5 Maiedae Mixer, the Trip and Event

I promise this is the second last post about the Maiedae Mixer. What can I say; it was a whirlwind week and a half.

I hope you’re like me and love some Infographics, because today it’s chock-full!

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Driving a low car, think: 5 inch clearance, was a frightening experience to dodge all the shredded tires strewn across the roadways.

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Random Fact: if you don’t have an Ipass (through Illinois) you can drive right through making note of the toll number and pay within 5 days. What a game changer saving time AND last minute lane changes, count me in. Just don't forget to pay!

About 4 hours into the drive, a huge rain storm began. So bad that my wipers couldn’t keep up and flipping on the hazards and eventually pulling over was the only option. Moments later my cell phone blasts a warning message to watch for flash floods. 1. Just Great.  2. I didn't even know these kind of alerts existed.

Still sitting there, a few moments pass and the rain lets up for about 2 seconds, I glance to my right. A REST AREA!! With the downpour everything was so blurry that I had missed a safe exit. Talk about ironic. Two stops for rain later, a couple hundred miles, and a frantic text or two to Christina I was finally getting closer to St. Louis.

One more happened on the way to her house that evening and one on the next day somewhere in Kansas. I must say it’s easier to keep your cool with a passenger you’re trying to impress keep safe.

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After already losing time from the rain storm, as soon as I entered St. Louis, it was time for gas. The first exit I took happen to give you a major view of the Cardinals stadium with the field lights on and everything. As soon as I was leaving the station the sirens went off. It took me by surprise because generally our sirens are drills. Asking a fellow gas-filler, “umm do you guys have major [baseball] home-town pride or something.” He replies “No it’s serious, we’re under some sort of tornado watch, if you hear someone talking at the end, you know it’s serious.” Moments later there was an intercom blasting dialogue which was completely inaudible. Guess that answered my question.

Meanwhile Christina was worried, sending texts and hanging out in her basement. When I finally arrived, the weather slightly let up. What a way to meet a friend face to face for the first time- all tense from the white knuckled driving. Wearing a white shirt and rocking the wet dog look was exactly the look I was going for.

I could go on and on about the near-miss with a twister, but I’ll spare you. Counting my lucky stars, the tornado's had missed me. Unfortunately, a few landed in some suburbs of St. Louis, my heart goes out to their families.

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I was honored that Christina gave me a house tour, you know since her tour page is under construction and all. Let’s just say I’m super jealous of her amazing pool and her sense of style.

It should come to no surprise that Christina loves fish, with the blog name homemade ocean and all, but her pup also had me at hello.

When they called my name, I could hardly believe it. I won a fabulous Arrowhead jewelry set from Moorea Seal! And as a good bff, I sent Christina along with the earrings and necklace, hopefully we can snap some photos from afar!

Look at that sea of gorgeous faces!

Holy cannoli! The sweets were fabulous, especially the cannolis and macaroons.

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Let me tell ya, that swag bag was a hit. Not only was it great to hold all the goodies but also the contents inside!

Look at all those business cards. There were more, but some had treats (*caramel*cough), and the bag was ripped open so quickly that the business info was illegible. 

I was pretty fortunate to avoid the gas spike from an Indiana and Illinois refinery temporary shutdown.

Remember how I told you about my amazing windshield birthday present last week? Well on our way home just getting out of Georgia all of a sudden: ting and crack. Yep, the windshield had a substantial crack. I was hoping it was a stress crack but it was in fact a rock which came out of nowhere I suppose. It was hard not to cry like a little baby, it helped that I was trying to impress Christina.

Sure we sort of met through Young House Love’s Book tour (lovingly called her green sweater girl). But once we actually met in real life… well we had to keep telling ourselves to stop talking when we were supposed to heading off to lala land. My goodness we had so much in common!

See now that was a jam packed weekend full of surprises left and right. Sure there were quite a few lows, but we were lucky nothing major happened on our road trip adventure. We made it home safe and that’s more than I could ever hope for.

Have you had weather related close calls? How about saving for something just to have it destroyed shortly after? Have you had a trip with many unexpected events? Were you able to appreciate all the positives? 

Preparing for a conference or event of your own? Be sure to check out: Roommate Gift + Freebie, Business Cards, DIYing the Outfit, and Lessons Learned.