the GREAT bridal expo

Paul and I did back to back shows this past weekend at THE GREAT BRIDAL EXPO.
Saturday we were at the Anaheim convention center. We've done more than a few of these to know the ins and outs, like where to park and where and when to get food. We also know to eat before we leave, have coffee on the way, and get there early to beat the crowd of exhibitors at the freight elevators. At the Anaheim convention there's a long walk underneath the convention to the ballroom. It feels like we're rock stars about to go on stage. (If you've seen Jay Z's black album DVD you know what I mean)

Sunday the expo was held at the Westin Bonaventure in LA. Downtown has a special place in my heart. I'm familiar with these buildings. It's nice to know that I come out here at least twice a year (on our small business trips) to visit it's uniqueness. We've also become experts at packing up our booth (thanks to my husband). Can you believe that we fit our whole booth on that small travel dolly? Had to mention that. I'm really proud of that!

Both shows we had a great outcome! I love doing shows! It's a lot of work, but it's the one forum that our work really gets appreciated, especially after being locked up in my office, aka cave, it's nice to know that all our hard work paid off!

I hate to sound like a snot, but I think that we have a really nice booth. It's different and interesting to look at. It attracts the modern bride that can't seem to find invitations that come in her color of orange and purple. It's also paper heaven! If you scrapbook, then you'll see some familiar paper.


Our untraditional flyers/business cards are a big hit at the shows: If you've ever been to a bridal convention, you know that you get bombarded with flyers and free samples and bags of stuff. So giving a bride a small business card just isn't gonna cut it. These little cards stand out, and it's a way for me to use all the scraps that are collecting dust. Sometimes I catch some of the brides getting more than ONE...shame on them!

Now it's crunch time with assembly! I love the set that I'm working on now. It just came off the letter press and it's beautiful! Can't wait to finish and deliver to the bride! So much to do...so little time!

This is me participating...

My filipino cousin (I call her my "filipino cousin" because we're not actually blood related, but her step-mom is my mom's 1st cousin. So that's cousin in my dictionary), Jamie did 7 random things on her blog and didn't tag me (or anyone else) because she said that we'd (her cousins/friends) would probably not participate...so this is me participating, because I thought it was a great idea for a blog...
These are seven random things that happened over the weekend:

1) Alexa doesn't walk in public or I should say in strange places, which means hotel lobbys, fast food restaurants, anywhere outside, etc. And in this exact example, Casa de Fruita off the 152 on the drive between the bay and LA.If you put her down, you can't walk. She'll be holding on with her kung fu grip. It's hilarious.

2) I fall for gimmicks! There's a special on a polish dog sandwich at Wienerschnitzel for 99 cents! Is it really that good, or is it that fact that I love hot dogs (especially with rice, eggs over easy, tomatoes and bagaoong(sp?)? Either way, this is a darn good sandwich. Totally worth the 99 cents, because I'm a pretty good eater and I can't finish the sandwich. We had some before we left. Sam always gets the mini corn dogs. Those are heart attack and a half, and those are good too. Do you see? I think it's a hotdog thing.

3) Alexa doesn't drink or eat anything unless you've shown her that you're willing to eat/drink it too. For instance this SunnyD that Sam's been drinking.
She wouldn't touch the thing last week. But since Sam's been enjoying it around her all weekend long, she WANTS IT NOW. BTW, this is 5 seconds in the lobby without freakin' out. But like I said...5 seconds.

4) Alexa takes a whole lot of persuading to eat something. But once she finds out that the "something" is good...WATCH OUT NOW! She'll snatch as much as she can get and shove it down her throat! Don't even think about trying to get it back. She'll fight you for it!

5) Paper makes me happy. :) I love paper. I love all the different textures, sizes, prints, solids, dies...I love it! And I think that the love is hereditary. Alexa is truly in love with paper! Always has been. Her whole 15 months of life! Whenever she gets close to paper she is drawn to it. Likes to rip it, crunch it, throw it everywhere around her. This is the one mess that I don't mind. I figure that she's developing a relationship with paper. Getting to know how it feels. Like different kinds. If she's fussy, just give her a napkin. It spares me like 4 minutes of quiet time.

6) One of my good friends Christine Yap, nicknamed me "Cornelia". Obviously because I'm corny. I entertain myself. I suffer from only child syndrome. So I do stuff like slap my own knee and catch myself being the only one laughing at my own jokes. I just come from a very comedic family. I do stuff like tell Sam to pick up the bananas and pretend she's a monkey. Then I bust up laughing! The funny part to me is that Sam LISTENS!!! So sad. So sad. The great thing is that she's pretty strong about people that talk crap about her. She learned to say, "They must be drinking haterade". Thank you uncle Slim for that.

