Only one more day before we officially begin retreating -- can't wait! Tomorrow we'll head up to Crystal Lake to a great OLD quilt shop, the kind with wooden floors & 15 foot ceilings. We'll meet up with our friend Lynn for lunch, then wander the little shops in town for a bit before heading back here to the grocery for supplies for the week's lunches & breakfasts. I'll cook some spicy sesame noodles for Patty's & my dinner (her DH will be playing softball) & then I can get some more cutting done on my balloon quilt. Tuesday morning, Verna arrives! Woo hoo!!! Terry will join us, depending on her MIL's situation, & we'll be off & running. Dinner will be at Cheesecake Factory, then we'll head to guild (our local, Sarah's Grove Quilters Circle) for a program on maintaing our sewing machines. With Verna & me in attendance, the total of people there will jump to about 25!
Wednesday we'll be making a last pilgrimmage to our old favorite, Calico in Racine, WI. It'll be the last time we'll get to wander through that darling old house, visit with Kathy, Jane & Linda, & get some great deals as they close down their store. sigh. We'll stop at the Jelly Belly factory store on the way home. Goodie! We will have started our crockpot salsa chicken before we left home, so it will be waiting for us on our return. Thursday, it will be all sewing, all the time. Ditto for Friday, I'm thinking. Thursday night we'll head over to Lou Malnati's for some of their individual deep dish pizzas & some fabulous Lou's salad with gorgonzola dressing. Friday's dinner will be carried in by Patty's DH from Portillo's -- I'll be having their wonderful fruit & chicken salad with poppyseed dressing. SO yummy! Saturday morning, Verna will head back to IN. That night, my DH & I will join Patty & hers in meeting our couples gourmet group for dinner at the Ram. I expect lots of hugs & laughter all week. Are you jealous yet? Well, why not?!?!? I look forward to this week all year long & we do have a great time. It's exhausting, & sometimes I don't even get much done, but the "fellowship" as my friend, Mary, says, is soul-satisfying & feeds me for the next 12 months.
I promise, I'll start posting pictures on Tuesday. I did quite a bit of sewing today & got the top of my 13 Colonies put together. I'll be looking for a border & back for it tomorrow. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Creativity has taken a hit this week. I've been trying to get something finished, but haven't succeeded so far. Maybe tomorrow......

I did have a creative chat with 2 friends today: Verna via long distance phone from IN; & Ellen right here in my sewing room. How nice to be able to visit with two quilty friends in one day.

Did you hear about the 5.3 earthquake in Southern IL? Verna (in Northern IN) was awakened by it! I'm cracking up. Not once in the 50+ years I lived in the Midwest did I ever experience an earthquake; now that I live in SoCal, the Midwest gets a whopper! Go figure.

Plans for the 8th (?) annual Girlfriends quilting retreat are proceeding nicely. One of our very favorite quilt shops is going out of business, as the 3 darling owners have decided to join their husbands in retirement. sigh. Calico, Colors & Canvas, in Racine, WI, http://www.calicocanvasandcolors.com/index.htm has begun a going-out-of-business sale. I'm just crushed. I have loved this store and its owners since I first made their acquaintance about 15 years ago. So we will make one last pilgrimage as a group when we get together in 2 weeks & head up to Racine for a final visit & shopping spree. I'll have to redeem my 2 full punch cards. big, big sigh.