On July 9th, I arrived at the downtown Hyatt hotel for the 2nd annual Strawberry Shortcake convention. It turned out to be quite a blast!

The convention itself started on the 10th, but a reception was set up the night before. Tons of Strawberry Shortcake memorabilia and collectibles peeked out at everyone who strolled through! It was a very nice meet and greet prelude to the festivities that followed on the next day.

Saturday opened in the morning with the vendors arriving by 8am. The first event of the day set the tone - it was a special sneak peek preview of the newest Strawberry Shortcake video (not yet released!) called Best Pets Yet. This enjoyable adventure told the previously unknown story of how Pupcake came to live with Strawberry! No, she didn't find him at a pound, nor did he arrive on her doorstep bearing gifts of extremely loud vocal howlings. My daughter loved it!

Next was an unveiling of the newest SSC ornaments and more by Mickie Matheis of American Greetings. She showed up all the fantastic merchandise with a dry wit and enjoyable banter. Tea decided she'd adore "well mommy, how about all of them?"

Restoring your Doll Collection by Charlie Dale followed. This talk centered upon some of the accidents that can befall dolls, and provided some interesting tidbits on restoration.

Scrapbooking with Creative Memories was next! Alas, at this time, my daughter was desperate to see the raffle prizes, so I missed it....but heard later on it was most informative.

For me, the highlight of the convention then began! Dave Polter, Senior Creative Consultant, followed by Cindy Patton, the actual artist of New Strawberry Shortcake, gave their talks....and wow oh wow, it was a treat to hear. Some of the highlights from the talk included:

New characters!

• Blueberry Muffin and Cheesecake Mouse

• Coco Calypso, and Papaya Parrot

• Licorice Whip and Lemon Pie Sea Serpent

• Peppermint Fizz and Cola Chameleon

• Rainbow Sherbert and Triple Treat Toucan

• Seaberry Delight and Kiwi Sea Turtle

New goodies that will be available include Berry Soft Friends Dolls, Talkin Giggling Friends, Berry Best Friends, Berry Mini Friends and more. All the pets will be coming out in plushies.

Next Cindy Patton came up to speak. She's the artist of New Strawberry Shortcake, and her talent is unbelievable. She discussed how she came up with the concept - Strawberry is ready for adventures (which is why her jacket is tied around her waist) and always growing better every day. The audience was spellbound by all three of the American Greetings people.... and we even got to see a snippet from Adventures on Ice Cream Island!

Lunchtime had arrived, and so had Strawberry Shortcake! It was picture time for everyone (and bye-bye time for us, as we had a 495 mile drive back home to complete).

All in all, the convention was truly a wonderful time. You can check out the Convention site at Strawberry Convention.com . And you can see the vendors who attended at:

• http://www.strawberrybonkers.com

• http://www.prettypix4u.com

• http://www.busserbears.com

• http://www.twinpines.com

Continue to enjoy your visit!

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