Bloggy Heaven! On the road to Seattle...

Pretty much the second registration opened for Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle, I registered. Even back in October it was planned to be the blogger event of the year… well of course I had to go. And since I’ve already raced a half marathon in Washington, it only made sense to register for the full. Back in April, I was invited to an event put on by onlineshoes.com and Brooks – a “girls night out” – with the promise of fun and MORE blogger meet-ups. I RSVP’d, but then had to figure out a way to get yet MORE time off from the new(ish) job. Luckily I work for the best company ever, and I was able to sneak out a half day early to head to the airport.

L was taking her own car since we were on separate flights back. I parked around 12:15, just under 2 hours before my flight. Security lines weren’t that ridiculous, and yet it took me over a half an hour to get through. It never ceases to amaze me how often I encounter someone who has apparently never traveled, or at least not since 9/11. TAKE YOUR BELT OFF. TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF. TAKE YOUR LAPTOP OUT OF YOUR BAG. It’s not rocket science. Anyway, L met me at the gate about 30 minutes before we were supposed to depart.

Turns out, our flight was going to be delayed (I know, SHOCKER). Did you know that excessive heat + high altitude makes it sorta dangerous to fly? Apparently they were asking 29 people to give up their seats and go on a later flight. All in all, we only departed about a half hour late, but that was enough to cause delays in everything else.

We were supposed to land at 3:45, but with the delay we didn’t hit the ground until 4:15. Then we still had to de-plane and get our rental car. All that, obviously, took forever. By the time we got into the car, it was already 5:00. We still had to hit the expo, and my event with Brooks started at 6:00. Things were not looking good. The drive into Seattle to Century Link Field was a DISASTER. I cannot comprehend how people live/drive in Seattle without losing their minds. It was horrible. The lights are not in sync at all, and there are BILLIONS of people on the road. A drive that should have taken 10-15 minutes took about 40. I was texting Heather telling her I might not be able to make the event since I was running SO LATE.

Got to the expo around 5:40, and I only had two vendors that I wanted to quickly say hi to, and then grab my junk and go. The crooks were charging $15 for event parking. (Yet another reason that I will no longer do any Rock ‘n’ Roll event except Denver). I am TIRED of being gouged!!! Anyway, we found the Run Pretty Far booth, and she is just the most adorable, EVER. I grabbed my J’Adore tank in a smaller size, as well as the “Firecracker” tank, and then headed over to talk to Cheryl at Razzy Roo. She was swamped, like usual. I actually didn’t get anything (I pretty much have ALL the headbands), and then we hurried to get our bibs. Surprisingly the expo was NOT that busy, considering it was pushing 6:00 and it closed at 7:00. Thankfully, we did NOT encounter the packed disaster that was the Country Music expo.

Heather was also running late for the event and seemed to think it wouldn’t be a big deal if I got there late. We got back to the car at 6:00 and L said she would drop me off. I turned on the Garmin and it was supposedly only 2.2 miles away. Did I mention that Seattle traffic is the biggest nightmare EVER? Did you know that it takes 45 minutes to drive 2ish miles??? I was getting so stressed out and upset. How do people deal with this?? No matter what street we went down, it was all the same. Too many cars, no green lights, one or two cars max getting through each intersection. Finally when we got close, I just jumped out of the car. Turns out that it was only a few blocks away, and I did still beat L to the intersection.

I was so late that Lindsey had to come down and let me in. I hate being late. I grabbed my food (pizza, spaghetti, the best lasagna ever, and a salad – don’t worry, it was only one plate of food) – and then sat down to listen. (So sorry I was so late guys, totally not intentional).

I obviously missed a TON since I was over 45 minutes late. I did get to see the sneak peek of a new shoe from the "Pure Project" line – that was neat.

Then it was time for questions/comments – that was fun. It is not everyday that you get to talk directly with the people that make the products you spend so much time with. And then, the best part… trying on shoes!!!

Not only did we get to try shoes on, we got to pick TWO pairs to keep. No kidding! I selected the Pure Flows (I already have them in black/teal, but these were PURPLE) and a pair of the Glycerines.

Most beautiful EVER!

In addition to the shoes, we got an inflatable cooler (pretty decent sized), and a goody bag with a shirt, water bottle, candle, notebook… Immediately the problem became… how am I going to get all these home??
Even though I missed so much of the “Girls Night Out” – I was really happy to have a few minutes to chat with my blogger friends, many of whom I hadn’t seen since I came out in 2010 for the You Go Girl! half marathon. Thanks again to Tall Mom for organizing this! I had an amazing time with everyone, just wish I was able to stay longer!

Picture courtesy of Tricia

Around 8:00, it was time to head out. Alma, thankfully, offered to drop Heather and I off at the hotel so we wouldn’t have to walk a mile with all the goodies we had received.

We “tried” to be quiet when we got to the room since L was already in bed. We laid out all our stuff for the morning, but it seemed too early to go to bed. Decided to go get a drink and figured the Emerald Grill attached to the hotel would be a safe bet. Turns out they had the worse service ever, and after 10 minutes, I still didn’t have a beer. Ronda had been there with her boyfriend having dinner and pretty much advised we go somewhere else. We walked down the street with her, parting ways so she could go to the Shell station to get a banana, and we walked to the “Hurricane Café” for a beer. Turns out it was the loudest place on the planet. I slammed my beer after not being too entertained by the 40-somethings belting out “Crazy B*tch” and Britney Spears with the jukebox.

We also stopped at the Shell, but not for anything silly like a banana. I left with a bag of mint m&m’s and a bottle of water. Still seemed a bit early for bed so we chatted in the lobby for a about a half hour. I think we were in bed by 10:00.

Next up? Another marathon!