... I can't wait to be OFF the road again.
Okay so I'm not in an awful mood as of yet, but I am ready to be home long enough to spend some quality time with my daughter. Elizabeth was out like a light when I got home around midnight on Wednesday and so I rubbed her cute little back and kissed her goodnight. She didn't even flinch.
We spent the weekend being busy little bees and visiting friends and family. But now, it is Monday and I am on the road (or rather on a plane) headed to Dallas and Austin this week. I'll be back Thursday evening, before midnight but after Elizabeth's bedtime. Sad face. I love my nightly ritual of putting her to bed. It is our special time although lately she doesn't like to rock with me. We read and she has a bottle and then she looks at me and says 'nigh nigh' and makes the sign for bed. We rock a little more and then she is insisting on her crib. While any parent would probably love this ... this time at night is the only time that this little gal sits contently!
The good news is though that I'll be able to Skype with the Lizster both tomorrow and Wednesday evening! She is growing like a weed but sick as can be. Her cough has gotten worse poor thing and she has a mad case of diaper rash (TMI?). So we baby her a little more than what she is already ...
Off to work a little on the plane and then maybe catch some zzzz's. I think I'm going to need it considering I get in to Dallas at midnight. Until later folks...
Monday, October 24, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Mile High to Miles of Rain.
So I thought I'd have time to catch up with everyone on Friday evening. That obviously did not happen. After arriving in Denver around 9am I went straight to the hotel in order to grab a few boxes and then headed to the hotel. Denver was gorgeous, even if I only got to spend about five hours total in the sunshine. Colorado is definitely one of only a few states that I could see us ever moving to. Sunshine 320 days a year. Wakeboarding and skiing all within an hour or two. Amazing outdoor activities. It would be a blast.
But I digress. Friday set-up went pretty well. After having gone through it once I had an idea of how things needed to be set-up. Friday evening I headed out to Euclid Hall with my rep and another manufacturer for a quick bite (at 9pm that is). Mind you after my 3am wake-up call I was exhausted but the bar was very cool and the food was delish. If you ever get a chance be sure to check out the roasted cauliflower appetizer and the sausage sampler was amazing. We even splurged and shared the S'more dessert complete with homemade graham cracker and marshmallow. www.euclidhall.com
Saturday was the first day of the show and it went well. A little slow to start (it always is) but things picked up around lunch and didn't stop until 7pm when the show closed. I love this show as I always get a chance to catch up with some of my favorite store owners. And it is finally to the point where my stores come prepared and simply hand me their replenishment purchase orders ... some of which are topping over a few thousand dollars! We headed to the Hyatt immediately following the show for a quick drink and then out to Osteria Marco.
Oh my word was this Italian amazing! We ended up with six in our party hanging out with two others at a communal dinner table. Such fun! We started with the meatball sliders and bruschetta, along with a chef's selection of meats and cheeses. I have to say though the most amazing was the Burrata and the Capra Ricotta (homemade in the restaurant). We then ordered a few pizzas to split, but all in all it was delicious. www.osteriamarco.com What was not delicious was that by the end of this dinner I was in a full on fight with a brutal cold. You see I left a petri dish of an office and therefore was hoping I would escape it but I think my lack of sleep did the opposite. It hit me like a ton of bricks.
Sunday was equally as busy and I enjoyed seeing many of my international customers. I'm thinking a trip to Costa Rica may be in my future in order to visit and thank my best international customer! Hmmm that may be wishful thinking. I was feeling pretty miserable but I was able to chat it up with my little princess Sunday evening and what a joy. These long trips make it really hard to not be with her but to hear her say 'hi mama' and 'nigh nigh' or 'buh bye' before we hang up is priceless. I know it will not be long before she is talking up a storm in 'good English'. That evening we met up with a few other manufacturers as well as stores and tailgated outside the convention center. We grubbed on some delicious drinks and jambalaya (and I may have had a DayQuil so I wouldn't feel miserable for the evening). After tailgating we headed to the Ace sponsored Miranda Lambert concert. Although she wasn't amazing she definitely can sing and it was a blast.
