Wow! What a thrill it was to drive up to the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and not only see guests dressed in pink gathering in the lobby but also Barbie® Doll Convention banners flanking the reception desk welcoming Barbie® Collectors. I felt right at home (albeit 1000's of miles from Mattel's home base in El Segundo, California)! Not only was I able to be a part of such a special event, but a whole host of Mattel employees were able to join me in this adventure, including designers, sample makers and marketing representatives. The convention host committee thought of everything, from the beanie baby duckling we received when we signed up for a Boston Duck Tour at the registration tables to the great bags stuffed with goodies.

On Tuesday, Cindy Amburgey (the Convention Chair) and the rest of the convention committee hosted a wonderful "thank you" luncheon to a host of people at Maggiano's. We dined on delicious Italian food and I was able to finally meet Cindy "face to face" after months of phone calls to coordinate Mattel's participation in the convention. After the luncheon, the entire Mattel team made their way to the many rooms located throughout the hotel that featured vintage Barbie® dolls for sale. What an amazing site to see so many Barbie® dolls that I personally had only seen in books. It was hard to resist not diving in and purchasing a few items for myself.

On Wednesday, I took the entire team to an official Boston Duck Tour. For anyone who hasn't been to Boston before, this is a must! As a native myself, I was surprised by how much history I was unaware of that our cheerful guide shared with us during our journey throughout Boston. Once we returned from our Tour, it was time to put the Mattel team to work to prepare for our Thursday luncheon. Each of the 100 centerpieces was assembled in my hotel room by the 15 person Mattel team. We actually had a blast putting them together and hope the conventioneers enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed putting them together. On Wednesday evening, the entire team headed down to the ballroom for the Shriner's Auction. Our own designer, Anna Choi, personally created a beautiful one of a kind Barbie® and Ken® set called "Masquerade Revelers." I was in awe of all the beautiful dolls that were arranged below the stage. They were all incredibly beautiful and very unique. I personally know Anna worked months and months on her dolls and can only imagine the amount of work that went into making all of the dolls that were auctioned off that evening.

Thursday was Mattel's big day at the convention. The entire team met bright and early in my hotel room to help bring the decorations down to the ballroom for preparation of the Mattel Luncheon. It was so exciting to see everything finally come together. We were all very eager to unveil the new Pink Label™ series: Dolls of the World® - Festivals of the World™. This line of Barbie® dolls represents festivals from around the world, that includes Carnaval Barbie® doll, Oktoberfest Barbie® doll, Chinese New Year Barbie® doll, Diwali Barbie® doll and Kwanzaa Barbie® doll. Not only did we have the original prototypes of the dolls in viewing at the luncheon, but we also had "live" models in a runway show featured in each of the doll's costumes. After the luncheon, we welcomed the conventioneers to meet us for a picture taking opportunity with each of the models. We also featured a doll signing opportunity with each of our designers present at the convention: Katiana Jimenez, Anna Choi, Bill Greening and Jim Holmes. The day ended with a "bang" at the Barbie® Fashion Show, where we were able to see many of the Barbie® Collectors dress up in their own inspired costumes strut their stuff on the runway! What a day!

The days seemed to just get busier and busier and Friday was no exception. The morning opened up with a celebratory 25th anniversary breakfast, followed by a hectic, yet fun filled day at the Mattel sales table. This was a great chance for us to meet with all of the collectors and for the collectors to not only see the Festivals of the World™ Dolls up close and personal, but to also view the Gold Label™ Authorized Dealer Platinum Label™ Doll called Violette™. Throughout the day, we had our various designers continue to sign dolls and talk with various collectors. The evening festivities consisted of a wonderful brother duo that did fantastic impersonations of celebrities such as Cher, Barbara Streisand, Elton John ... the list goes on. The night didn't end there as the Mattel team was invited to an Unofficial Barbie^SM Fan Club party in the Bonfire Bar where we met with many of the people who we only knew previously by their BarbieCollector.com^SM web names.

On Saturday, the last day of the Convention, we had an intimate Q&A session with about 50 conventioneers and avid Barbie® Collectors. This was a great forum for us to listen to collectors comments and for collectors to hear how a doll comes to fruition - from design to production. The big event of the day was the Masquerade Ball that was held in the Ballroom. It was truly a sensational event, and we had so much fun raiding the Mattel warehouse to find the perfect Barbie® costume to wear to the event. All of the videos were truly memorable, from the Tribute to Kelly to the "You've got to Have Friends" film and especially the teaser to the 2006 Los Angeles Collector Convention. I was also continually amazed by the hostess gifts that I received at the table each night. The Mattel Team had so much fun in unveiling the Convention Doll and at the Ball, we hope everyone enjoyed the Barbie® dolls as well as all the goodies that we packed out with them.

I know there's so much I'm forgetting but fortunately we took rolls and rolls of film that we can look back on with fond memories. The whole team is looking forward to seeing everyone in Los Angeles for the 2006 Convention!