Some Days …

So this weekend I made the trek up to Sacramento (a three- to four-hour drive) to attend a tradeshow sponsored by, ahem, as they say on the talk shows “another network.”

So the BF and I drove up on Saturday morning, checked into the hotel and spent our day wandering around Old Sacramento before dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and retiring for the evening with every intention of getting an early start in the morning.

The first 500 people into the show in the morning would get a bag that has traditionally been filled with samples and literature donated by the exhibitors at the show. If there’s a way to convince me to be anywhere other than asleep before noon, it involves coffee, money, or free samples of nail stuff.

Of course, I didn’t set an alarm. That would be silly. The BF is always up at the first hint of dawn. So it was 7:56 a.m. when I bolted out of bed and landed in the shower in one magnificent leap! With a bleary-eyed boyfriend inquiring just what the heck I was doing. I informed him of the time and he was no less confused than I was at how we managed to sleep in.

So it was that I managed to shower, dress, pack, check out, and eat breakfast and still manage to get to the convention center and receive my bag of goodies.

I remember a very influential post to the Beautytech.com mailing list last year about the way show attendees dress, so I try to kick it up a notch whenever I’m about to be judged by a jury of my professional peers. So there I am in my nice black slacks with my shiny high heels on — yup high heels. First of all, I’m thrilled that “real” high heels are back in style, not those chunky wedge things. Second, they were the only shoes that sufficiently showed off my groovy rock star toenails. They’re also fairly comfortable — well, they were, until my feet started to sweat. I am now sporting some lovely blisters on the sides of my toes. Not to worry. I have “delicate princess syndrome” (extremely thin, sensitive skin) and it’s a sure bet that if I’m wearing shoes at all, I’m getting blisters.

Of course, I don’t want to look like the idiot who wore high heels to a show and couldn’t hack it, so no limping for me! Meanwhile, I have lost 15 pounds since last purchasing pants and my slacks don’t have belt loops! So I’m wandering the show floor trying to keep my shoes from rubbing against the blisters while also trying to hold up my pants, and of course, that’s when I run into someone who says “I know who you are!” I know it’s hard to believe, but there are actually times when I don’t want a spotlight on me.

On a side note: Yay for NAILS! In case you haven’t heard the news, we DO get to vote for the cover contest winner this year! You don’t get much notice though. The deadline is soon! So make sure you go here and vote!