Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Hello and Merry Christmas!!



I hope everyone enjoyed the Holidays and are looking forward to 2012!!  I know I'm excited for 2012 to come and great us and especially for September of 2012 in Bellagio, Italy!!

I'm sorry I haven't been on here in a while due to the Holidays and some things happening in our family.  We have sadly lost our loving dog Scarlet and our Grandpa Ernie this Christmas Season.  We also have had to put my dad in a nursing home today and it is going to be a very hard transition for our family.  All these things happening within a few weeks of each other have made it hard to think of anything else right now.

And thus,  I completely forgot about the GIVEAWAY on here and I apologize for that!

So, the WINNER of the RAK is:  KIM!!
Send me your address and I will mail out your kit!!
I would LOVE to visit Italy! I would be content to wander those wonderful streets and villages!


I also haven't had a chance to put up on here a tentative ITINERARY for the trip!  I wanted to show everyone what the days will look like and how much time you have for everything!

So, here I will try to run through the days a bit and share the schedule/itinerary as best I have it so far!  Please keep in mind that things may change and days may be switched, but this is a pretty good idea of how the days will look while enjoying Lake Como, Italy!!
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SATURDAY:

This will be "check-in" day, with all transfers from Milan airports or train stations hopefully by 5pm.

5:30pm - Check-in 
6:30pm - Reception on the Pergola, overlooking Lake Como with appetizers and music
7:30pm - "Tentative" First Class -  This will NOT be a long class.  We will be making something to use the whole week, so I'd like to get this class in right away for a wonderful keepsake for the whole week!
9:00pm - Every night there is music in the beautiful Music Room with a wonderful group that we have come to love.  This is optional each night, but a wonderful time to relax and enjoy each other's company!



SUNDAY:

A DAY TO RELAX... Can you believe YOU ARE in ITALY?!!

This will be a day to enjoy together or on your own.  It will be a day to sit by the pool, swim in the lake, walk the town, site see, take a boat cruise to a village across the lake, or just adjust to the time change.  I didn't want to have any classes on this day and just have this day be about being in ITALY!!  So whatever you want this day to be, it's about YOU!

5:00pm - I will be the  "Tour Guide" of  Bellagio!  We will walk the town a bit, explore the shops, show you where the markets are, the laundry is, the best gelato shops, the cute shop owners :), etc...  Just a FUN time exploring! This is completely optional, but will be filled with useful information.
7:30pm - Dinner Together
9:00pm - Music Room  OR an optional "Make-n-Take" OR Free Time



MONDAY:

9:00am - Sign In for Classes
9:30am - Class
Noon -    Lunch together
1:30pm - Class
3:00pm - FREE TIME!  The town closes down from 2 - 4pm every day.  So I wanted to plan the classes around this time frame so when the town opens back up, you are FREE to explore and enjoy! So the afternoon classes will always be over BEFORE the town opens back up so you can enjoy your free time when the shops are back open.
7:30pm - Dinner Together
9:00pm - Music Room OR "Crop Time" OR  Free Time

TUESDAY:

A DAY TO RELAX OR GO ON EXCURSIONS!

No Classes today, just a FUN day to explore or sit by the pool and soak up the beautiful Italian sun!

Not sure what time we will start the excursions, it will depend on the choices.
I am going to set up several different excursions on the "excursions days" so you will have CHOICES!

You can choose from options like:
- Going to Switzerland, just across the lake
- Touring a GORGEOUS Villa like Villa Balbianello, where they filmed a Bond movie & Star Wars
- Taking a private boat ride around the lake...maybe see George Clooney's house? :)
- Going to a town close by; either Como, Bergamo or other
- A shopping trip to some Italian designer stores or antique stores
- Finding some unique gifts at a Market on the lake
- or many other options we can dream up!

7:30pm - ??  Dinner will be on your own tonight.  I have LOTS of suggestions!
9:00pm - Music Room OR "Crop Time" or Free Time

WEDNESDAY:

Basically same as Monday.

(Classes in the morning, lunch together and Free Time in the afternoon.)

7:30pm - Dinner Together
9:00pm - Music Room OR "Crop Time" or Free Time

THURSDAY:




Basically same as Tuesday,  No Classes.

A DAY TO RELAX OR GO ON AN EXCURSION!

Maybe a few different excursions to pick from like:
- A cooking class with Moreno at Restaurante il Camineto (a memorable day for sure!)
- A fun trip up a FUNICULAR to the top of a mountain with views of Lake Como!
- A hike around the hills behind Bellagio
- A Tour of the Rockefeller Center 
- A Private tour of the beautiful churches or museums in the area

7:30pm - ?? Dinner will be on your own or with the group.
9:00pm - Music Room OR "Crop Time" OR Free Time

FRIDAY:

9:30am - Last Class
Noon - FREE TIME for the rest of the day!  
Last day to explore Lake Como area
7:30pm - Dinner and Finale - Exciting Giveaways and Goodbyes
9:00pm - Last night in the Music Room or Free Time

SATURDAY:

Morning hugs and goodbyes.  Last minute photos of Lake Como and our new found friends!
Private cars/vans transferring everyone back to Milan airports or train stations.



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So there you have it!  You have an idea of the week at a glance and you can see how much free time you will have.  I didn't want anyone to think that you're in classes all the time.  As you can see, you have a GREAT balance between CREATIVE time and ITALY time!!

Hope you enjoy!

Hugs,

Laura

P.S.  I have some other NEWS to share soon!







