I’m back. I survived my 1st CHA. It wasn’t easy getting there, but the show was SOOO worth it! (CHA is the Craft & Hooby Association. Twice a year they put on a convention, summer's in Chicago, winter's in Anaheim, CA. All the new scrapbooking supplies, papers, embellies, tools, and such are unveiled at these shows. It's like Disney World for store owners!) Well, here’s how my very first CHA show went... the long, long, loooong version…
I left Charleston at 5:00pm on Wednesday, but my connecting flight from Memphis to Chicago was cancelled because of bad weather. (Geesh-a few bolts of lightning & 8 inches of rain an hour and they shut down the whole airport!) We had checked our luggage, boarded the plane, waited with our seatbelts on for over an hour and everything, before they finally told us that the flight was cancelled. So we all got back off the airplane and wound up having to stay the night in Memphis. (I shared a room with a nice lady named Judy, just retired from teaching for 25 yrs in Chicago… and I met a nice young man just out of high school, driving the shuttle, who aspires to own a hotel of his own some day.)
So the next day… my flight to Chicago was schedule for 10am on another airline, but when I tried to check in, I was denied! UA refused to honor my reservation made thru NWA. I could NOT believe it! So NWA redirected me to a 2:00 flight thru Detroit. Well, my flight to Detroit was delayed in air, so I missed my connecting flight to Chicago! Are you kidding me? I didn’t get out of Detroit until after 11:00pm Thursday. Finally, I arrived in Chicago at 12:30am Friday morning… 32 hours later!!! (Ronee drove up on Monday with her family, and they made it from Charleston to Chicago in less than 13 hrs.) Next time I’m getting a direct flight only.
Oh, and to top it all off… my hotel cancelled my reservation for the entire weekend, because I didn’t check in Wednesday as scheduled. Not only did they give my room away (no more vacancies of course), but they charged me for the night that I missed! Well, I had a little conversation with the clerk’s supervisor, and they found me a room at a hotel right across the street from the convention center. So, luckily for them, it worked out well for me in the end.
So the getting there part pretty much bit the big one, but let me tell you... CHA did not let me down! Ronee and I started walking the show floor first thing Friday morning. We barely made it down 4 aisles before we realized it was 2:00 and we hadn’t eaten all day. So we strolled on down to a Mexican restaurant a couple of blocks away, had some chips & salsa, a margarita or two, and headed back. At the end of the day (the show closes at 5 each day) we had barely made it to a fourth of the vendor booths. Ummm… can you say “rookies?” Well, we were sooo overwhelmed by the enormity of the show, the delicious product displays, and the very sweet vender reps (one in particular… you’ll have to keep your eye out for pics of my pirate tattoo, courtesy of ERIC… what happens at CHA stays at CHA!!)
Friday night was the beginning of our so awesomely fabulous girls’ weekend out… My cousin Jennifer and her friend Angela drove up from Iowa (‘bout a 3 hr trip) and supplied the margaritas, chocolate martinis, and frappuccinos. Yummm!! So, we stayed up late looking over product catalogs, drinking, eating & carrying on so loud the next room turned their TV up to full blast. Saturday began at 9am, a meeting w/ Stacey - my new fav product rep. (She’s on the ball, stays on top of my orders, and handles my vender issues. Love her!) So, my crew and I spent the whole day walking the floor, going from vender to vender, oohing and aahing over all the new goodies. We all took turns lugging around my big ‘ol huge crop bag on wheels that carried all of the catalogs I kept tossing in it’s direction. (Okay, so not “all” of us took a turn dragging around that heavy bag. Thank you, Jennifer!! It’s so nice to be loved!)
That night, when we got back to the hotel room, Ronee and I dumped out all the catalogs onto our bed and started sorting, separating, and planning. We warned Jenn and Angela that we’d be up to 3am preparing our orders that needed to be placed the next day. As I usually do with anyone in the vicinity when there’s a ton of stuff to be done, I put everyone to work… whether they are on the payroll or not! So, Ronee prepped the catalogs, I circled everything I wanted, Jennifer wrote up the order forms and Angela added it all up. We were like a scrapbooking supplies ordering machine! But as Saturday started getting closer to Sunday, Jenn and Angela started getting sleepy. They changed into pj’s, started some yawning and leaning toward their pillows. Ronee and I laughed. “What part of 3am did you not understand?” I’m such a slave driver. Hee-hee!
*Oh… gotta tell ya about a funny comment made at the show by an unsuspecting vender rep… Ronee was totally working my order forms like a big time professional assistant as I pointed saying “I want this, I want that, oh- and let’s get 12 of those!” She handled all the catalogs, kept track of all the orders, managed which credit cards we used for what, etc. So, the comment was - “Wow, she’s a really great assistant.” My response: “Yeah, Ronee’s awesome. But it’s a good thing I don’t pay her, because if she was doing this for money, she’d quit!” Let’s just say that I am not exactly Mary Poppins to work for… but Ronee gets me, so now she’s my new best friend!
After a few hours of sleep Sunday morning, we had to check out of the hotel, left our bags w/ the concierge, and headed back to the show like a bunch of crazy people. We raced from vender to vender, placing as many orders as we could manage in our last 5 hours at CHA. Even after 3 whole days of booth hopping, we still didn’t get to see everything. We never made it to nearly a third of the venders. Sorry ladies, we’ll try harder next time!
So very reluctantly, I tore myself away (well actually Ronee tore me away) from the EK/Disney/Jolee’s booth as I finalized my last purchase of the weekend. Whew- thank goodness too, because those credit cards were starting to smoke! (Shhhh, don’t tell Mom!) So, I hustled back across the street to catch the shuttle from the hotel to the airport. As I approached my airline, I realized that my layover in Memphis is only 20 minutes!! Are you freakin’ kidding me? …Well, luckily I caught my connecting flight back to Charleston without any snafoos, and I actually arrived home early!! Can you believe it? Then my hunky husband was there waiting to pick me up like my knight in shining armor. (We’ve only seen each other about 3 times this whole summer, so please excuse the mushy interlude.) FYI: He did notice my (fake) tattoo, but didn’t say anything. He just rolled his eyes. Like I said ladies… stayed tuned for pictures, but I must stress… What happens at CHA, Stays at CHA!
Now I’m tired, I’m hungry, my feet are covered in blisters, and my credit cards are maxed out. (I didn’t think you could max out an AmEx, but evidently you can!) So, stayed tuned for all the lovely papers and embellishments soon to adorn the walls (…and floors… and ceilings) of Charleston’s newest scrapbooking store. Come see me at The Pink House this week. I’m soon to have a really cool “Play” station for you all to test out our new products. It should be fun!
Let’s not forget to give a very big Thank You to Mom for running the store while I was gone! I heard the computers crashed, the internet went down, and Mom was ill the whole weekend. Those of you meeting her for the first time didn’t get the full “Karla” treatment, so I’m sorry. My mom is by far the best customer service orientated person I know. I’m all about the product, she’s all about the customer, and together I hope we provide an environment that you feel is all about “You”.
Gotta go get some sleep. I’ll post pictures as soon as Ronee gets her butt (I mean her camera) home from Chicago. (Drive safely, sweetie.)
Hope y’all have an awesome week. Come see me, you know where I’ll be…
Scrappin’ at The Pink House!!
~Michelle~
P.S. If you made it all the way thru this blog post, I'll give you 10% off any item in my store today thru Friday! Hurry in though, I leave the store at 5pm each day. (Just mention my blog and the discount to me. No need to print the mini novel I just made you read.) Hmmm.... I'm feeling generous... if you bring a friend, I'll give you each 20% off any item!
