Stampin' Up! Convention Arrival, Leadership and Managers Reception....

So I have made it back from Convention safe and sound - if not completely exhausted! What a ride!!

Two of my friends/team members - Tanya and Sandra - and I, left Perth on the Tuesday morning flight - hello 3am wake up! We had a fantastic flight across to Brisbane with Qantas. We took the Airtrain to Southbank and pulled our already heavy suitcases up Melbourne Street to the Central West End Apartments and settled in, before heading out for snack supplies.

 We headed to Southbank for dinner and found this little cafe/restaurant called "Steam" that had a great selection, so with the view of the river and the Brisbane skyline in front of us, we dug in!

The next morning we were able to sleep in a bit. We went for a walk around Southbank and found ourselves at  San Churros - omg! They were divine! We all had a different drink but we ALL had churros!!

The girls walked me up to the convention centre to attend my very first Leadership - in fact it was a first for everyone as Leadership Training is new to Australia. It was very interesting and gave me lots of ideas to put into practice as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. I was lucky enough to sit near the lovely Jacinta Ryan!

She kindly invited me to sit with her as I didn't really know anyone, and that night at the Managers Reception, she once again invited me onto her table for dinner, which was so nice - I wouldn't have enjoyed myself half as much if she hadn't!

 I met some gorgeous ladies, had a really lovely meal, all of our names were up in lights on the big screen, and as we left for the evening, we were greeted by some of the staff at the home office who gave out gorgeous little gifts!! PLUS we got our fantastic silver and white convention bag - this year it is a backpack! So handy to carry around all of our Make and Take supplies and all of the other little gifts we received during convention. (sure did get heavy lol!).

So what was in the tin? An exclusive stamp set - which I can't show you as it is from the upcoming Annual Catalogue, due out July 2nd! You will love it tho!

The 25th Anniversary backpack is quite large, with lots of zips and pockets. Inside were 2 stamp sets, all of the product needed for the make and takes, a silver pen, an lanyard for our nametag, a 25th Anniversary pin for our collection, and the current catalogues. I was hoping for a copy of the new catalogue, but not to be....not that I am complaining!!

I look terrible in this shot, but I had to show me meeting Shelli! I got caught in the rain on the way to the Managers Reception, and this was before I got to freshen up, but who could turn down a photo op with Shelli?? Not me, that's for sure! I have a better pic to share in later posts. How gorgeous is she? What a lovely couple she makes with her sweetheart Stirling - he is the nicest man, he even put my purchases in bags for me at Memento Mall (more on MM later). Such a great company leader :)

It was a lovely end to a busy day, and best of all, I got to go back to my apartment and have some laughs with my roomies as we looked forward to Convention 2013 - our very first- starting in the morning!

Check back for more convention updates soon!

Kylie xxx