I arrived in Dallas after a turbulent flight from Little Rock. The airplane ride was like a tame version of the Tower of Terror. I never felt like we were gonna free fall, but I certainly never felt 100% safe either.

For the first time ever, my bags were the first to be unloaded off the plane. That was kinda awesome. I loved the looks of envy from the other passengers as I skipped over and plucked my red suitcase and the ugly brown JORDACHE hanging bag (circa 1988) from the conveyor belt. This was a good sign.

Um. sorta.

I found the shuttle. We waited for a few mins, nobody else came so we were off–to the next terminal. We picked up a lovely lady and commenced to drive around the airport some more. We hit each terminal at the airport, then came back to where he picked me up and told us we had to switch shuttle buses. While we’re waiting to board the other passenger and I introduce ourselves. Imagine my shock and awe when I discover I’ve been sharing a shuttle with THE Eloisa James. How fantastic! Especially since Maria is her Kathy Bates, I mean, biggest fan.

We proceed to find a seat on the shuttle and I meet another passenger, author Kalen Hughes. As we continue our tour of the airport, the three of us commence in a lively discussion of books, kids, camps, Italy, jet lag, beer…until we stop at another terminal and pick up…my CP Louisa Edwards! Finally we left the airport and headed toward the hotel.

After Louisa and I check in, we rush upstairs to freshen up…I swear Airplane smell absorbs into the skin… we call our friends to discover they were waiting downstairs for us to check in! Somehow we missed each other.

We go downstairs, find our way to a bar (I know, big surprise) meet up with Maria, Pam, Nic, Kalen joins us with Dorchester author, Sandy Shaw. We enjoy a couple of drinks and some nachos then split up to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was a great little Mediterranean Restaurant named Sambuca. They had a live jazz duo and we had a cute little waiter named John who was trying a little too hard but that was okay. Oh, and we had a cute little cab driver named Abu who was our chauffeur to and from the restaurant.

After our fun dinner, we came back to the hotel bar where we proceed to train our livers for conference week. Kalen, Doreen, Anne, Emma Peterson, Eden Bradley, and Lillian Feisty joined the party. We had a great time and I stayed up a little later than usual…but it was totally worth it.

This morning Louisa, Maria and I hit the gym for an hour long workout and now Louisa is headed for a mani-pedi and Maria and I are heading downstairs to work registration.

Pictures will come soon. If things go as planned, I’ll have something cool to report this evening…anyone care to guess what that might be?