Friday
Wow! What a busy, fun-filled day. I arrived at the convention center around 7:15am. I believe I was one of the first ones there. And, I jumped in the registration line - the first line of many. While waiting in line you always get to meet the nicest people. Everyone's always amazed how far I travel. Although, I did sit next to one woman who drove from Vegas. Drive?!?!?! I think she's nuts.

I spent the morning at the Vendor Faire buying a ton of stuff I didn't need and now wonder how I'm going to get it home! I really think I will be shipping stuff this time. It's always fun seeing all of the cool stuff that the local scrapbook stores can't begin to carry. I met several Stampin' Up! demonstrators who had a booth and some very cool examples. I was talking about something with one of the demonstrators when she mentioned contacting a woman named Tina Rosenkrans. I know Tina personally! She's the woman in North Jersey who is part of my upline. What a small world!

I started my classes at 12:30. I took a Close to My Heart class (another company like Stampin' Up). I was unimpressed. I went it with an open mind. I was anxious to work with their product to see how I liked the acrylic stamps and check out the ink and paper. The cardstock was not as nice as SU. The ink pads were much smaller. It looks like they've recently redesigned them to be more like SU - where the ink is stored upside down. And, the projects were cheap and cheesy. My second class was a PaperCrafts class. I LOVE PaperCrafts. It was a class called "Bling-aling". We added lots of glitter and sparkly embellishments to cards. It was taught by the Editor-in-Chief, Stacy Croninger. I just love her. I took my first class from her last year in Valley Forge. It was the class that introduced me to Stampin' Up. She's not a demonstrator, but SU had provided all of the product. I also ran into her a lot in Houston back in September. She's a great person - loves Bassett Hounds, is down to earth, and very friendly. I had a chance to talk more with her in my final class of the night - a card swap. She claimed she remembered me from Houston. And, she will be in Valley Forge this summer. She'll also be on QVC that week. Anyway, back to the classes. My third class was a two-hour book class. Not sure what to think about that one. The jury is still out. It's the class I needed all of those tiny black and white pictures for. Of course we didn't even get to the pictures, so why did I do all of that work last Tuesday? When will I learn!?!?!? I had a short break then it was on to the card swap with Stacy. It was fun. We also made five cards and a cool card organizer. I swapped twenty cards and got some really great cards back. I thought I had a cool card. But, mine wasn't very exciting compared to the ones I was getting. These women spend A LOT of time and money on their swaps! I even swapped with Stacy. Although, hers was just a basic card using the Chatterbox kits. Very, VERY basic. But, it was from her and I'll cherish it always.

I was scheduled to then go to the crop night from 7 - 11. I couldn't do it. I'm exhausted. I needed to come back and unwind. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I have classes from 8:30 - 4:30. But, I do have several breaks scattered throughout.

Today was great for the diet. Ready for what I survived on? A banana, 2 granola bars, and a slice of pizza. Think I stayed within my points? I think so! That's probably why I also ran out of energy. Tomorrow's dinner is at Chipotle! There are several in the area. I deserve it. I'm just going to skip the sour cream and cheese. And, at some point, I have to find that FedEx location! I don't know how I'm going to begin to get all of this CRAP home.

Okay. I need to go to bed. It's 10pm here. I have to wake up around 6 to repack my bags. I couldn't begin to carry them all up to the room tonight. I even bought a suitcase. It was loaded with tons of Rusty Pickle products. And, it's a cool plaid. I've looked at them several times and have come very close to buying them. I'm glad I held out. They didn't come with all of this cool stuff! Okay. Time for bed.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, I am enjoying the fire in my fireplace tonight. Very cozy.