7) I hate coming back home from a weekend getaway, or vacation. All it means is that I have to unpack, which leads to more laundry, and it also means that I have to get back to work. And once I get a sniff of relaxation, it's really hard to go back to the daily routine of the week. It's obvious that Alexa doesn't like it either.

And I had to add this random pictures that Sam took with her camera.
She takes awesome shots. Like this one of Alexa brushing her teeth on Oct. 29th. She loves to brush her teeth!

Nor Cal Prelude Dance Competition 2007

There's so much to blog from the weekend. Sam did great at her performance. We left the LBC on Friday after Sam got out of school and didn't get back until about an hour ago. I'm so tired from the drive, but here's some of my favorites for now.
FRIDAY...The road trip started out sunny.

SATURDAY...It's Sam's day to shine

TM Tots Rock! (Thank you David for an awesome performance!)

SUNDAY Morning... We love Sunday mornings...especially in hotels!

Alexa explored the WHOLE hotel room. But the chair was her place.

She never let's me put anything in her hair, but this morning she was kind to me. It lasted a whole 30 minutes. Just enough time to take some pics!

The superstar is awake!

More to come later...I'm pooped!

Trims and Samples

I was only suppose to make one sample and I ended up going crazy! I couldn't decide on one ribbon sample, so I splurged on $2 worth of ribbon and this is what you can do with that. Oh well hopefully they'll love it even more!

Long time - no write

It's been awhile...I know! Catching up is gonna be hard!
Here's what you missed:
Sept.28 - My brother turned 19. His friends from San Diego and LB all came together to celebrate. We celebrated his birthday on the 30th (they were kind enough to add me to the cake since our birthdays are only 8 days apart). I'm so glad that my brother and I are close. We're 13 years apart but it doesn't ever feel that way. And of course the family shot is necessary (even though I would never fathom the thought of doing this with my parents when I was turning 19!)
Oct.3 - Alexa turned 14 months! Picture wasn't actually taken on her 14th month but on 9/30/07. She's talking much more. She doesn't like you to tell her what to do. She sleeps in her crib in her room all by her self like a big girl. She shakes her behind from left to right when she hears music. She's growing tall and big! She wears 24 month clothing comfortably. She pulls all the towels that hang on the oven handle to check herself out in the reflection. She's just becoming the little person she is.
This pic was taken on 10/21/07:do you see the little tooth coming out on the bottom? Well it's fully out now. Her teeth crack me up! She loves to brush her teeth, which is good. We're hoping that all the pearly whites stay pearly white!

I turned 32 and celebrated with friends at lucky strike.

I survived my first (and last) wedding coordination job. I was so busy that I didn't take any pics! Thank god Jame took some good ones for me: The candy buffet was a hit!
If you would've seen the before pics of the ring bearer pillow and flower girl basket you'd give me props! I'm gonna have to get another one just to get a before picture. I'm so happy with the way they turned out.



Sam performed at friendship games and rocked! She's the first one that comes out from the right side
They opened up for TM at CSUF Friendship games. Alex was there representing UCSD and Celisse was there representing CSUR. It was a trip to be at friendship games. I felt old! hahaha... Sam did so well. She lights up when she's on stage!

Sam the witch turned Alexa into an octopus for Halloween.

Babystyle has the best halloween costumes and at reasonable prices! Paul asked me if I was sticking to a fish/ocean theme for Alexa every year. She was a fish last year. i.e.
We go treating in my mom's neighborhood. It gets really busy there and the houses get all into it and decorate like crazy. Here's Sam at one of those houses.
Paul was the strong one and carried Alexa to the door since she refused to walk AT ALL. After the 3rd house we gave up and she was in the stroller the rest of the time.

My mom's 52nd birthday turned into a 21st birthday. (I'm waiting for my mom to give me pics from that night)
Alexa turned 15 months and had a fever of 102 :(

Life is going by so fast. I don't want to miss all the small things with Alexa. I remember complaining that she was too lazy to walk. But now she doesn't crawl. I miss her crawling...:( She's even running now.

This weekend Sam is performing in a showcase in No. Cali. called PRELUDE The family is going on a road trip up north. It will be nice to get away. I've been pretty bad with picture taking lately. So I hope that I'll remember when I'm up there.