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Tonight was our first ever “Girls’ night out”…Curious George and a trip to 1/2 Price Books. We had a fantastic time! Ella was hilarious. She laughed out loud at the funny parts and insisted that I take her socks and shoes off half way through the movie. She ate the entire time – popcorn and a $4 bag of plain M & M’s. After the movie, we went to 1/2 Price Books, one of my FAVORITE places. Unfortunately I didn’t get to look at anything – it was all about Ella tonight. She walked away with Curious George Visits the City, two Franklin books and a tummy ache she acquired during the movie. She hates having her pictures taken as you can see. Doesn’t she know how paparazzi-like I am? Of course she does – that’s why she hides her face. I’m scared of what age 16 will bring me…Right now Ella is singing from the top of her lungs in the bed. She’s totally wired from her soda and candy.

The movie was much more enjoyable than I expected. Lots of music from Jack Johnson which was nice. Big weekend ahead – lots of work to do, Nolen’s Valentine cards to work on, clothes shopping for the kids, grocery shopping, Olympics watching…

Well, the show was great! A ton of incredibly smart retailers picked up our new Route 99 line. So many people also took notice of all the other things we’d been up to for the last year. The company has been through so many changes and our booth took a lot of people by surprise. Vegas was a healing time for me – rekindling old friendships…visiting with old customers…it was cool.

Coming home was really awesome. Kate and I caught the red-eye home so I got home at 5 am instead of 10 am. I surprised Ben and the kids with my early arrival. Ben is a total superman! I came home to a spotless house, a fridge full of leftovers like pork loin, pesto pasta, chili and homemade banana pudding, and some happy & healthy kids. He’s so incredible!

This trip was really good for me and my son’s relationship. {absence makes the heart grow fonder} I wrote a note for him to read everyday I was gone. According to Ben, he really loved the notes and looked forward to reading them every day. Every time I called home he was super chatty. He talked more than anytime I can remember. He’s really growing up. I’m looking forward to watching him continue to mature. We’re able to have such fun conversations these days. He’s also very creative. I love to ask him what he thinks of a design that I’ve created. His feedback is priceless.

It’s so wonderful to be home. A quiet Friday night that consists of giving the girls a bath and watching Shark Boy and Lava Girl with Nolen beats a night watching Frankie Moreno at the Las Vegas Hilton any old night…but that was a blast, too:) I’d post a pic of us crazy girls with Frankie but the picture was erased. I’m so bummed!

The first day went great! Products were well received and I think we’re going to have a great show! We went straight to the bar after the show…it was definitely Miller {light} Time. Me, Kate & Stephanie went to the Grand Lux for dinner. I was so bummed – the Las Vegas Grand Lux doesn’t have beignets…what’s that about?? So we got chocolate martinis instead – not a bad consolation prize. Once we were all liquored up, we went jewelry shopping and bought some great gaudy earrings and rings to wear tomorrow. It will look great with our scooter scarves (I think)…

I love music but I never let myself slow down enough to enjoy it. But I decided that since I was on a Saturday flight and had a long week of hard work ahead of me, I would treat myself to a laptop-free plane ride. Good thing since Kate & I were practically snuggling in our non-exit row seats.

My sweet husband stayed up until 2 am filling his MP3 player with some of my favorites: The BoDeans, Ella Fitzgerald , The Police, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Costello. I love the emotions that music evokes – a song can you back in time like no photograph can.

Here’s an example: I was listening to R.O.C.K. in the USA by John Cougar Mellancamp. It immediately took me back in time – when on a whim, I decided to meet up with Kate & Emily in Indianapolis, IN for CKU. After my connecting flight was cancelled, I ended up on a bus from Chicago to Indianpolis. I finally got my rental car, started out on the highway, turned on the radio and lo and behold, what is blaring from the car radio? ROCK in the USA! What a perfect Midwest song from a quintessential Midwest rocker! That trip turned out to be one of the best trips ever. It was the very next day that I met Kristi Sikora Blankenship, Cropper Hopper queen herself, who later introduced me to Advantus which brings me to now…My CHA launch is just 9 hours away…a launch that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Advantus! And all these memories came to me because I listened to a song on the plane.

So if this show goes well, I’m rewarding myself (and my husband for putting up with me) some I-pods. I never really understood the whole music phenomenon until recently but now I get it. So if you haven’t taken some time alone and listened to some of your favorite tunes, do it soon. You’ll be glad you did.

Oh, and here’s another CHA preview: PREVIEW

At last, my Stella arrived! Isn’t she pretty? I really got the hang of driving it today, even though it was rainy and cold. My first time on the scooter the I had a…how shall I put it…an “altercation” with the mailbox – the mailbox won – leaving me and my new bike a bit scuffed up…bummer. Nothing ice and an ace bandage (and a bit of touch up paint) can’t fix. It’s really not smart to leap from a moving bike even if you are heading uncontrollably into a mailbox. I’m really glad the mini-windshield was backordered because I probably would have shattered it. Oh well; at least I got it over with. Now I’m sore all over. Good thing I found the perfect helmet and was wearing it. It’s white with pink flames. So very cute! I had Ben follow me to the office this evening for a trial run. The shifting is a bit tricky, but I’m getting the hang of it. Rain is in the forecast tomorrow so I’m not sure I’m going to have the guts to go on my own. We’ll see…