Ain't no sunshine when she's gone

For the second year in a row I spent a week in the ATL running two back-to-back conferences. The first conference is an exhibit hall and three day meeting that starts on Sunday. We fly in on Saturday so we can get setup and make sure all of our supplies made it. This year, for a combination of reasons, we sent half the conference staff. Last year we had 4 people and this year we had 2. Just me and McCoy (aka "the Amanda's"). It took us for-ev-er to get everything set. By 10pm I never wanted to see another binder again. Needless to say we skipped going out that night even though we were on the list at Opera - this great bar/club that I had been to the year before. Oh well.

Sunday morning came wayyyyyyyyy to early and I woke up to an unpleasant surprise. No hot water in my room. Seriously? This is the second time at a second Omni Hotel that I haven't had hot water in my room this year. Is someone at Omni playing a joke on me...because it's not funny. I called down and of course Engineering would send someone up but I just didn't have the time to wait, so I took the plunge and suffered through a cold shower. The start of Sunday's meeting was hectic to say the least. We definitely felt the loss of our other two conference staff; Amanda and I were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. So tired. But not too tired to go out and watch the first game at JerryWorld! (That is ALL I will say about that.)

After a long game (and many many many free shots from our new friend Steve Jason) Amanda and I made it back to the Omni annnnnnnnnnnnnnd still no hot water in my room. Are you kidding? I had been out of my room for over 14 hours!?!? Not to mention I had a manager assure me the problem had been resolved. This time when I called the front desk I didn't waste time with the operator I went straight for the MOD. His first solution was to move me to a regular room. No thanks, I'd like to keep my upgrade if I'm here for a WEEK. Second solution was to move me to a larger suite but it only had a murphy bed. Um, no. Then he calls me back one more time and says the only other option is the Presidential Suite. Well alrighty then! I confirmed it did in fact have hot water and away we went.

The Presidential Suite was HUGE - there is no way that I needed two bedrooms. Don't get me wrong Presidential and Penthouse are my favorite but I have total anxiety when I stay in a room larger than my apartment. I've watched too many "unsolved mystery" shows where someone gets snatched up for no apparent reason. When I have a larger suite I don't sleep all that well but for some reason I just can't turn down the offer. I took me 20 minutes to walk around and turn off all the lights in the suite; guest room, guest bath, kitchen, dining room, office, living room, foyer, dressing room, master bath and then the master bedroom.

Monday went smoother than Sunday but Amanda and I were still not up for going "out." Instead we just walked a few blocks to find a spot for dinner (first time all week that it had stopped raining long enough to be outside). After a totally casual dinner we started to walk back to the Omni. Big mistake. We were followed for almost 2 blocks by this homeless man. Honestly just thought that if I ignored him he'd give up. No such luck. We were also be hounded by a man in a carriage trying to take us back to our hotel. Hell no. The Westin was right there so we headed that way and grabbed a cab. Best $10 I spent all night.

By Tuesday we were in cruise control for our conference. Things were going well and there wasn't a whole lot we had to do to keep it on track. It was then we decided Tuesday would be the new Saturday. We were going out and there was noooooooooo stopping us. Steve Jason from Sunday night said he wanted to hang out so we made plans to meet in Buckhead at a club/bar called Mood Lounge. Rumor on the street was it was the place to be on a Tuesday night. How many places could there really be for a good Tuesday night? We were sold. It was a good decision. Mood Lounge was SO cute. It was literally in a residential neighborhood and had a great outdoor patio with live acoustic music. We got there early so we just enjoyed sitting on the patio. Before long Steve Jason bailed and two new guys joined us at our table. There were many lemon drops, lots of dancing and some new friends. Good times for sure! Wednesday morning however, not so much fun operating on 3 hours of sleep.

I decided to end my 12 consecutive days of working with a trip the Aquarium! SO fun =)

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone and she's always gone too long anytime she goes away.