Picking up where Part 1 left off.

I woke up somewhat refreshed the next morning. I got ready and headed down to the Starbucks in the lobby a bit earlier than my scheduled meeting with my boss. I noticed a couple of computers in their lounge earlier and figured I could eat a quick breakfast and check my email while I killed a little time.

I approached the computers and read the instructions. Easy enough.  It called for putting your credit card in the slot and they charged a minimum of $5.00 with some hideous rate per minute. I didn’t have a laptop and was seriously feeling disconnected, therefore, I had no choice but to suck it up. I looked for the credit card slot. Keep in mind, I hadn’t fueled my brain with caffeine yet. I looked all over for the credit card slot. The only thing that looked remotely close also looked like a disk drive, so my sleep deprived brain decided what the hell, give it a try. Yep, it was a disk drive and it ATE my debit card. I was feeling very, very stupid at this point and looked around to see if anyone was looking…phew, no one. I wanted to cry for help, but I didn’t want to clue anyone in on my complete stupidity. I ended up having to take 2 toothpicks to pry the damn card out. I was laughing OUT LOUD at myself. Luckily, this was Vegas and almost everyone at that hour was either over 80 or still drunk from the night before. The crazy lady doing surgery on the computer with toothpicks in the corner didn’t stand out.

Disaster averted, I found the correct credit card slot and checked my email while enjoying a Gingerbread Latte.

My head was a little clearer and I was able to handle our booth at the Expo by myself most of the day while my boss schmoozed his way around the exhibit floor. I only felt tongue-tied when he was standing behind me listening in. This was a vast improvement over the first day. It felt worth me being there…whereas day one was questionable.

I met a lot of interesting bloggers. And apparently, there are a number of people whom would love my job. We were approached by quite a few people looking to do research from home for us. Can’t blame them. I have a pretty good gig.

It was interesting to see “famous” bloggers work the floor. Jeremy Shoemaker, aka ShoeMoney, spent a lot of time going around the exhibit floor. He seemed pretty down to earth. He didn’t avoid eye contact with us little people. John Chow, on the other hand, was consistently surrounded by a group of minions. It was hil-ar-ious. He was a walking EGO. Give him a blond wig and a little dog and he could have been Paris Hilton. It was definitely entertaining.

I came across a couple of cool things which I plan to try out on this blog. I’ll try to do a bigger post about each, but in the meantime you definitely should check out:

SodaHead is a new poll site. You can put the poll on your blog and enjoy “social voting”. Looks cool and the president of the company was a

really nice guy. I’ll try it out soon.

 

TechSelector is an “Interactive Advertising Network”. They were set up next to our booth and I got to know them on the second day. Cool guys. Cool PopUp advertiser to add to your blog…potential to make a little commission money over the holiday season. I registered and am waiting to hear back. I’ll give an update when I get it up and running...for now, click on this logo to join.  Disclaimer: I don't know all the details yet, but I think I get something for referrals.

As soon as the exhibit floor closed, we packed up the booth in a quick 40 minutes. It was merely 4:45pm when my boss drove away. He was heading for FedEx and I got in line for a taxi back to the hotel. I had a 6pm check out and a 10:40pm red-eye to catch back to Boston…or so I thought…stay tuned for Part 3…and why my failed attempts to get home were so ridiculous, it could've been a Seinfeld episode.

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I usually end my posts with a question…let’s get back to my embarrassing little adventure at Starbucks from earlier…ever have a public bone head moment that you’d like to share? Leave a comment.

I believe I've mentioned once or twice that I'm a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte addict?

Ever wonder what your daily fix says about your personality?  Well, wonder no more.  You must check out The Oracle of Starbucks.

You type in your order and "The All-Knowing Oracle of Starbucks" gives you a personality assessment.  Very funny.  Here's mine:

Personality type: High Maintenance

You pride yourself on being assertive and direct; everyone else thinks you're bossy and arrogant. You're constantly running your mouth about topics that only you would find interesting. Your capacity for wasting other people's time is limitless. Your friends find you intolerable, that's why they're plotting to kill you.

Also drinks: Water. Bottled, chilled, with four ice cubes, a twist of lemon, in a crystal glass.

Can also be found at: Trendy martini bars

 
Hmmm...that's only slightly true...

I doubt my friends are plotting to kill me...

and I don't have crystal glasses because the little people in the house would break them...

I wish I could be found at a trendy martini bar...

Confidence can be perceived as bossy and arrogant...

and I guess I AM constantly running my mouth off on this blog!

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Crap!  I'm usually really good at giving link love credit back to the source whenever I find something interesting.  Unfortunately, I clicked off from the blog that I was on and couldn't find it when I tried to go back.  I left a comment even.  SO, if you were the original source of this genius...I truly apologize.  I may be "bossy and arrogant"...but I don't steal others ideas to claim as my own!

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What does your Starbucks drink say about you?  Please share in the comments. 

I can sum it all up in one word: WOW!!

