Brody in NYC

Brody and my Dad (the lucky ducks!) got the opportunity to go back to New York in January. They picked up an amazing new line called WAC, and went back for training and visited some of the showrooms in Manhattan with their Rep friends there.

It was a great (and snowy) trip!

Most of the photos were of showrooms and product, but I did find some of the city.

Their rental car is under there somewhere! : )

Brody and Tim from WAC

Downtown - and a peek at the Empire State Building

Ground Zero

As you can imagine, Brody said it was just amazing to have been there.

Statue of Liberty

Dad and a very bite sized statue of liberty to the left of his head

A hot dog vendor and Brody goofing off. haha.

Times Square.

Brody sent these to me on my phone, and I had some fun with a photo app! : )

The guys had an amazing trip!

We are so blessed to have this new opportunity now that Brody has graduated and we are looking forward to many great things to come from it! The timing couldn't be more perfect! : )

a long trip home...

Brody went up to the Bay Area last Tuesday to do a training for one of the lines he reps. We left for LAX around 5am, he worked all day and was supposed to be home back to LAX by 7pm that same night.

After he landed in San Francisco's airport and hopped on the BART, he got word that his flight home was cancelled and he wouldn't be able to get home until the next day-- since he had appointments the next day that wasn't going to work. So he found a way to get home.....but it took a bit longer than we thought...

This happens a lot while traveling for work...so what was different about this time??

This time, I got a little photo journal of his day!

I loved getting these photos with funny comments to go along with them!

Here are just some of them:

SFO Airport to the BART, the BART to the showroom

------ Working. He didn't take any photos...because he was working. haha ------

The bus that takes you from the BART to the airport....not back to SFO, but to Oakland

BART bus to the Oakland airport

Oakland Airport to the Salt Lake City Airport (a bit sleepy : )

On the plane from Salt Lake to LAX.....He had some good leg room : )

And finally landed back at LAX around midnight (where he started at just before 6am that day)! : )

Sweet Surprises!

Brody has been super busy with work (as always), and this past week he was up toward (and beyond) San Luis Obispo area---seeing accounts, writing orders and helping the business grow in the area.

On his way home, he remembered that there was a cupcake shop (by Santa Barbara) in a town called Montecito, that I LOVE!! It is a really cute shop with the best cup cakes in the world---they taste ten times better than they look (SO much better than dry 'Sprinkles' cupcakes)!! : )

Well, he stopped in and got some for me, and some to take to my parents house for my Mom's upcoming Birthday!

It was SUCH a fun surprise, since we rarely get to have them!!

The shop is called 'Whodidily' and the website is {here} for more info---if you are ever in the area, it's a MUST!! : )

iShow

Twice a year Brody heads out to Dallas, TX for "The Show". Here, the high end lighting manufacturers (which he reps) show off their new products and Brody's accounts come to see it, and order lots of new things for their showrooms (that would be a fast rundown of it all). : )

They had a great show!!! More foot traffic this year than they have gotten before, which means more orders. Brody's 'The Great Indoors" store hit it's target yet again, so he got awarded & gets a nice bonus---he also got nominated for several awards with Schonbek--and more. It's great that he's really starting to move up and get more and more noticed. I am so very proud of him & how hard he works!!

The best news of all is that they picked up an amazing new line to rep!! It is a big deal for us. In addition to Brody repping this line to his current accounts, he will also take on the landscape contractors (don't know if that is the right term for them), who do jobs with companys such as 'The Irvine Company', when they build new properties (for all outdoor lighting). It is a very exciting opportunity (so good that he gets to give up covering UT and travel less) and we are so very grateful for it!

Here is a little look into the show. With photos Brody sent me from his iphone:

Here is the "courtyard" I guess you could call it.

The next few are of the Holtkoetter showroom. It is high end contemporary line manufactured in Germany.

Entrance to the showroom:

Some live entertainment:

Buffet : )

German Goulash:

This was our favorite thing to eat while we were in Austria and Germany! They make it the BEST!!

Close up of the entertainment:

The entrance to the Schonbek room (The crystal line that he reps, now owned by Swarovski):

The Swarovski lighting showroom:

Part of the Schonbek room:

Geometrix Di Vinci balls

Another part of the Schonbek room:

PS- I realize this may not be the most exciting post for my blog stalkers, but it is for us! : )

Coming soon...

A little look into the Dallas Market, and other random posts! :) ...For now here is a cool photo taken & edited on my phone of Brody.

