Thursday, September 22, 2011

Not Vegas, baby!

My bag is packed, and tomorrow I'm flying out to the 9th annual ABC Kids Expo, one of the largest juvenile product shows in the industry. I make the trip every year to meet personally with suppliers, and to get a peak at what's new & exciting. It's a fun (albeit exhausting) few days, it's definitely something I look forward to every year. In previous years, the show was held in Las Vegas (baby!), but this marks the show's debut in Louisville, Kentucky. I'll admit that I'm a little disappointed about this year's venue, I'm not a gambler, but Las Vegas is a fantastic place to people watch ("Is that his girlfriend or his grand-daughter?" "Are those real?"). The show's organizers have worked hard to get attendees and exhibitors alike jazzed (yes, I said jazzed) about the show, we'll see if Louisville is everything they promise.


In previous years, my husband has attended the show with me, and what I mean by that is while I'm hiking through rows upon rows of juvenile gear, he's lazing about by the hotel pool drinking margaritas. He's not coming this year (suffice it to say, he was not jazzed at the idea of making the trek to Louisville), he'll be home with the kids as I go it alone. I'm a little nervous and excited at the prospect of being totally and completely alone. In my 37 years on this planet, I have *never* been alone, I basically went from living with my parents to living with my husband, this will be a new experience for me! I certainly hope this solo trip goes better than the last, it will be très embarrassing if I end up crying in public. Again.


I've already mapped out a premilinary list of vendors I want to visit, some good, and some bad. It is a little hard to navigate the show virtually, while the vendors are broken into separate categories, with names like Buckley Boo, Piggy Wiggles, Inchbug, and KooChoo, figuring out what I want to hit is a time-consuming process. Outside of the show, I'm not sure what I'll do with my free time, but having zero responsibilites will be pretty sa-weet! I'll be posting pics and uploading videos from the show to our Youtube channel, as in previous years, I'll be giving away the goodies I receive at the show, stay tuned here or on our Facebook group for further details. Giddyup!

5 comments:

  1. Please post, post, post. We all look forward to hearing what you see.

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  2. Hope it's a good time-I would love to hit this show sometime-yep, I'm a big new stuff geek and seeing all the cool (and not so cool) products and companies out there sounds do exciting! Can't wait to hear about it

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  3. The report from this show is my favorite blog you do! Looking forward to the wacky stuff you find!

    Find the balance between being lonely/missing the fam and having a super, independent blast!
    Brenda

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  4. Positive spin is "he chose to stay home, therefore isn't allowed to complain about having stayed home" once you return. ;)

    Can't wait to hear about all the great (and FAILblog-worthy) items you spot! :D

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  5. Can't wait to hear about the new products ESP the ones that fail big time! Enjoy your nights off mama!

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