Cody Simpson + Hallmark = True Love (& other stories)

A couple of months ago, I received an invitation to a Hallmark event that was actually taking place only about seven miles from my house. As a blogger who is contracted with Hallmark for 2012 and writing monthly posts for their awesome “Life Is A Special Occasion” campaign, this event was not “mandatory” by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not every day that my buddies at Hallmark have an event in my neck of the woods and I also thought it would be fun to cover it.

Apparently this young man named Cody Simpson was going to perform at the event, which was to promote the new Hallmark Text Bands, a great new product for the younger set.

Text Bands are in stores now, but the SPECIAL EDITION CODY SIMPSON TEXT BAND won’t be available until later this fall. (Event guests had access to them, though!)

I had no idea who Cody Simpson was before the event (sorry, Cody), but I quickly found out upon arriving at the store that he is a BIG DEAL, and as a result of that discovery I had that rare moment of feeling completely out of touch with the youth of today (normally I’m ON IT).

There were teenaged girls who had been at the shopping center since 11:00 p.m. the night before the event, waiting for Cody.

There was a “holding area” for a couple hundred girls at the other end of the shopping center because he was playing at our private event first AND THEN he would do a meet and greet with the public (i.e. those girls).

The little girls that attended the private event with their moms were all dressed up in their adorable “groupie gear”: ruffles, sparkles, and sass every where I looked.

Eventually Cody stepped on the stage that had been constructed for him in the middle of the store. He is a handsome young man from Australia, and commended his young audience for understanding his accent after he led them through the Text Band Oath:

The Hallmark Text Bands Oath

Cody treated us to three songs and you know what? He was pretty awesome. And then I found out that Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber’s manager) is also Cody’s manager. We all know how much I admire the team behind the Biebs, right? This Cody kid is going to be big. I recorded one of his songs for your enjoyment.

If that weren’t enough Hallmark excitement for one summer, I also stopped in on Deidre and the rest of the team at their BlogHer Holiday Open House, held at the beautiful London NYC Hotel in New York City.

First, the views. Totally ridiculous. The views made it really difficult to pay attention to Deidre as she was telling us what Hallmark has coming up this holiday season.

Ridiculous view of Central Park from the Atrium Suite at The London NYC Hotel.

I want to live here. Seriously.

I mean, REALLY.

Oh wait, what did you say, Deidre? Oh yes, holiday Hallmark. Here’s a really cool way to display holiday cards:

A card chandelier! Love it.

Hallmark’s upcoming holiday season includes some fantastic new offerings in the personalized card department. I saw one that I loved: it was a photo newsletter, all in a card. Can you say “nice-looking short cut?” (I can. And probably will this holiday season!) Keep an eye out for those at the Hallmark website.

The new Christmas ornaments are fabulous too, and I can say that with authority because even though I’m Jewish, Jim and I did have a Christmas tree for the first five years of our marriage (long story short, he didn’t convert until a couple years later) and that was while my mom was a Hallmark store manager, so we were FULL UP on Hallmark ornaments. They are all truly little masterpieces, and real family heirlooms. I may not have a Christmas tree anymore, but I certainly got a few good gift ideas…

Hallmark ornaments: so cute!

I spy the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man! Who ya gonna call??

I also checked out a little microphone which makes you sound like an elf but forgot to get a picture. There were so many great new products, but that’s no surprise because Hallmark rocks the holidays every year. Make sure to check out your local Hallmark store as well as the website for more information on new products!

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose, really…as I mentioned, I’m a contracted Hallmark blogger for 2012 but this post is not a part of my agreement with the company. I chose to write it just for fun, and to share information about their new products because I am for the people and thought you’d enjoy it! The end.