CHA Bound, Baby!

On Friday, I head out to Anaheim for five days to participate in CHA Trade Show.  For the three of you reading this blog that aren't scrappers, CHA is a trade event where manufacturers debut their new product lines and retailers have the opportunity to order product for their stores.  And it's not just scrapbooking manufacturers - there's also paper crafts, fabric, quilting, needlecrafts as well.  This will be my first trip to the convention and I'm as stoked as a kid going to Disneyland.  (Which, by the way, is very near the convention, but don't tell my kids that!)  I don't exactly know what to expect, but I'm thinking it will be a lot like a Star Trek convention for crafters, minus the Klingon costumes. (Though I am packing mine, just in case.)

So yeah, I am all geeked up to see the new product lines from my favorite companies. There's nothing like a great paper design to get a girl all excited.  Stop looking at me like I'm a big weirdo. 

As pumped as I am to see all the new products, I'm even more excited to meet some of the people involved in this crazy hobby. When I first discovered online scrapbook forums (back in 2002 at Two Peas!) I was looking for inspiration for my pages.  But through those forums, I got to know other scrappers just like me.  You see, in scrapbooking, you are documenting a portion of life. And when you share these works, you get to know a lot about the creator.  You discover their kids names and birthdays, their favorite vacations, how they celebrate holidays, what their wedding was like. You get little glimpses into their world and personalities. You find out their favorite beer and shoe size (OK, maybe that's just you, Steph!) Through their pages, you start to feel like you "know" them, even though you've never met.  So for me, meeting these girls that share my passion for paper and photos is going to be the highlight of this trip.  Because, to quote my friend Carolyn, "That's really what's it all about....relationships."

So now I need to stop blogging and finish the million and one things on my to-do list before Friday.  One of which includes picking up my Klingon costume at the dry cleaner.  Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday, my friends!