Laura Vegas

i've been back from CHA for over 2 weeks now, and am just now getting around to sharing a little about the trip. this is partly because i didn't take any photos. shocking, i know. so many of the other girls had cameras, that i left it to them. since we've been back, i have been watching everyone else's blogs and facebook pages, looking for photos that i can "borrow" to share with you. hopefully, no one minds me borrowing them for a bit :)

 

being at the show with creating keepsakes had to be the highlight of the trip for me. it's such an honor for me to get to work with them so closely, and be a part of so much that they do. CK had a 15 year anniversary party at their booth on the second day. it was really cool that 7 of the 10 dream team girls were able to be at CHA this show. here's the 7 of us, along with 4 of CK's brilliant editors.

this show was so different for me than last year. it wasn't as overwhelming, since i knew what it was about this time around. it felt very familiar, and there were faces i knew everywhere i turned. i spent a lot of time hanging out with the CK dream team girls, walking the floor and checking out all the new products. we also got a chance to thank so many of our sponsers in person, which was really nice.

 

me, kim watson, linda barber, suzy plantamura, and kelly goree at the basic grey booth.

 

linda, me, piradee talvanna, kim watson, and stacy cohen at the my cute stamps booth. so many of the booths had these fun props for taking photos. mustaches were a big thing at this show. who'd have thought it. lol!

 

we took this photo at the EK success booth. they were launching their new smash book, which i think might have been one of the biggest hits of the show. everyone was talking about it. they were taking photos of people (with props of course), and then "smashing" them onto the wall behind us and then signing the wall. lots of fun. 

 

me, piradee, amy tangerine, teresa collins, and kim, at teresa's booth.

 

we had an awesome and hilarious dinner with the CK bunch. all the dream team girls, and the editors. they knew that both suzy and nichol harper were having birthday's that week, and got them cupcakes to celebrate. i happen to be sitting to suzy's right, and i have never laughed so hard at a dinner. she's absolutely hilarious. but i think she met her match with linda barber. lol! we have so many inside jokes from that dinner. they will follow us to our grave, i'm sure ;) 

 

i got to help out in the pink paislee booth for a few hours, on the first two days. by BFF, lynn, designs for them, and knew they were looking for some extra help. this was my first time working in a booth, and it was such a pretty booth to work in. they have some some really gorgeous collections coming out. i think the daily junque collection was my favorite. you can see lots more photos from their booth HERE.

 

me and caroline ikeji, who happens to live about an hour from me and we didn't even know it. i met caroline last year at CHA, and i think she's the cutest thing. she's very petite (and i'm slouching way down for this pic, even though i'm pretty short too). my 14 yr old is very petite, and i think she's going to stay that way. i told caroline that i could see my daughter being just like her.

 

suzanne sergi, lynn ghahary, ashley nguyen newell, and me. lynn is one of my closest BFF's. i have known suzanne for quite a while now. and the three of us are on the pebbles design team together. we had a lot of fun hanging out at the pebbles booth, and checking out the new product since we hadn't seen it in person yet.

 

the jillibean soup girls. their booth was super cute, as always. and packed all the time. i have no clue why i didn't get a picture with everyone. but i did go out to dinner with all these fabulous ladies one night, and they were a ton of fun. you can see more pics of their booth HERE.

 

i'm so bummed i didn't get a photo with stephanie at the bella blvd booth. so i borrowed this one from their blog, of linda, suzy, stephanie hunt, and kim. i make no secret of the fact that i'm in some serious LOVE with bella blvd's products. it's almost as if stephanie designs the products just for me and my style. they just fit me. and i was so excited to have quite a few samples in her super cute booth. you can see a layout of sarah, right behind stephanie's head. and my layout of lynn's puppy landed a spot in their catalog 🙂

 

i got to stop by and see the making memories booth. this is the only photo that i took with my camera. no idea why i took just one picture. lol! their booth focused a lot on the new bravissimo products, with a few new collections and slice cards as well.

 

the one photo i did actually take (not with my camera), and i cut their heads off. lol! actually, i was doing my "hold the camera up in the air and hope for the best" type of shooting, since we were in a crowded restaurant. my aim was a little off.

 

now you can see them! on our last night together, suzy, kim, linda, and i all went out for one last dinner together. i loved watching kim at dinners. she's from south africa, and was so in awe, and so intriqued by our foods. it was like seeing things in a whole new light, through her.

 

i had to laugh at this photo of linda and i, that suzy took. she said the flash had made us look super washed out. so she used some program to "fix" us. i'm not exactly sure what she did to linda. but turns out, she did a whole makeover on me. she put some lip color on me, added some blush, whitened my teeth and my eyes. i'm terrible at putting makeup on. so i told suzy that she'll need to come and move in with me, to edit me every morning. lol!

i'm sure there are a million other stories i could tell you about CHA. and there's so many important things that i'm sure i left out. i sort of told this recap, based on the photos i was able to collect. it was a great show. there's a TON of new products coming out, that i think are going to be so much fun to work with. there are a ton of gorgeous samples and projects out there, made with these new collections, that will be full of inspiration. i loved seeing so many friends, fellow scrappers, and manufacturers. many of which i only read about online, or only chat with online. i just realized that this was the second time i have met jennifer mcquire, and i still don't have a picture with her. geez. 

and at the end of the 4 days, my feet have never been so tired of walking in their life. seriously. it's my own fault, for wearing boots with a big heel on them. but i had too, otherwise, my jeans would all be too long. i made the 5 hour drive back home, getting back to my house at 1:30am. slept until the girls went to school. and then sat on the couch for the next few days.