Adventures in the Windy city

The show in Chicago was awesome. I didn't get to see very much of the downtown because each time we came into the city I was in the back of the SUPER VAN which doesn't offer a great view....... I was able to see a little bit of downtown while waiting to catching the train to Indiana to visit Vanessa.

When I left Utah on Thursday March 10th it as 63 degrees..... when  I landed in Chicago later that afternoon it was like 35................ BRRRRRRR. I was so happy I was able to meet Simone at the airport and we took the shuttle to the hotel together to meet the crew.

We where sat near the window and it was COOOLD.

The show in Chicago is the biggest beauty show in the mid-west.We had to go in the day before to set up our booth(s). Ya, we had 3 booths!!! 2 make-up and 1 lotion booth. It seemed to take forever..... but we made it through.

I looove beauty shows. As an Esthetician I was excited to um... take advantage of the booths and offers available to me while I was working hard.

Check out our amazing collections of pigments!! These colors are amazing and blend so well. 

Happy hour at our booth!! What, what!!!!  Ya that is right we are able to have a drink or two while working.... Have I mentioned I LOVE my job?

Ya this is a serial killers dream come true right here! 9 girls in the back of a van. This is how we commuted to and from the show like this each day. It is a good thing I love these guys otherwise this would be no bueno.

Of course I earned a new nickname over the course of the weekend...... I am now known as 1.5.(referring to my lungs) Yup..... that is right they make fun of my infirmity.... can you feel the love? well it is a good thing I could. :) I have been called a lot worse than 1.5 so I shall accept this name proudly.

I am not sure how or why but after a very long day we went to dinner after the show. An exhausted Samiee apparently equals an attractive Samiee?? In the past this has not proven to be true but apparently in Chicago things are a bit backwards..... so we are sat down to dinner and I was chatting with the guys at the table next to us. As we sat down these guys where already on the desert portion of their meal.... Simone and I where eyeballing their yummy deserts and the one guy must have seen us drooling because he offered the remaining desert to us..... I am not sure why but we accepted. Ya, we took a strange mans dessert....not just any desert.... bread pudding (GAG). I did not partake of this treat because the thought of soggy bread makes me want to dry heave but we shared this treat with our group. Our boss Peter thought these guys had sent over a dessert instead of the traditional drink..... when I told him the guy gave us his left overs he was shocked and said, "I ATE SOME STRANGE MAN'S BREAD PUDDING?!?!?!?!"  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA it was an epic moment for sure.

After the show I took a train to Indiana  to visit my best friend Vanessa. It was a long overdue trip. They moved out there in 2009 and I am just now making it out :/...... I was only able to be there for a couple days but we made the best of them. I love my friends because we can go weeks and months without talking and when we get together we pick up just where we left off. It is amazing.

Meet me in St. Louis.....

My most recent expo was in St. Louis, MO. So far this is my favorite city I have worked in. I loved the people, the culture and the beautiful architecture, not that I know a thing about architecture, This is the view of the famous St. Louie arch from our hotel room and the first time I have ever seen the Mississippi river. The arch is known as the "gateway to the west".

I had always heard about how dangerous St. Louis is. I was pleasantly surprised how clean and welcoming the city was. During my stay I learned that the dangerous part of the city was North St. Louis. I made sure to steer clear of that area.

The famous Orpheum Theater. We walked past this on our way to the convention center.

Directly across from our booth was this Ferris wheel. I have never seen a Ferris wheel move so fast... especially indoors. One day a woman in a wheel chair randomly said to me, " ya know, even if you fell from the very top it wouldn't kill you." not exactly a comforting thought. Despite this we rode this baby at least a couple times a day.

My favorite thing about this job are the people I meet. This show was definitely not an exception because I met some REAL characters. One couple that had recently retired and the husband was a mechanic for many years had VERY dry rough skin. I applied the cream to one hand and I showed him the difference it made...his wife looked at him and said, "Wow honey...I may let you touch me later." I couldn't help but laugh.

Another couple where just hilarious from the word GO... the husband looked at his wife and said, "Awe honey just get the shit." I liked him because that is EXACTLY what my Dad would say.

The weekend of this show was also Mardis Gras AND a college basketball game. Which meant we had to change hotel rooms... a lot! One night was spent in this Marriott that looked like a castle!! I was amazing. Wish we could have stayed longer than one night here. 

I had some time to kill before my flight home so I went to the History museum. It was amazing! They had exhibits on Charles Lindbergh and The Worlds Fair.

This is the same plane Lindbergh flew.... well a replica.

Anyone that REALLY knows me, knows about how I love Josephine Baker who was born and raised in St. Louis. She was the first famous African American performer. She left St. Louis to dance and perform in Paris.She was most famous for her banana dance. During her life she adopted many children that she called her "Rainbow Tribe" becuase the kids where of all different nationalities.

Now, it woldn't be ME if a few weird things didn't happen on this adventure. While in the Missouri I learned that "Sammy" is a commonly a boy's name and they all thought it was odd I went by Samiee. I think it is weirder and more manly to be called Sam.... hence why I prefer Samiee :)

For the first time in my life I met someone that honestly believed Mormons where a cult. The funniest part was this person was originally from Montana and her hubby was a THEOLOGY major. Um....i think that would have come up. She was very nice about it but she was a tad embarassed and had a look of "Oh shit I just offended her" when she said that and I told her I was raised Mormon and that my best friends where Mormon as was my family. Ahhh.... ignorance is it humbling.