Greetings from Chilly Canberra

See, told you I was going to blog :-)  Well we have finished day one and it is still "So Good!".  Arrived yesterday afternoon and once checked into our hotel went for a stroll and found the most amazing shopping centre!  I could seriously move here just for that.

For the first time we were able to check in the night before and collect our convention bags and we were so excited to see that we were getting the "Grow" bag that had been in last years overseas conventions. We normally do get the same bag but this year we are the first group to have the new theme of "I Am" which for various reasons had caused a bit of a kerfuffle in the US over the name but all we were worried about was not getting the Grow bag!  It is so beautiful and I found out I can fit my DSLR and a couple of lens in too so could leave my bulky camera bag back at the hotel.

We had a dinner at Turkish Pide with the ESAD girls - an online group of fellow demos I am on - and had a great night of eating, drinking, laughing and our most favourite thing to do, swap our swaps! Every event, convention or regionals,we make cards or small 3D items to swap with other demonstrators. I have got gorgeous things, including a beautiful clock and no, Friday night ladies we will not be making these anytime soon *g*

Day one

I don't think I slept at all last night and had to be up super early to get to the convention centre for VIP access to Memento Mall.  I was determined not to buy any SU logo clothing this year but could not pass up the beautiful printed cardigan and t shirt and a few other bits and pieces, more of which I will be back to get more of tomorrow I'm sure. 

We then had a special class for Managers and above (and I am now in the "and above" category!) a quick lunch and then the general session opened

We had some fantastic on stage demonstrations with lots of previews of upcoming products - none of which I can post on here unfortunately :-)

All too soon it was the end of the session and time to be picked up to be taken to the secret location of the Managers reception.......stay tuned!