Oh CAN A DA!

Well I have survived my first "International" trip. That is right, I have now been to CANADA! The beautiful country to the north of this great U.S. of A. While it was not as exotic as going to say, Ireland, India or Russia. But I am very proud to say I have been outside of the country and I have my passport officially stamped.

The most impressive part of this adventure is that I made it through customs without a hitch. I don't know why but usually tasks like these generally end up a hot mess and I wind up in a small cell surrounded by bars asking to call my Mum. Not because I have done anything illegal but because I said something sarcastic and/or insulted a person with actual authority.

I LOVED Canada. It was a lot like Utah with the mountains and the water and the snow capped mountains... only colder. In July the highs where 70's. Note: ALWAYS take a jacket when you go to Canada......Even in July.

The only thing I had a hard time with was the money. The bills where all very colorful and easy to figure out but the coins... HUH? They do not have dollar bills. They have Loonies ($1) and Toonies ($2)<---- Not sure on the spelling and I am to lazy at this moment to look it up. At one point I looked at our native Canadian/tour guide/partner in crime (Kara) and said how much money is in my hand?!?!?!?!?!

Day 1 in Canada:

Woke up to the Boss (Peter) storming into the hotel room turning on all the lights because someone had broken into the rental car through the drivers side window.... My first question?  "Isn't there suppose to be LESS crime in Canada?" This was not amusing to Peter at the moment because the thieves had stolen his cell phone and the cable to the GPS. Thankfully the thieves where kind enough to leave the very valuable product being stored in the trunk alone.

As we where getting ready for the day ahead Matty boy decided, "Hey, I am not going to shave ALL of my face. I am going to leave just enough hair on my upper lip to look stupid" Well that idea was a grand slam!!

Every time Matt turned to look at me I laughed. I could not take him seriously with that thing on his face. Thankfully Matt is used to our shenanigans and abuse so he took it in stride. He even let Shanna darken it with Naked Pigments... See there are SO MANY USES!!.. end shameless plug

Matt and his Harem



The boss made this wanted sign featuring Matt and his moustache.... He made it.. but I hung it in the booth he he he.

Day 2: The show begins!!

First day of the actual show and we have to be up at like 6am... ugh! I am never a fan of 6 am and even less so when I need to actually wear makeup. Anywho... At this particular show we had the pleasure of having the very popular beauty blogger/guru Xsparkage (Leesha) joining us in our booth and teaching a class for Naked Cosmetics. She is an absolute DOLL!!! If you have any interest in watching youtube vids on fun/funky makeup looks check her out!!

We had Xsprkage fans filling our booth to come and take pictures with her and some cute little girls even had her sign their IMATS bags.

After the show we all went to dinner and during our meal Kara, the native Canadian informs us that the 'Richmond Night Market' is currently open and close to our hotel. This market is only open 2 months out of the year and there we could get cool phone accessories and tourist-y stuff for way cheap. So off we girls go to check it out...... Let me just say it was like a flea market with rave music, Hello Kitty anything and iPhone accessories. BUT, they had the most AMAZING Carmel apples... *drool*

Day 3:

Last day of the show. We where all a little sluggish in the A.M. because of being out late the night before but thankfully we did not have to be up at 6! The rest of the show went great! But after the show is when things get interesting. He He He.

According to Simone, "this is the best my makeup has EVER looked!!!". Ummm thanks?

We went to dinner at the Marina Bistro.. as you can guess it was in the marina. The best part of this restaurant? Their t-shirts!!

Yup, we gals aren't happy with t-shirts that just say, "Get Naked" on them... we have to have ones that also say, "enjoy the view" HA HA HA... on the back it also says, "enjoy the brew"

This is how Kara and I drink our beer

After dinner we decided to let Kara take us to a local fave hangout. It was Sunday night in Vancouver so there had to be something going on!! Well on our way to this place the following ridiculous-ness happened:

Really???!! People taking pictures of themselves?! so embarrassing

I found this amazing sign on the sidewalk it says, "McHungry, Not lovin it."

Yes Shanna yelled at me for touching something so gross.



I am not sure who/what or where this guy works but he had an awesome hat. As we where posing he told Shanna to "Take as long as she needed" to get the picture... eeek creeper.

So all in all Canada was a blast and I can't wait to go back! I would even go so far as to consider moving there.... FREE HEALTH CARE!!!

Vegas and L.A.

Our recent excursion(s) where in Las Vegas and L.A. The first show was the big International Beauty show (IBS) for short.... seriously... IBS......  And in true Naked Cosmetics fashion the boss put us up in an unforgettable establishment.... HOOTERS Hotel and Casino. Yup, this is especially funny b/c like 98% of our staff are females. But beer was only $1.50 so there was NO WAY I was complaining :).Anyway..... I was thrilled because finally we where working in my neck of the woods!!

I have gone to this IBS show many, many MANY times as a spectator with the salon and when I was in school but I have to say it is MUCH more fun as an exhibitor. :) As an exhibitor I was not rushed to see everything.... I could just hang out in my booth and talk to people about our kick a$$ skin cream. This show had an estimated 34k people attending in 3 days.... that is a LOT of talking... even for me. But as always we made new friends and had a smashing time:)................. 

This is a picture of me and Emilio Rivera he was my favorite bad guy in season 1 of Bones

 Matty taught us a new drinking game called "Flippy Cup"..... all I have to say is we are glad beers at the HOOTER where only $1.50. Because we all got a little tipsy.

