#ThimbleTeam Holiday Retreat Recap!

If you know our team or know our boss, Kristen Ley, you know that we have a strict "go big or go home" policy, especially when it comes to celebrations. So, for our staff holiday party, rather than a few hours of an evening gathering, our full time #ThimbleTeam took a whirlwind road trip and holiday retreat to the Big Easy, New Orleans!!

NOTE: SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR THE LINK TO THE FULL PHOTO ALBUM!

In true over the top fashion, we kicked off our road trip with a limo-pick up, sparkly gift giving and, of course, champagne! We arrived in New Orleans just a few short hours later to the gorgeous Hotel Monteleone in all it's Christmas decor glory and historical charm! And we paired off in two's to our charming rooms before we headed out for our day full of Christmas surprises!

We found the perfect lunch spot at St. Roch Market- a giant open market with various food vendors of all different types on the outer walls and common area seating in the center. Since our team has a wide variety of palettes, allergies and preferences this was the best of all worlds and everything was so delicious! (**Highly recommend the Rainbow Quinoa Bowl from Juice Nola! )

After lunch was our big surprise destination to MARDI GRAS WORLD- the amazing warehouse where the floats and figurines are made and stored each year for the Mardi Gras Parades! As you know, our brand is all about color, and this place was so full of creativity, talent and color, it really was so inspirational for our team. Watching the artists' process was a personal favorite on this trip and learning how much time and effort goes in to each piece was really mind-blowing-- so much more appreciation for the craft of Mardi Gras after this experience.

(click the link at the bottom of this post to view the full photo album of our trip, we took SO many photos of this place!)

After our fun tour of Mardi Gras World, we took it back to our hotel, Hotel Monteleone, for a drink at their Carousel Bar. We know this is starting to sound like a whimsical fairytale land, but in all honesty, they really do have a full rotating carousel as their main bar, and they serve a heck of a drink! Besides the general concept, the artwork involved both on the carousel in the form of paintings and sculpture, plus all the artwork in the surrounding bar is oh-so impressive!

After drinks, we fancied up and headed out for the evening to look at the beautiful lights and architecture of town, and with 65 degree weather it was so enjoyable. At 8pm we made it to our reservation and had a lovely dinner at Angeline followed by piano bar hangs and one last night cap at our favorite hotel bar.

Not sure if it would have been possible to pack even one more ounce of fun into this day. It was such a way to cheers to the holidays and ring in the new year with our #ThimbleTeam family!

The next morning we packed up and said goodbye to our most adorable hotel and headed out for a quick breakfast and walk about town before heading home.

For the ride home, we took the train, which we're now giving a ringing endorsement as the best way to travel!! While the trip was a little longer, it was so pleasant and comfortable, and the Fall scenery was gorgeous!

All-in-all this was a trip to remember and such a fun time to bond outside of our everyday Thimblepress® fun! We hope your holidays are filled with relaxation and memories to treasure too!

So much love and warm holiday wishes from the #ThimbleTeam gals, and as promised, view the full photo album from the trip HERE!