I had thought that tonight would be a quiet, early night during which I could rest and recuperate...but as usual, I was wildly incorrect. Today was great, though - this conference has definitely been worth it (although I guess 'it' is ill-defined, and it's hard to say that going to Hawaii isn't worth 'it' ever, right?). But I feel like I've got tons of ideas (both writing and marketing/career) sparking, and I'm sucking in lots of energy (like an energy vampire, which is unusual for me since I am usually the energy donor rather than the vampire in many situations).
sssanyway - I had to take sudafed this morning and felt a little bit off all day as a result, but it was better than continuing the wracking cough/misery that I woke up to. I may have pushed it too hard yesterday, and I definitely pushed it too hard today, but I feel like I need to - the purpose is to make connections and learn things, which I'm doing. I went to the 8am breakfast, mostly because Barbara was speaking - and while she called out the people at her "friends table" who were writing too slowly (I felt affronted, but so did half the other people at the table, so I guess it probably wasn't directed just at me), her advice was generally spot-on.
Then I went to a Kobo talk (great), followed by a publisher talk, followed by an hour and a half break for lunch, which I spent in Christie's suite working/eating lunch with her and Monica. Then I went to a talk by another retailer (secret!) and had two quick 1:1 meetings (one was innocuous; the other convinced me that I need to write SPINSTER HONEYMOON immediately).
At that point, I hit the introvert wall hard, so I walked to the mall to pick up my altered pants (thankfully they look great and were perhaps worth the drama), and I also picked up the underwear I'd ordered from Nordstrom to be ready for me when I got there (I brought plenty, but failed to coordinate colors, so have several light dresses left and a whole bunch of hot pink/red/black to go underneath it, which doesn't really work so well). And I hit up Anthropologie, mostly because I needed a break from people and shopping was a fun way to spend an hour. The mall was way too large and way too fancy, but it was a good interlude.
Then I came back to my hotel and sat on my balcony for ten minutes while eating a granola bar and drinking iced coffee and staring at the ocean and making notes about the story brewing in my head. And then I met up with some of my friends for dinner - we walked down to a Mexican restaurant that had a gorgeous rooftop terrace, and we drank margaritas and replenished our Californian need for avocados.
After that, I should have gone to bed, but Anne lured me into going up to Christie's room again, and so I sat there from 8:30 to midnight like an idiot. Monica was there as well, and the four of us gossiped and had a hilarious time. At some point Barbara came back from her dinner, and things went a bit off the rails (Christie told some story of a woman almost dying in the house she was buying, and we ended up talking more about politics than is usually advisable), but it was all super fun...and I continue to learn things even when things are off the rails, so I guess that's good.
But now I need to get the 6.5hrs of sleep that I'm going to eke out tonight - tomorrow is chock full of meetings and I'm not sure I'm going to survive it, but I'll try my best. After I get through tomorrow, the rest of it is gravy (Pearl Harbor + dinner plans on Thursday, a couple of meetings on Friday that I may skip in favor of more beach time), so hopefully I remember that perspective when I wake up surly and sleepy in the morning. Goodnight!
sssanyway - I had to take sudafed this morning and felt a little bit off all day as a result, but it was better than continuing the wracking cough/misery that I woke up to. I may have pushed it too hard yesterday, and I definitely pushed it too hard today, but I feel like I need to - the purpose is to make connections and learn things, which I'm doing. I went to the 8am breakfast, mostly because Barbara was speaking - and while she called out the people at her "friends table" who were writing too slowly (I felt affronted, but so did half the other people at the table, so I guess it probably wasn't directed just at me), her advice was generally spot-on.
Then I went to a Kobo talk (great), followed by a publisher talk, followed by an hour and a half break for lunch, which I spent in Christie's suite working/eating lunch with her and Monica. Then I went to a talk by another retailer (secret!) and had two quick 1:1 meetings (one was innocuous; the other convinced me that I need to write SPINSTER HONEYMOON immediately).
At that point, I hit the introvert wall hard, so I walked to the mall to pick up my altered pants (thankfully they look great and were perhaps worth the drama), and I also picked up the underwear I'd ordered from Nordstrom to be ready for me when I got there (I brought plenty, but failed to coordinate colors, so have several light dresses left and a whole bunch of hot pink/red/black to go underneath it, which doesn't really work so well). And I hit up Anthropologie, mostly because I needed a break from people and shopping was a fun way to spend an hour. The mall was way too large and way too fancy, but it was a good interlude.
Then I came back to my hotel and sat on my balcony for ten minutes while eating a granola bar and drinking iced coffee and staring at the ocean and making notes about the story brewing in my head. And then I met up with some of my friends for dinner - we walked down to a Mexican restaurant that had a gorgeous rooftop terrace, and we drank margaritas and replenished our Californian need for avocados.
After that, I should have gone to bed, but Anne lured me into going up to Christie's room again, and so I sat there from 8:30 to midnight like an idiot. Monica was there as well, and the four of us gossiped and had a hilarious time. At some point Barbara came back from her dinner, and things went a bit off the rails (Christie told some story of a woman almost dying in the house she was buying, and we ended up talking more about politics than is usually advisable), but it was all super fun...and I continue to learn things even when things are off the rails, so I guess that's good.
But now I need to get the 6.5hrs of sleep that I'm going to eke out tonight - tomorrow is chock full of meetings and I'm not sure I'm going to survive it, but I'll try my best. After I get through tomorrow, the rest of it is gravy (Pearl Harbor + dinner plans on Thursday, a couple of meetings on Friday that I may skip in favor of more beach time), so hopefully I remember that perspective when I wake up surly and sleepy in the morning. Goodnight!
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