More than a Hug

A hug is a handshake

from the heart. ~ Anon

I love hugging.  I wish I

was an octopus, so I could

hug ten people at a time.

~ Actress Drew Barrymore

I spent the most wonderful

three days with one of

my oldest and dearest

friends, Kathleen, who

visited us last weekend.

The days were packed

to the gills and although

I could recite a litany of

all that we squeezed in

{or out of} our time

together, one image

continues to surface 

more than any other

and that is

hugs.

A giant hugger, created by my daughter.

We hadn't seen each

other since May, so

naturally the first thing

we did when she jumped

out of the car was squeeze

each other tight.....And

the same before she left.

She hugged my kids.

She hugged my hubby.

She hugged my dog.

A year ago, I was in Chicago,

freezing meals for Kathleen

as she started chemotherapy.

Friends for 20 plus years : )

This September, we were just

celebrating good friendship

and life.

We attended the biggest

junking-flea-market-antique

show in the Midwest,

Junk Bonanza, on Friday

morning.  We both love

junking and I was so

excited to introduce Kath

to this fabulous event as

well as some of my fabulous

blogging friends, who were

vendors or shoppers at

the event.

She loved it;
every single thing
about it!

Me, Alison {The Polohouse}, Linda {Itsy Bits & Pieces}

I hugged my blogging pals.

They hugged me.

They hugged Kathleen.

We hugged them back!

There was a contagious,

happy energy at Junk Bonanza.

That afternoon we attended our

first Creative Connection

class.  The CC is another

wonderful event that happily

coincided with Junk Bonanza.

Our class was called Cooking

Clean, led by author Terry

Walters, who is amazing.

Our teacher, Courtesy of terrywalters.net

We watched.  We learned.

We were inspired.

We bought the book. 
We hugged Terry. 
 She hugged us.

We hugged a new friend 

we made at our table.

More great energy.

Via Where Women Cook

The Creative Connection had

a marketplace where I ran

into more blogging friends.

Which meant....

more hugs.

More smiles.

More laughs.

We met the enthusiastic Britni,

who was doing PR for an 
awesome charity called 
Enchanted Makeovers.

She was so engaging that ~you

guessed it ~ before we walked

away, hugs flowed freely!

It was just that kind of weekend.

The evening got even better
when the CC hosted an

autograph cocktail party with

 a lot of great how-to authors

in attendance, including one

of my faves for over 20 years,

Susan Branch.

I met Susan Branch!


{Yes, that's us in 
the blurry picture.*}

We had a lovely conversation.

We hugged!

I floated away.

She was as kind and gracious

and just darn adorable as

her books.

Back at home each night,

we hunkered down in our

cozy clothes, nibbled on

goodies, drank wine, poured

over magazines, talked and

laughed.  My family orbited

our conversations, stopping

to join in from time to time

to add to our happiness.

Even Gracie took part; she ADORES Kathleen!

Each evening ended with ~

right again ~

hugs all around.

I miss her already.

I think I'll go find

someone to hug.......!

xx

Suzanne


*Unfortunately, some kind
soul who offered to take pictures
for us inadvertently changed
my camera settings, so most of 
my photos with people came
out blurry : (  Which means, I
have to do it all again, next year!