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Chicago Spring Fling Conference! :) (Long & Lots of Pictures)

[X-posted at bananagirl19]

Hello! I am back from an amazing, exhausting, completely fun weekend in Chicago! The Chicago-North RWA chapter is incredible, and so are the people I met there.

FRIDAY

Mandy (mandywriter) picked me up from the airport and it was like we’d been friends forever, which we pretty much have. We started talking and joking right away. She took me to the hotel and chilled out while I unpacked in my VERY NICE hotel room. Let me tell you about this room. It was more like a suite. 25 inch TV, desk, easy chair, couch with a foldaway, king sized bed. Beautiful. I’d ordered strawberries and champagne, but I didn’t open it right away, and I’m glad I waited. More on that later. 🙂

Mandy and I registered for the conference (we were the first two!), then went out to lunch at a place called RAM. I’d never heard of it, but it was pretty nice. Of course, I got the messiest meal ever, but it was really yummy. By the time we got back to the hotel, Sara (sbennettwealer) was there! We went up to their room and hung out for a while, then headed down to the conference. I spotted Dia (agentobscura) right away, so we went to say Hi. She gave us all a group hug and seriously, we all hit it off right away. I felt like I’d been hanging out with these women my whole life.

The first thing we did was attend a “panel” of sorts. Four authors, open dialogue. It was interesting. Alesia Holliday, Mary Alice Monroe, Jennifer Crusie, and Bob Mayer spoke and it was funny and really nice. Afterwards, I went to Alesia to introduce myself and she recognized my name from the Yahoo! teenchicklit loop. She was awesome, and here I am with her:

We had a HUGE break, so Sara, Mandy, Gail and I went to an Italian restaurant. It was yummy. I got a half order which turned out to be a good decision, because it was the perfect amount of food. When we went back, there was class. Sara and I went to “Get Out of Deadwood” where we met Stephanie Hale (stephhale) and a really cool girl named Carmen. We went and had chocolate at the Chocolate Reception (um, check out this damn sign:)


DESERT????????

More pictures….

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*Choking, Sputtering Laughter*

Email exchange with itskels:

—–Original Message—–
From: Kelly
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:03 PM
To: Ronica
Subject: RE: Hey!

This dude over here farting…

——————————————————————————–

From: Ronica
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:23 PM
To: Kelly
Subject: RE: Hey!

I’m sorry about the farting dude. Ew. Is he loud? Or just smelly?

——————————————————————————–

—–Original Message—–
From: Kelly
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:21 PM
To: Ronica
Subject: RE: Hey!

It’s so nasty, it’s LOUD and SMELLY. The worst of both worlds.

SAVE ME!!!!!

——————————————————————————–

From: Ronica
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:25 PM
To: Kelly
Subject: RE: Hey!

ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL!

I am so sorry you have to deal with that. GROSS!

Is he grunting after, or saying excuse me?

You need to get away from your desk for a while.

——————————————————————————–

—–Original Message—–
From: Kelly
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:37 PM
To: Ronica
Subject: RE: Hey!

Girl he ain’t doing shit! He just farts and keeps going…the one time it got so bad, I just said “OH HELL NAW” real loud, cuz the shit is trifling…I don’t give a damn how rich you are, you still STANK!

—–Original Message—–
From: Kelly
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:44 PM
To: Ronica
Subject: RE: Hey!

He is KILLING me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

——————————————————————————–

—–Original Message—–
From: Ronica
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:51 PM
To: Kelly
Subject: RE: Hey!

What the heck did HE eat???? Ew.

—–Original Message—–
From: Kelly
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:49 PM
To: Ronica
Subject: RE: Hey!

OMG I’m gonna buy some Bean-o and put it on his desk.

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“THAT’S Why They Call It ‘Good’ Friday!” (Pictures)

Hi hi! Long time, no update, huh? Believe it or not, I’ve been at my computer everyday, but kind of in hiding because I’ve been busy writing or gobbling up new books or just taking small breaks from the social online world.

I’m feeling pretty happy despite the fact that there is a thunderstorm going on. However, the storm is moving away, so yes, I guess that will make me happy. 🙂 No news on the ONLY YOURS front, but I’ve been writing my butt off on my new project. My goal for April is 40,000 words, and I am already above 38,000. On April 28, I am going to a writer’s conference and I am so excited. Being steeped in the writing world…it’s going to be amazing.

So today was a good day. One of those unexpected good ones. I got to work, chatted a bit with some folks, did a little bit, then headed to the eye doctor. I was disappointed to learn that my eyes have worsened. I’m at a -2.50 instead of a -2.00. I am trying out Acuvue Advance lenses. If I like them, I will go ahead and order loads of boxes of them. Maybe someday I’ll get the guts to actually do the laser eye surgery.

