My whirlwind trip to Texas

I left last Wednesday morning to fly to Fort Worth, TX for Premier's 25th National Rally! We flew into Dallas Love Field & I was uber disappointed that there were no "JFK" references. I am a major JFK buff & I told my sister jeweler, Rose, "Be on the lookout for anything that references JFK was here! I want to get a picture!" And she looked at me like I had spoken a foreign language. I said, "Uhm, JFK flew into this airport before he was killed in Dallas (matter of fact, he flew out of it too after his death)...." Hmph, some people!

Anywho, you're gonna hear a lot about Rose. My Premier mom, Brenda, was unable to attend this year due to the death of her mother in law. We had planned on rooming together so we had a problem. Luckily, Rose was in a room of 5 so she agreed to come stay in my room with the other 2 girls. I'm SO lucky I had her there because she had been to Rally before & knew what to expect & where to go & all that fun stuff. By the end of the 4 days, I was referring to her as my 'step-mom'. I was able to email pics to Brenda via my Blackberry so she was still in touch with us. But Rose did decide she was going to have to send Brenda a bill for taking care of me. I also told her to ask for pain & suffering....'cuz I'm a lotta trouble!

There's a few things you need to know about Rally before I go any further:

#1-the days are LONG. Up early in the morning & done late at night. We attend meetings at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Imagine Freedom Hall & the convention center rolled into one... only 3 times bigger. The convention center provides us lunch & supper & the food was crap-py!

#2-We had to stay in a hotel 7 miles from the arena. Premier provided us shuttle buses to take us back & forth, but it was first come, first serve. There were over 9000 jewelry ladies there. You can imagine the lines.

#3-long days & long nights mean little sleep. Ya'll know how I get when I don't get enough sleep! (When Rose & I would get snippy about other people (not with each other - we're awesomesauce!), I would say, "Tired & cranky, Rose...we're tired & cranky..."

#4-My hair & Texas do not mix. I thought my hair curled here? Oh no no no, Texas isn't as humid, but it's on the surface of the freakin' sun 'cuz it is H-O-T! I decided to give up on my hair & wear it back every.single.day. And it still curled up! Ugh!

#5-all 4 days were jam-packed with meetings, vendor exhibits, etc. so there was NO time to sightsee. Here's what I saw of Texas: the airport, the ride from the airport to the hotel, the ride on the shuttle from the hotel to the arena. That's it.

There were 8 of us that stayed at the same hotel. We got a pic in the lobby before we went to the arena Wed. night. 2 of the girls hadn't arrived yet. Yes, we're all dressed the same. The theme of the Executive director's section we sat in for Wed night was "Tickled Pink". We all wore black pants, white tops & these scarves. We were twinkies...that's just how we roll...

First stop is jeweler check in. You go & get your packet with a notebook, meeting schedule, shuttle routes, etc. PLUS, you get awesome swag so we all had to sit down & check it out! Perhaps my favorite part?! The BAG!! It is PURPLE metallic AND it's reversible. 2 bags in one? Be still my heart?! Inside is black & white zebra print. I kept mine on the purple side...duh!To celebrate 25 years in business, Premier had a free concert for us! Point of Grace is an all-chick contemporary Christian band. And they were SOOOO good!
Just a cute pic of me! Thursday is perhaps THE most exciting day because that's when the NEW JEWELRY is announced!!!! There are 155 pieces in the new line! After they make the announcement, they have a 'new jewelry playground' area where you can go & play with the jewelry. Try it on, etc. Here I am Thursday night trying on a new bracelet. Check out the hair! Group shot!

Ok-see these people? The 2 on the left are Andy & Joan Horner. They are the couple that co-founded Premier 25 years ago. On the right is their son, Tim Horner. He is now the President of Premier. Look at him closely. Remember his every feature...
'Cuz guess who was walking around Thurs. night after ditching the new jewelry playground because is was a freakin' sauna in there & ran right into Mr. President? Oh, yeah, that's me! I walked up to him & spoke & he was very kind. We spoke for probably a minute or 2. (Kim-I KNOW you can appreciate the coolness of this!)
So I was all excited about getting a pic with Mr. Horner. And none of my sister jewelers were around to brag too. I continued to walk through the exhibits. Premier Designs started their own manufacturing company that makes many of the pieces. I was walking around their exhibit & as I walked around the display case- BAM! There was Andy Horner. OMG, I could've had a heart attack right then & there! I got another jewelry lady to take our pic. We also spoke, but not as long. He's in higher demand than his son! (KIM-how cool is this?!)
After I met back up with my jeweler buddies - ya'll KNOW I was bragging & showing the pics. Then they told me, "Oh, well Joan & Jessica (she's their granddaughter & works at the home office developing the new jewelry!) were in there too." Hmph....I didn't see them! But did my buddies get their pics with them?! Nope! Too bad, so sad...

Saturday is Patriotic Day. Everyone decks out in Red, White & Blue! This is our whole group in front of the Andy & Joan statue!
They have a Patriotic program & any jeweler or family member that serves in the armed forces goes out on stage while they play their, uh, uhm, theme song? I don't know what you call it? But the army's got one, the air force, etc? Fight song? Like in high school?! Anyways, it was VERY cool & VERY touching! They had fireworks go off at the end.Andy always give his, "Lest We Forget" speech. He was born in Ireland & came to Canada in the 50's. He & Joan became U S Citizens by choice & he reminds us what a great country we live in!
We took some individual pics of the down-lines by the statue. Alas, I was mother-less (sniff, sniff) so my Grandma took a pic with me. I told her we should've left a space & photo shopped Brenda in!
So I told you how the food was crappy?! Well, by Saturday night we were all starving so we walked through downtown to find a place to eat. All the street lights had these signs on them. I thought that was cool!
We went to a barbecue place & I got a big 'ole greasy cheeseburger & fries! And it was delicious! You can see how much Rose & I enjoyed 'real' food!
As we were walking, one of my other jeweler buds said, "Hey Jaime-you need to have your pic taken with the banana!" Huh?! I'm always game, so I said, "OK-point me that way!" So this dude worked for Java Juice & he was really funny! I walked up to him & said, "Hey-where I come from-we don't have bananas on the street! Can we take a pic?!" He would talk to all the people in the cars that came up to the intersection. A couple of motorcycles pulled up & he was imitating them & I told him, "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

So there you have it. Of course, you know I got sick towards the end of the trip. And I think being exhausted from 4 non-stop days didn't help matters. I have slept an extra 10 hours since I've been home. 3 when I got home Sunday, 3 when I left work Monday because I was sick to my stomach & 4 after my doctor's appointment Tuesday.

I learned a lot, though & that's important! I am really excited about all the new jewelry because it.is.awesome! There are several pieces that are very fashion forward & I have seen the same types of designs on famous people! You know it's good if famous people wear it, right?!