Thursday, July 14, 2016

she may contain the urge to run away

It's the second night in a row that I've thrown in the social towel early - but it's also the second day in a row that I've talked for 12+ hours, so I think I deserve a bit of a break. I got some lovely sleep last night, and then had a leisurely breakfast with Sarah in the concierge lounge (the fancy place that my fancy upgrade got us access to). After that, I showered, threw on some clothes, and went downstairs with the intention of getting some work done - but I ended up talking to a variety of San Francisco writers until it was time for lunch.

I was originally going to have lunch with my writing retreat crew, but my goal is to branch out and not just hang out with my clique, so I grabbed a table next to them and sat with Sarah (who is also named Vivi/Lizzie) and several of our fellow golden heart finalists from 2009, and also with Jules, whom I met in San Francisco a few months ago. She and I ran into each other yesterday and made plans to meet up, and that continued after the lunch - she and Sarah and I sat out on the back patio, and I had a glass of wine for the team so that the waitress wouldn't mind us sitting there, and it was all delightful.

After we parted ways, I took half an hour to be alone and drink some iced coffee before meeting up with the Nook people (delightful!). Then I hung out on the patio again with my clique (Barbara, Christie, Grace, Tina, etc.). Then I met up with Darcy for a drink - she's a historical writer whom I'd roomed with in Kansas City many years ago (okay, three years ago), but we hadn't talked much since then. As it turns out, this was all very serendipitous - she's getting back into historical more aggressively, and I'm being more productive, and she's also very funny, so we had a great time.

And then I had exactly eight minutes to run upstairs, drop my laptop and grab a sweater, and meet Grace and Tina for dinner (okay, I'm not being perfect at escaping my clique, but I love Grace and Tina and we've been hanging out since the 2010 conference, so whatever). We had a great, lowkey, laughter-filled dinner at a restaurant on the water, although we couldn't see the water from the back patio. We walked back and I drained the last of my battery to show them Pokemon Go, and then I came upstairs to recharge my phone and myself, and now I don't think I'm going to rally.

So anyway, the conference is going really well, and I'm feeling good about where I'm at and what I'm doing and who I've seen and how I've connected to people, so that's all great. But I'm itching to write, and itching to do all the other things on my list - so getting back to San Francisco and having ten days of productive time before my next adventure will be good. But there's two more days of conference to get through before that, so I should sleep and get ready for that - goodnight!

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