Sun, Fun, Water, Shopping & A Conference

My conference and time in Chicago was fabulous!

Maybe it was because the conference was about customer loyalty (and so everyone was about the "experience"), but I learned tons and met so many cool people.

I arrived in Chicago on Wednesday alone and somehow figured out how to get from my hotel to the conference with no directions which alone made the trip a success. I was also quite proud during that initial walk when a random woman asked me how to get to the shopping on Michigan Avenue, and I was able to tell her.

Right away I met a girl who does what I do except for she works for Stride Rite in Boston. We clicked, and she hung out with all of us all three days which was fun. Each night there was an impressive cocktail hour so I met a lot of people who work for retail brands I throughly enjoy which was a cool experience in itself. And, to top it off, it turned out there were a couple other KC people I knew there.

Thursday night a few of us went on a vendor sponsored booze cruise around the city. We weren't so sure what to expect but it was a beautiful night in Chicago and it was a blast! We enjoyed wine, apps and we met some really fun people.

On Friday I pushed my flight back three times and didn't leave until early evening - gotta love Southwest - so I could spend some necessary time shopping. And H&M did not disappoint. Not counting my black flower hair clip purchase, Steve was impressed with all my finds and even suggested some outfits that could go together (which was relatively easy since all of my purchases were various shades of pink with a little black thrown in for good measure).