Stampin' with Kristin: Leadership 2011

Yes folks, that's righ! We made it through the snow and ice without any problem! Our flight wasn't until noon but I was up at 6am to dig out my car and check on our flight. We left the house at 8am. We found lots of snow covered roads but they were definitely passable. We made it to the airport in under an hour! There was no line at security. I was even lucky enough for "special screening". I told them to enjoy the show!!!! We got a great parking space. We grabbed a soda. And, we sat down to finish Kristin's swaps. No, I'm not talking in the third person. Kristin Allcorn and Claire Lawrence are travelling with me this year! We called Claire....and she hadn't even left home yet! I monitored our flight as it flew up from Baltimore. We ran into a couple of other demonstrators on our teeny tiny flight. And we landed right on time! Amazing! All of that stress and worrying for absolutely nothing! Whew!

We pulled up to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and it is GINORMOUS! We checked in, visited with friends, and then proceeded to get lost on our way to our room. This place is crazy! About 30 minutes later...and I am NOT exaggerating, we found our room. The hotel was flooded earlier in the year and has been beautifully renovated!

We unpacked and ventured back out to find a snack. The only thing on the agenda tonight was Manager's Reception. It was the first year I was eligible to attend. We all speculated about its location but I don't think I heard anyone guess it right. At 4:30 we wandered over to the meeting location and were given fun straw cowboy hats! I visited with all kinds of friends I'd met at Founder's Circle. I learned that 600 demonstrators were going to Managers Reception and 1000 of us were at Leadership. Around 5:15 we started loading into the busses.

We started driving toward the city when the bus driver told us where we were headed - The Wild Horse Saloon. It was a fun evening. We heard a group called Brother Trouble with "added attraction" Dave Robbins. Quite a few demonstrators joined in line dancing. We enjoyed a WONDERFUl buffet dinner. After more visiting we headed back to the hotel. When we got off of the bus we were handed a fun package that contained a TOP SECRET stamp set from an upcoming catalog. But then we received the BEST gift - a GORGEOUS bag! It was an unexpected surprise. It's the bag everyone will get tomorrow. It looks like a Vera Bradley bag!

So, I guess you'd like to see some photos, huh? Here are a few.....

The hotel interior...