Midwest Meetup!

 

On Saturday I attended an event called the Midwest Meetup.  It was at the amazing store called
 Room 363 in Naperville, Illinois.  Bloggers from four states gathered for a little food,
 a little fun and a lot of shopping. 

 

I have a crush on Mark, the owner and boy genius behind Room 363.  He was so gracious to all of us.  Hard to conduct business when more than 25 women crowd your store on a Saturday morning, but he was kind and friendly and helpful.  The store, well, I was overwhelmed.

 

You can tell before you walk into the door that it will be amazing inside.



I never noticed the chandelier until I loaded this photo...I told you I was overwhelmed!

 Here's Jen Rizzo, the organizer of this meetup.  She is one of the reasons I blog...her kindness to a lurker three years ago.  That lurker was me, and Jen invited me to come to a blog event, even though I didn't have a blog.  I've told the rest of the story countless times, and as they say the rest is history.
Thanks again Jen for your warm welcome and for all your preparation and work in putting this day together.
It was wall to wall women.  The vibe was excited and everyone was happy to be there.



Every cubby had a treasure!

We went around the room and introduced ourselves.  There are always people who make an impression on you, because of their confidence, sense of humor, cheerfulness or grace.  There were amazing girls galore, and I was able to connect with a few.

 

Can you believe this store?  One amazing display after another.



I forgot to ask about this banner...so cool!

 After we introduced ourselves we shopped the store and had conversations and exchanged business cards and emails.  I was so happy to have two dear friends come all the way from Michigan to attend the meetup.  My friends Barb from Babs Just a Babblin and Lynne from Irish Garden House.  These two, besides being talented bloggers are the sweetest. I got the warmest welcome and the best hugs. We are now old friends, and I love that...we are so comfortable together, and had the best time.  A new friend Melanie, from Comfy House also came. We were friends from the first hug. She was just like I thought she's be.  Kind and easy going, quick to laugh and share a joke or comment.  We hit it off.  She's local and haunts the same thrifts that I do.  You know we are going to be getting together in the future.;-) Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold! (I learned that in Girl Scouts!)

Part Two tomorrow...

P.S.  Penny is much much better...no fever in 24 hours!  She's playing and eating a little, and seems to be on the road to recovery.  Thank goodness!  Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts for Penny and for this relieved grandma.

Have a wonderful Sunday my friends, thanks for stopping by.