a special shoutout to some special people.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I attended two days of the Gluten Free Living Now Expo in Carmel, Indiana. I'll blog more about it later (and on some of the products which really stood out to me), but I'd like to take this opportunity to send a special thank you to the wonderful folks at Kinnikinnick foods, the people of Gluten Free Living Now, and the staff of The Fountains Banquet & Conference Center in Carmel, Indiana, where the Expo was held.

I had to drive over an hour just to get to the Expo, and by the time I got going and found the place, it was about 4:30 in the afternoon. Since I knew they were closing down in a half hour, I tried to look around as much as possible before I had to leave. I knew I would be coming back the next day, but I didn't want my trip Friday to be for nothing!

I had collected quite a few samples and a free reusable grocery bag by five o'clock, and I was ready to go. Now, when I know I am going to be walking around a lot, I don't like to carry a heavy purse; I will bring along a smaller bag and put just the essentials in it, such as my wallet and the key to my van. I pulled out the key to my van, and was holding it in my hand (along with my phone and my bag and the shopping bag full of samples) when I suddenly remembered a photo I wanted to take to jog my memory. I walked back, took the photo (of the Harvest Cafe Coffee Roasters booth; their coffee is great, buy some!) and walked just out the door to the outside. It was at this point that I made a discovery which no person likes to make...I didn't have my key.

I didn't panic at first. I knew where I had been, and I knew that the key had to be in the conference center. It isn't a gigantic room, although it is a good size, and I figured that I would stumble onto it. It was on a bright yellow Happy Bunny key chain, so it should have been fairly easy to spot. I asked the people in the lobby who were in charge of the Expo, I asked at the Lost and Found of the Fountains, I emptied my shopping bag, and no key.

I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that we searched for over an hour for that key. I could have called my husband to come and get me, but it wouldn't have solved the problem of my van being locked up and my purse being in there, since we only have the one key for the van. You see, we bought that van used, and it just came with the one key; since I am the only one who drives it, and since the automatic key locker thingie was lost to the previous owner, I just never bothered to get another key made. So while he could come get me, the van would still be locked. It would take him a long time to get there, I had my doubts that he would find it (after all, I got lost on my way), and let's face it...I just didn't want to call him.

Here's where the wonderful staff of the conference center, the people from Gluten Free Living Now, and the ladies at Kinnikinnick come in. They all took their personal time to help me look for my key, and they were right there along with me searching. Everybody, including me, was praying that I would find my key. I was about five minutes from giving in and calling my husband when all of a sudden I hear, "Hey, we found the key!" One of the catering staff had found it either by or in one of the large trash cans in the main room of the Expo. I am not going to lie...I was so happy I cried. I hugged his neck and just sobbed. I had kept it together fairly well up to that point, but I was just so relieved! I am ashamed to say, however, that I didn't get his name. All I know is that he was a tall, dark-haired, younger Hispanic fellow wearing a blue catering jacket.

Yes, I did go back the next day. I got lots more samples (I will be blogging about the best ones soon), and when I visited the Kinnikinnick table, we all had a nice laugh at my key which was now on a carabiner ring attached to my purse. And, since they were closing up, they gave me an entire tray of their JB Brownie Squares and their Ginger Snap Cookies! Let me tell you, they were delicious!

So I had an interesting weekend; but I also learned a lot and made a bunch of new friends. God bless their little hearts!