lucky dodo

Operation Christmas Child @ MAMBI

Filling shoeboxes for children at Christmastime is a tradition at MAMBI. This year we filled 300 boxes for the Operation Christmas Child program which is a world-wide organization headed by Franklin Graham. We shopped for days collecting all the right toys and grooming supplies to put a smile on a child's face. The boxes will be sent all over the world and distributed to children in places where Christmas as we know it...seldom comes.

I am very proud of all of our MAMBI staff who worked so hard and willingly to help complete this undertaking.

For more information on Operation Christmas Child go to www.operationchristmaschild.org

This one's for you mom!

I have recently re-connected with my younger cousin. I have great memories of him when we were kids. For some reason, our family has not done a great job of keeping in touch with my mom's brother's kids. There are six kids in their family and I have spoken with three of them in the past month. I think I will take on the project of planning a family reunion....next year....after the holidays.

This is my cousin Jeff....posting these photos for you mom. Here are a few more of him.

This is Jeff in front of the "woodshed" at my grandparents old cabin that we named "THE DUGOUT". I have great memories of the cabin in Ceder Pines Park in the San Bernadino Mountains. One year the entire family spent the Christmas season here. I remember that we put all the gifts in a U-haul truck and brought them up to put under a huge outdoor Chrismas tree.

 
Hopefully, I will have dinner with my cousin next week and start to catch up. What do you think, Mom?
He looks like uncle Bert, don't you think?

Sneak Peak from China

Just a few photos for your viewing pleasure!

We were in the car today for over four hours traveling to China to work for the day in a factory. It was a really long, tiring day but always great to see the new MAMBI product being produced. Thought you would like a quick peak into our day trip to Guong Duong, China. Some pretty primitive sights today along the way. Look.

The new project really looks great! You will love the new paper....great job Rachel, Lauren & Renee designing and organizing this program....It's gonna be another MAMBI best-selling line, I predict.

It was a really long day today and I'm tired. Safely "home" in my Hong Kong hotel and ready for bed.
G'night! We are flying home tomorrow afternoon. Our work here is done and I''m ready to be back in the US of A. We are so blessed. Visiting here really makes you grateful for everything we have at home.

Dining Experience in HK

We went to dinner with one of our factories....one of my favorite factories I might add.
I was thinking of posting the experience all through dinner but did not have the "nerve" to pull out my little camera during the evening.

We were taken to a lovely Chinese restaurant over looking the Victoria harbour. At 8 pm there was the lazer light show that highlighted all the important buildings in Kowloon and Hong Kong......it was an impressive view. So, for dinner here is what I ate for dinner: I was a real adventure!!!!

   

Black hairy Shanghai crab....we were offered rubber latex gloves, scissors, tools and a great sauce         for dipping. Our host gave us a great demo on how to disect and eat a Shanghai crab. It would have
    been an amazingly "blog-worthy" to have a photo of us in rubber gloves, with our tools, eating the
    small amount of meat the we
    Shark fin soup
    Abalone in brown sauce with bok choy
    Baked pigeon (a cross between chicken and duck)
    Pumpkin soup with a shot of Sparrow Saliva ( I kid you not)

    I understand that Queen Elizabeth drinks a shot of Sparrow Spit every day for her complexion!

    Anyway, we were very happy to spend the time with this group of people and hope that our business    continues to grow with them.

    Sorry that I don't have any photos of today.

    Going in to China tomorrow and I WILL take my camera there.

I'm in Hong Kong!

We arrived in Hong Kong this morning at 7am....It is Sunday here and Saturday night at home.
Our flight was great...long....but good sleeping time. As you can see, I have settled into my home away from home very nicely in my usual fashion....all organized!

I can't wait to climb into bed tonight! I'm so tired tonight but trying to stay up for a few more hours.

Kevin and I walked around the walk along Victoria Harbor which is right in front of our hotel.

We live here.
Also went to the Peninsula Hotel where I'm getting some old pearls re-strung and Kevin got some shirts made...Tomorrow we go to the Hong Kong Mega Show! I look right out my window at the Peninsula Hotel and I love that place. I have never stayed there (so expensive) but, it is always the first place I go every time I come here....just to browse the fancy shops.

I love watching these funky boats bouncing around in the busy Victoria harbor.

Going to bed now. I know I'm rambling and very disorganized in my presentation....but my mind is tired and a bit numb. G'night!

Hello Old Friend!

Betty Waldeck or Weed as many of her friends affectionately refer to her was all smiles today when we surprised her with a visit. Kevin, Renee and I went out to see her and wish her a belated Happy Birthday.
She celebrated this weekend with family and friends but we chose to avoid the crowds....which knowing her family there was an army of people Sunday. She has more friends than anyone I know.

