ARWB Bloggers in Bloom - Arkansas Flower and Garden Show Giveaway

**The folks of Arkansas Flower and Garden Show provided the tickets for the giveaway, however; all opinions conveyed are that of yours truly. See below for full disclosure.

What better way to spend an icy cold evening than to hang out with the ladies of Arkansas Women Bloggers while listening to the fabulous plans for the 2014 Arkansas Flower and Garden Show (AFGS). Even if the thermometer read 34 degrees, it warmed my heart to know that SPRING is just around the corner and GREEN is in the near future.

I was beginning to doubt this fun evening was going to take place. The trees created a winter wonderland, and threats of icy conditions hovered over the state. Once Natalie gave the green light -- I began my trek to our state's capitol city.

Thankfully, my journey was without event, and I arrived at the beautiful home of our hosts. Can I just take this opportunity to say that I LOVE getting together with my bloggy gal pals. It's so much fun, and we are given such FUN opportunities. Love, love, LOVE!

We wined and dined on the fabulous fare...

The cork tags and candlestick flower pieces were a couple of my favorite "special touches".

Will Mouw and Kevin Li of Central High School and the Arkansas Youth Symphony serenaded us with some fabulous tunes. They dipped into different genres -- a classical song here, a pop tune there. (They performed a song by Cold Play that was totally my favorite!)

Krista Quinn, executive director of the AFGS, and Darren Irby, an AFGS board member, gave us some background info about AFGS and what they're all about. This is AFGS's 23rd year! Proceeds from the show provide educational scholarships in horticulture-related fields to students in Arkansas colleges and universities. It also funds "The Greening of Arkansas" grant program which provides community beautification grants to communities throughout Arkansas. AND, it's also a wonderful opportunity to consult and bump elbows with the experts in the areas of gardening, landscaping and floral design. HELLO -- that's pretty darn remarkable.

We then heard from CHRIS OLSEN of Botanica Gardens. Okay, can I say I learned A LOT in a small amount of time. Decor is NOT my area of expertise, and Chris just laid it out there, folks. He had a table full of "stuff" and turned it into a gorgeous tablescape that would beautify any home. AND, now I feel confident that I could do it. He "jhemajanged" and "stuffed and crammed" (terms and phrases used by Chris himself) explaining as he went. With each segment, he created a masterpiece! I was amazed at the simplicity, yet artistic thought went into each placement. It really was fabulous. And now I'm fueled with the know-how to be fabulous, too. Or, at least attempt at making my tablescape fabulous!

What a great night! Big THANKS to Natalie Ghidotti, (Ghidotti Communitications), AFGS, Clark Trim and Henrik Thostrup (Colonial Wine and Spirits), and of course all the gals with ARWB. 


Unfortunately, I will not make it to this year's show. BUT - I want YOU to go and tell me all about it! I'm giving away THREE pairs of tickets! All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what you are looking forward to MOST about Spring. Easy as pie. I will choose a winner at random on February 17th (contest ends at midnight CST on February 16th). Hop on over to AFGS's website NOW and start mapping out your day. The hardest part will be deciding when to do what -- there is just THAT much goodness going on! Of course, I'm pretty partial to all things dealing with gardening and GROWING your own FOOD. Oh dear, don't get me to talking about it...I'm sad I'm missing out. All those topics and much, much MORE await!

Now get to commenting and GOOD LUCK!

**Be sure and follow AFGS on Facebook, twitter, flickr and you tube.