Cut 'n Paste

Save the date reminder

Ack! I'm getting so excited! There has been a flurry of emails and communication flying between Canada, the USA and Italy over the past 2 months and we are almost ready to announce all the details of "La Dolce Vita" 2016. So, check your calendars ladies, Terri Brush and I have an AWESOME week planned and would love to have you join us! I'll be sure to post here to let you know when the site goes live. Ciao!

La Dolce Vita 2015 - That's a wrap

As I sit writing this blog post today, I have been home from Europe for about 2 months. I knew that I wanted to share my time at "La Dolce Vita" with you, but I was not sure how to adequately sum up my experiences this year. For those who are not familiar with it, "La Dolce Vita" is a week long women's retreat I co-host in Tuscany Italy with my friend Terri Brush. This year was our second year of retreats and it was, at turns, inspiring, challenging, terrifying, and affirming; just as any growth experience is. I guess the best way to share is just to jump in and get started. Let's begin with our home during "La Dolce Vita"...

Across the ocean there is a village where history and the present meld together in a beautiful tapestry. It is a place where I feel at peace, welcomed and sheltered within its walls. It is the home of my friend Paola, and her family. After spending so much time there over the past four years, I now consider it my Italian home. It is called Tenuta Bichi Borghesi, in the hamlet of Scorgiano. It is a heaven on earth, and the perfect setting for "La Dolce Vita".

Lucky us, we were there while the lemon trees were bearing fruit!



It was a blessing to spend 3 weeks this summer staying at the estate and its environs, and I continue to fall more and more in love with everything about it! Whether hanging out in our apartment, lounging by the pool, spending time in the classroom, or visiting with friends in the courtyard, Bichi Borghesi continues to seduce me with its authentic, rustic hominess. Each time I return, it further cements my love for, and bond to, the land, the property and the people who are lucky enough to call Bichi Borghesi their home. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I shall return to this estate again and again...there are few other places where I feel so at home, even though I am not at home.

"La Dolce Vita" is the culmination of many behind the scenes hours of planning, dreaming and working to make the big wheel function. A huge thank you and hug to my co-host, Terri Brush, who not only plans the retreat with me, but spends hours creating beautiful jewelry gifts for each retreat attendee. She also designed a killer sterling silver necklace workshop for them. 2015 was our second cycle to retreats in Italy together and it was a joy to see her enthusiasm for year number two. As many of you who follow us on facebook know, near the end of our first 2015 retreat, there was a bad kitchen accident in which Terri received second and third degree burns on her feet, so she ended up flying home to seek medical treatment. I know that it hurt her heart to leave, and I appreciate that after getting home and settled in, she continued to support me via messages throughout the second retreat week. Terri, I missed you, but I know that you were where you needed to be to get the treatment you needed.

My life has been blessed with the friendship of our retreat photographer, and girl-Friday Tiffany Kirchner-Dixon, who has a gift for connecting on a personal level with each attendee and is such a fantastic cheerleader to Terri and I. This girl has such a strong work ethic, which is just one of the many things I love about her. Thank you Tiffany for all you do, both seen and behind the scenes, to facilitate the flow of "La Dolce Vita" in Italy. You are a gem and I am so glad we are friends.


Photo on the left: (from left to right) Terri, Tiffany, Carolyn | Photo on the right (from left to right: Paola, Carolyn, Terri)

To round out our team, we have the incomparable Paola Mereu. As daughter-in-law of the estate owner, she is the guest hostess, and she brings Italian soul to "La Dolce Vita". She is an integral part of the behind the scenes mechanisms of what makes "La Dolce Vita" work. She is stylish (every year we have participants who want to steal her wardrobe), kind (if she can possibly find a way to accommodate a request, she will), and loves to laugh and have fun. Quite simply, she is the Italian big sister I wish I had. Thank you Paola, "La Dolce Vita" wouldn't be the same without you!

Because Terri went home for treatment, we were in the stressful position of needing to secure a "pinch hitter" jewelry instructor who could lead the attendees through the workshop Terri designed for our second "La Dolce Vita" retreat. Luckily for us, the absolutely lovely and talented Rochelle Gaukel was available and ready, on literally 3 days notice, to jump in a plane and come to Italy for 10 days. It was truly an answer to prayer that she was willing. Rochelle, THANK YOU for everything you brought to "LDV", we hope you enjoyed your time with us :)

I also want to publicly thank Spellbinders for their sponsorship of the fabric album workshop which I taught during the retreat. Their "A Gilded Life" product line is absolutely beautiful, and our attendees loved working with it!

