Versailles, Paris, Giverny, and Rome- Part 1!

It was a day we had been looking forward to for a VERY long time. Britt, Bill, and I were all packed, checked in at the gate, and just waiting to hop on our first flight of the trip!

(This is the cutest packing list ever! I had to snap a shot of it. Just because! Compliments of kate spade.)

Bill and I have been blessed to have visited Europe many times (always for work, but we will take it), but Britt had never been there. Her excitement was seriously contagious! I tried really hard to take pics of every single step of the journey. (She probably got REALLY sick of me saying, "SMILE, BRITTY!")

FINALLY it was time to land in Paris! I just kept watching Britt's reactions. I LOVED watching her face as she saw things for the first time. :)

And, yes, I made her pose by the welcome sign in the airport! We were just going to be crazy tourists this trip and that's OKAY! 

All of our luggage arrived (hallelujah!) so we grabbed them, hopped in a taxi, checked in to our hotel, washed up & changed, and took off on the train to Versailles! I kept telling Britt how important it was to try and stay awake the first day to beat the jet lag. (It was mainly a pep talk to myself. UGH. That first day is the worst! Just think of flying all night with no sleep, then trying to stay awake another 12-14 hours. At my age it's a major feat; even if I am in Paris!)

The Palace of Versailles was pure splendor. Not only was it HUGE, every single inch was decorated, from the floors to the ceilings. We could have walked for days and not seen it all. 

Selfie shot in the Hall of Mirrors! Wowza. Total opulence.

See what I mean? Looks just like our house back home. heh!

Even the grounds were vast, impressive, and over-indulgent!

Britt told me I HAD to get a photo of the Queen's bed...cause my girls are all huge readers and were just shocked and disgusted that custom at the time allowed people to watch the French royalty give birth.

So, according to the tour, people could be as close to the bed as the railing allowed. UGH! YEAH, that gold railing right there! (I understand why they did it. I just happen to feel sorry for those women. Although I DID have an audience when Britt was born. She was early and the doc brought in everyone he could think of, just in case. They joked and laughed about stuff. I wanted to slap 'em. And a janitor just walked in and started mopping the floor as I was delivering Bethany. Seriously? The nurse ushered him out pretty quickly, but, yeah. He must have been totally oblivious. So can I get a bit of those French designers to come decorate my home now?)

Back to Versailles....we loved visiting it! The town was beautiful too! We walked back to the train station and then started the miserable job of STAYING awake for the train ride back into Paris. Just for the record...Britt and Bill both fell asleep. :)

Stay tuned for Part 2...Paris sight-seeing!

I'm Still Alive

I promise I am. But life has a way of just sweeping by and before you know it your blog has not been updated in a while. More like a few months. Gulp.

So in a nutshell...after Rome my hubby and I continued our trip to Capri,

and back to Rome, and then on to Paris!

 (more pics to come)

Then we flew back home! haha. It was an amazing trip together. We vowed to start doing this more often...you know...leave the kids behind and take off together. It was like being 19 again. :)

Then I had a tour in Australia and New Zealand....that was absolutely amazing. I LOVE both countries. The trip was long...and exhausting by the end, but the people I met and the places I saw made it all worth it. Really cliche, but oh so true.

Then Christmas hit like a tidal wave. However, I got a tree up, made truffles (well, the kids did), decorated gingerbread houses and got all the gifts bought on time. Christmas was wonderful (except my mom not being there. That was hard.)

Then we had a week of birthdays. Seriously...who planned this out? Who has kids born the week of Christmas? Haha. Happy Birthday to Billy (18) and Bethany (24)!

Then CHA hit! CHA is our big trade show for revealing our newest line of products. Prima always has a HUGE release and that kept me swamped all of January. The show itself was only 4 days, but it turned into a 9 day trip to California because of set-up, etc. I won't bore you with details. :) You know what is so cool about CHA? Seeing everyone again...and meeting new people. I love it. It makes it all worth it.

And did I mention our new booth? Our Creative Director is simply A M A Z I N G!!

Shortly after CHA I headed off to Paris to teach at Pour l'Amour du Scrap.

Hubby came along to eat French food and see the sights. I think he secretly LOVES hanging out with crafty ladies. While I was teaching he was chatting with my friends and adding them on facebook. Oh my. Did I mention that my hubby is on Facebook now? Yeah. Now I have to behave.

I'm home from Paris now and catching up on work...which includes a TON of prep for the Europe Tour taking place in March! YES, did you see our flyer? It's pretty cool.

And I know Israel is not in Europe...but they wanted to have us come in before the tour and I am more than happy to oblige people. :)

Here's hoping I don't wait another three months to update.