Bright Lights, Big(ger) City

Well I'm over the moon. My very first business travel! (Those years of slinging peanuts and sodas do not count.) On Monday I'm heading to New York for a marketing and social media conference.

Fantasy version of the trip:
I step out of the airport in my Sunday best, and manage to awkwardly hail a cab.

He helps me with my luggage.

I'm practically hanging out the window all the way to the hotel, just to take it all in. (I was going to say I was peering out the top of a limo, but come on, that would just be cliché.) 


The doorman at the hotel doesn't know quite what to make of me, nor I of him. But don't you worry - by the end of my journey, I'll win him over with my irresistible country charm...and you never know, I just might pick up some street smarts from him along the way.

The next day, I stumble into a radio station while I'm out looking for jobs. (Play along, all right?) They mistake me for a renowned radio talk show host, throw me on the air...and what do you know? I'm a total hit. No one ever finds out, I move to the city and live happily ever after.

Reality version of the trip:
I just moved back to Dallas from Hoboken, people. The most exciting thing about this trip is the 12-degree difference in temperature. Oh, and also H&M. 


I'll be there for three days, only one in its entirety, which will be spend at a conference with other tech company marketing geeks like me. Score: Allison for free breakfast, lunch and "snacks." Fingers crossed for promotional schwag, including but not limited to, pens, thumb drives...could there be some type of laptop bag? Let's not get crazy. 


Somehow those nutty gods of fortune saw to it that I will be there for my friend Josh's birthday Tuesday. We haven't made any solid plans yet, but I can promise it won't be nearly as off the chain as Josh's Birthday Extravaganza 2009.

Gift time! A cowboy hat, a mini flashlight, and a check for $12.60. Let's just say I paid off some folks' very old debts last year.