05Apr 2012

SPREE in Fabulous Las Vegas

By K + Z 0 Vacation, Work Permalink 0

SPREE has been a long awaited event for our company. Some of our clients [and hopefully future clients] attend the show every year and this year was close and convenient in LV. Four of us were supposed to travel to the show, but last minute the owner of the company had to travel to our factory in China and another coworker had too much going on at the office to miss two days. So they both canceled their flights and left me and BT to represent.

We left bright and early Tuesday morning and as soon as we landed we were off to the Paris hotel for the expo. Brian doesn’t mess around – he wanted in on the action immediately. Turns out we were a few hours early, so Brian took me to the hotel’s French Sports Bar. Convenient that nearly every TV was tuned into the golf channel for pre shows of The Masters. Brian hosts a sports radio show on the weekends [Real Golf Radio] and is more passionate about golf than anyone I have ever met. He actually attended the Masters and had to leave Vegas early to fly to Augusta – which left me in LV for 6 hours by myself…but more on that later.

After our lunch we hit the show. Zach’s family is really into shows and attend quite a few each year between aviation, spa, and fun center conventions. If you have never been to an expo before – then you would not know how exhausting they are. I know it sounds dumb, but you walk and walk and walk…all day long. We spent 6 hours exploring all the booths, meeting lots of nice and interesting people, testing out new products, and getting our free swag on.

Poor Brian spent a lot of time on the phone

Going Kardashian style at Panda Hats [this was technically a wolf]

[In the midst of making fun of these magic mineral bands…someone purchased one for me and forced me to wear it.  We’ll see how it works out.]

In the afternoon we met up with one of our biggest clients, Zagg. They had three members of their staff at the show and we made the rounds with them the rest of the day. Brian basically distracted everyone while I took tons of forbidden pictures. After six hours at the show, the Zagg men took us out to an amazing dinner at the Wynn. [No pictures – I was busy stuffing my face with bread.]  Those guys are a blast and we laughed until we almost burst into tears.  I am sure the four men were hesitant to take me out for dinner and then to the tables in the casino later – but we all enjoyed ourselves and as predictable of me, things got mildly inappropriate.  They were pleased a 25-year-old gal could keep up with a bunch of “old married men”.  Their words, not mine.

Around midnight we finally checked into our hotel. It was a long day and I was grateful to have a stack of magazines and free wifi.

With all the prep for leaving, I missed my new favorite show! I am a huge fan of Smash – I can’t get enough.

We had planned to go to the show both days we were there, but we covered the entire show floor our first day. Brian’s flight was scheduled to leave around noon, so we had breakfast at Max Brenner at Caesars before he took off.

[Their cinnamon granola – divine]

[BT’s hot chocolate – love the Hug Mug!]

We grubbed on our food faster than we thought we would and I made Brian go to a few shops with me. Our last stop was Nike and we literally spent FOREVER in there looking for the perfect basketball shoe. He even made a friend.

Then he was gone. Off to Augusta to attend and interview at the Masters. I was a little jealous, and I don’t even enjoy golf! But my experiences with our clients lately [pretty much all golf related] have made me appreciate the sport more. Annnnnd fall in love with Rickie Fowler.

My flight didn’t leave until 6:15 pm – so that left me plenty of time to cruise around the Forum Shops and journey on over to Fashion Show Mall.  [They have TOPSHOP there now, FYI!]

Overall, it was a great trip!  The show was exciting and we did tons of networking.  Not to mention it was 75-80 degrees and I got to wear sandalls for the first time in MONTHS!  But seriously, I plan to attend a few more shows this year, and can’t wait to see what they have in store for us!

02Apr 2012

Conference at the Cabin

By K + Z 0 Family, Food, Personal Permalink 0

A lot has happened this week/weekend and there were a few last minute changes and adjustments to our schedules.  I had a busy work week along with a Relief Society activity so there was a lot of take-out for lunch and dinner (poor Zach) and a lot of random trips to Target for supplies.  In between the madness I did manage to spend the rest of my money from my gift card from my boss and scored my new favorite polish color!

[Neon + leather bag.  I can’t get over this neon craze, and I don’t really want to yet.]

[Green Tea by Sally Hansen]

We had scheduled the weekend at the Hendo Cabin and were planning on taking my friends, but the weekend didn’t work for everyone’s schedule.  So we decided to go up, just the two of us.

Then my parents, along with my Grandfather, were planning on going to New Orleans for the weekend – but when all three of them couldn’t hop onto a flight two nights in a row they decided to come up to the cabin with Zach and I last minute.  My brother and his girlfriend, Brittany came along for a few days as well.

We left Friday night and wasn’t expecting there to be much snow, but we were surprised when both of our vehicles (my Dad’s truck and our SUV) got stuck!  It was unexpectedly slippery and DEEP snow.  Luckily, my father-in-law had the same problem just a few days earlier and had left us the Ranger to go up in the snow.  But boys will be boys, and my Dad and Zach convinced themselves they could get out and up to the cabin without the Ranger.  Well….20 minutes later they were hiking back down to the Ranger [this is where my husband should have listened to me, but I try not to say “I told you so”] to shuttle people and all our stuff up to cabin.  I had to drive back down in the Ranger once all the people and bags were safe and warm to get Zach and my Dad after they had dug out both vehicles.  Even though my Dad got a lecture from my Grandpa about not having chains – I secretly think they had more fun digging out of the snow than unpacking all of the gear.

The rest of the weekend all melted together.  We watched several movies…

[Zach chose Las Vegas Vacation to watch – and my dad laughed the ENTIRE movie]

made delicious breakfasts (thank you Pinterest for my new favorite FRENCH TOAST BAKE)

helped my mom make some swag for Girls Camp, snacked too much,

slept in, lounged…

[my favorite spot in the whole place is a chaise lounge right in front of the tall windows]

and watched conference.

Pretty sure my Dad’s highlight of the weekend was singing along with the talking deer in the kids’ dining room.  This wasn’t the only time I caught him in there…

Sunday morning everyone slept in except my Dad and I – so he peeled me a snack and I ate it as I looked out the window [in the SAME spot I have been for two days!]  It was really peaceful and it even started to snow as we relaxed and chatted.

After the last session, Zach shuttled people back down to their cars to return home.  After a quick lunch and packing all our stuff, the two of us made the last leg down to our car to drive home.

Conference weekend is always so relaxing and rejuvenating.  Time with family, good food, and inspiration from the leaders of our church!