What a nice time I had at the Pals Convention this past week! Although I'm happy to be home, I truly miss each person I met there, and came away with new friendships and aching sides from laughing so hard.
Shortly after arriving, I met up with Tanya Brockmeyer from The Scarlett House and we headed straight down to the beach…
We stood in the ocean until the jellyfish started washing up, so we decided it would be better to chat further up on the sand. ;) (Besides, Tanya was better able to photograph cute surfer boys that way.)
Would you believe I barely got any pictures while I was at the retreat? I had decided ahead of time that I wasn't going to barge up to people and ask them if I could take their photos, so I only took a few random shots and some of the grab bags. Now I wish I'd imposed myself on people, bc I'm bummed that I don't have fun photos!
Here's one though. This is Amy of Down Sunshine Lane – the founder of the Pals Convention. 🙂
I do have a "real" photo of her, but it was taken on my iPad. Hi, Amy!
This is her husband and right-hand-man, Ray, trying to get a group photo…
Hi, Ray!
The days were spent stitching and chatting and eating and shopping, but the highlight of the week was the annual Grab Bag Exchange. Each person brought a container filled with stitching goodies, and they were lined up on a table. Then everyone received a ticket…
When your ticket number wascalled, you could either approach the table and choose whichever container you fancied (the objects inside were a mystery), or "steal" a container that someone else had taken. Once the last container had been received, everyone opened their grab bags at the same time, finding out what was inside and who brought it. It was such a fun event, and I still laugh when I think about Fiona-from-Scotland whispering to me, "She's a baracoota, that one!" when one of the attendees started scanning the tables for something to steal.
This is Fiona, trolling the room, looking for the container she most desired…
Here are some of the grab bags that were on display…
This one got stolen the most… Amy made the bag, and it was gorgeous!
There were 3 ornament exchanges: fall, Halloween, and Christmas. Here are the ladies, checking out all the Christmas ornaments on display before getting to exchange them.
If you've never been to a stitching retreat like Pals, I highly suggest you give one a try! What a great way to meet new stitching friends and get really motivated to finish up the projects you've started. I'm so happy I went!
I leave you with a shot of Miss (The) Scarlett House herself, taking a photo of me; I'm sure, though, that there must have been some surfer dudes in the background. 😉
If any of you who were at the retreat are reading this, I sure enjoyed meeting you all!
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Carol: We will go snorkel-drowning together one day.
Toni: Niiiice.
Amy: Mike says it's perfectly fine if you have a crush on him, as long as Ray doesn't mind.
Chris: Sure wish I had a stocking ornament. I wonder if anyone will make one for me?
Fiona: I have one Scottish product left, and I'm thinking of saving it to remind me of you. teehee.
Ray: I think you need to give those collard greens a chance.
Susan: You buy all the fabric you want – I won't tell a soul.
Lorrie: I still want your hair color.
Karen: Where WERE you sitting on that flight?
Faye: Now that's a calling card! You sneaky thing, you… 😉
Diane: Mike says he does those all the time. ???
Michelle: That pink feather just cracks me up!
Nicole: You should have been the one stitching Angry Bird. It would have been done in about 2 hours, no doubt.
12 Comments
Connie
I am so glad you enjoyed PALS!! Aren’t they great? It’s such a beautiful place to visitbut when you add in friends, laughter, food, shopping, and stitching it’s the most wonderful place to be!! Who needs Disneyland when there’s PALS? Right? You didn’t tell them you were a friend of mine did you? LOL!! Thanks for sharing the pics..they bring back great memories of my trips to PALS!
Connie
Amy
Hi Paulette! We’re all so glad you were able to come and that you had fun. You were sorely missed when you left on Saturday. And you missed the “auction”. The guy from Hollister got a huge bid… Fiona was reluctent not to take him home, let me tell you! 😉
I’m sure Donna will have a big pot of collards cooked up for you when you come back next time. We’ll find something else that’s very “southern” for you to try as well. I know you will think of us everytime you’re near a horse & barn. 😉
And tell Mike it’s practically necessary to have a crush on someone who says you are “hot and intelligent” AND can jump on a trampoline like that isn’t it? And tell him I still don’t think someone is being honest about his age… ya’ll are trying to trick me, right?!
Miss you, wish you were here – anxiously awaiting my bird…. 😉
Laurie in Iowa
The grab bag event looks like a ton of fun. Glad you enjoyed the retreat.
Margaret
Looks like so much fun! Love the pics you did get. Love the one of Tanya taking a pic of you. 😀 lol about the surfer dudes!
Lynn
Sounds like it was a fabulous retreat! I’ll bet the grab bag exchange was a ton of fun.
karren hubrich
This looks like the best kind of fun!
karen
Paulette, where were YOU sitting on the plane? LOL
CarolR
Thanks for the pictures Paulette – it’s the next best thing to being there! Maybe I should plan for PALS 2012?
Nicole
Love all the pictures!! I’m so glad you were able to come out and I’m so glad I got to meet you! Great picture of Tanya!!
Leslie
It looks like everyone had a blast! I haven’t been to a stitching weekend in about a year and a half. My last retreat was Sue Hillis’s Memorial Day Weekend retreat. She always has a wonderful gathering of ladies and what happens in Richmond stays in Richmond. LOL!
Charlene♥SC
It was a great honor to meet you, and hope you’ll consider making it an annual event!
Dona
Paulette, sounds like you had a great time! I’m glad you got to go and thank you for sharing photos!