The Countdown to the National Stationery Show

I have officially started counting down the days to the National Stationery Show which runs May 18th-21st at the Javits center in New York City. This is the show that got me started in this business 8 years ago. I feel like a kid in a candy shop every time I enter the huge floor room filled with fabulous stationery and gift products. My goal every year is to come home with new and unique products to offer my customers. It is also a great time to meet with my vendors in person and put faces to the many phone calls and emails that occur over the course of the year. This year I am traveling with my good friend Kim Vaughan who has a stationery business Belle Notes by Kim in Parker Colorado. We were college roommates and I will enjoy our time together catching up and laughing as well as comparing notes on what we think is hot at the show. Last time we did the show together we carefully planned our travel schedule so that our flights would arrive within an hour of each other so we could catch a cab together and quickly start our fun time in the Big Apple. We both landed on schedule, called each other, and then spent the next hour trying to find one another. I was on and off the skytrain at JFK Airport numerous times trying to find her at the mysterious "terminal A". We kept thinking we would turn a corner and bump into each other. After an hour of searching for each other my phone was almost out of battery and as frustration was setting in, the lightbulb turned on in my head and I blurted out "WHICH AIRPORT ARE YOU AT?".....you have probably figured out already that she was at La Guardia. We were reminded of a lesson we learned in college-- "ASSUME makes an ASS out of U & Me". We still laugh about it and blame each other. So wish us good luck as traveling companions. I will be posting photos from the show and offer a sneak peak of what's new.