"La Dolce Vita" has had four sessions now over the past 2 years, and none of the weeks have been the same. Each week has been different from the one before, in part because of how each attendee interacts with us, each other and the estate. We have been so blessed to meet women from around the world who show up with their hearts wide open to accept new friends, challenges and opportunities in the most wonderful way. This is what makes "La Dolce Vita" special...the women who set out on an adventure ready to embrace all that it is. For this, I am thankful - together we made some lifelong memories!

The women of Retreat #1

The women of Retreat #2

This year we had the time of our lives visiting antique markets in Cortona and Arezzo, exploring the estate and eating the fruits of our labour during our cooking classes with award winning chef Filippo Sapporito at Anqua, workshops in the ancient stable at Tenuta Bichi Borghesi, and a farewell pizza party! All these activities took place amidst lots of laughter and the encompassing feeling of sisterhood that sharing such a life-afirming experience brings. 

A huge THANK YOU to all the women of "La Dolce Vita" 2015. Thank you for your joy, energy and enthusiasm for your retreat experience. It was a sincere pleasure to share this experience with each of you. Big hugs & love to you from both Terri and I <3

As indicated in a previous post, Terri and I are planning to return to Tuscany in 2016 with two more editions of "La Dolce Vita". While the heart and soul of the retreat stays the same year to year, Terri and I have a few fun surprises up our sleeve for 2016 and can't wait to share them with those who sign up to join us. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER. This will ensure that you will be notified when registration opens.

Save the Date!!

Does heading to Tuscany, Italy for a retreat with like minded creative women sound like a dream vacation? If so, save the date! My co-host, Terri Brush, retreat photographer Tiffany Kirchner-Dixon and I are heading to Italy again in 2016 to offer 2 "La Dolce Vita" sessions. 

We are still working with our partners in Italy, so registration is not yet open, but as we have had many inquires, we wanted to announce the dates so that those who are interested can check their schedules.

Be sure to subscribe to the retreat newsletter so that you will be emailed once the website is up and registration goes live.

Terri and I have so many fun ideas for "La Dolce Vita" 2016, we can hardly wait!

Update on "La Dolce Vita" creative lifestyle retreat

My co-host, Terri Brush and I are feeling very blessed as our "La Dolce Vita" retreat in Tuscany, Italy has provisionally SOLD out (pending the return of all the signed contracts and first payments) for the second year in a row! Our little team of me, Terri, Tiffany , and Paola are already looking forward to getting to know 2 brand new groups of ladies and enjoying great food, shopping, crafting and creating memories with them.

Do YOU want to join us in Italy? If so, email us at [email protected] and get on the wait list! There is absolutely NO obligation, and you get first crack at any spots that may open up during the year should we have any cancellations.

Here's to adventure! Or, what I did with my Summer

Photo by the talented Tiffany Kirchner-Dixon "The Fancy Farmgirl Photography"

Whew, what a day! Yesterday my friend Terri Brush and I opened registration for the 2015 cycle of our "La Dolce Vita" retreats in Italy. I am overwhelmed as it seems that once again our retreat has struck a cord with women around the world who would like to join together, build a community and share an unforgettable experience. We only have a small handful of spots left for next year, which is a blessing.

"La Dolce Vita" began as a tiny germ of an idea that nestled in the corners of my brain and kept demanding to be realized. 2 years ago, that dream was fertilized and developed and nurtured as Terri and I launched our inaugural retreats. Soon after I arrived home from Italy this year, I told you that the experience I had in Italy had changed me and that I would share a bit of it here with you and I'm both nervous and excited to do so today.

First, I want to start by saying I am no different than you. I am just a simple girl, who has a husband she adores and is striving to cultivate a life that is good. Not perfect, but one that is just right for me and my family. Sometimes taking a dream and turning it into something tangible and REAL is terrifying. And, this dream was all that and more. It was stress unlike any I've ever had before, it was nervous energy, sleepless nights and incessant worrying. By no stretch of the imagination was it easy to co-host "La Dolce Vita". However, there has been only a handful of things in my life which have given me greater joy, satisfaction and, dare I say it, even pride.

I owe a tremendous thank you to the secret weapon of our retreat, my friend Paola Mereu. She is the daughter-in-law of the heiress of the estate where "La Dolce Vita" is based. I have known Poala for 3 years now and she is one of those people whom you immediately want to become friends with. She is fun, energetic, confident, kind, gentle hearted (yet firm) and was the heart and soul of our time at the estate. When Terri and I were first brainstorming about "La Dolce Vita" with Paola, we really stressed to her that we wanted our girls to feel like they were visiting a family friend. We didn't want there to be a barrier like there often is in a hotel, we wanted a relationship to build between our ladies and the family who own the estate. And, wow, did she ever deliver. I can't tell you how many of the attendees made jokes about wanting to pack her in their suitcase to take her home. (And she is pretty dang tiny. It really would not have been a stretch for her to fit in some of our bags! I told Paola's husband that he'd better watch out or she really might go 'missing'!)

