This past week/weekend, I decided to do what few others from the state of Florida or the rest of the 49 states were doing, I chose to drive into the icy tundra of metro Atlanta. Boy what a drive it was. Luckily for me I-75 North was well plowed, as for the heart of the South, that was a whole other matter. Yet as a Florida native with absolutely no experience with driving on ice or snow, I managed to not kill myself. Phew, good thing, because I had a lot of conference calls on Friday.

Now my few days in Atlanta were for work as opposed to pleasure, well let’s be honest, I’d be lying if I said my job wasn’t a heck of a lot of fun. But, should anyone at customs ask, it was a business trip. Karen and I managed to get an inordinate amount done in a very short amount of time. From presenting website designs to Georgetown, TX to sitting down for a rousing good lunch with the Big Nerd Ranch team we were non-stop for three days.

The Big Nerd Ranch crew introduced us to an amazing restaurant, Sun in my Belly, and I’ll tell you what, the food was so incredible that I wouldn’t be surprised if little rays of sunshine were emanating from everyone when they left. The Big Nerd Ranch team was pretty fabulous as well. But, they always are. As our favorite software, training and consulting company, we have a chance to broaden our minds and our project designs. Which means we can’t wait to share the illustrations Karen created for their marketing kit and start brainstorming the possibilities for branding the physical ranch.

Big Nerd Ranch wasn’t the only client that we had a chance to chat with this weekend. We ventured into the retail or should I say wholesale therapy at AmericasMart’s Atlanta Gift Show. Barbie Kennedy of Barbie Kennedy Inspired Home Collections was launching her product on the market at the gift show. Flaunting our R&R t-shirts, we walked through nearly four buildings and 14 stories of product vendors to find Barbie’s booth. And what a booth it was. A full tent with paper lights and white linens met us, along with a vibrant coloring of plates, platters and dishware. From their smiling faces, Barbie and her business partner Julianne, were enjoying an impressive entry into the world of buying and selling. The duo return later this week and I have a pretty good feeling that the orders and contacts will be abundant.

All in all although I had to learn to shuffle across iced parking lots, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my weekend hanging out with some of our amazing clients and working side by side with the “Rhyme” of our “Reason”.