Sunday, December 18, 2011

I was just checking on Flights for our EVENT and thought I would let everyone know about some GREAT deals I'm finding!!!

I know everyone is all over the place, so not every "deal" will work for everyone, but I wanted to make you aware of some prices on flights that I found.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC is such a GREAT airlines.  We have flown on them many times and I have to say they are my FAV airline!  But, I know they don't fly from everywhere and they DON'T fly to Italy.  BUT... It's important to remember that we want to find the BEST deal to get there and most likely that is not going to be non-stop.

So, I found that Virgin Atlantic has a flight from LAX to London for the dates of the event for only $663!!!!!  Now that is a GREAT DEAL!!  You can follow that link to find out what the cost would be from your location to London.  So don't overlook the options that are out there.  London isn't that far from Italy and the flights from London to Milan are just a "hop, skip and jump! :)

So after I found this GREAT deal, I wanted to see how much it would be to get from London to Milan.  I've told you in the past of a few sites like Kayak, Priceline, and other discount airfare sites.  Well there's an airline JUST in Europe that is just PENNY'S for a flight and it's called EasyJet and we've used it before to jump around Europe for under $100.

So I found a flight from London to Milan on Easy Jet for $97!

Well, I'm just SO excited ladies!!

I wanted to let you know all of this because it IS POSSIBLE to get a GREAT DEAL on the airfare if you think "outside the box"!  Don't just think you have to get to MILAN and I can only go from my town to Milan... There are COUNTLESS ways to get there and you just have to do some research.  I will continue to look at the prices and offer you any deals I find, but start researching and see for yourself.  Let us know if you find something GREAT too, we'd all love to know what you find!

Because we ALL want to get here:




So let's make this a FUN and see what we can all find.  And PLEASE... if you find a great deal, let us know so we can all make sure we are getting the best price of airfare.

Thanks so much and have a GREAT week before CHRISTMAS!!

And if you haven't signed up yet... THIS WEEK would be a GREAT time to do so!  Wouldn't this be  an AMAZING CHRISTMAS GIFT!??  

You still have a couple weeks left to also take advantage of signing up for only $100 deposit for the month of December!!


Hugs,

Laura

Friday, December 9, 2011



Hello out there...  I know you are coming to the blog because I can see the stats, but I haven't seen a more quiet blog around...

SO... I'm going to stoop to a new level and hold out a "carrot" for you so that maybe you'll be lead to leave a comment! :)-

As some of you may know, I own a Scrapbooking Kit Club, "A Kiss on the Chic".  It's been such a FUN business to own and it's become a community over the years!  In fact, that's a big reason why I wanted to have an event in Italy!  So that we could have some of our fellow Kit Club ladies get together!  Now that's not required of course, but I have enjoyed getting to know so many ladies through my business, my dream is to MEET all of them some day!!  But,  this past year I haven't done very many kits b/c I was more focused on designing for two of the leading scrapbooking companies in the industry, Teresa Collins and Webster's Pages .  But I did get in a few project kits and regular kits this year and I'm going to offer ONE LUCKY WINNER this kit:


A Floral Meadow Kit


It's a beautiful kit with lots of Prima products you can win this kit if you leave a comment on THIS POST!   Just leave a comment below and tell me this:

1.  Do you DREAM of going to Italy like I do?  2. Are you thinking of joining us on our journey to Italy next September? and 3. What is one thing you would LOVE to do if you go on this trip to Italy with us?

That will be FUN!  I would LOVE to hear your comments and I would LOVE to say HI to you as well! I think we would all have so much fun to know who is coming here and checking out this site too!  

So comment away and lets say HI to everyone joining in!!

Before I leave, I do want to do a bit of housekeeping...

For those not signed up yet, I do have a deadline for signing up.  I know it's hard to commit to something so far away, but I do have to make arrangements and make financial decisions for this event, so I do have to have a commitment for those you want to come.  This deadline is coming up in a FEW MONTHS!  I don't want to rush you... but if you DO WANT TO JOIN US, please let me know soon.  I can hold your spot for $100 this month only.  It's a great way to get your payments started, but at a lower price than usual.  So, just go for it and get your registration in!  It's going to be something you won't want to miss and really, you won't regret it!  It's Italy, it's CREATIVE time, it's RELAXING time and it's time to TOUR AROUND Lake Como, Italy! (and even maybe a peek into Switzerland... )

Hope you all have a FANTASTIC weekend!!

Laura

P.S. Always feel free to email me!




Thursday, December 8, 2011



This video is from this summer when we were in Bellagio, Italy with our kids.  We were walking back to our hotel from dinner and came upon this.   This is one of the reasons we have fallen in LOVE with this place and why I want to share it with you ladies next September!

This is the Bellagio Mens Choir.  I did a bit of searching online and came to find out they are quite famous in the area, they have preformed at the Vatican, in Chicago and all around Italy.  This is just one of the nights during the summer months that they sing out in the open impromptu on one of the cobblestone streets in Bellagio.

I've emailed them to see if they actually have a schedule for these performances because it's just something you wouldn't want to miss!  I'm hoping to persuade them to do this while we are in Bellagio for our Event!!  

I also have a few tricks up my sleeve for other SURPRISES, but those will have to wait and you can just help me by keeping your fingers crossed!!

So I hope you enjoy this little video. I have another one of these men singing that same night that I put on FB, but you can find out more about them on YouTube or their Website, Corale Bilacus

Are you signed up yet???

Ciao,

Laura