Leaving Las Vegas

Good Morning Everyone.....today we leave Las Vegas and make our way over the mountains to California. It should be a short 4 hour drive which will be a nice change from the 8 to 12 hours we spent on the road getting here.

I wanted to post this last picture



This is your view from the hotel when you are not a gambler and you buy cheap online.

World's Largest Chocolate Fountain

Although I am not a fan of the chocolate fountain... I had to post this!

Pic #1 - chocolate fountain
Pic #2 - a picture of where the chocolate is being poured from (ceiling)
Pic #3 - details

Ack.. it's hot

5.5 hours later and 43 degrees celsius, we finally made it through Death Valley. Ohmygoodness, it was hot hot hot!
The wind was hot. Our car was hot. The ground was hot. It was so dry and hot in some areas that there was nothing except rocks. However, if you have never been to Death Valley, it is absolutely breath taking. It is amazing to think that this area was once covered by the ocean to the tips of the mountains. You can still some of the areas where they mined for silver, zinc and calcium. We felt like a car commercial driving through the winding paths against the mountain with no car insight behind or in front of us. We needed a tag on the frame that said "Do not attempt. Professional driver. Closed course."!

Arrived in Vegas later in the evening. Walked over to the Bellagio and caught two fountain performances - my favourite! This is my 3rd or 4th time to Vegas and everytime I come here it is a little different. The new monorail is up and running from the MGM to the Sahara and the Aladdin has now become the Planet Hollywood. Then still it is the same vegas with the cheesy themes, shows, drunk people, smoke.... oh well.. you gotta love it!

Pic #1 - gopher type animal from Yosemite
Pic #2 - driving with a long road ahead of us and no vehicle insight
Pic #3 - this was once the ocean bed
Pic #4 - fountains of Bellagio facing the Paris Hotel

Yosemite.. here we come

Arrived just outside Yosemite last night and we found a hotel with a dog (picture to come)! So cute! I miss Cleo.
We are driving through Yosemite this morning /afternoon and should be in Vegas by dusk. Just waiting for our hotel breakfast right now and we will be on the road. Here are some pictures from our drive over and almond trees! I love these things. We drove past some huge almond orchards. I had no idea how they grew and we ended up stopping on the side of the road to pick some fallen ones. Unfortunately, they were not ripe, but it kept me entertained.

Where in the world is lotus events?

We left early Saturday morning and drove down the I-5. We made it as far as Eugene, Oregon tonight and will be driving to Sacramento tomorrow. Not really many picturesque moments so far, but we will definately being keeping our blog up to date as we travel over 600km over to Death Valley, Yosemite, Las Vegas, San Francisco, LA and more!

Stay tuned!

Sunshine Coast!

Katie and Allan's wedding went like clockwork! Holy, this is definately one of our favourite weddings! We couldn't have asked for a better couple, for better food, for better weather! Can you tell how much we love them!?

We returned to Vancouver Friday afternoon, but not for long.....

It's June!

I remember Rob and I freezing our behinds off wondering if summer was ever going to arrive and then POW!

So what's happening in June?

Thanks to Blue Olive for having us over last night to play some WII and drink mojitos! You guys have the cutest cats ever!
They also came out to our last event at the Western Front - GOT CRAFT? - and took some amazing (as always) photographs of our vendors' crafts - thanks for the college.

Rob and I are headed to the Rockwater on the Sunshine Coast this Wednesday for Katie and Allan's wedding. Most of their guests are coming from out of town, so this is a destination / holiday wedding with a BBQ in Vancouver on Tuesday, Rehearsal BBQ on Wednesday at the Rockwater, Wedding on Thursday and Breakfast on Friday.

Has anybody seen the UBC Boathouse in Richmond? What a beautiful venue! We have a wedding their in the Fall and can't believe that we never knew about this hidden gem.

5 more days to LA!

Rob and I leave on Sunday to meet up with Cassandra from I Heart Indie Weddings in Seattle, then off to Portland to check out Crafty Wonderland. We are travelling through Oregon and stopping in San Francisco, the Coast, Anaheim (Disney, of course!) and will be at the Great American PitchFest from June 21 - 24.

So next question is... how much stuff can I fit in the back of a Toyota, two door, hatchback?

Two Posts in One Day!

Two posts in one day! This may never happen again.. so better start reading!

lotus events just finished wrapping up the 3rd Annual Friends for Life Society's Volunteer Recognition Event. The event was held on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at the Heritage Hall located by Main Street and E. 15th. This venue rocks! The staff there are so nice, polite and know exactly what they are doing! The prices are very reasonable and you can bring in your bar - which is super duper especially if the event is for a not for profit and they are not big drinkers! This venue is also wheel chair accessible and has a full kitchen including two fridges, convection oven and huge sink.

Anyways, this year, the theme was Western! We got an awesome photo booth from Houle Games and the kind folks at Squares Across the Border came out to show us some moves! Rob and I also found some cool horse soap on Etsy and asked the woman if she could make 10 soaps on a rope with horses on them to present to the top volunteers. All the food was kindly donated by Costco, Cobs Bread, Emelles Catering, Capers and Fountainhead Pub.

Best Craft Fair Ever!

Ok.. I really have no idea if it was the best craft fair ever, but being our very first craft fair.. we had a blast! 537 people walked through our doors over two days - woo hoo!!!!!

We were pretty happy with the media too! Mention in the Westender, Vancouver Sun, Beyond Robson, Poppy's Blog and a huge number of links throughout the web from our free listings! Go listings - you rock!

Oh yeah.. and the crafters were amazing too! Kisses to all for making this such a smooth running event! We love you guys!

Big thank you to Reilly and Miranda from Blue Olive for stopping by and taking some pictures of the event. I will post them as soon as I receive them ?? Hmmm... we will check on that!

Next GOT CRAFT? .... Saturday, July 21st, 2007 from 2:00pm to 8:00pm at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House located at 2325 W. 7th Avenue (At Vine Street). Free swag bags for the first 25 guests and free hourly giveaways between 3pm to 8pm.

It's Cleo's Birthday!

The summer has definately arrived! We seem to be out of the office working on-site more and more these days which is why this post is late :P

Here is a picture of Cleo. Cleo is a snowshoe siamese tabby and is 12 years old today! I'm not sure what that is in human years, but she is just so darn cute. She loves the warmth of our portable heater and this is a picture of her splayed out on my lap enjoying the heat. She has the cutest pink toes and nose and the bluest eyes ever. Rob and I adopted her 5 years ago from the BC SPCA and she has been a grand addition to the family!

In other news... GOT CRAFT is in 8 days - ahhhhh! I can't believe it is almost here! Rob and I woke up at 5am this morning and cozied some of the local streets - check out the pictures! Can you guess where each cozy is located?! If so, email us the 4 answers and you could win a prize!!!

I was reading an article the other day titled "Bridezilla culture" that stated it was a sense of entitlement that turns normal every day men and women into self-absored monsters, by examining the $161 billion dollar wedding industry made of people who they describe resent the very people on whom they depend. It was quite interesting, so if you are looking to read more, please email me and I can send you the article.

Something totally off topic, but has anybody tried Facebook? I friend of mine invited me and after the 3rd invite, I went through the registration process to see what this was all about. Holy moly, the whole world seems to be on this thing! This is similar to myspace, but as I mentioned, the whole world seems to be on this! I mean people that I went to elementary school found me. Scary... yet enticing...

Before I forget, Ariel Meadow Stallings, the author of OffBeat Bride will be in Vancouver tomorrow (Friday, May 4th) at 7pm at Sophia Books at 450 W. Hastings Street!