Well, our plane tickets are bought and our condo is rented for our 6 day stay in Santa Monica, California for the Taste Awards in January and the nerves are beginning to set in! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me fill you in…
A few months ago, we received an email at Jenuinely Pure from the Taste Awards telling usabout their search for the “best skin care products in North America” and official partners of the Awards. Having never heard of the Taste Awards (this will only be their third year in existence), I was immediately skeptical. We get lots of scam emails from random places (one recent one was from Fiji, wondering if we would sell our products to them. It seemed pretty fishy through and through!), so I almost deleted the email, assuming it was not legitimate. Well, something told me to check into it a bit, so I did. Turns out, the Taste Awards are similar to the Emmys, Grammys and Oscars, but recognize the year’s best achievements in food, fashion, and home lifestyle programs on Television, in Film, Online, and on Radio. So, seeing that it was, in fact, legitimate we decided to enter though we really had no expectations of winning! We were allowed to submit up to four of our products to the 15 celebrity judges. Well…a couple of weeks ago, we were informed that we won!!!! Our company was selected as “The Best Product Line” and as one of three “Official Skin Care Companies of the 3rd Annual Taste Awards”!
So, what does that mean exactly? Honestly, we’re still trying to wrap our minds around it! First of all, as “official partners”, our logo is displayed on the Taste Awards website (scroll to the bottom of the home page to see it), we will have a 1/2 page advertisement in the program the night of the awards, we get the opportunity to put our products in the VIP gift bags handed out the night of the awards, AND we receive VIP tickets to the Awards Show on January 12th! Oh my, what on earth is this simple girl from Iowa going to wear as she walks down THE RED CARPET in front of celebrities, the press and lots and lots of cameras?? That’s the biggest question on my mind at the moment :) Actually, the feeling of intimidation and “I don’t belong there” is pretty overwhelming. But, I know this is 100% a God-thing and I know He will give me the courage I need that night! In addition to walking the red carpet and attending the Awards show, we also will be attending the “Awards Show After Party” with the other award winners and big-wigs…YIKES!!!! Praise God for a husband who isn’t afraid to talk to anyone!
And, if that’s not enough, we also were told we can take part in the “Gifting Suite” the night before the Awards Show. Having no idea what that meant, I emailed our Taste Awards gal and asked her. Here’s what she told me, “Gifting suite sponsors (us!) have the opportunity to meet, greet and present their products to celebrities and influential media personally at the VIP celebrity gifting suite in Beverly Hills”. Oh my gosh, the minute I read that, I instantly got sick to my stomach! Talk about I-N-T-I-M-I-D-A-T-I-N-G!!!!! Once again, it so reminded me that God is up to something big here and I CANNOT believe He has chosen us to be apart of it!! Ever since day 1 of this company, I have totally believed that the Lord has a message of purity and health that He wants to spread. Looks like that message is about to get a pretty big audience! Who knows what God has up His sleeve and what connections He might lead us to that night. All we know is, this is all about Him and we will follow wherever He leads. In the meantime, this girl’s gotta do some shopping!!