Dallas ... oh mother lovin' Dallas

On my way to Minneapolis and I can say that Dallas was marginal.  Sadly the best part was dinner last night.  Okay maybe 'sadly' is not the appropriate word as dinner was AMAZING last night.  Market seemed slower then usual although word on the street was that order writing was up.  I was not seeing that.  Today was better, still not thrilled though.  But the cherry on the trip had to have been my flat tire yesterday morning. 

Running late after a phone call with a rep and of course in a hurry to get into my car and over to the showroom.  I pulled out of the hotel and all I hear is thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump.  Mother lover a flat, seriously?  On a rental?  Crap.  I spent about twenty minutes trying to loosen the lug nuts only to give up because I was in a skirt, ivory jacket and it was frickin' freezing outside. Called Hertz who then called AAA and about two hours later I have what I have affectionately nicknamed the 'weenie wheel' on my car.  A doughnut.  Don't go over 50 mph he tells me ... haha ... that's funny.  Have you ever driven in Dallas?  Speed limit says 60 but if you aren't going 80 you are flipped off, honked at, glared at, hands thrown up in the air ... terrible.  So I drove to and from market yesterday with my hazards on in the far right lane of the freeway.  Fun.

Last night made up for it though ... dinner with two other industry peers and wowee was it yummy.  I didn't realize it was a chain but in searching for the link to the restaurant I have discovered there are a few located in Texas, Colorado and Hawaii.  Kinichi = amazing sushi.  We had incredible sake (not a sake fan but this was amazing), fresh wasabi along with a new pickled wasabi, and more sushi then we could stuff our faces with.  The escarole had to be my favorite of the evening though.  So fresh, it just melted in your mouth. 

If you are ever in one of these locations ... amazing!  This place was swanky, incredible music and just plain fantastic.  They even had a sake sommelier!  Who has that ... well not many places.  Only 70 of these talented people in the world.  www.kinichirestaurants.com or www.kinichidallas.com

Today was a decent day at market, almost sad to leave as I was writing orders left and right, but off to Minneapolis I must go.  Heading in to train a few new reps, see a new showroom and work a show that I have not worked as of yet.  Looking forward most though to seeing my grandma tomorrow night.  I missed her 90th birthday celebration due to being eight months pregnant last May and I haven't seen her in almost two and a half years.  I miss her.  She was adorable, when I told her I was going to come say hi and have dinner ... first question ... is Elizabeth coming with.  No sorry grandma I'm traveling for work and she is home with daddy.  Gosh I need to get back to Minnesota to visit with the baby girl. 

Back on Monday only to return to work that afternoon for a meeting and dinner with a major retailer.  I'll probably get about two or three hours with Elizabeth Tuesday morning and then I head to Portland for the day for a meeting with a regional independent.  Back Tuesday evening and then a meeting Wednesday in the office with another major retailer.  Phewww ... I'll be glad when Thursday is here.  I'm tired just thinking about it. 

Oh wait ... did I mention that I fly out again next Monday? 

Happy New Year ... Happy Travel Season

Have I mentioned before how much 3:30am wake-up calls suck?  I'm pretty sure I have but I'll say it again, 3:30am wake-up calls suck!  Especially when said wake-up call is interrupted by a 3am crying baby.  Elizabeth has had a rough few weeks of colds and coughs but we were finally starting to sleep through the night again ... until this morning.  I suppose I need to look at it as it was God's way of giving me 20 more minutes with her before I needed to leave for five days.

Well the holiday's are officially over and trade show season is in full swing.  Fortunately or unfortunately I was supposed to begin my travel season last week on a trip in to Atlanta and then back through Denver.  Last Wednesday morning in addition to the six inches of snow that fell I got nailed with one of the worst cold/flu things I've ever had.  Needless to say I have a extremely understanding boss who agreed that flying with a 103 degree temp and flu symptoms was probably not ideal (more likely he and the other passengers did not want to get what I had!). 

So we begin travel/trade show season today.  On my way to Dallas to work the Dallas Market, should be fun and a great way to catch up with my reps and some industry peers that I missed last weekend.  Traveling back through Minneapolis to train some of our new reps and work a day or so at the Minneapolis Market and then fly home.  Should be fun, should be entertaining, should be exhausting. 

Work has been so crazy lately it is hard to think of fitting in so much travel but we'll make it happen.  Instead of sleeping on this four hour flight I think I'll probably work on some promotional opportunities, close out some old inventory, hopefully have a creative nugget or two for some marketing/sales copy that needs to be written and prep for two meetings next week.  Ahhh a day in the life ...

Here's to hoping Lizzy sleeps through the night for her daddy this weekend.  Here's to hoping that first tooth that I am anticipating doesn't make its grand entrance this weekend.  Here's to hoping Lizzy doesn't realize that I am gone for five days.  Finally here's to hoping my husband has a great weekend spending some quality father/daughter time! 

Now ... where can I get some caffeine ...