CHA Day 1...

I'm baaaack! And wow, did I have a blast! I just knew I would love all the AMM girls (which I did!) since I already felt like I knew them, but it was SO cool to also meet so many other people who i've "met" online. I can honestly say that every single person I met was so warm and friendly - it truly felt like meeting long lost friends who i've known forever!

I took a ton of pics, and my computer is not cooperating tonight, so i'm going to divide them up by days. This first photo was actually taken Saturday night, the night before CHA day 1. I met up with the AMM girls at our condo, and then we headed to the SEI party. Although the huge pack of newly released paper lines was very cool to receive, I think the awesome ice cream bar may have been my favorite part, hehea. I finally got to meet Anabelle, and it cracks me up that we met for the first time in CA when we live about two hours away from each other on the east coast. That's Anabelle and Jenn in the back row and Michelle (AMM owner), me and Tonya in the front row:

The first stop I made on Saturday was to the Fancy Pants booth where I got to meet FP owners Jodi and Jared for the first time. They were both so wonderful!! I also got to meet their new baby who was super adorable :-) In the FP booth, I also got to meet fellow design team member Ronda. Not only is this girl amazingly talented, but she is so super sweet, as well!
I can't even remember which booth I took this photo in now (prima maybe?) but cupcakes were one of the many themes I saw all around the show (along with dress forms and handmade flowers). They were making me hungry! :-)

Stacy and I are constantly dealing with people confusing our name spellings since we're both on the AMM DT. Poor thing had to walk around with her CHA name tag with a spelling of Staci lol. Lucy and I have talked on the phone a bunch of times, so I knew we'd hit it off, and I was right. Both of these girls are awesome, and I kept hoping some of their talent would rub off while I was with them lol! That's Krista on the left, who was a total sweetie, and Karen next to her, another AMM DT girl (who was also awesome and had the cutest baby!). Teresa Collins' booth was gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!
So, who watches The Bachelor (come on, you know you do... lol)? Well, i'm sure those of you who watch remember "Psycho Michelle" who just got kicked off last week. Well, actually, she told Jake she wanted to leave and he told her to go ahead. Anyway, as we were walking across the street from the convention center to get lunch at the Marriott hotel, who do we see waitressing at the restaurant there but Michelle?! We asked her for her picture, and she was very happy to oblige (she's the pretty brunette dressed in black).
Yay, I got to see Sherry again! Thanks to CHA, Sherry lost the title of being the only scrappy friend I had met in real life, lol. It was so good to see her again, and I may get to see her next month, too, when she comes to my neck of the woods :-)
Anyone recognize this scrapper? Ok, ok, so Kathy Ireland is not a scrapbooker (at least not that I know of), but she was at CHA promoting her new fabric line. And she was super sweet and gracious, shaking all of our hands and introducing herself. And man is she TALL!
Aaaaah, Doris! It was hard for me to believe that I'd never actually met Doris in person before this, because I feel like i've known her forever. I totally wish I could have spent more time with this girl, but i'll take what I can get ;-)
Loved the homespun feel of the Unity Stamp company booth. They had these adorable sewn flowers...
and this super cool tree! Wouldn't this look so cool on a child's bedroom wall?
The Dear Lizzy line by American Crafts was super cute, and I was loving all the awesome shadow boxes they had displayed with the product.
Well, my friends, i'll be back soon for CHA day 2 :-) For now, I must get my jet lagged self to bed!