Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Mega Everything . . .

Spent last weekend in Novi, Michigan for the Great Lakes Mega Meet . . . about 200 miles – and 40-50 degrees – from my house.  It was in the mid-80s at home the whole time I was gone, while in Novi it started in the mid-70s, then the mid-60s, then the upper-30s, and finally the mid-40s – with monsoon rains to boot.  Thankfully, we were inside all weekend so it was warm and cozy . . .

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. . . or not.  The convention center is expanding – it was supposed to be finished before we came this year, but lots of delays later it has barely begun.  So there was a huge “cold air register” in the back corner of the hall and the outside air was pouring into the building.  Since no one brought cold weather gear, the department stores were getting a workout.

Still, there was a lot of fun to be had – and lots of sights to see . . .

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Tanya Doner-Kostynuk from Riley and Company celebrated her birthday on the road during setup, so we made sure that she felt special.

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All of the “big rigs” were jockeying for space at the dock.  Gail Mollard from the Art Gone Wild Conglomerate (now encompassing Art Gone Wild, Inky Antics, Stampers Anonymous, Darcie’s, Verses, Northwoods, and I’m probably missing two or three) was on guard duty during the wait for dock space, but actually got a chance to drive . . . about twenty feet . . . when a fork lift needed to maneuver in to hold up the dock plate while it was repaired.

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Not sure that I have ever seen a shovel tied to the back of an RV – but Port from Totally Tiffany says he has driven it to some places where he probably shouldn’t, and that shovel has come in handy when digging himself out of trouble.

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How long has it been since you have seen one of these outside your hotel room door in the morning?  This was a pleasant surprise outside mine . . .

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The mob scene just before the show opened on Thursday.  When the ladder I use for giveaways grows up, it wants to be just like Kate Griswold’s . . .

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Spotted in the Riley and Company booth as I walked to the front to take a picture of the crowd.  The grammar police in me has trouble getting past that missing apostrophe . . .

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Anthony Gilbert from Anthony’s Paper Craft joined me in our booth again – and knows how to draw a crowd with a basket of Dum Dums . . .

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The tote bag did not catch my attention – those are everywhere.  It was the Rice Krispie Square in the corner – I always have those on hand in the booth in case I need some quick calories, but I had never seen them anywhere else at a show.

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T-shirt of the weekend . . .

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And tote bag of the weekend . . . since I have spent much of my adult life in search of the perfect typestyle, I can relate.

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This lady was just overwhelmed by the ice cream cone she had just bought – I told her the vendor must have been flirting with her.

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And we had another year of “Kids Love Copics” – I am amazed by how much they know, and how much they enjoy amazing their parents with their knowledge.  My friend Isabella Walker (at right) was old enough to take classes this year, and had to plan her show floor time wisely since she had lots of places to shop.

This week, the roadshow will be in Syracuse, New York at the SRC Events Center at Onondaga Community College – come out and see us and bring a carload of friends!

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