So this is what happened...
This is how many photos Keith remembered to take during our trip from where we live in Vegas to deviantART's HQ in Los Angeles yesterday. Good times pushed all thoughts of photo-documentation to the
way back-end of our minds. That's me on the car prior to driving out in the morning, and me on one of their iMacs that $
chris very kindly set up for us. Yes that's `
Rubius' page... please offer your congratulations to her for receiving seniority!
After being on the site for almost 8 years, it's wonderful to finally be able to meet the people who make this place what it is, all of them genuine and full of passion. Keith and I were given the grand tour by Matt $
eStunt, whom I've known since 2004. Really sweet guy. The place is so much larger than I imagined... and full of interesting knick-knacks and gorgeous Fine Art Prints hanging everywhere.
Keith and I are very honoured to spend over an hour of quality time with Angelo $
spyed, where he so fervidly showed and described to us all the new developments for deviantART... suffice to say that all the hype concerning Groups as well as site functionality is definitely not over-exaggerated, and warrant much anticipation. Thank you for that mind-blowing and rather unexpected symposium, Angelo... and for the amazing lattes.
There are many online communities to choose from nowadays, however there's always this certain something about deviantART that doesn't exist anywhere else... it might as well be recognised as a heart. The opportunity to connect with so many people who share a powerful love for art is an amazing thing. What's even more remarkable, is how many lives are positively affected on a very large scale just by being a part of this community... if it weren't for dA, I would never have met all my closest friends, let alone my husband, and I certainly wouldn't have broken out of my shy teenage phase and re-realise that I was born with a purpose, to express myself by working with my hands to create art... and I might not be living out my childhood dream, to do what I love most as a profession.
"Thank you" seems never to really cut it... however that's all I can come up with... from the bottom of my heart .
Some of you have probably seen/heard of the little webcam session on dAmn... yes, that was a fantastic sandwich $
jeanpat made for me. Mine had prosciutto, brie, mozzarella, mustard, and this absolutely delicious fig paste. And yes, =
JaninaZ is gorgeous in person. I do apologise for missing some of you... chatrooms move too fast for my brain sometimes.
And look what `
jmonzani was kind enough to have done and forwarded to me this morning... a screenshot from when Angelo was about to show the little gift we brought, the original
Panda Plush Tiem 
4 hours went by just like that before we realised we had to hit the road to avoid the nightmare Friday traffic where everyone from LA makes a rush for Vegas... god knows why. We had all the
Cowboy Bebop soundtracks to keep us company, so the trips didn't feel that long at all

Hope everyone at HQ enjoyed the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and the Panda painting. Thank you again for everything. And here's to dA's 9th birthday, and many more to come!