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.

Pennsylvania....Pt. two

 

On our last night of the expo and in Harrisburg this was how beautiful the skyline was. After completing two nine day expos back to back and ending this last show with a nasty case of bronchitis I was ready to come home. This trip was definatly an adventure as the images below will show.

Our booth was across from Cabela's so it was prime real estate :) just do not mess with this guy.. he didn't have his morning coffee... or brush his teeth. I did not realize just how many hunters and rednecks there are out on the East coast. Coming from the wild wild west and from a huntin' family I was comfortable in these surroundings but I was definitely surprised by the turnout.

As This was a hunting expo there was lots and lots AND LOTS of beef jerky available for purchase. 

 Me and Simone decided to make our image more rugged... this helped sales... but did not stop men from being pervs....

Between the two of us we have a GREAT RACK! hahaha

Wanna try our manly rugged, good for your beard and antlers man butter? HAHAHA and I know what your thinking... Is that EDWARD CULLEN? between the babes in camo?? and the answer is no. That is Jared aka Yum Yum. The guy on the end is the boss :)

Meet Blinker he has a non-functioning eye and was looking for a home. I couldn't resist loving on him for a min... soo cute! I knew that if I brought him home my beagle baby would disown me forever.

Pennsylvania....... part uno

Well show numero dos is coming to a close and not a moment too soon. The show it's self has been a blast but two 9 day shows back to back is a bit much. My feet hurt, I am tired and I am ready for a few days at home. Maybe more than a few. I miss my fam and friends and my baby girl,

Here is a brief outline of what has gone on in the last week: (Please note these things are not arraigned in any particular order per se I listed them as I have remembered them)

*I took a Greyhound bus from D.C. to Harrisburg at 3am.... ALONE..... this was scary and I am NEVER doing that again. I made it safe and somewhat sound though.

*I met one of my co-workers at 6:30 am one morning when I woke up and she was in bed next to me..... Now get your mind out of the gutter......... There are 3 of us in one room so someone has gotta share  a bed. Thankfully this girl seems to be cut from the same cloth as me. So it was all good.

*The Amish are REAL fun to watch. I like that they wear crocs and avoid eye contact with us at all cost.

* There are lots and lots AND lots of fun photo ops around this show since is a sports and outdoor show that is held in NINE different buildings. I will be posting photos soon enough.

* I was made aware I work for Naked A.S.S (Advanced Skin Solutions) ya.... of course I do.

*This morning one sales rep referred to our product as "Man Butter" in hopes of luring some rather rugged men to trying some.... I almost peed my pants laughing at that description and I was not at all surprised that those men where UN-interested in sampling our fine product.

*There is a adorable little Pomeranian that is in need of a home that only has one eye. His name is Blinker. (pictures to come) and if my baby girl wasn't so anti-sharing her momma I would take him home in a heartbeat!!

*We added camouflage to our decor in hopes that we would blend better with our surroundings instead of seeming so Prussian. So far this has been quite effective.

This is just a sampling of the shenanigans that have unfolded. As always more to come so stay tuned!

Home sweet home

Finally home! For a few days anyway. My first show was great and I am only home a few days before I head back out. Well, maybe there is a huge snow storm in the Midwest that has closed a lot of airports across the country. This storm actually caused me to come home late. I left Milwaukee Monday evening and landed in Denver but my connecting flight had already left so I had to hang out at the airport until the next morning fingers crossed that I made it on standby for the first flight out. It was a looooong, looooong night. I didn't sleep, it was cold and well there are a lot of creepy people wandering around. But I made it on standby and I am home sweet home! The first thing I did was hug my beagle baby and then we napped... I hadn't slept in 24 hours so I was exhausted. Now, to get the million things I need to do done before the next trip.........:)

Milwaukee pt. deux

Ok my first expo is over and I survived. I attribute this to the amazing people I shared the last 9 days with. I am sooo grateful that I was surrounded by such warm an caring people so it made being so far from home more bearable. My co-worker/partner was real down to earth and we got a long well. Well enough after the shows we would go out and have a beer....or two... I mean c'mon we where in Milwaukee you have to drink beer while you are here.

In my last post I mentioned the elderly couple that represented the American Assoc. for Nude Recreation. Now, again very strange hobby but very, very nice people. A lot of the spectators got a kick out of them and what they represent.

The booths cross from me had exhibitors that represented home improvement stuff... and the people that worked there really took me under their wing. They had been working expos for years and had a lot of helpful suggestions and the few days I was working alone the guys working around me took it upon themselves to keep an eye on me in case any super pervy guys hung around. Thankfully this was not necessary but it made me feel a lot better.

One exhibitor that was demo-ing waterless cookware was soo nice to bring us leftovers at the end of the shows. The first night she did it I think it was because she could hear our stomachs growling all the way at her end of the isle.The food at the expo center cost a small fortune and tasted like crap (4 bucks for a soda!!) There was one night that I was without a car and had to take a cab to and from... well here in Milwaukee a cab ride ANYWHERE will cost you at minimum $30 bucks one way!!! Even if you go like a mile So she was sooo kind one night to give me a lift to my hotel after the show to save on cab fare. I was truly grateful for her.

In true Samiee style I didn't look close at my ticket and my flight home isn't until MONDAY instead of SUNDAY after the show.... how did I learn this?? Oh by arriving at the airport w/all my shiz only to be told my flight was the next day.... no worries the boss booked me a room near the airport and I will be home soon enough. Now... I REALLY, REALLY wish I was going home now epesc. since I leave for my next show in Pennsylvania prob on Friday. I miss my family and friends and most importantly DAYZIE!!!!

I'm a travelin.... WO-MAN

So I have started working for a company going to expos around the country selling their product. What product you may be asking.... NAKED... of course right? Wouldn't be me otherwise :) It is a really great all purpose skin cream that can be used head to toe and blah blah blah... If you want to know more message me.

So... what is the first exotic locale I am sent???? Milwaukee.... yup Wisconsin that is. To work a 9 DAY BOAT SHOW! I am selling awesome skin cream at a boat show for 9 days in Milwaukee... Can't be anymore Samiee than that... also it is um...January here and if you think the winters in UT are frigid... trust me... we are in a fricken heat wave. I don't mind the cold personally, I don't LOVE it but hey ya do what ya gotta do.

The people here are pretty friendly. I have been here since Thursday the 20th and have made friends with a few other vendors at the expo. The most interesting have been the couple representing the AANR (American Association for Nude Recreation). They are the cutest little old couple... have to be in their 70's or 80's. Not what you imagine representing nudists but hey... let your freak flag fly. Despite this interesting hobby they are very sweet people.

I have worked with some cool people as well. Right now I am flying solo because my partner had to drive back to Chicago to see his daughter. I got REALLY lucky because this guy is really down to earth and nice and well let's admit in the last month I have met some seriously weird guys. He reminds me a lot of Neil Pattrick-Harris's character on How I Met Your Mother. He isn't a womanizer but he dresses well and makes funny comments. He has a friend that lives here and on Sunday when the Packers played the Bears we went into the city to join in on the fun a local bar. I myself know diddly about football and before coming here could not have told you what state the Packers where from... but these people LOVE their football! They get really into it and it was soo awesome that I was here to experience it.

I have to jet off now but I have had a few other adventures I can't wait to share.