Tuesday 27 August 2013

Stampin' Up! Convention - Salt Lake City, Utah 2013

Thank you so much for patiently waiting for me to blog about my trip of a lifetime to Salt Lake City in Utah, USA back in July 2013.

Wow, where do I begin.... (you'd better grab a cuppa as it's quite a long post with lots of pictures!)

I really do have to keep pinching myself to believe I actually DID go and experience it all and it wasn't just a dream!!! it seems such a long time ago now, but once I started going through the pictures to blog, it brought it all back to me, and I am one lucky lady to have done this and shared it with so many wonderful people from all over the world..... so, are you ready? here goes!

I was lucky enough to do this holiday with a lovely friend and fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator Nicky Whittall, and this is what greeted us at Salt Lake City Airport.... Stampin' Up! take over the whole town during convention and the locals don't seem to bat an eyelid! But then I guess it's been happening for 25 years now!!

We touched down to a very hot and sunny SLC (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit!

We stayed at the gorgeous Sheraton Hotel in Salt Lake City and we couldn't have wished for better service.
And this is our room, gorgeous huh?! we even had a Starbucks coffee machine and different flavour coffee filters AND a 50" flat screen TV which we only really used to check the weather every morning on "Good Morning Utah" TV, it was always so HOT HOT HOT, 102 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time we were there.
We arrived on the Tuesday evening and decided to do some sightseeing, and the hotel reception were so friendly and helpful that they pointed us in the direction of the local shopping centre called City Creek. It was a short Trax ride (the free tram service)

And we eventually found ourselves outside here "The Cheesecake Factory".... and yes, it was as yummy as it sounds, and we indulged in a fantastic meal.
Here is Nicky, standing in front of the display cabinet of her dreams!
And like most American restaurants, the food portions were so big we couldn't actually manage the cheesecake, so we had them "to go"... and this is how they package them up.
We were both struggling with jet lag after the meal and once back in our room, we crashed into bed and floated off to the wonderful land of nod! But shall I let you into a little secret..... Nicky and I were both wide awake the next morning at 5.30am local time and we were starving, so we had a little early morning feast of cheescake!!! They were so yummy, and VERY filling, but worth every mouthful.

Fast forward to Thursday morning - we were up early again because today was the day we had both been dreaming of, yes, dreaming about and never truly thinking it would EVER happen - a coach tour to Stampin' Up's Head Office in Riverton... OMG!! We were meeting up with Catherine Carroll in the convention centre lobby at 8am for the 8.30 bus trip, another fellow friend and Stampin' Up! demonstrator from our team who flew in later than us from the UK.
This is my first glimpse of the Riverton Home office.... wow, even through the coach window (with it's Spanish writing) it took my breath away!

This is a better view of it, but you can see how vast it is - it has to be to house all the Stampin' Up! loveliness!!

Here are the three of us in the atrium. (L-R Nicky, Me, Catherine)

We then ventured into the queue for the "Legacy Museum" and here are a few pictures from inside it, too many to share them all, but I could have stayed in there all day because it was that inspiring and nostalgic.

Everywhere you went there were display cabinets filled with so many samples..
And when you receive your Autumn/Winter seasonal catalogue, this table display will look familiar to you!
I would love a work desk like this....
And my Mum used to have a hand operated sewing machine like this.... ah this brought back great memories for me!

And here is a fraction of the warehouse and it's many conveyor belts and packing areas...
And when we came out of the tour, we wondered what was going on out the front.... huge groups of people queuing.... so we took a closer look... 
And apparently, it's tradition that you have your picture taken in front of the "Rock".... so as it would be rude not to, we did!!

So, if you made it down as far as this, thank you for sticking with me!!! you can see we had an awesome first morning, and I will be back again to share with you the 2013 Convention kick off from the Thursday night.

Have a great day and see you back here again for the next installment!

Thanks for stopping by,

Luv Lynne
xxx

4 comments:

  1. That's Great Lynne I am sure the ladies will love reading your adventure in Salt Lake City.

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  2. Great job Lynne, I am sure that everyone will enjoy your adventure in Salt Lake City.

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  3. Thank you Barbara, I hope they do too!
    Luv Lynne
    xxx

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  4. Thanks for sharing Lynne!
    xoxo Maaike

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Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate you taking the time.