Each "La Dolce Vita" retreat from 2014 was different. They were both great, and there was not one that was better than the other. They were living organisms that were evolving into a reflection of our groups and the personalities within them. In the weeks since coming home, I have seen the friendships and relationships made at the retreat blossom beyond the shores of Italy. It is amazing what can happen when you get 15 ladies who all share similar passions together. The synergy, the care, the laughter and tears bonded everyone together in a powerful way. I will forever hold in my heart a late night talk with 2 of the ladies where we shared about the loss of our children and infertility. My heart warms when I think of women who had never done jewelry projects before feeling empowered through Terri's patience and kind guidance. I smile when I think of Franco, our chartered bus driver, who would affectionately tell us that he was standing in for our husbands and we shouldn't spend too much money when we ventured out for our visit to the antique market.  I remember a spontaneous sing-a-long in the bus on the night when Franco turned on the radio and found a station playing some classic 1970s rock and roll, the welcome banquets as everyone was trying to get to know each other, happy tears over a pitch perfect meal, lightening bug walks, food that was just BEYOND yummy, hot water shut offs that were in odd places, (Don't worry, we always got the hot water back on really quickly. But really, who would have thought that the hot water shut off was that little button near the floor.) and just a lot of smiling, happy people.

It goes without saying that this was not a one person show, the team of Terri, Tiffany and I worked together in harmony. We shared the desire to create something special and we supported each other to reach that goal.



I came home inspired. Inspired to DO, to LIVE, to SHARE. I came home feeling that "La Dolce Vita" will go down for me as one of my proudest accomplishments. And, I can't WAIT to do it again!

If you would like to join Terri, Tiffany and I in Tuscany next summer, please check out the "La Dolce Vita" blog for information: http://carolynpeeler.typepad.com/la_dolce_vita_2015



We would love to have you.

La Dolce Vita 2015

Today's the day! The blog for the "La Dolce Vita" 2015, a creative lifestyle event co-hosted by Terri Brush and I went live this morning. We are both so excited about the fun things we have planned for the retreat in 2015 and are looking forward to welcoming Tiffany Kirchner-Dixon aka The Fancy Farmgirl back as our photographer. Click here be redirected to the brand new blog!

Registration will open MONDAY, AUGUST 18th at 09:00 AM Pacific Standard Time.

I'm home & France teaching announcement

Hi Friends, I have SO much to share with you!! I came home 13 days ago from 5½ amazing weeks in Italy. The "La Dolce Vita" creative lifestyle retreats that I co-hosted with my friend Terri Brush were amazing. I have so much to tell you about them. They changed me...The posts I want to make about the retreats will have to wait as I have a few other things to share first. In the meantime here are just a few photos from our time in Tuscany to tide you over. It truly was a gorgeous as it looks. (And, if these photos inspire you, Terri and I are planning more retreats in 2015. Stay tuned here and on facebook and we'll be sure to let you know when the details are posted.)

So, what's next for me in 2014? I have a few more international teaching gigs yet this year. First, I am excited to share with my European friends that I will be teaching at VERSION SCRAP in LYON FRANCE October 16-19! I have 4 really cool workshops featuring the Melissa Frances product lines which I'll be teaching. Lyon is a beautiful city known for their foodie culture, so not only will you have fun at the event, but it's pretty certain that you'll have amazing meals too!

Here is a quick preview for the Christmas album workshop I will be teaching - I can't wait!

CLICK HERE to be taken to the Version Scrap workshops.

Come join me in Italy in 2015

Terri Brush and I are very excited to announce the date for our "La Dolce Vita" creative lifestyle retreat in Tuscany, Italy in 2015. We invite you to clear your calendars June 6-13, 2015 and join us!

Our creative lifestyle retreat will include cooking lessons with a local chef, 2 awesome crafting workshops, a visit to an antique market, tourism activities, a wine tasting, and more!

We will be re-launching the event blog with the details and pricing information mid-July, once we arrive home from our 2014 "La Dolce Vita" retreats.

SOLD OUT!

It's been very quiet around here lately in blog land as life has been busy. The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind as my business partner, Terri Brush and I launched our "La Dolce Vita" retreat website, realized that we had much more demand than supply, quickly scrambled to add another event to our itinerary, opened registration, then SOLD OUT!! Whew! It has been overwhelming in so many ways. But exciting as well. There has also been considerable demand for an event in 2015, so you will see information about that announced in the near future as well.

Many thanks to the girls who have signed up for this adventure. We are going to have a wondrous time!

La Dolce Vita Creative Retreat...guest announcement