Posted from my iPhone

Swarovski Party

Tonight one of Brody's accounts in LA held a party/designer open house to showcase their new Swarovski & Schonbek displays.

Brody has been working on this display (below), helping build it from scratch for over a week now. The showroom was so excited about this new line we have that they put on a very nice open house.

It was so fun for me to see in person all the hard work he put into this showroom, and the wonderful relationships he has formed with these people. It was a great night, and we are so excited to see what this new line will do for us! : )

(This just makes me laugh : ) I mean, look, he will break into a smile any sec...and he did!)

This is the Schonbek display that he and the Schonbek designers (who flew in from NY) spent days and days putting together (at this showroom and another in the LA area). Before all the product was a bit spread out, and now it is all together in this beautiful display.

Also, they have a nice Solara display (a high end gas lantern line we rep)

The showroom had the party catered and it was SO good. They had a mashed potato bar, which I was told is getting pretty popular. It was really good, and seemed to be a hit. : ) (the chef that came, told me that they also do a sweet potato bar, with marshmallow's, pecans, chocolate and more....that sounded wonderful too! I love sweet potatoes.

They dish out the potatos into these martini glasses

There was also an open bar...that included Diet Coke! : )

It was a great turn out & Swarovski was a BIG hit! ( I didn't get very many photos once people really started to show up...but here are a few from the very start of the night) This designer lady, the first words out of her mouth was, "This is perfect for the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas!"---sounds good to us! : )

The waiters keep coming around with these amazing hors d'oeuvres...

....as more designers came through to talk with Brody about Swarovski! Everyone who came by voiced someone they knew who would love the line. That was very exciting to hear! : )

Here is a bit of the Swarovski that was being shown off tonight. It is such a beautiful line----people were referring to it as jewelry for your home. : )

I also found out something cool (from a lady that works for Swarovski) about the Swarovski bracelet I was given while we were at the factory in Austria. It was a very exclusive piece and only sold in 2 company stores for a short time. : ) Now I need to take even better care of it, I just love it!

All in all, it was such a great night! All the new displays that he has put hours & hours into look amazing! I was so proud of all Brody's hard work in getting this showroom looking so pro, and getting the showroom owners so excited about the lines he reps for them, that they threw this fancy party, invited their best contacts & put him in charge of talking with their guests about the lines. Great job love!! Thank you for all you do!! : )

Here's to many many more successful days! : )

Viva Las Vegas!

Yesterday the guys had to go to Las Vegas for a Juno (a lighting line they rep) meeting at the Rio Hotel, and my Mom and I decided it would be fun to come along and explore the city while they were in the meeting. We are not big fans of Las Vegas, personally it is just not our scene or any where we would vacation---but it sounded fun to check it out for an afternoon. We started our road trip at about 5:30am and got to Las Vegas at about 9:20am, just in time for the guys to find out where they were supposed to meet in the hotel. Then my Mom and I headed out to explore the city! (you can click on the red text for more info!)

Our first stop was the Mandalay Bay Hotel to check out their Aquarium and Shark exhibit. It was such a beautiful hotel---those La Vegas hotels are pretty amazing. It was a really cool Aquarium (I love them, it is so fun & peaceful), with different themed rooms---you go though a palace, a jungle and a sunken ship!

The photo to the right is of a group of Piranhas. The water was a bit murky so it's really hard to see---I think that was the first time I have seen them at an aquarium! This was the sunken ship room! It had large sharks, fish and sea turtles swimming around and it looked like you were walking around in the hull of a broken up pirate ship. They even pipped in sounds of the ocean and a creaking moving boat. it was so cool! Also you could see through large parts of the floor and to the right you can see my feet and a shark underneath (I had to use the flash because it was so dark) This I think was our favorite room!
After the Aquarium we hit the streets and explored "the strip" by car. We came across the cool retro sign welcoming you to Las Vages......aaaannndddd we came across the "A little white Chapel", where the likes of Britney Spears &...I can't remember who she married....and Bruce Willis & Demi Moore (and more) where married. It was also featured in our favorite TV show F.R.I.E.N.D.S!
(The Stratosphere and the New York, New York hotel) We also drove by the court house that O.J Simpson was sentenced today!
We also drove by the Las Vegas Temple! While it was amusing and fun to explore "the strip" in Las Vegas it was such a nice peaceful change to drive by the temple, up against the beautiful mountains! =) We ended by trying to find where in the hotel the guys had there meeting. Once they were done, we all got back in the car and headed home! It was such a fun day & it was really fun to see more of Las Vegas! I am so glad we tagged along with Dad and Brody! =)