Boy, did I have fun!  I met so many old friends and new friends while hanging out at the bar/lobby of the Marriott that I wished I had another day.  I’m still kicking myself for not finding Leanna Renee Heiber or Isabo Kelly to congratulated them on their Prism awards.  At least I hooked up with my lovely BFF, Nancy Haddock for dinner and good times.

Friday.  I left at 8:30am and didn’t get to my hotel until 5pm.  Why?  Because traffic sucked.  But it REALLY sucked every time I wanted to turn into the hotel but couldn’t because a damn fire truck or police car was in the way.  I spent 3 hours trying to get to my hotel because the fucking streets were laid out like spaghetti. 

By the time I finally arrived at my hotel, I had missed the Samhain wine and cheese fest.  Boy, was I bummed about that.  Even worse, some jackass pulled the fire alarm at 5:30.  So that means I was in my hotel for only half hour before I had to leave it again.  I was tired, pissed, and ready to torch my room to make sure the fire trucks didn’t waste their time.  Anyway, I headed over to the Marriott and the first person I ran into was the amazing Kimberely Kaye Terry and Jean Marie Ward before meeting up with JT Bock and Karmela Johnson.  In the process, I got a chance to make a new friend, the lovely CatMarsters/Kate Johnson.   Not only does she have a cool British accent, but a wicked sense of humor.  Did I also mention how stylish she is?  :)   After dinner, we retreated back to the hotel where I met that fabulous and very beautiful Elizabeth (didn’t get her last name) and the endearing Alix Rickloff.  Boy, is she a sweetheart.  At 12:45am, it was time to call it a night.  Besides, Baby Girl kept kicking up a storm with all of the loud voices in at the bar. 

Saturday. I had time on my hands and had good intentions to go to see the sights.  Didn’t happen.  Instead, I went to the Marriott and kept running into more friends.  I hung out with the amazing and incredible Samantha Kane and Mari Freeman.  By the way.  I owe Samantha big time!  She had an extra ticket left for the awards ceremony so I could hold my buddy, Elizabeth Langston’s, hand when they were announcing the finalist for the Golden Heart.  Without the extra ticket, I wasn’t going to be able to go.  So go buy Samantha’s books because she’s a fantastic writer and a great friend!  Anyway, by hanging out with them, we ran into the beautiful Eden Bradley(gotta love this woman) and sweet-thang Jax Cassidy.  BTW, Jax will be doing my next website redesign.  No way am I doing that shit again.  :lol:   Anyway, shortly after they left to do their panel, the fire alarm went off.  I kid you not.  It was like a fire alarm a day in DC.  Anyway, I then ran into the fun-loving Emily Rose and her beau, some more authors whose names escape me, and finally, dinner with the beautiful Nancy Haddock.  Gosh, I love this woman to pieces!  Also, I bumped into Margie Lawson, Jenna Black, several times, in fact, Jeri Smith-Ready (such a sweetheart), Ms. Lady Jane’s Salon herself, Maya Rodale, and the very cool Virginia Kantra.  Did I mention I bumped into Karin Tabke, too?  I blame it on the chocolate covered strawberries for bringing us together.  ;)   Finally, I closed out the day hooking up with JT, Cat, Elizabeth, and Alix again.  And just when I thought that was the end…I run into Nancy again and she introduced me to her amazing editor.  No, I didn’t pitch a book at her, but we had a great time coming up with a fantastical story of how Nancy got published.  ;)

Sunday.  I left at 8:30am and got home just before 1:30pm where I crashed.  No excitement there.

Highlights.  Baby Girl kicked on cue for a couple of people.  That was pretty awesome for a couple of folks.  Either BG likes the excitement or she was thumping me to tell everyone to be quiet.  Either way, she garnished me a lot of attention.  Not only that, but I got a lot of kudos for choosing motherhood instead of it choosing me.  :-)

So that was my big RWA adventure.  All in all, I give it a B+.  It would’ve been an A, but I forgot that you can’t get free books at the publisher signings unless you’re a registered conference goer.  Tha sucked.  But at the same time, for all the books I would’ve loved to have picked up, they don’t amount to $475.  So, I’m good.  But because of this fabulous experience, I’ll definitely be attending RWA Nationals 2010 a day or two early and it will be registration-less.  ;)