So here I am in Vegas for another year of Impact 2012. Arriving at airport and while waiting at baggage claim I turn my phone on, and without a fail there are 3 voicemails regarding something that needs my attention, no rest even on travel day (lovely I think to myself).

I get in line to get into my taxi and as always it’s packed, but today especially was overly packed, zig-zagging as I people watch and slightly get scared of the characters arriving in Vegas. What sticks out like a sore thumb is how easy it is to differentiate those coming for a weekend of fun and those of us who are coming on biz! (refrained from taking pics of some of the whacky ones…)

Finally I get into my cab and I get a chatty really nice guy, loved talking to him, made the ride very entertaining. And here we go as every year, as I attempt to step out of the cab comes the greeter who opens my door, wants to take my luggage, and as nice as it is to be catered to, I can push myself through the door thank you very much! And there it is, I open the door to the hotel and that scented air that I so dread hits me in the face (yuck!) followed by the view of skanky clothing and business suits. I’m in Vegas baby!

So my OCDs kick in as I enter my suite in the room:

#1 Drop everything and jump on my King sized bed. Fantasize of the awesome week I will have sleeping smack in the middle, surrounded by all the pillows and no snoring around!

#2 I just have to grab the remote control and raise the shades to see what view I got this year. And of course I take a pic – I like my night time version one (see below)

#3 I empty out my suitcase, hang everything up, fold and put away things in the drawers.

#4 I put all my toiletries, make-up, you name it, all neatly lined up at the sinks in the bathroom. Followed by checking to see if there is still a phone in the bathroom. Followed by a “who would I ever want to call while in the bathroom?” but hey I could if I wanted to?

#5 Set up my office area – plug in computer, get all the cables out, all my printed materials, ignore the temptation to log into lotus notes

#6 I just have to turn on the TV in the bathroom, not sure why, but I just like to, I guess it’s just because there is one!

#7 Now that my room feels a little more like “home”, it’s time to take a shower and get that airplane smell off of me. Actually it’s nice and relaxing a bit too

#8 Get mad at myself for AGAIN forgetting to bring slippers or flip flops to walk around. It gets me every time!

#9 Texting time! Time to get organized for the nightly plans for dinner and drinks

#10 Get ready to enjoy the night before the killer week starts off

And of course 1st night dinner has to be Sushi, after all it is Friday Sushi night right? I meet my favorite and long time buddies tonight for sushi at Sushi Samba! check out what was in store for us:

And then just for the fun of it, check out ratio food vs alcohol!

Oh that was a fun dinner of catching up on good old times followed by drinks, it was a great start to what I’m sure will be another great week!