So, it went well and I don’t even think I made an ass of myself. We all meshed well and I have to say, my fellow panelists are all very cool. After the panel, I had a bunch of people who came up to get a personal critique or just to say hi. I met this great guy who had such nice things to say about Moxie and I was kind of overwhelmed right then, so I missed his name. I’m so bummed about that, he was so nice! I wanted to check out his site. I’ve been trying to remember it all night. He said that his design group is “3 gay guys and a girl”, but I don’t know if that is descriptive or actually the name of the firm. But, he was fab, so if you’re reading this, email me, please! 
I also met Amy and j. brotherlove and I got a chance to meet one of my clients! I’m working on her project next month and it was really great to meet one of my clients face-to-face.
We had dinner with everyone from the panel at the Iron Works Barbeque, which had some awesome smoked turkey and ribs as big as a femur, but Lisa and I both kind of made faces at the baked beans. Oh! And I chatted with Lisa Ling at the bbq place, too! Remember her from The View? I think now she’s doing documentary work for MSNBC and Google Current or something. Anyway, “chatted” is probably a strong word. It was more like she said “excuse me” as she squeeze in front of me to reach for a beverage from the cooler. Then Paul goes, “Hey, could you hand me a beer from in there?” And she did, of course, joking and being sweet. I said to her (like an ass) “Why do you look so familiar to me?” (which is my standard approach when I think I might know someone, but am not sure). She smiled at me and said, “I don’t know…” in that sing-songy way that says, “I think you know already.” So I said, “Ooooh, I know why…” in that sing-songy way that says, “Shut up, Joelle. She doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Of course, as soon as she walked away, I said to Paul, “You just got your beer from Lisa Ling.” to which he spun around and was like, “Where? Really? Are you sure?” Heh. Who knew?
After dinner, Lisa (who is very cool, by the by) and I had a martini in the lounge while mike went upstairs to watch basketball. Eventually DanaLynn showed up with her husband and we (DanaLynn & Kyle, Lisa, mike and I) went out to the ‘burbs for some karaoke. Good times! It was, too. We all had a great time. It was fun to get to know them better and like, in person.
Now we’re back at the room and we just took some shots of Nyquil. I’m fighting this cold mike still has. Aside from the cool folks we met, we’re kind of ready to be back home. Now that the anxiety of doing our panel has subsided, I’m just ready for my own bed. But, alas, there are no flights out tomorrow, so we’re stuck here until Monday night. I mean, we met some cool people and I have panels I can go to so I guess I’ll do that… might as well take advantage! But, just for the record, I’ll never stay in a Hilton hotel again if I can help it. Not one particular incident, just a series of small things and overall attitude. I don’t think I need to further contribute to Paris’ Botox and weensy dog habit.
Ok, the Nyquil is kicking in. Nite nite, y’all!
