Friday, May 23, 2008

Sweet Success!

Would you like some candy? I am back from New York -- exhausted and elated at the same time! It was probably the busiest 5 days I have seen in I don't know how long. I woke up at 6:45 every day and got to the Javits center before 8:30. Then it was non stop talking to people and promoting the line and sometimes (not as often as I liked unfortunately) taking orders. I almost never ever sat all day. At 6 pm the show finished every evening and we waited in line for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel which on Saturday and Sunday was about an hour ride due to a street fair. Then we had about 15-20 minutes to clean up and walk to a restaurant and eat and then back to the hotel for much needed sleep. Unfortunately we saw little to nothing of NY at all! We did have some nice dinners but it was sooooo tiring. I knew it would be busy but did not expect it to be as exhausting as it was.

All in all though, it was a great time. I loved seeing all the other manufacturers and designers. I loved meeting all the other people. There are some very very talented individuals out there. It is humbling to say the least. One of the talented artists at the show was fellow blogger, Helen Dardik of Orange You Lucky. It was really fun to meet someone with whom I have been blogging and talking to in the cyber world. She is so sweet and amazingly talented.

I unveiled my new holiday invitations and photo card at the show too. They will be going to press very soon. If you want to see more images of my booth at the show, check out my other blog on the Miss 'N Nick Designs site: http://www.missnnick.com/blog/

We had a really good first year at the show and while I didn't write AS many orders as I would have liked (does anyone ever?), I did write quite a few and made a ton of contacts. I also gained a new Rep group in Texas! And have some other potential reps I need to follow up with. I am going to be a busy busy girl for the next few weeks again!

I miss all of you and blogging. I will try to get some new food posts up soon but it may be spotty. I have so much catching up to do with a couple freelance jobs, new orders to fill and follow up calls and emails to all the people I got information on. Not to mention spending time with my sweet little babies that I missed soooooo much.

By the way... We stayed at The London Hotel in midtown Manhattan. This is the same hotel that Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen has his restaurant. It is not cheap actually. Good thing my birthday is coming up and my mom made the trip a bit of a present for me.

This hotel is surprisingly spacious for the city with a separate bedroom and sitting room in all rooms. I really liked it. It was comfortable and not at all cramped and the staff was more than helpful.

It's good to be home!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

nicole-welcome back, excited to hear you had a great trip!

RecipeGirl said...

Glad it was a good trip!

Emily said...

YOURE BACK!!!! I'm so glad that everything went well on your trip although it sounded exhausting. I'm still trying to convince my mum to let me bake your sour milk cookies but she wont let me use spoiled milk. It is nice to hear from you again.

That Girl said...

Welcome home!

Anonymous said...

Welcome home! Sounds like a great trip. I bet next time you get more order than you think you can handle - this was just the tip off the iceberg. Big kisses to you & your success!

When is your birthday?

xoxox Amy

Jared said...

Sounds like tough work out there. Glad the trip went well. Sorry you didn't get to enjoy the city as much as you had hoped.

Nicole said...

Thanks Everyone!!!!!

Emily- Tell your mother that spoiled cream does not hurt you. Think of all the moldy cheeses!

Amy- I HOPE next year will be overwhelming with orders. I hope that people will start calling and ordering too. I need to do follow-ups.
My bday is June 3rd.

Jared- Luckily I have been to NY a few times so I didn't feel too too badly. I'll be back!

Anonymous said...

London Hotel is fancy!!
Did you hear Gordon Ramsay yelling from your room? haha.
I'm glad you had a good trip. Get some rest!

Nicole said...

Zen- Yes... (blushing) a bit fancy... Luckily I have a mom (and dad) who can treat me like this now and then!
Couldn't sleep w/ all of Gordon's yelling (ha ha!). Nothing would have kept me awake! But seriously.. the first night we were there, we got in really late so we just had an appetizer at the bar. The tuna I had was fine. Nothing to write home about though. The next night we ate at Mercer Kitchen. And let me tell you. The Ahi spring rolls I had with soy puree... well I shouldn't have been in public eating them and I almost passed out! Damn!!!! I cannot tell you how amazing it was. I will dream about it for a looooonnnng time! Jean-George is the man.

Susan @ SGCC said...

Sounds like you had a very productive trip. Glad you had a good (though tiring)time. Hopefully,this will be the start of some exciting new ventures!

Jaime said...

Glad you had fun and a good turn out!

Anonymous said...

It sounds like a crazy busy time! Glad you made it back and I hope it was a success for you in the end ;)

Nicole said...

Sticky, Jaime and Kristen- Thank you thank you, thank you!!!

Erin said...

I know this is delayed... but I'm so glad to hear NY went well. How exciting! I hope a lot of you leads turn into good stuff. But don't forget your foodie blog friends :)

Nicole said...

Thanks Erin! I won't. I am trying to visit everyone! And have a warm spot for you all. I need to take care of business first and spend a few minutes each day traveling the blogosphere.

AMI said...

your trip went well - good for YOU!
I didn't get the gordon ramsay thing there - ?? does he have a restaurant in the hotel? My favorite restaurant ever is his La Noisette which is just perfect! I'm a big fan...!

Nicole said...

Lisa- Thanks. Gordon Ramsay does have a restaurant at the hotel I stayed in. And he also has a show here on TV called "Hell's Kitchen". On the program he yells and screams at everyone. Do you have it there? Links are on my post. Is La Noisette in London? or?