January, where did you go!? {CHA 2016 recap}

Hello friends! How are you!? My January was an absolute whirlwind - anyone else? I had THE most amazing time at the Craft & Hobby Association Megashow. Seriously. So much fun. I was able to HUG friends who I hadn't ever met in PERSON before. People I've worked with for years, and people I consider REAL LIFE FRIENDS but I had never seen their faces in real life, and hugged their necks. So we did just that - we hugged, and laughed, and drank coffee together, and there may have been a few moments of squealing and jumping up and down. It's just the way I roll. The whole thing was kind of epic, and it made my heart SO happy!

Gotta have the obligatory photo op in front of the giant sign! 

I was practically jumping up and down at this point, I was so excited! 

After two days of WORK and SETUP to make the magic happen, we were ready to roll! 

(I'm sparing you from all the hot-mess setup shots!) The booth was STUNNING. Seriously. 

In the Celebrations section of the booth with Patricia Roebuck, Michelle Woerner, and Kim Kesti!

The Hilton lobby was THE place to be. We look SO tired in this photo....because we ARE.

Being together with my Paper Crafts magazine chickies was one of my favorite things.  (I tried not to let them see me getting teary-eyed just having them all in front of me! It made me SO happy!) And we may have inadvertantly started a rumor that the rest of the Go-to Gals are coming to work for Richard, in addition to Kim Kesti and I....but its just a rumor. (For now. I'll keep working on them!)

THIS GIRL. Keri Lee Sereika. . .friends, this girl was one of my biggest blessings! She was on my flights to and from Anaheim to Atlanta - which ended with an overnight in Atlanta because we both missed our connecting flights. I would have fallen apart without her calm and easygoing, travel-experienced self. She is a GEM. (And it was crazy fun to catch up after not seeing her in quite a few years!) 

So there you have it - a VERY brief (sort of brief) recap of my CHA adventures. Really, there is so much more - but I just can't even. :) I am thankful for my first trip to California, and my first CHA in Anaheim! Despite these fun photos, we really did work our tails off - but it was FUN work, and I loved it! It took me out of my comfort zone enough to be a growing experience, 

and it was SO worth it.  (Thank you, Richard!!!) 

Richard Garay's RG retail line releases March 1st. Visit richardgaray.com for the scoop, plus sneak peeks, project inspiration, and more!