On The Road Again

~My minute of fame...spotted myself on an advertisement in our showroom!~

At last, I do believe, that I am back to a normal schedule after much traveling and being on the go for quite some time. I left town last Wednesday at the crack of dawn (5 am to be exact, which entailed waking up at 3:45 to get myself together) with a few other gals to head to Atlanta for the gift show mart. I have experienced this particular market a few times years ago, but it was apparel and I was selling in the showroom, so my perception of market was literally 1 room and the elevators I traveled in to get to that room. If you have never been to market before and are completely clueless as to what in the world I am talking about, let me just tell you that it consists of about 3 buildings, 20 + floors high, with about 40+ vendors on each floor...aka a shoppers heaven. Though the amount of product I saw was completely overwhelming (sensory overload, WAY too many cute things) and made it extremely hard to focus (I could have stayed in one showroom for hours), I had the best time attempting to soak it all in, learning all the details and insight into buying, and assisting my boss in purchasing new items/brands for our store. Market is one of my favorite aspects of being a manager (I so do miss the Lilly mart), so I was very thankful and extremely thrilled that I was able to attend for a few days and I enjoyed my experience to the hilt. Coton Colors also has their own showroom where they display product for buyers from all over to view, so being able to see what new great items are coming in this year, watching our sales reps sell, and getting to know everyone a bit better after the showroom closed down, was quite a treat too!

I left early Friday morning from Atlanta to head to Tallahassee, to then quickly re-pack my suitcase (and pack MAC one too), to then hop BACK in the car again to pick the Mr. up in Thomasville to head to Savannah; I seriously spent the entire day in the car! We sure do enjoy wearing out that gravel  road between our house and his parents. I shouldn't complain though because it was all worth it to be able to stop in Warner Robins to see my sweet Mema for a bit and to spend the weekend celebrating my father in laws 50th birthday! Im thankful family is within driving distance and that we have vehicles to get us around.

Now that you're caught up on all my "goings on", hope you have a fantastic Monday y'all!!

~Laura (owner and designer of Coton Colors), along with her daughter Kyle (also a product designer, who I have quite enjoyed getting to know and hang out with) did a cooking demo with recipes from the Coton Colors Cookbook. They did a fabulous job preparing the tasty recipes and I especially loved being able to sample them once filming was over :) If you don't have this cookbook, I must insist you purchase it; the recipes are simple, wonderful and delicious ~

~The bright colors and unique pieces in this particular showroom immediately caught my eye~

~Illume candles are making a new home in our store; you will die over the lovely scents and beautiful packaging~

~Gorgeous, rich colors (that I selfishly can't wait to display in my own home)~

~I snapped this scary pic as I crossed over an all glass "bridge" from one building to the next; heights don't bother me too much, but this was a little high for my comfort~

~Leisure golf cart ride exploring the country after a much needed jog~

~Enjoyed the 70 degree weather with this marsh view~

~We walked down to River Street in Savannah so I could see the massive container ships leaving port; I have a weird fascination with these boats, so this thrilled me to no end~

~Enjoyed one of our favorite restuarants, Vinnies, before heading back to Tally...love that man~