Cyndie's Promotions was hosting their second anniversary show and Beanie collectors were eager to view anything new, talk over old times and get a fix on the current market.

Cyndie had most of her family involved with the show. Here she is pictured with her father.

Sara and I met many wonderful collectors and dealers. The individuals we met were hoping to get a glimpse of the new Beanie Baby and Beanie Kids line in anticipation they would jumpstart the market and bring back fond memories of yesteryear.

Sam the Beanie Man a very funny dealer who attended the show.

Prior to coming to Chicago, Sara was able to purchase eight of the nine styles of Beanie Kids recently released by Ty. In my opinion, her Kids stole the show.
Collectors were delighted to view and touch the kids. They were also surprised at how generous Sara was about allowing them to cradle and nurture them. At one point a collector ask to see one of the kids and Sara tossed it their way.

Sara Nelson (Beaniemom) in her element with Ty's Beanie Kids

Many collectors were very impressed with the Kids size; the hair that was very manageable and they loved the clothing.
One lady by the name of Connie Sherden proclaimed that she did not like the Kids and would not be purchasing them. I told her to be careful and reminded her that they do grown on a person.
I noticed that she came by the table a few times and I always caught her looking out of the corner of her eye at the Kids.
I kept teasing her by saying, I see you are back again, I told you to be careful, I bet before the end of this show you will be in love with these Kids!

I had to run to our room to get my camera and when I returned I found Connie and Sara playing hairdresser. Actually as it turned out, Connie is a hairdresser. I was so amused that I had to take a picture. Connie confessed that she had fallen for the kids and now would be collecting them.

Two styled beauties from Connie and Sara the Beanie Kid Lovers!

I also had the pleasure of meeting with many viewers of my website. One viewer in particular by the name of Rosalie and her grandson Jason were extremely kind and visited with us for a while. I asked if I could photograph them for the website and they agreed to allow me to do so.

Rosalie and her cute grandson Jason

The show had an upbeat feel to it and Cyndie's Promotion's did a wonderful job with decorating and making everyone feel right at home.
I was impressed with the amount of door prizes that were given away. Every time I blinked, she was giving away another door prize. She even gave away a Jumbo Peace, collectors went wild!
Because this show represented her second anniversary, she purchased two large lovely sheet cakes to serve to guests and dealers after the show.

Shortly after the show ended, it was time for Sara and I to head back to Virginia and reality. As we packed we discussed our trip and how nice it was to visit Chicago.
BUT folks it wasn't over yet. What we did not know is about to surprise you as much as it did us.

We called for a cab and while we were waiting for it to arrive I noticed a hotel driver standing near by. I informed him that we had to go into the city to catch the Amtrack train and asked if he could assist us.
He said it would be a complementary ride and for us not to worry he would get us where we needed to go. I once again reminded him that I was not speaking of Metro but instead Amtrak. He said he understood.
He loaded our luggage into the van and away we went. As we were driving he informed us that we would be taking us to the Metro station and a train would arrive in about an hour and a half to take us to Amtrak.
He then informed us that we would then take the Metro to the end of the line and then have a quiet little stroll for two blocks before arriving at Amtrak. I reminded him that we had quite a bit of luggage and that it may be difficult for us to walk two blocks. He responded by saying, "Why it's not snowing, it's a beautiful day", I could have hit him upside the head with a Beanie! I think this man had pellets for a brain!

As Sara and I stood in the commuter parking lot of Metro the driver drove away. I was so surprised with what just happened I could not think straight. I finally gathered my senses and told Sara not to worry, I would get us out of this mess.
I spotted a phone booth nearby but also noticed that there were no telephone books. I also realized that the station was closed and there was nobody around. As I walked around I noticed labels stuck onto the side of the phones. Thank God one of them was of a cab company.
I called the cab service and asked to have a cab sent immediately.
About ten minutes later a very nice gentleman pulled up and assisted us. I ran him through the safe driving drill and told him if he did a good job he would be handsomely rewarded.
I'm here to tell you that our driver was excellent and delivered us safe and sound. At this point I figured nothing else could go wrong and I started to relax. WRONG, you won't believe what happened next!

We get to Amtrak and there is wall to wall people everywhere. We finally came across our gate to board and learned that one of the trains had been delayed and this is what had contributed to the jam up.
As the conductor started calling for passengers to board he asked for elderly and handicapped riders to board first. There was a lot of confusion and we did not understand what was being said so we jumped in line to proceed to board. The conductor stopped us and asked if we were handicapped, I replied no but I guess by the look on my face he felt sorry for us and allowed us to board early anyway.
As we are boarding I'm thinking to myself, this is a good sign, nothing else can go wrong.

Boy way I wrong once again!

Too make a long story short; we about froze to death on the train. For some reason or another the train had lost it's heating system and to top if off we were now two hours behind schedule. For 20 hours we sat without heat and without a blanket. Amtrak wanted to charge us $7.50 for a blanket. There was no way I was paying $7.50 for a scratchy blanket I would never use again. Besides, they should have passed out blankets for free; we paid for warm transportation not a freezer car!

Needless to say we were both extremely happy to finally arrive home.
If you see a note on Beaniemom's page about reminding me not to ride a train again, don't worry, I have no intention of EVER riding an all night train ever again.

In closing I would like to point out that I do not recommend for anyone to try and take pictures of Ty's offices. Although Sara and I were very lucky, we were approached by Ty security. It just so happens that we charmed our way out of trouble and promised to never return without an invitation. Now, we all know that this is probably unlikely so enjoy the pictures and live through our experiences as if they were your own.

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