Was this year really Fabulous?

Angel, Barb, Lauren and Kerry...We survived another year!



Barb, Lysa TerKeurst and Lauren

It's been a week since the Fabulous Conference. Truthfully, it feels like another lifetime ago.

 

I've spent the last week of reconnecting with my family - doing laundry and trying to get my house back in order. It can take time to re-establish normalcy after a month of straight-up cray-cray. Everyone survived, including our five-year old rabbit who keeps holding on for reasons that make absolutely no sense.

I'm still getting cards and notes from women - and thought I would share a few thoughts. After the conference ends, the most common question I'm asked is: "So, how did Fabulous go?" While I am tempted to share some of the drama we endured behind the scenes, what people really want to know is if Fabulous truly lived up to its name. Yes, it did. But the road to Fabulous is always paved with some pretty bumpy highway and a few dramas, like four days before the conference when we discovered that we were 200 swag bags short. There were a few other moments when I wasn't sure if I was adequate for the task. Yet, God is faithful. And I have some pretty amazing girlfriends.

Another question I've been asked a lot was if I had a favorite moment. Absolutely! Lysa TerKeurst's talk was crazy-fabulous, but I my favorite moment was interviewing Lysa after lunch. This type of Q&A isn't usually part of her appearance, but we asked for special permission and Lysa was game. In fact, after chatting with her in the green room, Lysa graciously invited us to ask whatever questions we would like. During the interview, I remember trying to snapshot each moment to replay in my memory at a later date. I was sitting next to Lysa TerKeurst! It was awesome! (By the way, follow @LysaTerKeurst on Twitter and check out her blog at www.lysaterkeurst.com - good stuff!)

After the interview, Lauren and I giggled about how fixated we were on the gorgeous color of her eyes, how much we loved her shoes and most of all, how inspired we were by her words. Such a great moment that overcame the thousands of hours, decisions, dollars, frustrations, sleepless nights, mistakes - in that moment, it was so worth it all!

Lucky for us, "fabulous" never has to mean perfect. Fabulous really means extraordinary or wonderful - and that's exactly what this year's conference was in so many ways. If "fabulous" ever changes to mean perfect, then that will be my last year on the team. I'm not perfect. Never have been. Never will be.

At the end of each Fabulous Conference, Lauren, Kerry, Angel and I collapse on the floor of the green room. Since we usually don't get a chance to eat for two days, we scavenged leftover chicken salad lunches with our fingers (don't judge...) and scarfed down apple pie tarts like it was our last meal before the apocalypse. And we talked. And talked. And talked until it was time for us to resume our post-Fabulous lives.

Almost 400 women have take our conference survey and we've seen lots of comments and opinions about what we do at the Fabulous Conference. However, no one will ever be as critical of our event as we are. This isn't an arrogant statement. It's the truth. I've never had a massage, gotten my hair fixed, sat in the coffee house, purchased from the retail table or bought a Fabulous Latte. Yet, I've had the privilege of receiving messages after the conference from ladies who've experienced encouragement, inspiration or an infusion of desperately needed hope. These women are why we want Fabulous to live up to its name.

Here's one comment sent us about this year's conference. We thought we'd share this with you:

"I loved the fabulous conference this year! I wasn't sure what to expect because I have never been before but the whole thing was such a great experience! I'm 20 years old and I was kind of worried there weren't going to be people my age there but there were so many young people, and people of all ages that it made the experience a great one. I really loved the topic too on friends, it was so powerful and helpful for me! I really felt like the conference couldn't have had a better topic. The speakers did an awesome job and I definitely plan on attending in the years to come! Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this event, it really paid off and I am so thankful that I got to attend the fabulous conference this year! Thank you!"