Attention parents with back-to-school shopping budgets. You can get more for your money! Kid’s Closet Connection is having their semi-annual sale in Overland Park bringing area moms together to sell their children’s gently used clothing and related items at terrific prices. The sale will be open to the public Wednesday, September 2, 2009 to Friday, September 4, 2009 at the Overland Park Convention Center (OPCC). There is no charge for admission.

Help OPCC Make the “A” List http://ping.fm/p2WUH

Listen to Darla Jae on 980 Live tonight at 8PM. Members of the MO-KAN Cat Show will be talking about the event and giving away tickets!

Looking for the Cutest Cat in Kansas City

Does your cat have what it takes to be crowned at the upcoming CFA MO-KAN Cat Show? The show will be at the Overland Park Convention Center on August 8-9th. The show will have over 300 purebred cats including national and local winners from past years. Joe Lauria from Fox 4’s weather team will be crowning the champions.

If you would like to participate in the house-hold category visit www.webfelines.com. For more information about the event.

Housing Conference at the OPCC

Upcoming Housing Conference taking place at the Overland Park Convention Center August 19-21. Early registration deadline is this Wednesday. More information on how to attend.

Over a Thousand Auctioneers Coming to Overland Park, Kansas Next Week

Overland Park, Kansas will host over one thousand auctioneers next week for the National Auctioneers Association’s (NAA) 60th Annual Conference. The event will take place at the Overland Park Convention Center July 13-18. The NAA is headquartered in Overland Park.

Each year the NAA crowns the world’s top male and female auctioneers at the conference. (Article http://antiques-collectibles-auction-news.com/2009/07/08/auctioneers-sold-on-kansas-city/)

Leawood Young Professionals

Last night I went to my first Leawood Young Professionals event. It was held at JP Wine Bar in Leawood. It was my first time at JP Wine Bar which is located at the new one nineteen shopping center across from Town Center Plaza. We sipped Somerset Ridge wine on their patio which was nice because the weather was perfect last night.

Somerset Ridge is planning a 4th of July Bash, which sounds like a lot of fun. For upcoming events at the Overland Park Convention Center visit our online calendar of events.

Taste

Last night I went to the Johnson County Young Professionals event at Taste in downtown Overland Park. I’ve never been to Taste before, but I will go back. The staff was welcoming and the food and drinks were great. I especially liked the house made hummus. They have over 20 martinis and a lunch menu that allows you to taste three items for $11  (like mini fried cake burger with spicy remoulade and/or mini grilled mahi mahi burger.)

Working at the Overland Park Convention Center, I get to go to a lot of networking events and the JC Young Professionals is one of my favorite groups because everyone I meet is fun and friendly and they usually pick trendy local restaurants to go to.

Memories in the Making – At the Overland Park Convention Center

A customer called and asked us about a piece of art work in the building called ‘Growth’ which is a 30 foot glass chandelier that hangs in our Icon Tower. In my search for information and pictures of the art I noticed that we had a new exhibit in our art hallway called Memories in Making. This exhibit was done by Alzheimer patients and is  my favorite exhibit I’ve seen in the building. The watercolors of a bright and beautiful peacock, a relaxing front porch, and adorable little dogs just put a smile on my face, but I think my favorite is ‘Dreaming in the Park’ by Mary Ann.

I would recommend a stroll through the hallway during a lunch break or if you have a group that would like a tour call Julie Bilyea at 913/344-8656 for a docent tour of the building. The current exhibit will remain until July 26.

Memories in the Making is a weekly art program sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association and hosted in assisted living communities, nursing facilities and adult day programs around the Chapter’s bi-state service area. Groups of 5 to 10 individuals are led by a trained, experienced volunteer artist and a facility staff person for a one-hour weekly art session.

For more information about the art collection at OPCC.

The secret to planning the perfect wedding

Last night I learned the secret to planning the perfect wedding…hire a professional wedding planner to help you with the details from budgets to theme ideas. They are experts; they know all of the best vendors and the right questions to ask them to save you time, frustration, and money.

If you are having a wedding, I would highly recommend the ladies at Soiree and Simple Elegance who met with us last night. They cover every detail down to what your out-of-town guests can do on their visit to experience the ‘local flavor’.

The Overland Park Convention Center has over 1,000 hotel rooms within walking distance. Many of them have shuttles that can take guests to local attractions. And, there is a lot to do for guests visiting Overland Park. A barbecue experience at Jack Stack barbecue or a shopping trip to Town Center Plaza. Listen to music at the new JP Wine bar (only minutes away) or watch a movie at AMC. And guests can visit downtown Overland Park’s farmers market or go get a relaxing massage at Sunlight Day Spa.