When I was single and in my twenties, I worked in the event industry and traveled to trade shows often. On a basic level, I knew what I was getting myself into…long hours, lots of talking, the stress of traveling, etc. I completely underestimated just how exhausted my post-Mommy self would be.

Quick recap in case you haven’t been following along. Last Tuesday my boss contacted me to help out with the company’s exhibitor booth. I lined up my husband and mother-in-law to stay with the kids. I was SO excited for a little alone time and to surround myself with adults for a couple of days. My flight left Boston Wednesday night. I was giddy.

So, how did it go?
I flew Jet Blue for the first time…and they totally ROCK! They have individual television screens on each seat and offer 20 network channels. I watched real TV the entire flight. Oh, and the earphones were FREE. The crew was hil-ar-ious! Whenever the Captain came on to update us on flight status he would end it with an Elvis-inspired, “Thank you. Thank you very much.” They actually came around 3 times during the 5 ½ hour flight and offered drinks and snacks. The snacks were beyond the normal peanuts. They had about 15 different options to choose from, including those 100 calorie snack bags…quite impressive for today’s standards.

I arrived at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas at 1am local time…that would be 4am “my time”, ouch. They only had smoking rooms available at that time, ICK. I was a little frustrated, but honestly, the room didn’t smell that bad. They offered to change my room the next night, but I decided to stay put.

I had to meet my boss in the lobby at 8:30am. THE Daddy forgot (?) the time change and called me before the kids headed off to school…that’s 7:30am here in NH…4:30am Vegas time. After a wake up call from “Britney Spears, y’all”, I managed to drag myself out of bed on time and prayed that I would find a Starbucks. There was NO WAY I would be able to function without my daily Pumpkin Spice Latte fix.

Luckily, our designated meeting spot was right next to a Starbucks, score! I got in line and noticed that they had switched everything over to Christmas (!) flavors…which meant NO Pumpkin Latte. After a slight panic attack, I decided to give Gingerbread Latte a try…not quite the same, but it did the trick.

I saw my boss for the first time in over 5 years. I’ve been working for him for over a year this time around, but our communication has been 100% via email. We hadn’t even spoken on the phone since he closed his original company. This was back when I was pregnant with now 5 year old Princess…kind of crazy.

We got to the exhibit hall and quickly got to work putting together the rest of our exhibit. We had about an hour before the show opened and still had a lot to do. As the first people began approaching our booth, I realized that I didn’t know what our “pitch” was. I’m so behind the scenes doing research from home that I didn’t know how to describe our site, never mind customize the pitch for the type of person: blogger, speaker, PR firms. I spent most of the day listening in on my boss giving the pitch. I tried a few times to help out by the end of the day, but I was sooo exhausted that I felt as if my brain was thinking faster than my mouth would allow the words to come out. I was very tongue-tied.

The opening reception that night was a big pajama party. My boss recognized that I was exhausted…or perhaps he felt how useless I had been that day…so he offered me an out to skip the party and go back to the hotel. I felt a little guilty for not having the energy to network with him…but I honestly was useless at this point, so I jumped at the chance to sleep, vowing to myself that I would be able to man the booth by myself tomorrow.

I grabbed some take out dinner at a 50’s diner on my way back to my room. It was the type of restaurant where the servers actually sang requested songs. Princess would have loved it. I was so busy all day that I truly didn’t have time to miss Princess and BamBam. Waiting in the diner…it hit hard that I was there and they were at home. I understand a little more how my husband has felt having to be away from us when he’s away for work. Kind of sucks.

I got in my room, ate my dinner and was sooo very tired that….I couldn’t sleep!!

I sucked up the $10/99 and rented “I Now Pronounce you Chuck & Larry”. I giggled…at times laughed out loud…and happily went to sleep…snuggling with Princess’s teddy bear and BamBam’s kitty.

Stay tuned for “My Trip to Blog World Expo: Part 2” which involves seeing Jeremy Shoemaker (aka ShoeMoney) and John Chow walking the show floor…as well as a couple of cool companies that might help you make money on your blog.

I'm back from Blog World Expo.  I need a little time to recover and catch up with the family.  I promise to give you all a big recap of my whirlwind adventure in Vegas tomorrow.  In the meantime, I have a question for you:

I have never posted pictures of myself or my family on MommyCosm.  I'm sure it's good to err on the side of caution, but I'm wondering if I am a bit too paranoid about security.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  (Not sure who THEY really is, but work with me here...it's been said!) 

I have been tempted lately to put up pictures to go along with some of the stories I've told.  Like one of Princess with her adorable bubble bath Halloween costume.  Or of BamBam at his first dentist visit.  My words alone don't do the story justice and I think you'd get a kick out of the pictures...I do have very cute kids.

I found this PollDaddy thing-a-ma-gig and thought I'd try to poll my readers to get an idea of what you are doing.  Feel free to elaborate beyond "yes" or "no" by leaving a comment.  I'd especially like to know if you have had any issues with pictures you have posted.