It's so hard to believe that another Stationery Show has come and gone. But here were are, already a few weeks post-show.
Ally already wrote about pre-show prep and outreach, but there's also so much work in the days leading up to the show. Starting with packing!
As the show approached, I made a pretty detailed list of everything I needed to remember from screws, display products, and paper towels to phone chargers, pens, and mascara. We crammed everything (including the walls) into a minivan we borrow from my father-in-law. It's always a pretty tight squeeze.
We hit the road a little before noon on Thursday, May 17.
The drive took about 4 hours, but parking and loading-in were pretty easy this year. We arrived to a typical booth space: plain black curtains and a paper sign.
Right away, Eric and I got to work setting up our walls as quickly as possible. They went up easily since this was our 6th year setting them up. The trickiest part is always getting them level, but we did it! Then we said goodbye to the Javits Center and headed to my Aunt's for dinner and good night's sleep.
On Friday morning, we brought in the rest of our boxes and made a plan for the day. 
Erin and Ally joined us at 10 and then we really got down to business.
At times, it was hard to tell if we were getting anywhere. It felt like we were just moving boxes from one corner to another. But, little by little, things started to progress.
On Saturday, we worked hard all morning. We added all of the little finishing touches and then put all the cards on the shelves
We finished setting up around 1:30 on Saturday and we split up for a relaxing pre-show afternoon. For the third year in a row, I had lunch with my sister and we got manicures. Best of all, I was in bed by 9:30 so I could rest up for Day 1 of the show!
I'll be back in a few days with Part 2: The Show!
-April
