Lorraine Says: Never O'Clock

 This is part two of my Chicago recap!

Part one, all about the 20sb summit, is here. 

Part three is coming soon. 

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As the Fort Lauderdale airport came into view, I melted into a puddle of nerves and my thoughts were rattling inside my head, pulling in all directions. 

The last time I was on a plane, I was unemployed, the skinniest I've even been in my adult life and stressing over how much I liked Phoenix, even though he was a giant flake. I wanted nothing more than to run away from my own life.

I let out a small, unintelligible whine as Penny explained to her brother that airplanes freak me out.

"Oh. Well, have you ever seen "Final Destination?" Penny's brother asked jokingly.

"SHUT UP," we both shouted in unison.

"You're such a brother," Penny complained.

I hate flying. It just combines a lot of things that aren't to my taste: people, small spaces, heights, gaining and losing altitude, ugly babies and that feeling in the pit of my stomach that screams, "God didn't gives us wings for a reason."

Add to that the additional stress of my luggage being about, oh, ten pounds too heavy even though I tried really, really hard. I mean, I only took two boxes of zebra cakes and three bottles of nail polish.

Fear of flying aside, we landed safely in Chicago and after a terrible and long cab ride, made it to the Congress Plaza Hotel. We put our stuff down quickly before we went out again to meet Sweeney for dinner.

It's funny. I feel like I know Sweeney. Not only in a, "I read your blog, you read mine" sort of way, but Sweeney is one of the people I've gotten closest to just all around. Meeting her was definitely one of the major highlights of my trip. There were a few awkward silences at that first dinner, but we were very meta about it, and spent a good deal of time just talking about how awkward we were.

After dinner, Sweens took us to Millennium Park to see the fountains and the Bean. We also thought it'd be awesome to walk across the fountain and holy cold water and squishy feet, Batman. After a while, Penny had to pee, so we headed back to our hotel and sat around for a while talking about the fact that the hotel was said to be haunted. Sweeney had a lot of fun pointing out all the places she thought the ghost was most likely to enter our room through and even reminded us about things coming out of the TV in "The Ring." Thanks again for that Sweeney!

Lorraine Says: One Blogger, Two Blogger, Red Blogger, Blue Blogger

Hello! This is part one of my "did I mention I went to Chicago, 'cause I totally did!" post. It's a little long and it's all about the actual 20sb Summit. Coming up on Friday will be the "what I did in Chicago" post and Monday you'll get reflections on travelling in general.


Fun times, yo.

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The first thing I realized as I walked into the main room of the 20sb Summit Saturday morning was that I'd walked directly in front of the camera that was streaming live.

Crap.

I took a moment to sit down and catch my breath. I didn't really want to move or rustle around too much, probably because I was afraid someone would notice me and immediately escort me out on the grounds of being too awkward to function.

Once I was breathing normally again, I relaxed in my seat and the realization that I was in a room full of bloggers washed over me. I took a moment to scan through the crowd, to see if I could spot any familiar faces (yes: Cleopatra) but soon abandoned that task in favor of giving my full attention to that morning's keynote speaker Scott Belsky.

I have to pause here to say that tackling the Summit and my Chicago experience in general has been challenging. I feel like I saw/heard/liked/learned too much. I kind of want to pull my thoughts out and put them in a basin for you guys to dunk your heads into, but I digress. I will, however, try to organize my thoughts. Ahem.

So. How did it go?

I'm going to be completely honest and say that I had mentally prepared myself to be disappointed. I know, that's terrible and you can call me a meanie pants, especially because I'm on the 20sb team.

The thing was that it wasn't that I had any doubts that Derek and co. could pull it off but rather that I feared I would feel like an outsider. I blog... but only sometimes for fun. I love my community... but I'm still semi-anonymous. I've seen some of these people around the Internet...but I tend to be awkward IRL. So I set myself up for personal disappointment, just in case.

I was perfectly wrong. I loved it. I think about it and get tons of really gross, warm and fuzzy feelings. I learned a ton that was applicable to me, the not-so-professional blogger. Derek announced that the summit was over on Sunday afternoon and no one made a move. Not one of us wanted to leave.


Okay, well, what did you do?

Sweeney and I have been affectionately referring to the summit as, "bloggy school." Here are the panels I attended:

- Scott Belsky's Keynote - I'd say this was definitely the talk I learned the most from. See, I'm a dreamer. I come up with all these great ideas but I have the work ethic of a hibernating slug when it comes to my own projects. His tips on organization and idea management were dead on for me.

- Laying the Foundation with Jenn Bollenbacher, Katie Laird and Molly Ford - They answered some basic questions like, "what should I post about," and "how often should I post," but I walked away from it all with a refreshed take on my blog and how I want people to interact with it.

