So, I leave for my NEXT adventure (Costa Rica YAY!) tomorrow, so I figured I ought to finish this one!
Thursday:
I was seriously planning to go to a mildly interesting sounding session, but when I got to Starbucks for my morning coffee, it was a zoo. I got my coffee and went to the lobby of the hotel that was attached and found an actually quiet corner with a window onto the street and a water fountain. It was so peaceful and quiet and as much as I was enjoying my girlfriends, it was really nice to be in such a quiet spot by myself. So I stayed...for 2 hours! :) Oops!
In the afternoon, we worked for the publications booth for the convention. In exchange for our service, we got a $75 credit off of our registration. All 3 of us signed up for the same time slot, but they really didn't need all 3 of us. They decided to send 2 of us to go sell books at a session that the author was giving. She didn't want us to interrupt the session, so we got to sit and watch 1/2 of the session while we waited. Plus it ate up 1/2 of our volunteering time!
When we were done volunteering, we headed out to see a show by a band that is managed by a good friend of mine. We got a kick ass slice of pizza and then headed to the show. I made sure to get a pint of Guinness and grabbed a stool while waiting for their set to start. K and M got annoyed that they apparently didn't open (not that I knew, I just knew that they were playing...) and they wanted to go home. After their third song, the girls headed out. I stayed because my friend had told them to give me a copy of their album after their set. It was a great show and I'm so glad I went! If anyone wants to check them out, they are called Sister Crayon. Very awesome!
Friday:
K and I went to the gym and did cardio, weights, and abs. We didn't want to be gone a whole week without doing any exercise (other than the fact that we were walking everywhere). Then we headed to Philz Coffee to get a cup of coffee suggested by a friend who lives in San Francisco. It was wonderful. We went back to the hotel and grabbed cheesecake for lunch with M (there goes that workout...) and then K took a nap while I walked back to Philz to get another cup and some beans to take home.
We took a shower and then met up with M and one of our professors for coffee that evening. The professor is ok, but she's a little up and down and we never really know how to feel about her. It was fun, but a little awkward. At one point, a friend of hers came up to her and told this story about how they had gone to Fisherman's Wharf and gotten socks.
After we left the professor, we hopped a cable car and went to Fisherman's Wharf ourselves. I didn't account for the wind and the fact that it was pretty cold even for February and I was FREEZING. I didn't intend to buy any souvenir type things, but I bought a long sleeve shirt just to warm up! We grabbed a mediocre dinner and then walked around. We saw the sock store and had a big laugh. :) Then we headed home on the cable car. M sat inside and K and I sat outside directly on the other side of the window from M. She and K kept trying to talk through the glass and the guy next to me seemed to be amused.
When we got back to the hotel, we were walking down the hall toward the second tower of the hotel and about to go through a door that was open. It started to shut (VERY slowly) and K said "watch out for the door" in a totally calm voice. M froze, squealed, and danced from foot to foot in terror. It was so ridiculous looking that I immediately fell to the floor laughing and M did the same. K just stood there amazed. WTF M? Awesome!
We went to bed and at 1:30 a.m. we woke up to a horrible sound. We had discussed setting our alarms right before bed and I was about to yell at K that her alarm was REALLY annoying when I realized it wasn't the alarm. It was a fire alarm. In a daze, I pulled on pants and a jacket and looked around for my coat. It took about a minute for M to realize she wasn't wearing her own coat and she handed mine over to me. We stumbled down the stairs, outside, and across the street. It took about 15 minutes to clear the building and let us get back in to go back to bed. It was so cold out!
Saturday:
We woke up toady to new stories of the first snow in years. Although everyone seemed to think that it was the end of the world, it was completely funny to us Iowa girls! They even showed live footage of snowflakes falling....not sticking, just falling!
We got up, grabbed coffee, and then headed to the airport. M and I misjudged our time a little and we were going to be pressed for time. We got to the BART and the train to the airport was delayed 20 minutes. Oh, crap. It was going to be close. When we got to the airport, we busted our butts and got to the bag check with a 1/2 hour till departure. The lady said "sorry, too late". We said "excuse me?" She said agian "it's too late to check your bags, sorry". I then asked her what we were supposed to do and she said "it's just too late". As we walked away, I snarked to M "Way to be helpful lady! If it's too late, fine, but tell me what I'm supposed to do!" I don't know if she heard me or not, but she came back and said "ok, give me your bags".
After a painfully slow wait for security, we threw our shoes on, loaded our carry-ons and our coats into our arms, and ran at a full sprint through the airport. It was awful. My lungs burned, legs burned, the ankle I broke last fall was killing me (pretty sure it set my recovery back a couple months...) and as we approached our gate, the attendant was saying "anyone hoping to go to Chicago better be on the plane, we're shutting the doors". Just made it!
It was a long flight because we were tired, hungry, and sweaty. But it was a pretty good story. And we made it home. Good times!