September Travels

Hello again everyone, It's the last Friday of September, a month that has been very busy for me. 

I have several adventures and experiences to share with you over the next few posts. 

I'm going to start with a trip to see a new arrival and Paula's 2nd Color Street vendor event. 

On Sunday September 8, the day before my birthday, I went with James, Brandi, my grandchildren and a few of their friends to the Louisville Zoo.  

I didn't get the chance to take a group picture of us all but did manage to get some pics of them walking from exhibit to exhibit.

I hadn't been to the zoo in a few years. The reason for going back this time was a new arrival. 

This cute little guy was born on August 2. He weighed 300 pounds at birth and made his public debut only 3 days before our visit.

I had a great time hanging out with my son & daughter in law and their friends. However I really enjoyed spending time with the young ones. 

They had a blast and enjoyed visiting the animals and hanging with each other. 

Of course, the best memories I have from that day was the time I spent with two of the brightest stars in my universe, Aria & Gabriel.

It's a nice zoo but its built on a series of hills. The walking required is not bad when you're walking down hill but the trek back up the hill was very difficult for me. I had to stop and rest quite a few times.  

By the time we all made it back to the main plaza at the entrance I was ready to go home. But it was a nice day and a wonderful memory of the time around my 59th birthday. 

On the weekend after my birthday
it was time for Paula to attend her 2nd vendor event as a Color Street stylist. 

This one was an event called "Girls' Day Out" and was held in "The Center For Rural Development" in Somerset, KY.

It was on Saturday, the 14th. Late afternoon on Friday, we made the 90 minute drive (it's basically a straight shot across the Cumberland Parkway from I-65) to spend the night at the Holiday Inn Express. 

Our reasoning was that we'd get a good night's sleep. We'd be rested  and just a few minutes from the venue for early set up. 

Well, the hotel and room was very nice but the king bed was extremely firm. Neither of us got a good night's sleep. So we started the day out already tired. 

This was Paula's biggest vendor event so far. Ironically, we got to "The Center" a little late. Other vendors were parked in the unloading area by then. We had to park about 100 yards away and unload using our 4 wheeled cart. I made 3 trips to the car and back. 

It took us about an hour to set things up. 

There were a couple of new things about our set up at this event. 

The pair of tables were set up in a "V" to display more nail sets. 

Also, added to the set up was a spinning prize wheel. 

This was set up as a reward for those customers who purchased 3 sets that day. 

The other additions was a matter of logistics. We had a card table set up behind the "V" to hold supplies and process sales. 

A third table on the left side of our booth, already set up when we arrived, helped; serving as a place for application demonstrations.  

Organized by the person who does the "Girls Day Out" in Bowling Green, this was the first time for this event in Somerset. 

For 4 of the 6 hours it was rather busy. Paula was either talking to visitors to our booth or applying samples for most of the time. 

I continue to be amazed at who she becomes when talking about Color Street.  

I handed out a lot of samples and talked with and helped customers when Paula was busy applying samples. 

This was something she did for a lot of the time. There were of ladies interested in seeing what the nail strips looked like on them. 

There was one older lady, because of the condition of her nails, had never worn polish before. She was over joyed when she saw Color Street on her hands. 

A lot of "girls" of all ages came by the booth during the day. The one I'll always remember was a very charming 9 year old girl, named "Branigan". 

She was there with her grand- parents, who were hosting a booth set up not far from us. 

She came to our booth to look around and immediately began talking to us like we were her best friends. 

She told us about her pets and anything else she could think of including the fact that she was about to get a baby brother. She even showed us pictures of her pets on her phone. 

I asked about her unusual name and she said she was named after a movie. (with a quick IMDB search I discovered the movie was a 1975 John Wayne film). I told her that her name made me think of Laura Branigan, a pop singer from the 80s.  

She wandered in and out of our booth several times during the day. Once, She brought her grandfather 
with her hoping to he'd buy her a nail set. He said "no". Later her grandmother would come back and buy one for her. 

As I mentioned she was a very charming smart friendly kid. Here's the main reasons I'll always remember her.  

Throughout the event a DJ set up in the corner of the hall, played music. It was a wide variety of country, pop, and hits from the 70s and 80s. 

About the middle of the event, while I was busy helping a customer with a purchase, I recognized a song that was playing. It was "Self-Control" a 1984 song by....wait for it....Laura Branigan. 

I finished up with the customer and quickly left the booth to find Branigan and tell her about the song. When I found her, she was on her way back to our booth to visit again. But by that time the song had ended and she hadn't heard it. 

But to me, it was such ironic serendipity that the DJ chose to play that song. I will never forget it.  

At 4 o'clock the event was over. It took us about 30 minutes to break down and pack up the booth. 

After going out to get us lunch, I found a handicapped parking place right next to the loading area. Packing up the car was a lot easier than unloading it. 

By 5 we were back on the Cumberland Parkway and heading home. We were very very tired but it had been a rather successful vendor event. 

Paula got close to 75 entries dropped into her give away box. That's a lot of contacts. Her set sales were pretty good too. 

So there you have a couple of the September events I want to tell you about. There are more including, my annual trip to a Disney themed charity event, a bucket list retail shopping experience, a life changing special purchase and more. 

Thanks for coming back to read my blog. I'll see you again next time.