Late last month, I had a day I will never forget! As you all know, I come from a small state and so as you can imagine we are not always recognized for greatness.  We don’t have nearly as many claims to fame as you big guys like California and Texas do! It sometimes seems as if we are always in the bottom of every list whether it be education, income level or any of the other measures that we hear on the news each evening! But one thing our state is great about is celebrating those people who acheive success on a national level!  I had the pleasure of being part of one such celebration recently in honor of my selection by Traditional Home as one of their Top 20 Young Designers in America. (pictured above with me is Candace Manroe of Traditional Home and First Lady Ginger Beebe)

 This fantastic event was held at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion with our amazing first lady in attendance! Another special attendee was Candace Manroe, Senior Design Editor of Traditional Home Magazine.  The purpose of the event was to extend a special thank you to all of the women in the Arkansas media who spend tireless hours promoting people like me and who rarely get any appreciation.  For this one day, these women were able to relax and have fun while hearing about my special recognition from Candace and hearing some remarks from me about not only my honor, but also about the 10 year anniversary of Tobi Fairley Interior Design and the launch of my new charity foundation that is scheduled to launch later this year.

It was thrilling to hear Candace talk about the selection process and to know that I was nominated not once but twice for the honor. One nomination was from my regional editor Dianne Carroll and another by one of their staff editors who had become aware of my work because of a feature in their April 2008 issue. I owe another special “thanks” to Traditional Home for the honor and to Candace for being a part of my special day!!

I love this shot of my mom listening to my speech…is she a proud parent or what??

Here are some of the other great photographs from the event. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed being there! It was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I am so happy so have these amazing mementos!!

The First Lady reading a letter to me from Governor Beebe

Lisa Fischer from television and radio with Millie Ward and Brenda Scisson from Stone Ward Public Relations

My family…My aunt Cheri Wells, sister-in-law Anne Wells, my mom Beverly Wells, me and my grandmother Tommye Wells. I am so happy to have this fabulous photo of us all!

My dear friends Katie Buchanan of the blog Little Rock Paper Scissors and her mom Frances Buchanan.

Vicki Vowell, publisher, and Angela Thomas, editor from AY Magazine.

My grandmother with our friend Ellon Cockrill

My BFF’s Molly Young from Molly’s Paperie and Brandy Harp

Fellow blogger and twitter friend, Jessica Dean from KATV channel 7

Liz Banko, wife of CEO Peter Banko of St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, and the well-respected Jessie Mason, community activist.

Candace Manroe of Traditional Home with Dianne Carroll, former Traditional Home Regional Editor and now editor of At Home in Arkansas Magazine.

Melissa Morgan, director of the Tobi Fairley Gallery and in-house PR consultant for Tobi Fairley Interior Design, with Brenda Scisson from Stone Ward.