Sydney Convention pics finally!

Thank you thank you all my lovelies for sending me pics so I can finally do a recap of a very amazing week!!! I've waited so long now that it almost seems weird to post these pics. However, I maintain that my blog is as much my journal as anything and I simply cannot go without having these pictures here to look back on in the future. :)

And as much as I wanted to go in chronological order, this first picture is encrypted or something b/c not only can I not move it, but I can't delete it either.....I think it's a sign! So I will start off with an awards night photo....one of my favorite things about awards night is that everyone gets all gussied up......look at all these gorgeous girls!!!

Sophie, Emma, Amanda, me, Clare & Jeanette

So now I'm starting at the beginning of the event....which was Friday morning. Emma and I stopped for a quick beauty shot...

And at the end of the day Friday with two awesome Kiwi's--Diane and Paula...

Let's see....lots happened on Friday that I don't have in photos. It was an extremely awesome and long day (any day is long for me when I have to start it in the 6:00 am hour). Registration, stamping, break-out classes, and then I ended the evening with delish Thai food and chit chat w/some demonstrators....but of course don't have a picture of that (Jayne--if you read this and if you have a photo--will you send it to me? Wait did we even take any pictures that night....hmm I think not....such a shame!)

On to Saturday....more break-out classes in the morning and then stamping, etc. in the afternoon. Here's the fabulous Ngaire who's from all the way over in Perth....

And the lovely Deb who I think is from Melbourne but I'm drawing a bit of a blank...is that right Deb?

And two awesome WA gals: Nicola and Charmaine....thanks for coordinating your outfits girls so that the picture would look so good! :)

And the last part of the event is Awards Night....which started off w/Paparazzi and a red carpet so we stopped for a few photos...

So first off Bonnie, me and Amy....two of my coworkers that I actually see every day instead of once a year. :)

And then me and Amanda striking a pose....I seriously love this girl and hate that she's one of the ones that I only see once a year. :(

Me and the gorgeous Sharnee rockin' her faux fox fur....ok it's probably not fox but I just couldn't pass up using that phrase....she's from Tasmania...

And two more WA gals--Leonie and Jodene...who also dressed in red and black...even the background is playing along!

And the ever so delish awards night dinner...

Nicola, Charmaine, Lynda, Ngaire, Skip, Cherita, Shannon

This year I decided to stay a couple of days after--so that I could do some sightseeing and get a good feel for the amazing city of Sydney...so on Sunday a bunch of us rode a ferry to Manly. The scenery was just amazing....Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the distance...

Sunday was such a gorgeous day--there were hundreds of sailboats in the harbour and the weather was perfect!!! Here we are on the steps of Manly beach. Manly is a cool little town....sort of like the beach version of Park City...we are looking at the beach and the photographer is standing on sand...

And one of my favorite photos--the ferry ride on the way back...

Shauna, Ngaire, Cindy, Charmaine, Marianne, Cherita, me, Emma, Teresa & Skip

And then back on land with the bridge in the distance...me & Teresa

And now that I'm at the end of my post, I can think of a couple more pictures that I have misplaced that I wanted to post...so I might have to post more later. The 3 days that I stayed after were sooooooo fun....mostly all shopping and recuperating and just having a blast in general. I loved every minute of this trip!!! So amazing!!

Backstreet's Back!

A week or so ago, I had a reunion w/my Backstreet Boys. It was like going home and visiting some of my oldest and dearest friends. The truth is (and you might want to prepare yourself for some potentially shocking news): I am a groupie. In fact for a couple of years I "went on tour" with them. One week I actually saw them perform in Charlotte, Atlanta, Philly and DC. Seriously! In fact, one of my favorite life stories revolves around them....I was teaching high school in Virginia and I lied to my department chair about being sick so I could go to MTV in NYC and experience the boys filming a special TV show. Then when back at school, I was talking to my dept. chair and one of my students walked in and said "saw you on tv, Miss West!" ha!!!

We started the night at Appy Hour at Market Street Grill....yum!

Their songs are a soundtrack to my life. When I hear their music I am transformed to all sorts of events and experiences....it's weird how the songs crop up and before I know it I am thinking about all kinds of memories. Like every time I go to LAX I am secretly looking around for 5 guys in white suits dancing to 'I Want It That Way.'

Anyway tonight I went to the concert w/my 3 sisters. We have collectively seen them perform 30 times!! Watching the little girls have fun was one of the best parts of the night. And then Hillary (who endured the entire concert with a full-on migraine....no not the kind people say they have and then stay at work but the kind where you have to take 2 imitrex's and4 Excedrins but you get through it because that's how bad you want it) also brought on some great enjoyment when Brian told her he could see her sitting down and that she needed to get on her feet! ha!

Hillary, Ally, me and Lindsey

Other highlights for me tonight were:

• Bigger--it sounded so good live!!
• Larger Than Life (although a bit of a teaser the way they did it, I will always love it when they sing the video version of the song which is what they did)
• Straight Through My Heart--still can't get enough of this song!
• Oh and getting a text from my brother right before the concert that said "I will be late don't stay up and wait for me....I'm goin' to a place nearby, gotta go!" haha

Bedazzled hoodies....pretty much the only type I would wear. :)

Final bows...the saddest moment!

It was an amazing show!! And then on the way home, for the first time I was thankful for the I-15 construction when just as I started to slow down, I ran smack dab into the boys' buses!!

All the times that I've thought "If we could just find their buses, eventually they will have to stop for gas." And then there they were...and I was almost out of gas....so I couldn't even follow them to SoCal. Such a bummer! But amazing at the same time! It was truly an amazing night!!!