Friday Night -- the Slumber Party, the Steak Feast

Arriving back to the hotel, I visited the room to clean up a bit then after I checked out the lobby, I do find those atrium layouts wonderful for scoping out the place, I beat feet down to find out who that interesting group were seating in the bar area.
 

I should have KNOWN, it was definitely the Celebrate Romance Crowd.
 

Hanging out in the Westin Suites Bar on Friday afternoon
From left: Barbara Sheridan, Barb Deane, Madelyn McIntire, Jean Mason, Olivia (watch her, she LOVES cookies), Leslie Tramposch, Judy Rice, and Donna.
After a bit of maneuvering, I fought my way to the front and tried to figure out who was who! It appeared to be the Pittsburgh contingent. They were a lively bunch!!!! But then maybe after a long drive they had lots of energy to expend!

More people joined the bar crowd, tables were pushed together, introductions were made, the shy were NOT allowed to hide for long. It was fun to watch the expressions on faces when they met someone they only knew through postings on email or bulletin boards. Even those who did reviews for sites, meeting fellow reviewers and webmistresses, included big hugs, laughs and a great deal of noise!

As it grew closer to 7:00 pm, the designated time for the Philly Cheese Steak Feast, more people came into the bar area which was located in the heart of the atrium. The fans were getting hungry. The designated drivers were milling around trying to find their navigator, ml. The rest of us tried to find a place that we could use. It was obvious that this large group (over 20) could not fit into any one room, and the suites did NOT connect.

Some one had the great idea to ask if we could use the second floor atrium bar. It was empty and had at least six tables with umbrellas. The bell captain who seemed to agree to anything, did some one really tip him well? said, why not? So off we went to claim spots at the tables.

Karen Wheless brought out her stock of cookies and set them up on the unoccupied bar of the meeting area. This was a WONDERFUL idea, unlimited number of round and rectangular plastic containers, all neatly labeled with ingredients and some even were low fat <G>. I met Livia at the bar as she was testing the contents. She assured me that I would not like almost every kind of cookie there! I got the point after the fourth selection!!
 

Steaks Arrive

With much fanfare and a loaded luggage cart, the boxes of steaks, salads, and sandwiches arrived. A great swarm descended on ml and her crew, as they set out the orders on long tables and collected monies as they checked off orders. The bell captain brought buckets of ice. The canned sodas arrived from the volunteers who had shopped. Wine and glasses popped into view. The noise grew. Imagine 40 or more romance readers milling around food and drinks! You get the picture.

Small set back on the salad: no plates, but using the backs of the container lids, paper wrappings from the steaks and empty cups, the hungry were able to satisfy their pangs.

You would have thought that it would get quiet during the eating, but au contraire, the noise levels rose. Soon the noise attracted more people as those who did not want to eat steaks etc were lured out of their rooms by the prospect of THE SLUMBER PARTY!
 

Slumber Party? or Food Fest?

Soon more arrivals appeared with trays, bags, boxes, containers of food. More cookies, pies, crackers, dips, chips, candies, fudge, and accompaniments arrived and covered the long tables where the steaks had rested momentarily a few minutes before. I never saw so many goodies in one place since our last pot luck at the gourmet clubs holiday meeting!!!

And drink!!!! Bottles were passed around, every kind of wine imaginable. Michelle had visited all the military exchanges in the DC area and it SHOWED!

The noise and fun increased, even for those who did not drink. More introductions!!! More authors arrived. More readers arrived. Some looked so much different than I imagined.

As at any party of size, groups formed and dissolved, gathered and shrunk. It was so much fun.

A group of interested in setting up on-line bookstores disappeared to my room. Linda was searching out information. They were missing for at least an hour.

Finally, I had to say, enough!!! I quit around midnight or 11:00pm my time!

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