it was an ordeal for him, poor angel), but he's eating and even barking a little today; he's getting a little more energetic. Thanks again to everyone for your concern!

So now that I'm feeling relieved about Buddy, I'm getting back into "excitement mode" for CE! I'm SO filled with anticipation of all the fun and surprises that await! They don't call it "the ultimate scrapbooking indulgence" for nothing! It'll be a hoot to see how everyone incorporates the zebra-striped CE theme into their wardrobes this year ... I have lots of fun zebra-striped stuff to bring and/or wear too! I can't wait to show you while I'm in Arizona, so here's a sneak peek ... a pair of sandals (soon to be decorated with pink & green ribbons!) and a cosmetic bag that was a RAK from one of my CE pals. Such fun! :-)

OK, back to packing...

Buddy's home !!!

This afternoon I got a call from Buddy's oncologist ... she had the BEST possible news! His blood cell counts have come up (although they still have a little way to go) and his chest X-ray was "clear". That is, NO pneumonia and NO evidence of cancer in his lungs! Oh, it's a HAPPY day here! I went straight to the hospital and picked him up.

We're so excited to have our little Buddy home with us again! As expected, he is exhausted and is already sound asleep ... it has been quite a draining couple of days for all of us. So, lots of rest and pampering for him this weekend!

Aruba was thrilled to see him ... she was mopey and depressed the entire time he was in the hospital.

And it's so good to see him with an appetite again ... when we got home, I was even able to tempt him with his new favorite "chemo snack" --- carrots! (I had to snap the photo quickly ... he's fast!)

We love you Buddy!

Thanks for checking in on Buddy's progress,

Buddy update - Friday AM

Hi everyone and thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers for Buddy ... so appreciated!

I have good news!

His fever is gone ... his temperature was normal throughout the night!

And he's eating!

The doctor said that she'll be doing blood cell counts on him around 12 noon today ... she wanted to wait and give those more time to come up.

Also today, she will do chest X-rays to make sure that Buddy doesn't have pneumonia (which can develop with low blood cell counts), and to make sure that the lung cancer is remaining "quiet". Sal and I are SO nervous about this! We're hoping there's nothing wrong in Buddy's lungs. Please, no more tumors!

I'll be back here this afternoon with an update on our angel Buddy ... hopefully, he can come home today.

Buddy is in the hospital :-(

We awoke this morning to find Buddy not quite himself ... lethargic, absolutely no appetite, apparently feverish. After waiting a little while to see if he'd perk up ... perhaps it was just one of those "bad chemo days"? ... I realized that he wasn't improving and went into panic mode. I called the cancer clinic and said that I need to bring him in right away.

His oncologist was glad that I didn't wait. He had a 105-degree fever (!!!) and his white blood cell counts were very low ... only 1/10th what they should be (!!!). She immediately got him admitted into an animal cancer hospital in Fort Lauderdale, and Sal and I were there with him this afternoon. He's on an I.V. of fluids and antibiotics. He'll be there at least overnight, and possibly most of tomorrow too. We're hoping that they can get his fever down and his cell count up soon. He apparently is reacting to one of his chemo drugs. But hopefully he can be back home with us sometime on Friday. Poor Buddy!

I'll post updates on his condition here often. In the interim, I'm comforted knowing that he's in a brand-new, modern, comfortable, high-tech, cancer hospital that's staffed 24/7. So he's in very good hands.

Ana & Bill

As you can see in my sidebar, Tropical Storms Ana and Bill have unfortunately now formed, and I'm tracking 'em closely. Not only do I have the normal amount of worry about the storms coming here to south Florida, but I'm sick over the thought of them ruining my trip to Creative Escape 2009. I'm scheduled to leave in only 9 days! I don't want to miss the event, oh no! And it's rumored that this may be the final CE, which makes me even more upset about the thought of not attending.

Go away Ana & Bill, leave everyone alone! Please just fizzle out in the Atlantic somewhere!

our anniversary celebration

I meant to post the details of our anniversary celebration sooner ... but I had such a busy Wednesday!

Sal and I began our day with breakfast at a cafe near the beach, where he gets his favorite pancakes & strawberries. We love it there, in part because we can see the ocean.

