TxSCC: It's about the People, People

Most of my life has been conditioned by the people in it.  No matter where I am, how I look, or what I’m learning, it’s almost always the people around me who shape an experience.  My time at The Texas Style Council Conference was yet another instantiation of that fact.  I learned some interesting information, saw pretty sights, got some cool swag; all that was great, but it has receded now that I’m home.  What remains as the core of my time in Austin is the joy of meeting people I now consider friends.  Despite my massive exhaustion and the 20 hours we spent in the car each way, I rarely felt tired.  I was never grumpy.  I never wanted to go home.  I was sustained and energized for the genuine connections I made with some really amazing people.

Amanda, Jessie, Merl, me, Kendi, Jen, Rachel, Amy

Jentine: I’ve wanted to meet Yen since I first read her blog months and months ago.  Her sense of humor made me certain we’d get along and I was constantly impressed with her diverse sense of style.  Imagine my utter happiness, then, when the first words we exchange are sarcastic and so funny they cause me to nearly choke on my complimentary Jolly Rancher.  Whether it was sneaking off to ride the magical carousel or drying tears of laughter on the same tissues (eeew!), jamming with Yen was never boring.  And that’s about the best compliment I can give a girl.

Merrily she goes around...

Yen is so pretty; I am so un-showered. It isn't a fair comparison.

Kendi: Heaven forbid anyone think Ms. Everyday is just cute and funny.  Five minutes into our first conversation we were talking about HIV, women’s empowerment, religion, African politics, and about 100 other things entirely out of the realm of small talk.  Kendi IS cute and funny, but she’s also impressively smart and interested in the world.  And even if she did spill wine all down my backside and even if Mr. Everyday (who is equally awesome and has stolen my platonic heart) and I did accidentally curse a drunk Irish women into an ambulance, I couldn’t think of a single bad thing to say about my favorite blogging couple; they’re that awesome.

Laughter, as usual, when we snuck away on a little thrifting break.

Despite the fact that she spilled wine on my booty, I still posed for this photo. Really, it was only so that I didn't hurt her feelings.

Rach: Ordinary?  Psh!  Rach is anything but.  Elegant, adorable, and full of sass, she stole the hearts of our road-trip foursome in about .2 seconds.  I’d looked forward to meeting her for months and when I did I was charmed to heck and back.  She’s got a great artistic eye, mad swapping skills, and a future store in which I’ll probably spend a large portion of my bank account.  But then, what are friends for, right?  :)

Rach and her hilarious husband Austin

Lisa, Amanda, and Merl: These women could each have a book written about them, much less a post or a paragraph.  But I put them together here because they were my Austin posse (and I was part of theirs).  We drove together, roomed together, ate together, debated life and love together, and generally acted like total goobers together.  They went from fellow bloggers to actual friends in minutes, thanks to a cramped car, a crazy B&B owner, and…well, something ineffable and wonderful.  Add in Rach, Kendi and Jen and we were a straight-up girl gang (just minus the violence, hazing, and graffiti).  I couldn’t have asked for more flexible, funny, thoughtful women to have as new friends.

Lisa and Merl, Etsy mavens

Amanda in her adorable shop in AR

I also met some other amazing women with whom I spent less (but not less exciting) time- Jen, Kara, Laura, Chelsea, Katy, Jessie, Kelsey- and got to see my lady Kyla again after our hangout in the Chi.  It was wonderful to meet/see you all again!

Below is a slideshow of more photos from the conference.  Enjoy!  And thanks to TxSCC for bring us all together!!

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