My Fabulous Weekend with the Doodlebug Peeps

Today I am still recovering a bit from one of the most memorable weekends of my life.  Several of the girls from the Doodlebug design team decided we really wanted to meet in person so Cynthea Sandoval generously opened her doors at the Doodlebug offices in Salt Lake City, Utah for a 3-day retreat!  Let me tell you, this adorable girl doesn't do anything half way.  ;)

When we arrived we were greeted with this beautiful sight!  This building just oozes happiness! :)

Cynthea and her team had put together the most beautiful gift baskets for each of us filled with some project kits for the weekend, along with a personalized glasstic water bottle and pencil cups, matching colorful treats and cozy slipper socks!  

They had also set up 3 darling snack bars with enough snacks to last us an entire month.  ;)

This is a peek into one of the beautifully organized drawers of sequins in the design studio.  They seriously made my heart skip a beat.  They have me thinking I would like to do this for my own room.  ;)

This is a colorful wall display in their conference room which coincidentally uses my three favorite colors: Swimming Pool, Limeade and Bubblegum.  So happy, right?

This is one of the gorgeous wall displays in their design showroom.  

And another gorgeous display...  Couldn't you just live in this room?

After getting settled and showing us around, we headed out for shopping at Gardner Village which is made up of a bunch of boutique shops which reside in cute little houses.

Dinner was at the amazing Benihana.  It was my first time experiencing this cool restaurant so it was a real treat!  Yes, my cheeks are pink (I'm not drunk--I just should have taken off my jacket).  :)

Afterwards we headed back to the studio for a little crafty time.  As you may know I love my pajamas so I had already changed into them to get comfy when I came back to be surprised with gifts and yummy cupcake treats in celebration of Wendy's and my upcoming birthday.  I was so touched!  Talk about feeling pampered.

The next afternoon for lunch, Cynthea had ordered custom macarons in signature Doodlebug colors from the amazing Bubble & Brown Bakery.

On Saturday we crafted our hearts out with a ton of cool projects (photos to follow below).  Amanda Coleman had come down with a serious bug on Thursday and didn't think she was going to make it, but we were overjoyed when she started to feel better and drove down to be with us on Saturday afternoon.  Here she is showing off a cute eye mask she borrowed from her daughter for the sleepover.  :)

On Sunday, Cynthea had Bubble & Brown catered one of the best breakfasts I have ever had.  If you live in the Salt Lake City area and are needing a caterer, I highly recommend Andrew.  He did a fantastic job--everything was seriously yummy and I think I actually went back for thirds (which is saying a lot for this picky eater).  ;)

Note that Cynthea even carried Doodlebug's look through with her Plates, Napkins and utensils.  This was the case everywhere you looked. 

As Sunday started to wrap up and girls were packing up to go home, we took a few shots of our favorite projects from the weekend.  This one here is a fun framed piece of artwork taught by Cynthea using the soon to be released Santa Express Collection (with a design inspired by the amazing Melinda Spinks). 

Up next are some cool pillows we made taught by our fabulous team leader, Lori Allred.  These are super cool.  She took drop cloths purchased at Walmart in the paint department and cut them up to make pillow slip covers.  She then had awesome sparkly iron-on sheets which we cut out on the Silhouette using cool phrases she helped us find & trace on Pinterest.  We finished off our pillows with fabric ruffles and buttons by Riley Blake (using some fabrics they design for Doodlebug).  They were seriously fun to create and I love how different they all are!  :)

Another cool project we created were these little home decor pieces using wood from The Wood Connection.  These were also super fun to paint and decorate with different Doodlebug papers.  Once again I adore how different and darling they all are.

For mine I chose to go with a red, black and white color scheme to match our kitchen and great room.  ;)

I couldn't leave without posing for a few quick pictures with the adorable characters from the new Ghouls & Goodies collection.

...And one last parting shot with the co-owners and creative geniuses behind Doodlebug: Tonya Prawitt and Cynthea Sandoval.  Aren't these sisters the cutest thing ever?  They really are the sweetest too!  :)

And if all this wasn't enough, Cynthea surprised Kathy Skou and I with an invitation to dinner with her awesome family at Ruth's Diner near Bryce Canyon.  We were the only ones still left and we had planned to hang out in our hotel room for the night before flying out on Monday, but this was soooo much nicer.  :)

Then as if the weekend could get any better, I was thrilled to finally meet a few of the gals from the Lori Whitlock team on Monday.  Kathy and I had a blast going to lunch and hitting our first Hobby Lobby with Lori Whitlock, Lisa Bell and Teri Cherrington.  We also discovered an awesome restaurant in the same parking lot (almost by accident) called Salt Lake Burger.  It was seriously good!  Sadly our time together

went by way too fast and before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport... :(

It was one of those experiences I will never forget and will treasure forever.  I am so thankful for this wonderful "hobby" that brings me in touch with so many other sweet, talented and witty ladies!  :)