(I sadly skipped two days of posting while I was gone, but I'll make those two up somewhere along the way and call it even.)
The thing about getting 60 ladies together for a weekend of conversation and city-exploring at The Blathering is that not every moment can be glorious. Some moments can be a little awkward, some blurry from too-much champagne, some loud, and others a little isolating, but you just hope when you hit the road for home, the good moments amount to a whole lot. That they amount to enough reason to go back the next year and the next and the next.
Every year there is good and bad for me at The Blathering--although always more good--but this year was filled with the most good, and I loved it an indescribable amount. I'd go back tomorrow, if I could. (Well, maybe not tomorrow, I sure did miss my boys.) I loved the city, I loved all the hugs, I loved the laughter, and I loved that it seemed liked so many people around me were taking good away with them, too.
(I also really loved that right before kicking off a fabulous Saturday night dinner, my Aggies upset Alabama. It was a can't-put-into-words awesome feeling. Only topped by one particular game vs OU in 2002 that I got to stand in the stands for.)
New Orleans charmed me within the first few minutes. What a city, that city. It had been 15 years since I last visited and I had never been without chaperones. Everyone was so warm, so welcoming. Like they wanted us to stay, to have fun, to enjoy ourselves. Have a drink!, the city seemed to say. Relax and have fun. Well, if you insist.
I have so many stories from my few days away, and I'll try to share them over this week. For now, some pictures. And deep gratitude for this event, for the city the event was in, and for the beautiful women who travel to it each year. Without them, there would be no Blathering.
I'm so grateful there is.
Next year we're heading to Charleston (dates to be announced soon) and I hope you can make it.