Monday was the final day of the show and actually wasn't too painfully slow. We wrote a few orders, caught up with a few additional friends and then waiting until 6pm to tear down. After almost three hours of tear down and pallet loading, I wrapped up and headed back to my hotel. Tuesday was spent visiting two accounts in Colorado Springs. Seeing as I was already in Colorado it just made sense. Good trips and a chance to enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather. I left Tuesday evening to head to Grand Rapids MI. Oooh what a night. Although I had a direct I did not get in to my hotel until a bit past midnight.
Today I was very glad that I didn't have to be ready until 9am. The sleep was much needed. Today was one of those days that you just aren't sure what to expect being in sales. There were two meetings both of which went much smoother than what I had expected. Not great, but not horrible. However to be honest it was more of me pushing through to make it home to see my little one. I wasn't able to talk to her or my husband today due to meetings and flights so I'll be very glad to head home and crawl into bed with my hubby and kiss my baby girl goodnight.
Until next time ... I'll leave you with this. Try and try again, nothing is impossible. A great piece of advice I received this trip and I'm going to try and live a little more to that mantra. Here's to hoping I'm home before midnight tonight. From 35,000 feet ... aloha.
But I digress. Friday set-up went pretty well. After having gone through it once I had an idea of how things needed to be set-up. Friday evening I headed out to Euclid Hall with my rep and another manufacturer for a quick bite (at 9pm that is). Mind you after my 3am wake-up call I was exhausted but the bar was very cool and the food was delish. If you ever get a chance be sure to check out the roasted cauliflower appetizer and the sausage sampler was amazing. We even splurged and shared the S'more dessert complete with homemade graham cracker and marshmallow. www.euclidhall.com
Saturday was the first day of the show and it went well. A little slow to start (it always is) but things picked up around lunch and didn't stop until 7pm when the show closed. I love this show as I always get a chance to catch up with some of my favorite store owners. And it is finally to the point where my stores come prepared and simply hand me their replenishment purchase orders ... some of which are topping over a few thousand dollars! We headed to the Hyatt immediately following the show for a quick drink and then out to Osteria Marco.
Oh my word was this Italian amazing! We ended up with six in our party hanging out with two others at a communal dinner table. Such fun! We started with the meatball sliders and bruschetta, along with a chef's selection of meats and cheeses. I have to say though the most amazing was the Burrata and the Capra Ricotta (homemade in the restaurant). We then ordered a few pizzas to split, but all in all it was delicious. www.osteriamarco.com What was not delicious was that by the end of this dinner I was in a full on fight with a brutal cold. You see I left a petri dish of an office and therefore was hoping I would escape it but I think my lack of sleep did the opposite. It hit me like a ton of bricks.
Sunday was equally as busy and I enjoyed seeing many of my international customers. I'm thinking a trip to Costa Rica may be in my future in order to visit and thank my best international customer! Hmmm that may be wishful thinking. I was feeling pretty miserable but I was able to chat it up with my little princess Sunday evening and what a joy. These long trips make it really hard to not be with her but to hear her say 'hi mama' and 'nigh nigh' or 'buh bye' before we hang up is priceless. I know it will not be long before she is talking up a storm in 'good English'. That evening we met up with a few other manufacturers as well as stores and tailgated outside the convention center. We grubbed on some delicious drinks and jambalaya (and I may have had a DayQuil so I wouldn't feel miserable for the evening). After tailgating we headed to the Ace sponsored Miranda Lambert concert. Although she wasn't amazing she definitely can sing and it was a blast.
Monday was the final day of the show and actually wasn't too painfully slow. We wrote a few orders, caught up with a few additional friends and then waiting until 6pm to tear down. After almost three hours of tear down and pallet loading, I wrapped up and headed back to my hotel. Tuesday was spent visiting two accounts in Colorado Springs. Seeing as I was already in Colorado it just made sense. Good trips and a chance to enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather. I left Tuesday evening to head to Grand Rapids MI. Oooh what a night. Although I had a direct I did not get in to my hotel until a bit past midnight.
Today I was very glad that I didn't have to be ready until 9am. The sleep was much needed. Today was one of those days that you just aren't sure what to expect being in sales. There were two meetings both of which went much smoother than what I had expected. Not great, but not horrible. However to be honest it was more of me pushing through to make it home to see my little one. I wasn't able to talk to her or my husband today due to meetings and flights so I'll be very glad to head home and crawl into bed with my hubby and kiss my baby girl goodnight.
