Sarah Richardson Meets The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe!

The countdown had been going on for weeks. Finally, it was Friday January 14th. It was the day my Mom & I were going to the Kitchen Bath & Reno show in Winnipeg, where my all-time favorite designer, HGTV'S Sarah Richardson was the special guest!! I couldn't have been more excited to go see her live and hear her presentation. That Friday morning, an idea came to me. What if I stitched a couple of aprons for Sarah Richardson's daughters?! I did a little google search, found the names of her girls and then got right to work. I was quite excited about the finished product and wrapped the aprons up all nicely. At this point, I honestly didn't know what I was hoping for. I didn't know how I would ever get to GIVE these aprons to Sarah. I figured at best, I could some how get close enough to her and throw them at her ;) Or, worst case scenario, I could just mail them to her.

I decided to take some photographs of the aprons and I posted this on my facebook page:

"What can I say, I'm starstruck! I get to see my all time favorite interior decorator tonight -- HGTV'S Sarah Richardson!! I couldn't resist making a couple of aprons for her girls...now here's hoping I actually get the chance to GIVE them to her (AHHH!)"

I linked the post to Sarah's facebook page, not thinking at all that she would actually see the post. Just thinking it would be fun.

Later that afternoon a storm was brewing (gotta love Manitoba!) but my Mom & I braved the icy roads and made our way to the Convention Centre. We arrived in plenty of time and snagged some really good seats, right behind all of the rows of reserved seating. Shortly after, the place really started filling up. I heard there were over 1000 people in attendance that evening. I was beginning to give up on the idea of getting my aprons to her. It just seemed to good to be true. So, I decided to relax and just enjoy the night.

At 7pm Sarah entered the room! She was as lovely as ever, sitting casually on stage and going through a bunch of pictures describing design tips and sharing ideas. At the end of the 'show' Sarah opened it up to questions from the audience. I really truly did have a question, but I was pretty nervous!! As some of you know, we are in the process of building a house and I am going to start painting this month yet. I figured, what are the chances that I would be picking paint colors RIGHT at the same time that Sarah Richardson is in town?! I decided I couldn't miss the opportunity, so I got in line (where I whispered with an equally-nervous Sarah Richardson fan while waiting for my turn at the mike -- hi Tavia!!!) and asked the following question (because some of you have been asking me what I asked her!) It went a little something like this:

"My husband & I are building a new house and I am in the process of picking paint colors. Our main floor has an open concept floor plan and our kitchen & dining room are under the same 'ceiling' - a regular flat ceiling. Then our living room joins up to these 2 rooms and has a vaulted ceiling. We are having white cabinets in our kitchen that go all the way up to the ceiling, so it really doesn't leave much room for paint color on the wall. My question is, I'm thinking of painting the ceiling in the kitchen/dining room a light turquoise, but I'm wondering if I have to carry that color on to the vaulted ceiling?"

She was SO helpful and quite honestly I didn't catch all of her answer as I just COULDN'T believe that I was making eye contact and having a conversation with the Sarah Richardson about MY house. Hee hee. She basically said that where ever there was a break in the ceiling, it's a new room and you are able to change colors. She also mentioned that when people step into our house, we need to have something interesting in the furthest corner of the room, something that draws people in. It was very cool to get her advice on MY house! Yep, my Mom will agree if I say I was a little giddy after I sat down.

Shortly after my question, as the evening was coming to a close, Sarah asked something like "Now, is there a girl here from a cupcake shoppe who has some aprons for me?" I couldn't believe my ears!!! She was calling me (little 'ol me!) to the front! She said she had checked her facebook page earlier in the day and had seen the photos and was excited to get them!! CRAZY! It was SO awesome!! So, I got up and made my way to the front. I got to go up on stage and she asked me what my name was and what I did. I got to tell the audience a little bit about my Cotton Cupcake shoppe and then I told Sarah a little about the aprons. She seemed quite pleased and happily accepted them! It was AWESOME!!!! She even unwrapped the aprons and showed them to the audience --who 'ooohed and awwed' - over MY creations. It was such an honor!

Unfortunately when I ran up to the front with the aprons, I took my bag with me, which had my camera in it (ARGH!). So, my Mom couldn't even snap a picture of me on stage with Sarah :( It was a pretty silly thing to do, but what can I say?! I was a little flustered in the heat of the moment!! I went to sit back down in my seat and when the presentation was over and Sarah stepped off stage I hurried to her to see if I could get a picture in yet. She was whisked away pretty fast, which left me pretty sad UNTIL I remembered that there had been a photographer taking photos all evening. I found her in the crowd and asked if she happened to get a picture of me on stage with Sarah and the aprons. She checked her camera and she did have 3 or 4 photos!! We exchanged business cards and she sounded hopeful that she could e-mail me the photos, but she said she was taking photos for someone else, so she had to check with that person first. To make a long story short, she wasn't able to release any photos of Sarah Richardson from that evening. I am SO disappointed!! To know that there are photos of Sarah & I out there but I will never be able to see them :(

Even though I was hoping to include a photo of me & Sarah in this blog post and all I can share is the story, the evening will rest in a special place in my memory :) To know that our house will have a little touch of Sarah's advice is already super cool and then to have been able to give my aprons to her on stage?!!! Oh man, it took at least 24 hours for my heartrate to come down to a normal rate :) Sarah, if you are reading this, a HUGE thank-you to you for coming to Winnipeg!! Enjoy your aprons!! Here's to many happy moments in the kitchen with your two daughters!!


My 5 year old daughter Hailey (who LOVES watching Design Inc with me!) tried taking a photo of me & a magazine picture of Sarah ;) It didn't quite work, but when I asked her to do it, she said "Sarah Richardson is in a magazine?! Whoa, she really is famous!" I thought that was cute :)

And, I'm happy to say that I have the whole collection of all 75 of Sarah's paint chips (see photo #1 at the top of this post) and I've been pondering them for a couple of weeks now. Many of her colors will adorn the walls in our new house!!

If you're interested CLICK HERE to check out my
aprons and other personalized items!
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