Road Trippin'

I just have to say to begin with....I LOVE ROADTRIPS! They are such a blast because you never know where the road or trip will take you.

First, a shout out to all the great ladies that I spent the weekend with:
Pilar (our chaffer)
Linda
Sophia (my CofM&N girl!)
Brianna (a totally cool chick in training)
Karla
Kim
Angie

These women made the trip so much fun. As always, the more people you have the more fun you have and I had tons of it.

So, just to bring everyone up to speed I went to Arlington with some friends this weekend for a scrapbooking convention. I'd never been to one before so I was excited. I was also going on a very tight budget. I probably won't do that again...there were so many things I wanted. And anyone that knows me can understand my "I want I get" attitude about some things. It was hard to walk away from some fabulous scrapbooking supplies! I'm sure I'm going to be rewarded for my restraint...

In the interest of saving money Pilar, Linda, and I decided to share a room. Linda did the hard part and went online and found our hotel room. In the interest of protecting the "not four star" hotel I'll leave out the name of where we stayed. When we first got there we were hauling in all of our stuff and all three of us noticed a smell. Pilar said it could be the fact that the hotel didn't have housekeeping service and Linda thought it might be that they had just sprayed for roaches. Either way it wasn't a pleasant smell! To top that off, when we got to the door there was this little metal plate screwed to the door. We found out after we opened the door that it was holding the deadbolt to the door. Something or someone had tried to rip it off the door. At this point Pilar said that she was bringing in some protection...lol. I should mention that she is licensed to carry. But, to be fair...the hotel room was really big, clean, and comfortable. I have to back track just a second to something I said earlier...there was NO housekeeping services. Pilar went down to get some more towels and the lady at the front desk put clean ones in a trashbag and gave her a second trashbag for the dirties. We got to haul them to the front office ourselves. It want all bad...the shower head felt wonderful. It had a better messaging head and water pressure than what I have at home. The bed was comfy. And I thoroughly enjoyed the pool!

After we'd checked in, we headed to lunch (and the rule was that we weren't eating at any place that we could eat at home) at TGIFriday's. I had...ya'll probably don't care so I'll skip it. I will say that Linda is a true Mrs. Robbinson. She flirts with all our waiters!!! Here I'm surrounded by married women and I'm the only one that should have the right to flirt with hot guys and I'm having to compete with older women...lol. Anyway, after lunch we headed to the convention center. We lucked out and got some front row parking so that was good.

I probably can't do justice to explaining the aisles and aisles of scrapbooking supplies, but let me just say I was overwhelmed! And as Linda says...we had to fondle everything. I think we only made three aisles on the first day. We had to get out in line for the crop. Now only people who have been to a scrapbooking convention or a crop where you have to wait in line can fully appreciate this story. Pilar and I had hauled in all the bags (think heavy and bulky and the fact that it's over 100 degrees outside) and just gotten in line. She was going to make use of the bathrooms and I had just set down to wait when the line starts moving. What??? We were supposed to still have about 45 minutes before they let anyone inside and we were kinda far back in line. You should have seen me trying to pull my two bags, Pilar's two bags, and then whatever Linda couldn't carry. I'd go about ten feet and then have to run back and grab the rest of the bags. The people behind us were probably wishing I'd get my stuff together! Finally, after about four trips of back and forth, Pilar came out and I screamed her name so she'd come and help! Thankfully, after that it was easy going to get into the ballroom for the crop.

You know...I didn't get done nearly as much as I wanted to get down at the crops. I went with big dreams of finishing my New York album...yeah right. I got two layouts completed Friday night. Of course my "Hell"ing A Cab layout was super cute, but I got distracted by dancing and laughing. Let me just tell you...Sophia and I can boogie like nobody's business! Okay...maybe there are people out there that can dance better but I'm sure no one had as much fun as we did!

Saturday was just more of the same...shopping, cropping, laughing, dancing, oh and taking pictures. I took two whole rolls of film and who knows how many those that had digitals took. I can't wait to get my film developed! Oh and I got the chance to talk to a fellow blogger on Saturday night...it's always good to hear a little Texas twang right ya'll? On Saturday night I got even less done than I did on Friday. I only got one layout completed. Probably because I was too busy dancing the chicken and taking pictures of my cleavage. Next time I'll have to have my priorities right...lol!

Sunday morning I got to try out my new swimsuit with Brianna. We went out to the pool only to find that it was still locked. We tried to get back into the building, but our key cards had already been deactivated. I thought no problem...I'll just knock on our window (we were on the first floor) and have Pilar come and open up the door. Well, I knew that our blinds had been closed when I left so I went and banged on the window. Imagine my shock when some guy pulls back the curtains to find me standing in my swimsuit banging on his window! I mumbled sorry and hopped back out of the bushes back onto the sidewalk. Of course, Brianna had jumped back out of view (she'd make a horrible partner in crime!) and was laughing at me. Thankfully, the next window that I tapped lightly on was our room. We got in and went to the front to have the pool unlocked and Brianna's key card reprogrammed. Finally...after all this drama...we were able to get in the pool. It wasn't a big pool but it was cool and we had fun. At some point, Sophia and Pilar came down and started taking pictures. I haven't seen them but hopefully they came out good!

After lunch, we headed to two scrapbook stores. I liked Recollections the best while I would have been completely happy to skip Scrapbook Warehouse. Anyway, on our way to Lewisville, Pilar says that I should look out the sunroof in her car and take a picture of Sophia (who was following us). Okay, see if you can get a good grip on the picture. Pilar (who could try out for NASCAR) is driving down a major highway, I take off my shoes and climb up through the sunroof with my camera and snap a picture of Sophia and Brianna in their car. I come back down...windblown of course...and we all have a good laugh. Well, on our way back, I call Sophia and ask her if her camera is handy...I'll get back up in the sunroof again. Well she does, so there I am hanging out of the roof of the car and Brianna is hanging out the window taking a picture of me. We stop at a light so I get up for the third time and and Sophia hangs out the car window and takes my picture. You know...this isn't as cool as it seems when people do it in limos! It's kind of rough on the back as you try to wiggle back into the car. Anyway, for a final shot I got on my back and stuck my feet through the roof. I think everyone had a good laugh.

So, that basically sums up the weekend. I think everyone had a ton of fun! And like all trips, even though you're excited to go and you have fun, you're ready to be home too. Yesterday I pretty much lazed around and did not a lot. At least I'm recovered from the weekend and I'm ready for my next road trip!