Until next time ... I'll leave you with this. Try and try again, nothing is impossible. A great piece of advice I received this trip and I'm going to try and live a little more to that mantra. Here's to hoping I'm home before midnight tonight. From 35,000 feet ... aloha.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Detour
I expect to be able to write more tonight but gee whiz if this trip goes anything like this morning, I'm screwed. At least I woke up on time. On time being 2:45am, yuck. Out the door by 3:30am, only to have my exit to I-5 south closed this morning. So I took the 'long' way around through Bellevue and down into Tukwila only for my exit to the airport to be closed. Thus another detour.
The only positives this morning were that the premium lane for security opened right as I walked up to it and that the Starbucks line was only about 25 deep (yes this is a surprisingly short line). In two and a half hours I will be in Denver, setting up yet anther trade show booth and hoping upon hopes that the show this weekend is decent.
More soon ... aloha for now!
The only positives this morning were that the premium lane for security opened right as I walked up to it and that the Starbucks line was only about 25 deep (yes this is a surprisingly short line). In two and a half hours I will be in Denver, setting up yet anther trade show booth and hoping upon hopes that the show this weekend is decent.
More soon ... aloha for now!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sushi, Dancing & Fireworks
Do I have your attention yet?
These things all made this week/weekend in Philadelphia a bit better. To put it frankly the show sucked. Traffic was slow, orders were small and people just are so hesitant to buy right now. Unfortunately for me I'm not a hard sell. I truly believe that sales is better suited by building relationships and trust rather than you need this ... and you need it now.
Friday things looked good. Show numbers were decent for the first go round and we all felt optimistic. So much so that we headed to dinner and had some fantastic sushi at Morimoto. A very unexpected find (although recommended highly by the concierge) it is a modern, upscale sushi restaurant with a very simple menu. Everything was divinely fresh, however a bit simple for my tastes. I love when sushi chef's experiment with different flavors and textures. Not here, everything here was crisp and basic. Not a bad thing, just not generally what I would seek out. www.morimotorestaurant.com The evening was spent at a colleague's hotel having a few glasses of wine and then we headed out dancing for a bit of fun and to leave the stresses of work and shows behind for a few hours.
Saturday, not so much. Things were fairly steady however no one wanted to write. "I'll just take the catalog please," or "We are good for now, thanks," or my favorite (both literally and sarcastically) "My rep takes great care of me and I prefer to order through her/him." So we wrote a few orders, caught up with a few people and then turned in for a fairly early night.
Sunday the show was empty. No one wanted to write orders. Everyone wanted to watch football or sight see while they were in Philadelphia. So we sat, we ate, we had lengthy conversations that resulted in one sale for me the entire day Sunday. Then comes the worst. While I generally don't mind tear down this go around I had to wait for my pallet as there was a bit of shelving I didn't use and I had stored by boxes for my brand new display. Well the show closed at 5pm and by 9:30pm I still had no pallet. God bless Philadelphia and union labor. Luckily at 9pm my rep and I began building another pallet and 'making things work' so that we were not there until midnight. Well, my pallet showed up about 10pm and we were wrapped up around 11pm. By the time I made it to my hotel out by the airport it was 11:30pm and I was spent.
Up at 4:15am this morning as I wanted to get home half ways early to spend a few hours with Lizzy. The first flight was on time and now as I await my second flight ... things look interesting. Lots of storms and possible tornado's in Cincinnati. Just praying I get out. I need to see my baby. I miss her tons on trips like these. All I want is to give her a huge hug and kiss. Especially as she now knows how to do both quite well now!
Until next time folks ...
These things all made this week/weekend in Philadelphia a bit better. To put it frankly the show sucked. Traffic was slow, orders were small and people just are so hesitant to buy right now. Unfortunately for me I'm not a hard sell. I truly believe that sales is better suited by building relationships and trust rather than you need this ... and you need it now.