After spending a couple days in Vegas we headed out to L.A. for IMATS-L.A. We have always had a great time at the IMATS shows and this was one was no exception. We had a stage in our booth that we shared with our neighbor and it was used by popular beauty bloggers like EnKore and Xsparkage for demonstrations. This show is always crowded so during these demos our booth was PACKED!! It was awesome! 

My favorite thing about the IMATS shows are the um..... interesting people/things you see walking around at the show...;ike this person below. If only she (?) had been using the Naked Cream sooner......

Besides seeing all the interesting folks we met a lot of really cool people during the short 2 day show. A few of the cool people we met where some of the contestants from the Syfy reality show called Face Off..... after spending the days at the show creating creepy creatures they then taught me, Simone and Matty the Monopoly drinking game..... So apparently you can turn anything into a drinking game :)

Sometimes being positive isn't easy..............................

I am a generally "happy" person and I try to be as positive as I can. Sadly, when I am surrounded by negativity I tend to jump on the Negative Nancy bandwagon.... so I need a litte reminder of the following:

Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?

~Dennis and Wendy Mannering

The soul does not absorb negativity by accident, always by choice.

  ~Dodinsky,

Optimist: someone who isn't sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play.  ~Robert Brault

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.

~C.C. Scott

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.

~Francesca Reigler

If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want.

 ~Oscar Wilde

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader's Digest, June 1995

A friend will remind you that assumptions born of malice are better dealt with by gleefully sticking your tongue out. 

~Dodinsky

Whenever you fall, pick something up.

~Oswald Avery

Success is due less to ability than to zeal.

~Charles Buxton

Misery is a communicable disease.

~Martha Graham

 



I'm in Miami Bit$&.........

I was lucky enough to spend the last 10 days in sunny, beautiful Florida. While it was raining cats and dogs here in Utah I was living it up in the sunshine state! When I wasn't working of course ;).

I spent the first 2 days working the Miami beauty show which was.... um.... interesting. It was the first year of this show and to be as kind as possible... it wasn't what we would call a "success".

I did learn a lot about other cultures while in Miami... apparently there are several kinds of Cubans. There are black ones, white ones and apparently Asian ones?? Wow...  I felt like I grew up in a bubble!

After this show ended Simone and I drowned our sorrows in the sun. We went to Hollywood beach.... which in a few words can be described as heaven on EARTH!!! It felt like I walked into a painting. The water is clear, turquoise and blue.... you can't see where the ocean ends and the sky begins!

After spending a GLORIOUS day at the beach I asked Simone to fulfill a wish of mine.... take me to see gators!!!!!! Yes, I have a love, fear, fascination with Alligators. Yes, I know they would snap me like a twig blah blah blah... but how can I not respect a creature like this that dates back to the dinosaurs and survived extinction so these animals are obviously smarter than I am.

I was both scared as hell and super excited to see the gators. It was like a little kid on Christmas hoping for a new Xbox or something.

This is Bob the gator. Our tour guide personally rescued and raised this amazing creature after he was nearly killed by a poacher. Bob now lives in the Everglades and as soon as he hears the tour guides voice he comes right up to him. It was AWESOME!!! Not going to lie... I wanted to hug Bob... he was like a big ole scaly puppy. Again, YES I know he would eat me. So after the tour we watched the "Gator Show" The "Gator Wrestler" was um.... HOTT! Not sure what his name was but he had a Boston accent and a nice manly physique. It also didn't hurt that he worked with gators..... Be still my beating heart.

After this show I paid $5 to hold and take pictures with Wally the gator.... and gave him a smoochy. Yes, I may be a little "crazy".....

After the glades and a couple days at the beach this Twilight pale chika actually got a tan!! According to Simones' Cuban friend Ilene I could pass for Cuban now ;)

My name is Samiee.... I am addicted to technology..

I was without the wonders of my laptop for 3... count them 3 days!! For someone that uses their laptop a lot for communication and what not this was an eternity. I never realized being without my computer would have me feeling so lost... maybe this is because I have renewed my addiction to beauty blogs.... I blame my new job :).

The reason for this separation?? A nasty, nasty NASTY virus called Windows Recovery. Completely took over my computer and made it un-use able. So I took it to the uncle of a friend and voila it has been restored! Literally.... My system had to be wiped clean. We where able to back up a lot of my pictures which are what is most important to me..... besides my beagle, family, friends and my makeup ;)

Phonetically I am correct...... Sorry Michigan

Detroit was a blast! I was working a show just outside of Detroit called Novi ( I called in Novee and ppl mocked me) It is pronounced Nov-eye. There is also a large chain of stores called Meijer which is pronounced Myer. I pronounced it MeJeeer.. Phonetically I am correct.

While in Ann Arbor checking out the U of M campus there was this little restaurant.... and what was is it called???? GRANGE!!! how fricken cool is that? So I may have held up traffic so I could take this picture.... totally worth it too...

Ok so I am done going on about how I pronounce things. Yes, I have a pet peeve about it. This show was the Michigan International Women's show. I am still wondering why "International" is in the title but whatev's. It was a decent show! Jenna Bush spoke about her UNICEF work and promoted her new book which was cool. As well the Novi firefighters where there raising money by doing a "fashion show". Not going to lie... after listening to Matt "the man whore" ogle girls it was nice to see some hot fellas strut the stage while women hoot and hollered

Chicago...this time it stunk

Ok I don't want to be a Debbie Downer or a Negative Nancy but this last show in Chicago bit the BIG ONE.... I was working with the coolest people and most of the other vendors where great too... but the customers where quite miserable human beings....they where just there to buy cheap $1 jewelry and to parade around in HORRIBLE outfits. I said good morning to a woman and her response was "No thank you." *sigh* People are so crazy......... I am so glad to be home for a little bit :)