Specifically, there are two things that I'm very seriously mulling over: a regular posting schedule and a different comments section. The truth is that Blogger's native comments don't encourage interaction or conversation.

Someone made the point about readers being too lazy to want to sign in or sign up anywhere just to comment. I get that. I do. Hibernating slug remember?

Then, someone also said that some people were also too lazy to click "read more" buttons.

SMAC: With Less "Shitty" and More "Shelly"

Hello! I'm home from Chicago, siting in my rolley work chair and probably dying a slow and painful death.

(Slightly exaggerated.)

I am working on a three part series to tell you all about 1.) Chicago and travelling b.) the 20sb summit and cat.) what I did there.

However, while I was away, our monthly SMAC was going on and well, I missed it. I'm super late.

This would normally be super terrible. It is, however, EVEN MORE TERRIBLE, because this month we are substituting the "shitty" for "Shelly" in celebration of Shelly's birthday! We're taking on movies that remind us this lovely blogger and the best person to ever say, "jeepers."

I was actually with Shelly in Chicago, celebrating her birthday with tapas, drinks, karaoke, shouting, "I LOVE NEIL DIAMOND," and squeezing too many people in a cab. It was epic. 

And now, to further add to her birthday awesomeness, I will finally post Tabitha's review of Star Wars. 

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Lorraine Says: Staying Quiet Is Not My Thing

They say that this hotel is haunted. When we first stepped into the room at the start of our trip, we laughed at the small space, old outlets and strange art on the walls. The first time we heard the random knocking on our bathroom wall, Penny and I decided the best way to handle it would be to ask the ghost to come in. He never did. Rude.

I'm pretty sure I locked myself in the bathroom. A few times. I might've complained about how much I walked this weekend. A few times. And still, tonight, as we walked down the last block of Michigan Avenue towards our hotel, I found myself saying, "I can't wait to get home." I didn't mean the house in south Florida that I've called home for the last 22 years. I meant the haunted hotel where a small selection of the small total of all my worldy possessions lay strewn across a dated room.

Just a few days and I've fallen into another routine. One where I've been immersed In this bubble of new friends and inspiration and blogging and exploration. And walking. A whole crap ton of walking.

Tomorrow is our last day in Chicago and I'm coming back home (real home) with a full, uh, head. Also, a new pair of jeans, a Vera Bradley bag, and 4 bags of Chicago mix popcorn. But those are all stories that'll have to wait to be told.

It says a lot, though, that I struggled on my phone for the last 20 minutes typing up this little summary because I felt I at least had to say something. To at least sprinkle out a few of the thoughts that are bouncing around in my head. To say, it was an amazing time with a lot of lessons learned. And to say that I really hope that this hotel isn't really haunted.

I apologize for all the sentence fragments. And all the sentences that start with and.

Be home soon,
Lorraine

RSVP: A Summery Swap

It figures, right, that in the days leading up to my first blogging summit, I basically stop blogging. This whole not being able to blog at work thing is hard, yo. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

But! Tomorrow I leave for Chicago and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to milk that trip for a post, or ten. Stay tuned. 

For today, I've got a post courtesy of a 20sb Blog Swap. I got paired with the lovely Becca from belle bottoms. Read on to hear her tale of how her summer was totally way better than mine. And coincidence! She happened to visit Florida. 

Click on over to her blog to hear me talk about summers of yester-year and sleeping until noon. 

Yep.

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Hi there! I'm Becca, the gal behind belle bottoms, and I am very excited to be blogging over here today! 

Thanks to 20-something Bloggers, and their annual blog swap, I have been given the opportunity to share with you a little glimpse into my summer this year.

I love to travel. It's in my blood. I feel like if I did enough research, I could test my DNA and find the travel gene entwined with my adventure and passion chromosomes...

This summer I got to indulge my passion with not one, but TWO vacations: the first to Europe for 12 days, the second down to the Florida beach for 10 days. I normally travel during the summer months, despite my lack of time off at work (hey, I work to live, not live to work!!), but taking more than one trip this season was a bit of an indulgence....and I loved every minute of it!

