Bead Fest :: Final Thoughts on Laughter

That is likely going to be one of the things I remember most about my first trip to Bead Fest. All the laughter. It was contagious. I think leading up to the event there is so much anticipation, and then let all these lovely bead ladies loose in a room together and you get a rush of energy where the chatter is seemingly endless. Oh, and then there is all the giggling that ran late into the night. We even managed to be so loud in Melinda Orr's suite that the manager kicked us out and down to the lobby. I felt like college kids getting in trouble.

My daughter managed to snap this picture of Linda Landig, and I just love how it captures her smile. Yes Anne, my 10 year old, was hanging with the bead ladies for the weekend. And made quite a few friends. I went back through pictures and manage to find Anne photo bombing a few of them. There she is jumping in right over Genea's head ... that's my girl! Not that she was alone. There were plenty of other photo bombers around. I think the queen is probably Amy.

I love how I caught this action series of Linda Younkman unsuspectingly. She was snapping pictures, only to find I was taking pictures of her! Once she realized it, we did a picture of the two of us taking pictures of each other. As I said ... pure silliness when you get this many bead ladies in a room. Or a patio as the case may be.

It was great meeting people in person after only knowing them through blogging. Like Sandi Volpe. She was too much fun to hang out with and just chat about the events of the weekend. And then there was Genea and Staci (I'm not sure I ever saw one without the other all weekend long). And I met Lea Avroch, and Sue Kennedy, and Anne Gardanne, and Jan Onipenco, and .... just so much talent all in one place. Truly an amazing weekend.