Spring Fling Cookie Camp!!!

Last weekend I went to Spring Fling, aka cookie camp.  I cannot express in words how much fun it was!  Not only did I get to meet lots of cookiers that I've been talking to online for over a year, but I got to meet and learn from cookie celebrities: Callye aka Sugarbelle, Glory from Glorious Treats, Ali from Ali Bee's Bake Shop, Pam from Cookie Crazie, Maryann aka the Cookie Artisan, and Karen from Karen's Cookies.  And of course it was the longest mommying-break that I've ever had. 

The flight there was terrible!  Apparently over the last few years I've developed motion sickness that I never had before.  Every once in awhile I get carsick, but it's not too bad.  So I was shocked when I got so sick during our first flight.  Thank goodness it was just a short flight to Phoenix before heading to Louisville, KY.  So once we landed in Phoenix I headed straight for the magazine stall and got me some dramamine, which was a life-saver!  Then we were ready to takeoff, being taxied to the runway when there was a mechanical problem with the plane.  So they sent us back to the gate and decided that it wasn't safe to use that plane and we had to wait for another one.  Luckily we only had to wait a few hours for a new one (we could have been stalled till the next day!), but we finally landed in Louisville at 1:30 in the morning.  And of course they're 3 hours ahead of us in CA.  So we were pretty sleep deprived, but we had plenty of adrenaline from all the excitement.

Cookie Camp didn't start until later in the afternoon so we got visit the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs, which was much more interesting than I thought it would be.  I didn't bring my big old clunky camera the first two days, so most of these pictures are from my cookie friends Kris and Jackie.  Here's a picture of our group with our fascinators.  (Left to right: me, Christine, Jackie, and Kris.)

And here's Kris and I coming out of the gates.

Here's a picture of our instructors.  Left to right: Karen, Ali, Maryann, Glory, Pam, and Callye.

It was so much fun getting to meet them.  They were such nice people.  I have to admit I was kind of intimidated by them.  I really wanted to talk to Callye, but I didn't know what to say.  It's so weird how we stalk their blogs and know all about them but they don't know us.  Finally on the last day I got up the nerve to talk to her.  I just knew that when I got home my husband was going to ask me "Did you talk to Sugarbelle?" and I didn't want to tell him that I went all the way to Kentucky and then chickened out.  So I finally talked to her and she was so sweet!  Our little carpool group even got a picture with her. (Left to right: Kris, me, Callye!, Jackie, Christine, and Alyson of Corner House Cookies.)

It was a pretty expensive trip what with the cost of attending and the cost of the flights from CA to KY, but I'm so glad I did it!  Thanks, Matthew, for urging me to go.  I learned so much and got to meet so many great people. 

And thanks so much to Kay and May of Cookie Two Shoes who spent so much time organizing this event.