Day Two

We woke up early Friday morning to go to breakfast at the BlogHer conference. They had kind of an official meet and greet that morning and Crystal's panel was at 12:45.

We had breakfast and listened to the women who founded BlogHer speak for a while. We sat at a table with complete strangers, but who really seemed not to be strangers. They had this fun little game to play where every five minutes two people got up from the table and went to a different table while two other people came to your table. It was a way to kind of make it around the room and meet some women you might not already know.

It was after breakfast as Crystal and I were hanging around our table discussing what to do next when a man named Brian approached us and asked if we knew where a particular conference room in the hotel was. We looked at the map (yes, this hotel was big enough to have a map) and tried to determine where he needed to be. We made small talk but that turned into a little more talk and like 2 hours later the three of us were like best friends. He was encouraging and kind and I enjoyed getting to know him.

Crystal's panel went well, I thought. There was no bickering or choosing sides, or right or wrong. Some women choose to share their children's photos and names and some do not. Each side was respectful of the other. I sat next to Tanya and we laughed as the panelists had to do microphone checks. We also realized we were both blog-tarded as some of the women were discussing watermarks on pictures. I hate it I didn't get to see her much that weekend.

We ventured into China Town next. This place was phenomenal. There is one main street with shops stacked right next to each other with restaurants thrown in here and there. We saw many of the typical gift items in most of the stores. Lots of T-shirts, caps, the Chinese fans, and even little kimonos and matching shoes. I did not expect to find these:

These jokers ranged in size from about 6 or 7 inches to one giant 3 foot monstrosity. How do you have a 3 foot penis sitting in your living room? The laughing that ensued after that almost rivaled the slide incident.

We walked along further and Crystal was trying her best to not be sick. She had been sick at her stomach all day, but assumed it was nerves. She asked if I was hungry and we picked the nearest place. It was small but clean. I had pot-stickers for the first time, which by the way I loved. I haven't thought of those things since I got back, but now that I am writing about them I am seriously craving them. I also had sweet and sour chicken which was amazing.

By then end of dinner I didn't think Crystal would make it back to the hotel. We tried in vain to hail a cab, but on a Friday night, we were having no luck. None of the restaurant owners would let her in to use the bathroom because we weren't customers, so we had to buy gum, coke, or candy just to go in.

One place we went in had pigeons walking around jumping on the tables. I was fascinated that these people didn't care. There were even people in there eating just watching them hop and fly around.

Finally caught a cab back to our hotel and Crystal crashed for the night. I sat and watched tv, still not really believing where I was.