That time I went to California for a work vacation

As promised a few pictures from my one free day in California.

The hotel where the conference was being held/where I stayed was the Fairmont San Jose. When I travel, I almost never stay in hotels. I usually stay with people I know, or in the case of Europe, hostels.

So staying at a nice hotel is quite a little treat for me.



This is my room service breakfast: oatmeal with fresh berries and a glass of grapefruit juice. Cost with tip: $30. These are the things I do when I do not have to use my own money.



Before the conference hooplah started on Sunday, I visited the Winchester Mystery House.

Upon presenting my ticket to the tour guide, she looked at me and said, "Aww are you by yourself??"

I am an independent woman, thank you very much.

Aside from the tour guide who probably thought I was a lonely, desperate woman, the house was incredible.

Apparently throughout the tour, we walked over a mile!

You betcha I counted that as my exercise for the day.



Notice the "door to nowhere" on the right.




If I were to become a crazy [insanely rich] spinster cat woman, I'd build myself a house like this. Just for funsies.




The one picture that proves I was on this trip.



 Upon finding out that Stanford was a mere 20 minutes away, I decided I had to see it.

So a $60 cab ride later...



I was drooling over how gorgeous the campus was.




Seriously? My alma mater wishes it could look like this.



I followed up my Stanford wandering with a nice lunch at the Stanford shopping center, in which I ordered not only an entree, but a glass of sangria and a giant dessert as well. Like I said, the things I do when I don't have to spend my own money.

The idea of dining at a restaurant alone used to scare the crap out of me. What if people thought I was a loser with no friends?

Now I realize how obsurd that is.

Actually, I rather enjoyed the solo eting experience.

My conference schedule looked something like this:

Sunday night: network, eat, drink

Monday: Full day of sessions [several of which I rather enjoyed], make a friend, network with someone awesome at lunch, eat Italian food and drink wine at dinner while talking about the movie industry [reference to the awesome person I also networked with at lunch]

Tuesday: Full day of sessions [less of which I enjoyed, but still got to hang out with intelligent and interesting people], get called out in a session, win a big prize, win another prize for being a top winner at casino night [craps is a lucky game], stay out until 1 am with new friends, eat a late night taco

Wednesday: Only attend two sessions because it is time to leave, spend too much time at airports, come home to kitties

As I said before, it was a great experience, and simultaneously made me feel very confident and unaccomplished at the same time.

Confident because I could hold my own around all these impressive people, and unaccomplished because I realize how far I have to go.

But it opened by eyes to all the possibilities, so I hope to start working toward some dreams of mine soon.

And needless to say, I'll miss looking out my window to this:



Sooo when can I go to my next out of state conference??

Back in the TX

I am back.

Back in the heat. And fire. And humidity.

While I will always be a Southern California fan, the Silicon Valley area is now vying for my affections.

In a word, it is perfect.

The conference was not too shabby either. Having intelligent converstation with exciting people was just what I needed.

Also, going to conferences is definitely not just all about work.

Case in point: I won noise-canceling earphones at a casino night!

Impressive, I know.

Also, I may have stayed out past 1 a.m. with a few new friends one night. San Jose nightlife isn't exactly bumpin', but we made do.

Once I recover from this busy day at work, I'll post the few pictures I took of my free day!

Northern California

I love California.

I think that might be pretty clear.

From the ages of 8-16, I visited Southern California every summer to see family.

Northern California, however, was like a foreign land that I had never seen [except San Francisco once at the age of five...I don't exactly have a ton of memories from that trip].

Until...one spring break in college when I ventured a bit further north than usual.

P.S. Y'all are getting to see me back in my youngin' days.

Yosemite

Hearst Castle

The view from Hearst Castle.

Seal Beach? Or something of that general name.

Verdict: Northern California is gorgeous, too.

I'm convinced I was born to be a Californian.

California throwback

In honor of me being in California [land of which I like to pretend I'm from] this week, I thought I'd do some Cali themed posts.

First up, some pictures from the summer in college when I interned in L.A.

It was good times, y'all.

The Grove in Beverly Hills. This was the one and only time I went there, as being a poor intern kept me from high end shopping.

This barely appetizing looking meal is on here as a humble confession that this was the very first meal I ever cooked for myself. Yep, you heard it here first. Living in L.A. alone meant I had to finally fend for myself!

I almost cried upon seeing the Kodak Theatre, i.e. the place where the Oscars are held. Nerd.

It wouldn't be my blog if there wasn't some sort of picture of me eating food. So here you go. Pink's Hotdogs.

My friend, Aisha, came to visit me, so we did lots of California-like things. Case in point: playing in Malibu.

See, I've always been weird.

This is only here to show how tan I was. This is what happens when you only work three days a week and spend the rest of your days at the beach.

I feel like every little girl has dreamed of living here at some point. Some little girls more than others. Like me.

Fitting in with the crowd at Venice Beach. Present day me is seething over how tan and toned I look.

Trojan Fight! I almost went there for school, so I had to pay homage somehow.

Warning: if you meet a Z-list actor at a giant industry party thrown by your boss and he invites you and your friend to an after party for a concert, you may end up at this room in the Standard Hotel. And there might be drugs there. And you might leave promptly. Nothing good happens at 3 am.

Ah, well that was a fun trip down memory lane.

These next few days, I have to pretend like I know what I'm talking about

Tomorrow I leave for my work conference in San Jose!

This will be my first business trip, and it's a solo one. I'm a fan of solitary travel, so no problems there.



BUT this conference is kind of intense.

And I'm taking my boss's spot.

Meaning...I'm signed up at the level that she is on.

Alex < boss

What this means is that there is one session where I am being regarded as a "thought leader."

AKA someone with expertise.

Um. No.

I think you've made a mistake, mon freres!

I'm fairly confident in my abilities, and I know I am decent when it comes to BSing.

So let's hope I can just charm everyone.

Or catch a break and actually have something of value to add to my session.

Le stress.

But le excitement as well.

Oh and apparently I might get offers to go to dinner in San Francisco since people will think I'm some big decision maker or something. For a free meal in San Fran, I'll pretend to be just about anything.

But don't let your mind wander too far.

I think during my one free day, I'm going here:

Credit

That's the Winchester Mystery House.

You may have seen it on the Travel Channel before.

Basically it's a big ol' cray cray house built by a cray cray woman.

There are staircases and doors that lead to nowhere, plus lots of other crazy shiz.

I'm excited.

OR if I can find some sort of shuttle or bus or other mode of transportation that does so, I'd like to go out to Santa Cruz or any other neighboring beachy place.

I miss me some Cali beaches, guys.

All in all, I'm looking forward to my first big girl work experience.

And getting my company to pay for everything.

Cha-ching.