Discover where the heck have I been since my last post...

...seems all over the place!

Though...for the last week I've been up in Los Angeles doing a job I've been doing twice a year...for the last 20+ years!  Can you believe it...it's the best of both worlds.  I get to be independent, entrepreneurial, "I'm the boss of me" most of the year...and then I go up to LA every June & July and December & January to set up for the gift trade shows that take place every six months.

I'm honored to be the showroom designer for CMA Gifts, a showroom that represents over 100 manufactures of home decor and gift items from greeting cards to furniture.   As a bonus,  I get to work with a great group of people (more like family), most of who have been there for many years, so its like old home week when I first arrive each time!  Once the hugs & kisses are over, with a quick catch up on life's big events...its down to the business of tearing the 40,000 square foot showroom apart, and putting it back together again...in four short weeks...for a gift show that only lasts one week!  CMA is a permanent showroom...so its fun to kick up the dust and set them up for the gift show...and the months that follow before we do it all again!

Did I forget to mention too...that its great for me to get a preview into what's hot and coming up in the gift and home industry and glean insights into what's happening in the retail world.  As you can guess, this comes in handy in regard to my Cerro Home shop at Leaping Lotus...very helpful indeed.

 A little sampling of some of the lines CMA represents

I'll share more with visual aids of projects I'm working on in the showroom in the weeks to come...

for now it's a little R&R for the holiday week at home.

Enjoy