Seattle!

Last week I went with colleagues to a work conference in Seattle. One of my favorite parts of my job is traveling 3x a year with the whole sales team (all 4 of us) to the allergy and dermatology conferences. This year the ACAAI (American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology) was in Seattle. It was great! We left early Friday morning and didn't get back until Tuesday evening.

Friday we went down to Pike Place Market to see the "flying fish," produce & local artists. I loved it! There were booths of local artists making everything under the sun...pottery, jewelry, crazy hats, oven mitts, tents, hand carved wooden boxes etc. I try my hardest to make sure my souvenirs are locally made from whatever trip I'm on so this jewel of a place was heaven! If it wasn't for all the crazy people in Seattle and the awful rain then I'd be tempted to move there (that's becoming a habit of wherever I go). I could totally see myself walking down to the market to get fresh produce everyday. It was blissful. I ended up getting some local pottery & hand made earrings. I love them! For lunch we at ate the Athenian Inn. It's became famous when Tom Hanks ate here while filming Sleepless in Seattle. It had a great view of the water.

Saturday through Monday we worked at our booth. Allergists come from all over to get their continuing education credit & attend seminars, but we come as an exhibitor to talk about our products & answer any questions they might have. Lucky for us our booth is shipped in days in advance & set up for us. The first day in the booth went by fast because we were extremely busy, but each day it got a little slower. By our 3rd and last day it was up to us to say entertained! Luckily a "booth neighbor" had a magic 8 ball...not just any magic 8 ball. Yes, it was in the shape on an eyeball b/c their drug was eye drops or something! hahaha. It wasn't as bad as the stuffed animal dust mites! I can't make this stuff up! Anyway, we asked our magic 8 ball questions all day & laughed until we cried. We hardly saw any doctors until it came time for the free Ipod drawing. It's simply amazing watching these docs. come out of the wood works for a free Ipod....like they can't buy one! They literally delay their flights home to make sure they are there for the drawing. Seriously?

The food is quite possibly my favorite part about these conferences. I love trying new restaurants & it's great to not be eating alone! The food is Seattle was great. One night Erica & I split from the group and ate at a place called "Wild Ginger" (thank you Beth Holland). It was so great! We were told it was a bit above P.F. Changs and it indeed was. I branched out and tried some sort of seafood each dinner....we were in Seattle.

We stayed at the Sheraton only a few blocks from the market so we were in a great location surrounded by wonderful restaurants and.....shops! One evening my boss let Erica and I take him shopping at Banana Republic! He was such a good sport & tried on everything we threw over the dressing room door. The best part was getting rid of his "dad jeans!" He may have walked in with stone washed tapered jeans, but came out with straight legged dark banana beauties. :)

Over all we saw around 450 doctors & left feeling like it was a worthwhile and successful trip. Next year this conference is in Miami! I didn't have my camera so I'm totally relying on Erica for pictures & I'll post some later when I get them from her. This weekend I'm just looking forward to rest!