Navigation by Cake and Other Adventures

So we managed to make it back from the Gift Show safe and relatively sound, although my right shoulder might never be the same again. Oh well, I am certain I don't really need to be able to lift my arm above shoulder level that often, right?

Now, I am sure there are people who arrive at the show with an itinerary and a neatly mapped out plan - which booths they will visit when, how long they will spend in each hall and so on and so forth. We like to start out that way, with our neatly highlighted guide and a clear plan of where to go and what to see. This, of course, is totally blown to hell in the first minute after walking into the show. Because in the first minute, we revert to our real navigation system - Navigation By Cake. Because, the first thing you see when you walk in the door of Hall 1 is the Scantrade booth. Scantrade knows it's stuff - they have free coffee, and warm chocolate chip cookies. Thus, it begins - the rest of the show is navigated based purely on who is giving out what free food when. Samaco and Seagull give out candy, good to stock up in the morning, for a mid-afternoon sugar rush to get you to 7pm. Anyone giving out cookies and pastries and coffee is the morning tour, Abbott's sandwiches and ice cream are lunch, Amscan's assorted snacks and juice is a good mid afternoon snack, since it usually involves something with protein. The day you spend at the Congress Center is based around the free samples all the gourmet food companies are giving out. Cheese fondue for lunch, cake for dessert. Truffles, well, anytime you can find them, really. This year Upper Canada upped the ante - they installed a chocolate fountain. Do you have any idea how many marshmallows covered in warm chocolate you can eat before getting sick?

I do.