Longing for Spring...

Hi, I'm back from my trip to California and while it was WONDERFUL to spend time with Brian and my friend, Pat, the trip overall was a huge bust and ended up being VERY expensive.

The Airbnb rental I had found, was not at all suitable for me...it was not very clean, (I spend the first three hours cleaning, and that was NOT fun)...plus it was in a building that was not well maintained, no fault of the host.   He, was very sweet and when I moved out after only 6 days, he and Airbnb refunded me for the all the nights I did not stay there and also reimbursed me for the Sheets/Linens and cleaning supplies, I had to buy!  UGH!   I do give a positive review to Airbnb and their Customer Service Rep, Brian, who was wonderful and made it so easy for me to leave and not lose out on any funds.  They also have given me a credit and hope that someday I'll again use Airbnb, which right now, I admit, it not at all in any future plans.

It was so fun to spend time with Pat, and I'm so grateful for her company, I'm sure had she not been with me for the first week, I would have left the apartment even sooner, as I did not like being there alone...did not feel safe for comfy and never slept well, since was so noise, between constructions outside all day, and noisy neighbors at night!

We moved to the "Hard Rock Hotel" on Sunday and it was very nice, loved the super clean room, the pool and their restaurants.  I would have stayed there for the rest of the trip, but they did not have rooms available for all my stay.  Turns out there was a big Conference in town and also was the "Presidents Day" Holiday week, which made the hotel rates sky high.  UGH!!  Not at all what I had hoped or planned on.  I moved to the Hotel Solamar, on Tuesday and planned to be there for the rest of my stay....but they had a darn Power Outage the night before I left and i had to move to the a new hotel, just after getting into bed...had to get up, pack up with my cell phone flashlight, they had none available and move down to the Hilton.   They did not charge me for the room, clearly and paid for taxi fare, but it was a real pain and I was exhausted and then had to fly out the next morning.  The worst part, was that it was a known power outage, but they "forget" to tell me (and other guests) who like me, were VERY upset when the power went out and we learned it would be out for a least 8 hours.

  My flight home was long...and I was so happy to be home in my house at 10pm that night but also exhausted and I have not felt all the great since.  It was sadly too much for me and that's a bummer.

  I also met another online craft friends, LesLee and we had a nice lunch together and then went to a scrap store called "The Stamp Addict" which was really fun.  I enjoyed time with her and had a nice day, but sadly did not feel that great by afternoon, and ended up back in my hotel about 3pm.  As it turned out, she needed to get on the road then and did hit traffic and did not get home until bout 6pm. but she said that was okay and typical.  Happy to have met you LesLee and again thanks for a fun day!  

   I'm so happy to be home and hoping that every day will be better.  I have been back to see my Oncologist and had an Opdivo treatment this week, which is sure is also one of the reasons I still feel fatigued. 

   Looking forward to Spring....after loving the wonderful weather in San Diego.  I sure did luck on on the weather and loved that warm sunshine.    I'm also looking forward to getting back to creating and wanted to remind you to hop on over the "The Outlawz Challenges" where you'll find me in the Festive Friday Challenge.  This is the card I created this week, based on "Floral Design Day".

Supplies:
Cardstock by Bazzill Floral "Roses" Dies - Simon Say Stamp Colored with Copics and Wink of Stella Large Banner die by Mama Elephant Baker's Twine/Doodlebug Hero Arts Gems

A snowy Friday....

....not exactly the weather I had hoped for today, but better today then on Sunday, when I fly off to  sunny, warm San Diego!  Woohoo, I can't believe it's now only two days away!     I am SO excited and happy to be making this winter escape and also that I'll be seeing my son, Brian, who I miss so much!    I had originally planned to do a lot of little errands today, but thankfully, I can do them tomorrow when I go out for my day of "pre-trip" pampering.  I'm having my hair done, followed by a wonderful Mani/Pedi!   Yay!!  I am also thrilled that I decided to fly out early (for Superbowl) and make those changes a couple of weeks ago, which turned out to be a blessing, since the forecast is for more snow Monday into Tuesday, which is the day I was originally leaving!   PHEW !!  Now, I'll already be in San Diego enjoying gorgeous sunshine and temps in the mid 70's!

   I love Fridays despite the snow and now that I am part of the Festive Fridays Challenge Design Team over at "The Outlawz Challenges", it's they are even more exciting.   This week we have another fun challenge, and as always we have four fun themes you may choose from, all based on fun days and events celebrated this week - 

Backwards Day

Inspire your Heart and Art

Groundhog Day

 Weatherman's Day

    At the time I picked my theme and created my card, I did not realize that "Groundhog Day" would have already gone by.  However, since it was celebrated this week, it is one of the themes you may choose and I hope these two fun cards might help you also decide to go with that theme, especially since we now know that we can expect an early Spring!!

    Both of my cards were created with Digital Images that I bought over at Melonheadz Doodles a fun store on Etsy.  Melonheadz has a wonderful selection of super cute images and I have always been a fan of Nikki's adorable designs.

    And speaking of stores on Etsy that I love, I am also very excited that a2z Scrapbooking, is now a monthly prize sponsor for "The Outlawz Challenges", where they will be gifting a  $20 Store Gift Card to one lucky winner, each month.  On top of that a2z is also now the sponsor for the "Festive Fridays" challenge and one lucky winner from that challenge will win their choice of any of the wonderful Hero Arts Digi Kits from the store!  My special thanks to a2z for being so generous.  As your know, I'm very fond of the entire a2z family and loved being part of their DT for the past two years.   Happily, I will still be part of the team taking on Guest Spots from time to time, Yay!!

    If you LOVE Hero Arts you'll love a2z Scrapbooking, and right now you can find lots of goodies in stock from Hero's latest release!  Love it !!  And you can also save with the current store promo code - LOVE15   which will save you 15% off any and all orders of $25 and up (excluding shipping)!!  Be sure the enter the code at check-out.   I'm also inviting you over to the a2z Blog where they have a brand new Design Team, which you can read about here, an of course, their own challenge, which this month is all about "Masking".   

Click Here to Shop!!

      Wishing you all a Fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend!  I will be taking my Laptop to San Diego and do plan to stop by from time to time to post updates.  I'll also plan to post pictures and updates on Instagram, where I'm also known as "ThePurplePlace".  

       PS:  Before I go, I want to also remind you all to join me in the fabulous 30 Day Coloring Challenge over on Kathy's Racoosin's Blog - The Daily Marker!   It's already been so much fun and I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am!!  She is amazing and I adore her!