When I got back to work, it was lunchtime. I had a salad which was very yummy. I felt proud of myself for having eaten so healthily. Well, relatively, anyway. But when I went back upstairs, there was ICE CREAM! Graeter’s Ice Cream to be specific. I ate about one bowl. We were also let out of work early due to the holiday. So I gained two hours that I wasn’t expecting. I came home and read and took a nap.

Chris called and regaled some happy news. He got a new job! This means no more late Monday nights with Aidan, and normal hours, so he can make dinner for us and stuff. Yay. He’s very excited. We went out and had dinner at a new seafood restaurant, where the host initially said “Okay, we have a four and a half hour wait…just kidding.” Hahaha. The food was very good, as was the service.

I’ve been fairly relaxed the past couple of weeks. Friday, we went to On The Border to celebrate Christy’s birthday. Afterwards, I hung out with Libby so long that I ended up sleeping over. That was awesome! 🙂 Then Saturday, we took Aidan to my mom’s for the week, and came back for Christy’s birthday party. (The Jackson birthdays are like Hanakah. They just keep going and going and going…). Sunday was [the grove], the last one for a while. Monday, I went to Gentle Wind for another massage. I ended up buying the most heavenly incense. Mmmm.

I’ve been downloading music like WHOA. Writing. Spending time with friends. Reading a lot. I just finished Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (writergrl) and Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty. I keep spending way too much money in Barnes & Noble. I “took over” the prayer request duties (which means I was given a super cute notebook!) for our life group. I lost the five pounds that I’d gained, but I am still not a solid 110 yet. I keep fluctuating. I have a minor crush on Trent Ford, the guy who plays Macon in How to Deal. He’s also been in a few other things–some episodes of Law & Order, stuff like that. He’s a model, was born in Ohio but grew up in Britian, and is illegally handsome. Google his name. You won’t be sorry. Regardless of what Ben says.

So, it’s time for PICTURES! 😀

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Saturday

This might be TMI for you. Heh.

So, yesterday, Aidan had been getting sick all day. Out of both ends. He fell asleep around 8:10pm, and I’d thought he was out for the night. Not so much. Holly and Robert were over and we’d decided to play this game of “so-&-so or so-&-so,” using the names of people from our past–people we’d hung out with or seen when we used to all live together at Harrison House.

ANYWAY, we all got loud and laughing, and that woke poor Aidan. He came downstairs, a little bit cranky, but mellowed out and got super hyper for some reason. He played and jumped and I was sure he was feeling better, even though his fever hadn’t gone completely down yet. Holly and Robert left, and Aidan decided he wanted to cuddle with me. I held him and did some stuff on my laptop, when Aidan coughed and PUKED all over my computer. I put him down and yelled “OH MY GOD AIDAN JUST PUKED ON MY LAPTOP!” I ran to get some paper towels, Aidan ran for the bathroom so he could finish throwing up in the toilet. I cleaned the best I could. Luckily, there was no damage. My function keys are a little bit sticky, and the screen could use a better cleaning, but the other “sticky” keys are fine. WHEW.

Um… just randomly–cute vintage clothing here: http://www.sassypantsvintage.com
I know one of the models on that site–the one with the long, luscious hair. Some of the sweaters are super cute, and I WANT THEM.

Anyway. I just read a book called Hard Cash by Kate Cann, and I’m reading the sequel now, called Shacked Up. They’re from the POV of a British guy. Very interesting. There is a third one too, called Speeding, which I already have in waiting. I love books. In case you didn’t know. 🙂 I was just thinking about how ridiculous my passion for books is. I have several bookshelves that are packed full. But there isn’t room for everything, and I have books all over the floor, stacks here and stacks there, some in the bathroom, some in the kitchen. All rooms need at least one book in them. It’s just how it has to be.

Reflecting on Stuff…

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Tonight Rocked!! (Pictures)

I had a wonderful day! 😀 YAY! Aidan woke me up, and he was being super cute. We had apple cinnamon muffins and crispy crowns for breakfast. Yummy! Then, Chris got home and that’s when I did my thing with the TVs and stuff. We headed to Best Buy, and the cable I needed was $24.99. I’d seen them on eBay for much cheaper, so decided to wait and get it from there. Well. I got to [the grove] and got to talking to Chad. He mentioned he had three extras and that I was welcome to one! So YAY. Video games, woo!

I got the best surprise ever!! Well, two surprises. I’ll only post one until I know it’s okay for me to spread the news about the other. So yeah… Monica (bluemo84) showed up tonight! I’d been missing her like crazy, and seeing her was like… amazing. Here we are, looking cute (well, except for my hair…):

Seeing Monica was seriously like a breath of fresh air, and then Bizzy showing up was even nicer. We all had dinner at Wendell’s Pub. Abbie used to work there. I had never been, but the food was so yummy. I had a great time, just talking and hanging out, and watching Chad Jr. give Ben a wet willy. So gross, yet so funny.

&morepictures;….

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