Sometimes "close enough" is REALLY wrong

Well I am finally in Columbus for the Lane Bryant Blogger Conference. Whew! I almost didn't make it.

First, It took a lot to get me on the plane. I left super early but even so, I barely made it to the gate on time. Why? Well first I decided to be lazy and park at the gate instead of offsite parking, but there were no spots so I drove around for 20 minutes trying to find one. And then I had to walk way farther than I like in heels (and 100 degree heat) to the terminal.

And this formally travel saavy girl just did not pack appropriately. I totally forgot that American Airlines now charges for all checked bags and I had two! I hadn't wanted to bring my big bag b/c I didn't need it so I had a small roller bag, a small toiletry bag, my laptop bag, and my large purse. Well I was not going to pay $60 to check 2 bags, so I consolidated down to one checked bag. And I went back out in the 100 degree heat to take the extra bag to my car. Then I thought, eh I can do better than that. So I decided to consolidate down to just carryon. But then I forgot that I didn't have my liquids in a ziplock bag because I had been going to check it. Thankfully DFW actually had some for people to use at security. But then I was carrying my laptop which gave me 1 too many items to carry-on. And the gate attendant busted me. So I shoved it on the top of my purse. By the time I got to my seat I was a hot sweaty mess and my makeup had all melted off. Just the way a fashion blogger should be. Ha! (see hot sweaty Tina on a plane -----------------^)

And then I checked into the wrong hotel. Considering that I ran into Alyssa from the Budget Fashionista & Stylish Curves at the airport and we rode the shuttle to the hotel together, I don't see how it happened. But after finding a name similar to mine in the system they checked me in and I went to my room. Only to find out an hour later that Alyssa went to the other hotel and I was actually in someone else's room who conincidentally had a name very similar to mine. Weird! I didn't figure it out until we were making dinner plans. Luckily, Kimberly from Fab Finds Under 50 had a rental car so she rescued me.

After geting picked up we all (including Sara from Bombshell Beauty) went out to dinner. These girls are a blast. Everyone is so friendly and talkative (and they are all even more beautiful in person). Seriously. I thought we would have a nice chit chat with some small talk over dinner, but it was so much better than just that. Thanks, Lane Bryant, for bringing us all together (and thank Kimberly for rescuing me fromthe wrong hotel in a tsunami).

After all that I finally got checked into my correct hotel at 9:30 pm.

What I Wore While Traveling...A LOT:

• dress (Lane Bryant)
• red blouse (via Kohls)
• black belt (Target)
• black heels (Guess)
• black necklace (via Goodwill) *

* I love how this necklace toughened up my outfit a little, and sadly I didn't put it on before I took my pics. I meant to take more pics in Columbus, but it was such a crazy day that I forgot.

Tomorrow - the real conference begins!

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Lane Bryant is providing my travel and accomodations, as well as a complimentary outfit as part of my participation in this conference. Lane Bryant and T Minus, T Plus (me!!) are committed to complying with FTC regulations regarding disclosure of material connections and endoresements. As I have previously stated, I am a loyal Lane Bryant customer (since the mid 1990s) and my participation in this conference and any comments I make about Lane Bryant are 100% my own thoughts and opinions and are not influenced by Lane Bryant. If you have any comments or questions about this, please leave a comment. I read and reply to all comments.