It was beautiful

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That's me (far left) lunching with my new friends in Italy. Photo credit: Elizabeth Duvivier

WOW. 
It was soooo beautiful! The food. The weather. The Italian countryside in Abruzzo. The gracious, hospitable staff at the villa. The FOOD. (Did I mention the food?!) 
But most of all, I fell in love with an amazing group of ladies--just beautiful, inside and out.
It was the first time in my life that I walked into a large group of people, not knowing a single soul, and felt like myself, felt at home. Some call it "finding your tribe," and I have to say that now I totally understand the concept. Connecting with creative soul-sisters in blog-land for the past almost-two-years has been amazing, and getting the chance to feel a similar connection with people face-to-face was sooo good for my heart!
More on that next week (after I've had more time to process my thoughts and my photos!). Read what some of my new friends are saying about the experience here and here.
Today it's back to the ol' routine, except for me it's actually a new routine. In the Squam community they talk about "re-entry"--the difficulty of getting back into "real life" after being on retreat and having such a beautiful, transformative experience. My sweet husband took a few extra days of vacation to help me get settled again (wow, he knows me and loves me so well, to have planned for this ahead of time!) but today he's back to work. And after four weeks of adjusting, for the first time today both my girls will spend a full five hours in Kindergarten. So this morning I woke up with a funny, nervous feeling--sort of like it was my "first day of work." I feel a bit unfocused and floaty--not sure I'm really accomplishing much--but being gentle with myself is the best I can do, right?

Oh, and maybe playing with some paint instead of feeling pressured to get caught up with everything else. :)