The definition of a perfect day!

Okay, this is going to be a long one, but I had the most awesome day. Seriously, I'm physically exhausted after getting up at 4 am, but still absolutely euphoric!

Today was the big day. I met 3 people I wanted to meet forever, and while I already knew that it would be fun, no way I could have ever imagined just how much fun I would have today. I mean seriously, I can hardly find the words to describe it, but it was AWESOME in capital letters and this for sure wasn't my last trip to Nijkerk. Because while I was there for the very first time today, entering Jayne's and Geert's store was like coming home in many ways. Awesome warm people who welcomed me with open arms. If you're looking for a great stockist in the Netherlands, I can really recommend them.

And than, Annie arrived, just a few minutes after me. I already knew from her blog that she was a really nice and down to earth kind of person, but she's fabulous. We clicked right away and chatted about all and everything. About paint, of course, but also about family and many more things. Of course I was nervous and kinda star struck at first, but that quickly passed. She's just such a great person and managed to stay so normal and down to earth while being in the spotlight all the time, that alone is already inspiration. A lot of celebs don't manage that. But Annie never gives you the feeling that she's something better, you could chat with her like with your next door neighbor. Almost impossible to imagine, but true.
We had tons of fun today, and the 2 hours went by way too fast, but it was a great 2 hours!

After Annie was gone, I did my shopping. All while chatting with Jayne and Geert and having a great time, because they're just fun to be around. And have a whole lot of fabulous things in their store, so it meant making a few hard choices, because I only had one (kinda big) suitcase to fill. And that not only for myself, but for more people, so that thing was heavy when driving home! Chalk paint does have some weight to it of course, and my 3 books from Annie (which she all signed) are adding more weight, plus several cute things I found while in the store, like stencils (I see myself going crazy with these on my walls and furniture), a waxing brush (can't wait to try it tomorrow) and one for stenciling and that lamp shade that really called my name loudly (pics of that are coming, lighting isn't great here right now with the mushy weather today).

And more great stuff - I was finally able to meet a few like minded people while at the shop. I'm still kind of a nerd here where I live, because so far, I'm the only one around here who's that fanatic about it, so talking face to face with like minded people was absolutely priceless!

I wish I could still paint some tonight, but my body is determined to spend the rest of the evening stretched out on the couch, while I have all kinds of inspirations and ideas swirling through my head. Which feels kinda strange, because my mind yells "go painting!" while my body says "don't you even dare to think about it tonight"... ;-) So my body and mind are kind of in a fight, and still unsure who will win in the end. It could happen that I sleep a few hours to wake up and go on a midnight painting frenzy. Everything is possible!