Many of you know and remember Betty as the face of MAMBI at the trade shows in our early days. She was organizer, teacher, trade show host extraordinare! She quite literally taught Stephanie and I much of what we know regarding selling in the craft industry. We owe her so much and are  grateful to her for her years of contribution to our growing company. She suffered a serious aneurysm a few years ago and has been recovering now for close to three years now. We have followed her progress through many surgeries and uncertain times. Her progress recently has been significant and it was great today to see her face light up when we said "hello". I'm not sure she understood half of what I said and visa versa as she still has some speech and cognitive limitations...but I choose to believe that we brightened her day....Seeing her was the highlight of mine!

I was reminded today of all the things I have to be grateful for....obviously, the most important is my health. This morning I was having a little "pity party" for myself for a variety of issues I am dealing with in my life...they all seem pretty "lame-ass" this afternoon after seeing all of the people in the hospital who are literally dealing with life or death issues. So, I'm over myself. Thanks Betty.....for the "reality check", I needed that.

I''m off to Hong Kong tomorrow night so I will keep you posted on our China adventures...keep in touch!

Bittersweet Good-bye!

Today was Dave's last day at MAMBI. It was really sad to see him go. He is off to "greener pastures"...actually to pursue an opportunity that he said he could not turn down ( right.) for a much bigger company. Dave has always been more of a corporate guy at heart! For those of you who know Dave you know what a nice guy he is. Personally, I have many great memories of traveling with Dave through the years. Mostly sitting in airports and trying to get all of our samples in trunks of rental cars.
"Oh, Dave.....you're gonna miss us! You know you will. 

  Mambi Ping Pong  games right outside your door.

smiling faces EVERYWHERE!

 

Famous Faces

Jokers....quite literally.

Ummmmmmmm..

Long, productive "managers meetings"...

The only thing that brought a smile to my face was seeing him take down that damn USC flag from his office. As you know, we have become instant UCLA fans now that Tyler is a freshman there.

So Best of luck you you Dave. We all wish you success and happiness as long as you are not taking "space" from MAMBI...you know how that works. Good Luck.

We have a winner!

Congrats Jennie,

I chose you to win my Italy momentos.
Leaving a bathing suit home when on a cruise sounds like
something I would do....so funny.

Sorry about your mom...that had to be a great loss for all of you.

 Please send me your mailing address and I will forward you my souviners from Italy.
Also, keep checking our blogs....which daughter? Stephanie or Lauren?

Take care and thanks for emailing me at mambi.

Terri Gick

Souvenir Give-Away from Italy

I bet you think I forgot telling you that I would bring something back for you.....well I did not forget.
It has just taken me a while to get back in the swing of things here. We have been home for well-over a week now and I"m just starting to get my sleep cycles right. I have been really bad about keeping my blog up-to-date...I'm sorry for that. I leave for Hong Kong/China (for work this time) next week. After that trip, I will have travelled over 10,000 miles in one month....that is so much time in an airplane for me. As you can see from the photo collage above, we had a great time! Everything on the Italian coast is magnificent & beautiful....just amazing.

So, I will show you what I brought home and then I need to hear from you. Email me and tell me what your favorite vacation memory is and who you were with and I will choose  one of you to get this momento gift from my Italy vacation.

The gift includes: 1. A printed cotton tote bag from Fragonard Parfumerie in Eze, Italy. Eze is a small hillside village on the Italian coast not too far from Sorento. We hiked up to the village and found this tiny perfume shop with very cool perfumes that they make right on site.

2. A spray perfume from the same place....smells so good!! Sorry for the bad photo....the smell will make up for the bad picture....I promise.

3. A round ceramic soap dish for your kitchen sink with a fresh lemon scented soap. This I bought in Ravello, another small coastal village close to Positano, Italy...where some US celebs hang out in the summer. I thought this was so cute that I bought 8 of them....one for each of my kids, me and you....our lucky winner.

4. An authentic old gaming chip from the famous Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. It comes with a certificate of authenticity and is made into a key chain.

I will keep this post open until the weekend....so send me your favorite vacation stories.

Ciao!

                 
                          

Trip of a Lifetime!

Our vacation really was a fantastic memory and really a trip of a lifetime! After a three day stay in Lake Como, Italy (which I already blogged), we boarded our cruise ship and headed off to Venice to begin our 12 day cruise....Venice, Dubrovnik, Sicily, Elba, Taormina, Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Florence, Rome and finally Monte Carlo, Monaco were our ports of call. We literally ate our way along both of the Italian coasts.

I love that photo of us in Florence overlooking the city and the famous Duomo.

No trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Sistine Chapel (above) and the Collisium.

Oh, and look who I found in the Vatican museum.....none other than my own two little greyhound look-alikes. LILY & LUCY. I was so excited! They looked the same 1000 years ago. These are the original "skinny bitches"....quite literally.
Sorrento and the beautiful Amalfi Coast were breathtaking.
We saw beaches, duomos, churches, plazas, palaces and ruins. Everything was different and we loved taking it all in. Believe me, we covered a lot of ground in what seemed like a short amount of time.

Yep, it's true....they have lots of wine here! Grapes growing everywhere.
And Italian pottery!

We ended our trip in Monte Carlo. I will post that tomorrow. The jet lag is catching up with me.
G'night.