Then it was just a short stroll to the beach, where we spent hours enjoying it. Perfect weather. Warm sun. Clear water. Blue skies.

The fun continued with dinner out at an Italian restaurant on a lake, so nice. Although it was a little warm, we ate al fresco to enjoy the view and the summer evening.

That night, Sal gave me the pretty gift that had been teasing me on the kitchen counter for the previous 24 hours. Look at the beautiful wrapping that he did! And the bow is not just any bow ... it's the same fabric (shimmery white "crystal" organza) that my wedding gown was made of. So special! How did he find that???
And anytime there's a gift about to be unwrapped, Buddy comes running! He loves to unwrap (actually, I mean rip into) gifts ... he thinks any and all gifts are for him ... it's incredibly cute! So I gladly let him help me unwrap it, and eventually Aruba joined in too. Inside was a great addition to my iPhone ... a mini battery pack. The # 1 complaint of iPhone users is the limited battery capacity, and how the battery drains too quickly. This little gadget will give me hours of additional juice, especially while traveling and it's not possible to re-charge (like during a long flight). And I've been in airports where there's not an outlet to be found, grrr! So thanks, sweetheart! :-)

So we had a really nice day together ... celebrating 19 years of marriage! Love you, Sal !!!

And thanks to everyone for all of your anniverary wishes & cards ... they made our day extra special !

(yesterday was) Tim's special day!

My nephew Tim, who lives in Gulfport, Florida, celebrated his 12thbirthday yesterday ... and I'm sorry that I didn't post it, Tim! I guess I got busy celebrating my anniversary with Uncle Sal.

But we enjoyed chatting with you last night, and wish you a new year that's full of fun and good times! :-)

Love,

Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba

I {heart} Sal

Today marks 19 years for us! We got married on August 11, 1990 ...

We have a wonderful day planned ... best of all, Sal's taking the day OFF. No teaching, no students, no research meetings, no laptop.

I'll be back tomorrow with all the sweet details of how we celebrated. A hint, you ask? OK. It involves the beach (of course)! And Sal came home last night with a gift wrapped up in pretty paper and ribbons. ooh la la ... he's got me guessing! What is it???

Happy anniversary, sweetheart! I love you!

xoxoxo,

it's Mark's special day!

Happy birthday today to my brother-in-law, Mark! He lives in Gulfport, Florida.

We hope you have a fun & fabulous day! :-)

Love,

Susan, Sal, Buddy & Aruba

... round 5 ...

I took Buddy for his 5th round of chemo today.

His remission progress exam went well, which is always a huge relief! Everytime we go, my stomach is in a bit of a knot, hoping the doctor won't "feel a lump" or say "something doesn't seem right with him." Like I've mentioned before, cancer is like a dark cloud, hovering.

But on the positive side, Buddy is doing pretty well. We are so thankful! He eats big meals, although he's picky-choosy about what's in his dish. And he has even gained a few pounds! He's also pretty active, even initiating playtime some days! :-)

And on our way home from the clinic, Buddy and I stopped to enjoy some junk food at Sonic ... our tradition on chemo days.

the joys of life

Earlier this week I attended a scrapbooking class at Cherry Blossom Studio in Coconut Creek. The project was an oh-so-cute 6"x6" mini-album with a "Joys of Life" theme:

I absolutely love it, and had such fun making it (a big thanks to our teacher/designer, Ashley!). The color scheme is so cheerful ... turquoise, soft yellows, reds, with a touch of brown. We used the "Just Dreamy 2" paper collection by My Mind's Eye.

I'll be filling the album with pics of my "joys of life" ... Sal, Buddy & Aruba ... travel ... scrapbooking (duh) ... blogging ... geology ... decorating ... and even everyday things that add joy to my life and that I appreciate, like sunshine (& my sunroof!), iPhone, Dr. Pepper, my pool, the beach, on and on.....

Later,

a RAK ... from Sal !

When Sal got home last night, I showed him the cool iPhone Life magazine that I got in the mail. I said that it must be something that they send as a freebie to new iPhone customers ... ??? ... because I didn't request it ...

He grinned, a BIG cute grin ... and then I realized ... oh, HE got it for me! How sweet, Sal surprised me with a subscription! Thank you, sweetheart! That'll be some great beach reading.

Have a great Saturday,