Friday things looked good. Show numbers were decent for the first go round and we all felt optimistic. So much so that we headed to dinner and had some fantastic sushi at Morimoto. A very unexpected find (although recommended highly by the concierge) it is a modern, upscale sushi restaurant with a very simple menu. Everything was divinely fresh, however a bit simple for my tastes. I love when sushi chef's experiment with different flavors and textures. Not here, everything here was crisp and basic. Not a bad thing, just not generally what I would seek out. www.morimotorestaurant.com The evening was spent at a colleague's hotel having a few glasses of wine and then we headed out dancing for a bit of fun and to leave the stresses of work and shows behind for a few hours.
Saturday, not so much. Things were fairly steady however no one wanted to write. "I'll just take the catalog please," or "We are good for now, thanks," or my favorite (both literally and sarcastically) "My rep takes great care of me and I prefer to order through her/him." So we wrote a few orders, caught up with a few people and then turned in for a fairly early night.
Sunday the show was empty. No one wanted to write orders. Everyone wanted to watch football or sight see while they were in Philadelphia. So we sat, we ate, we had lengthy conversations that resulted in one sale for me the entire day Sunday. Then comes the worst. While I generally don't mind tear down this go around I had to wait for my pallet as there was a bit of shelving I didn't use and I had stored by boxes for my brand new display. Well the show closed at 5pm and by 9:30pm I still had no pallet. God bless Philadelphia and union labor. Luckily at 9pm my rep and I began building another pallet and 'making things work' so that we were not there until midnight. Well, my pallet showed up about 10pm and we were wrapped up around 11pm. By the time I made it to my hotel out by the airport it was 11:30pm and I was spent.
Up at 4:15am this morning as I wanted to get home half ways early to spend a few hours with Lizzy. The first flight was on time and now as I await my second flight ... things look interesting. Lots of storms and possible tornado's in Cincinnati. Just praying I get out. I need to see my baby. I miss her tons on trips like these. All I want is to give her a huge hug and kiss. Especially as she now knows how to do both quite well now!
Until next time folks ...
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The city of brotherly love ...
Well I made it, caught an earlier flight yesterday ... set-up today ... ready to go home.
The Chicago meetings' went one for two. One was just 'peachy' (no sarcasm intended!) and the other was really great. Got to the airport five hours early for my flight and ended up getting on an earlier flight (which was great). Arrived at the hotel just in time to witness an SUV hit a car and then run straight into the corner of the hotel. Major oops! She was fine as was the driver of the other car, but wow, that was something to see.
Set up all day today. The booth looks good, a little full, but it looks sharp. Not looking forward to tearing down Sunday evening. It will probably take about three hours and not exactly fun after a long weekend at a trade show. But such is life in a day of sales!
Here's to spending the weekend in a city I hear is pretty cool, but have yet to really explore! Maybe a few good spots for dinner will be in my future. Toodles for now!
The Chicago meetings' went one for two. One was just 'peachy' (no sarcasm intended!) and the other was really great. Got to the airport five hours early for my flight and ended up getting on an earlier flight (which was great). Arrived at the hotel just in time to witness an SUV hit a car and then run straight into the corner of the hotel. Major oops! She was fine as was the driver of the other car, but wow, that was something to see.
Set up all day today. The booth looks good, a little full, but it looks sharp. Not looking forward to tearing down Sunday evening. It will probably take about three hours and not exactly fun after a long weekend at a trade show. But such is life in a day of sales!
Here's to spending the weekend in a city I hear is pretty cool, but have yet to really explore! Maybe a few good spots for dinner will be in my future. Toodles for now!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Windy City ...
Oh how I love Chicago.
Smooth flight, decent Chicago pizza, and now looking forward to relaxing this evening before two meetings and another flight tomorrow. It is the beginning of a long week. Well more like a week on the road, which means it is a long week!
It is getting harder and harder to leave the Lizster. Funny as that sounds as I thought for sure as she got older I'd become more and more accustomed to leaving as would she. But no such luck. I think a big reason is because she is becoming a ton of fun! She began walking, not just between daddy and I, this past weekend. She started talking within the last week. She is feeding herself with a spoon better and better every day. I think the only remnant of 'baby' is the bottle she will not give up and the diapers (I think we are ways from giving that up!).