Along with the shenanigans and hoopla that is inevitable with every trip I take, valuable lessons are also learned each time I unpack my bags. Here are some things I took with me this summer from my escapades through London, Stockholm, Barcelona, St. Martin and the Florida beaches:

• If you are like me, always pack less outfits than there are days in your trip. I say this because of one thing....H&M.
During the first part of your flight, set up boundaries with the person sitting next to you so that the rest of the 15 hours isn't spent in a "Does he/she want to talk? Did he/she just touch my arm? Are they flirting with me?" spin cycle of emotions. Unless the person sitting next to you is your mom...then you can just go about reading your InStyle magazine :)
Scarves are your best friends. They are also a key component for looking "Euro".
The same goes for skinny distressed jeans, high top sneakers, aviator sunglasses, disheveled hair, Armani, D&G, and Prada.
Always memorize how to say "hello", "goodbye", "thank you" and "please" in the other language. Trust me, the natives will be happy you are trying!
Hand gestures go a long way...unless they involve the middle finger...then YOU might be going a long way...down the wrong way...:)
People tend to gesture more and talk louder when you don't understand them, as if the sheer volume of their voice will all of a sudden make you understand.
Never settle for the first price at an outdoor market.
It's okay to have staring contests with the people sitting across from you on the tube. In fact, it's encouraged. ;)
The further north you go, the taller and more blonde people become. The further south you go, the shorter and hairier people get.
Don't ever accept invitations for "A good American time!" down at the discothèque by the water...that's code for "we'll roofie your drink and overcharge you for it in the process!"
 When in doubt, order the chicken.
Walking around a city for hours gives you automatic rights to that monster-size gelato you eyed in the window earlier. You know, the one with the giant cannoli as a garnish?
One of the cheapest and best things I do when travelling is buy food at an outdoor market and sit in a local park while people-watching. It's cheap, it's entertaining, and you look like a local!
Water crashing against rocks is my natural Tylenol PM.
Swimming is one of the best total body workouts.
Sand is a great exfoliate.
It is NOT great when it gets into your bathing suit bottoms...
One week of running on the beach can give you calves like the Greek gods.
It's okay to start happy hour at 2pm...just cover up your buzz by saying you may have gotten too much sun that day.
Banana hammocks are never okay...I don't care how fit and tan you are.
Sunsets are more magical when there are dolphins swimming and jumping beneath them.

and finally....Never take for granted the travelling you do. Each trip should open your eyes and heart to something new about the world around you!

Care to find out more about my travels this summer? Check out some of these posts:

English Riviera and photo recap

London and photo recap

Stockholm and photo recap

Barcelona and photo recap

St. Martin and photo recap 

San Blas and photo recap
 

Enjoy!

hearts and hugs,

B.

Lorraine Says: Cockroaches Will Inherit the Earth

We are rapidly approaching the second year anniversary of Late to the Party. In three months, my baby blog will be toddling around, talking back, touching things that don’t belong to it, and probably biting me and poking me in the eye. On the bright side, maybe now it will stop shitting its pants.

The point is, I feel like my time as a blogging newbie is over. I’m like a veteran now. I can put new bloggers on my knee and talk about the good ole days and how things were back in my time.

Maybe not really yet? Fine. The point is that I’ve learned a lot and blah blah blah. The other real point is that even with all this experience under my belt, there are still topics that make me a little itchy to talk about. There are still times when I start writing about something and I swell with embarrassment. I'm not even necessarily talking about things that should be embarrassing. These are just things that, for whatever reason, I have difficulty addressing.

TL;DR: I'm awkward, easily embarrassed and scared of mostly everything.

In the months leading up to our second anniversary, I’ve decided to do my best to face these topics head on in a series I’ll call “The Late Confessions.” (I used the term “series” lightly. I know that my commitment to some of these things is iffy, at best. But y’know. In theory!)

(Also, I realize my last “series” was supposed to be one where I introduce you all to my co-workers. Yeah, well I’ve been caught with Blogger open [not even blogging, FYI, just open] like twice already at work. I have nothing to hide on the blog, but if I’ve learned one lesson, I’ve learned that people do not like to discover they are being talked about. Series suspended until further notice.)

Late Confession #1 – Or How the Sight of a Cockroach Turns Me into a Completely Useless Human Being

Lorraine Says: I Can't Decide if I Want to Grow Up

A month ago, Rox, Penny and I had breakfast with Phoenix. It was during this breakfast that he laughed at me for taking notes of different conversations we had. He can suck it.

As we sat around our pancakes that morning (and he drank black coffee, ew) the subject of 4th of July plans came up. I shared with him the fact that I would be going to Sommie's 4th of July block party, which I thought he would find funny. He was the one, after all, who first mentioned her in his guest blog post.

"Why don't you like her again?" I asked. It seemed like a question I'd asked before, but the answer wasn't readily available in my head.

"I don't not like her," Phoenix hemmed. "But I'm pretty sure she was responsible for the first time I got beat up in elementary school."

"Not that you think about that or hold onto a grudge or anything..." I joked.

Penny, ever the bestest friend of ever, teasingly asked Phoenix, "Guess who else lives on Sommie's block?" After another swig of his coffee, Phoenix played along. "Who?"