POOLSIDE AT THE JOULE

And this is day two! Day two was just as packed with pizzazz as day one. I obviously overslept and missed some morning sessions of the conference but it’s all gee double oh dee good because my Chicago ladies gave the the recap on them. Before lunch, the hubby and I went up to check out the pool area and it did NOT disappoint. The weather was perfect and since everyone was busy at the conference break out sessions, we got the pool all to ourselves! Day one was such a sensation overload, it was nice to just sit and find some moment of zen before I was ready to do it all over again.

After some relaxation time at the pool, it was off to the cutest lunch ever, hosted by Express. They fed us nom noms and we watched a video of their latest runway looks. However, I guess the most important thing to note here is meeting Rosie, the genius behind The Londoner and my British soul mate. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is. But I’m also positive a lot of people feel that way. Our meeting was kind of like fate since I am a terrible blogger and didn’t even recognize who she was, though I randomly stumble on her blog because my best friend Laura is a fan. After meeting Rosie, I can totally understand why!So let’s break down this British encounter shall we? So obviously since the hubby and I missed most of the morning sessions, we got to this lunch early and there was no one there. I guess the sessions were running late. So we sat there looking at all the cute things. Pretty centerpieces, rack of Express clothes, Express bags holding our lunches, then there was a lot of staring off into space… We were made to move by the photographer like a MILLION times which was kind of annoying but fine. Take your empty room shots and let me know when I am allowed to sit down. Thanks! Finally got to sit down and it was more waiting. Or more thinking, should I just eat? I’m starving! Hurry up you pretty betches! Screw it, I’m eating. Nomnomnom. And of course, I made a mess on the white linen which I tried to hide with my bag of chips and my phone.

As I sat there Instagramming, I notice a few ladies filtering in. One in particular came up to our table and asked if she could take the seat next to me. I said of course! I immediately noticed her British accent and I swooned over it as most UHmericans do. She sat down and I was rude and immersed myself into my photo editing phone app for a bit without really saying much. But somehow we got to talking. She looked at my feet and immediately commented on how she liked that I wasn’t in heels because everyone was towering in heels. I thought to myself, well, you are what seems to be 6 foot tall on flats so you probably don’t need them like I do. We giggled and commented on how everyone was just so shiny and pretty and just slightly intimidating. She chatted with the hubs and commented on how cool it was that he comes to these things and she had mentioned that her beau wouldn’t enjoy it as much and that he was probably sitting in their room or at the pool. I said “Bollocks! He should come up for this, there is free nom noms!” Okay I didn’t really say bollocks. But I sure as hell said it in my head. Sure enough, she told him to come up and we all chatted about the conference and how there seemed to be a lot of people from the UK there which was really awesome for me and made me feel all international and cool. She probably didn’t find it as cool as I did. But here’s where I fall for her. And I fell hard.

Express began playing their runway show on the screens for us to watch and this amazing song comes on with it. One I have never heard before, but the beat dropped and my shoulders just couldn’t contain themselves. They start bouncing, then my whole upper body starts bouncing, and next thing I know I look to my left, and Rosie is doing the same thing. We end up upper body table dancing to pretty much the whole show and at one point I think we had our fists pounding the air. Do UK people know what fist pumping is and where it originates from? Gawd I hope not. It was a hilarious moment especially because I think we were the only two really feeling the music enough to show it through body convulsions. We had a good laugh and I ask her what her Instagram handle is because I immediately know I like this lady and want to keep in touch. I pull up her account and in a very un-ladylike, very non-cool blogger, very One Direction fanatic way, shout “OMG, YOU ARE THE LONDONER?! MY FRIEND LAURA LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES YOU!!”

Terrible as this sounds, I do not really follow a lot of blogs. With work, the blog, coordinating weddings, friends, social life, and partying too much. It’s really hard for me to keep up. However, my gal pal Laura has always sent me posts from the Londoner here and there because… well…. because Rosie is awesome! Her humor is the best and after meeting her in person, I can NOW fully understand why my friend is an avid reader. She posts about her travel and lifestyle, and I think most importantly, she has amazing recipes. She’s spunky, quirky, and hilarious. So as I sat there geeking out but also really embarrassed that I did not recognize her off the bat, she says to me that we should take a selfie and send it to my friend. GAWD, I love this girl! She totally gets me. After lunch we parted ways but I told her we needed to find each other at The Outnet farewell party so we could get sloshed together. And sloshed we did.