We are saying hi, buh-bye, mama, dada, and please (sounds more like peas, but the sign language that goes with it means please)! Well hopefully daddy, Lizzy and I will get to Skype in the next few days. Unfortunately after tonight the days are long and the nights even longer. I'll be heading to Philadelphia for the True Value hardware show. First day is 7am-6pm and the second day is 7am-8pm ... there is a third day but at least that is a bit more doable at 8am-5pm ... however that is on a Sunday.
Okay time to go to sleep ... night night friends. Kisses to my Lizbug, mommy loves you and misses you tons!!!
Smooth flight, decent Chicago pizza, and now looking forward to relaxing this evening before two meetings and another flight tomorrow. It is the beginning of a long week. Well more like a week on the road, which means it is a long week!
It is getting harder and harder to leave the Lizster. Funny as that sounds as I thought for sure as she got older I'd become more and more accustomed to leaving as would she. But no such luck. I think a big reason is because she is becoming a ton of fun! She began walking, not just between daddy and I, this past weekend. She started talking within the last week. She is feeding herself with a spoon better and better every day. I think the only remnant of 'baby' is the bottle she will not give up and the diapers (I think we are ways from giving that up!).
We are saying hi, buh-bye, mama, dada, and please (sounds more like peas, but the sign language that goes with it means please)! Well hopefully daddy, Lizzy and I will get to Skype in the next few days. Unfortunately after tonight the days are long and the nights even longer. I'll be heading to Philadelphia for the True Value hardware show. First day is 7am-6pm and the second day is 7am-8pm ... there is a third day but at least that is a bit more doable at 8am-5pm ... however that is on a Sunday.
Okay time to go to sleep ... night night friends. Kisses to my Lizbug, mommy loves you and misses you tons!!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
On the road again ...
Just a quick post tonight as it has been a long week and an extremely long day.
After almost eight weeks at home, travel has begun again. In a big way. I'm in Spokane today and tomorrow assisting at one of my favorite shops, The Kitchen Engine, celebrating their 5 year anniversary. Check them out here: www.thekitchenengine.com. Today I spent the day demonstrating our awesome hand powered food processor and a few other nifty gadgets to make the perfect guacamole.
This morning though and this week in general, has left something to be desired. Why is it when work is stressful that is when home gains stress momentum as well? Lizzy has decided she just doesn't like to sleep without us in the room, holding her. Yikes. We finally got her to bed around 9:30pm last night and she decided it would be a great idea to wake up at 4:14pm. Now most people probably think, well at least you got six hours of sleep. It is not the same as almost eight hours people.
Needless to say I'm tired, stressed and a little loopy. Enjoying my stay here at the lovely Davenport Tower though. The only hotel I'll stay at in Spokane now. Best rooms ever. Even better than the Starwoods I generally stay in. Tonight I ate at the hotel restaurant, which is actually known around town as pretty decent, and had the best Southern Comfort Chicken and quite a tasty spinach salad with egg, bacon and sliced beets. Delish. www.thedavenporthotel.com
Okay off to bed, another day of demonstrating tomorrow!
After almost eight weeks at home, travel has begun again. In a big way. I'm in Spokane today and tomorrow assisting at one of my favorite shops, The Kitchen Engine, celebrating their 5 year anniversary. Check them out here: www.thekitchenengine.com. Today I spent the day demonstrating our awesome hand powered food processor and a few other nifty gadgets to make the perfect guacamole.
This morning though and this week in general, has left something to be desired. Why is it when work is stressful that is when home gains stress momentum as well? Lizzy has decided she just doesn't like to sleep without us in the room, holding her. Yikes. We finally got her to bed around 9:30pm last night and she decided it would be a great idea to wake up at 4:14pm. Now most people probably think, well at least you got six hours of sleep. It is not the same as almost eight hours people.
Needless to say I'm tired, stressed and a little loopy. Enjoying my stay here at the lovely Davenport Tower though. The only hotel I'll stay at in Spokane now. Best rooms ever. Even better than the Starwoods I generally stay in. Tonight I ate at the hotel restaurant, which is actually known around town as pretty decent, and had the best Southern Comfort Chicken and quite a tasty spinach salad with egg, bacon and sliced beets. Delish. www.thedavenporthotel.com
Okay off to bed, another day of demonstrating tomorrow!
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