Let me just get the bad stuff out of the way. The food sucked. We were served pasta three times in a row. Friday lunch was curly pasta swimming in an appalling sauce. Friday night was pasta with different toppings, Saturday at the W Club luncheon was more pasta, this time in the form of manicotti. Pat Feick found a good sized piece of cellophane mixed in with her food!
Next year I am filling out the food allergy form thus: no pastas, no gravies, no high fat-high cholesterol foods. What ever happened to vegetables and animal proteins? The desserts were good but I would have preferred to have consumed healthy main meals. This was like dormitory food. Very disappointing. And I would like my coffee with my dessert, not 30 minutes afterward. I must add that the coffee served in the hotel was excellent-even the decaf!
The hotel was very cold and the thermostat in the room had difficulty maintaining a comfortable temperature.
And now to share the fabulous rest of the convention...
At each event, the tables and the entire dining room were decorated beautifully. The centerpieces were not just standing on the tables, they were displayed on different stands which were lit from below. The tables themselves were dressed in frothy linens and the chairs were wrapped as well. It was beautifully done. Carol Roth and Alain Tremblay co-hosted the events. Thursday night's centerpiece was Eugenia dressed in a red version of Color Therapy Vanessa's green dress. She is fantastic. Friday luncheon centerpiece was the new character in the Hollywood Royalty line, Josephine Baker. At the W Club luncheon on Saturday afternoon, the centerpiece was a wig-less Kyori who came with two wigs, a coat and shoes and boots. Much of the items in the set were items we had seen previously. Saturday night the centerpiece was my love, Vanessa. She was displayed on a very, very tall pair of vases. One of which was filled with bubbly red gel which diffused a light at the bottom. It was very atmospheric and very dark in the room. The ice sculpture in the center of the dining room resembled a Russian palace. It was gorgeous.
In following installments, I will show and discuss the dolls from the convention collection and the convention doll herself. She is a new character called Tatyana. Her skin is like porcelain and I think she is a very fine looking addition to the line.
I'm exhausted from having so much fun! A big thank you to my wonderful table mates for making this my favorite convention, ever.
Tune in for more installments.
Josephine Baker
