First let me say “Thank You” to my personal sponsor, The Pretty Peacock.  Anna is a strong supporter of social media and believes in the power of bloggers.  Without her her help, I may not have even made it to New Orleans this past weekend.  Please “Like” The Pretty Peacock on Facebook.  You won’t be disappointed.  They are constantly sharing giveaways, discounts and new products.  I can’t say how much I just love this company!  While you are here, stop by and enter the giveaway going on until July 30th.

I was in the air headed for Bloggers on Bourbon at 6:15am Friday morning.  I was so excited, I hardly slept the night before.  The anticipation of meeting up with some of my favorite online people was just overwhelming.  What if they don’t like me?  What if I don’t like them?  This was my first time really stepping out to meet an entire group of new people and I was on my own.

I landed in New Orleans at 2:35pm.  I’d made arrangements to meet up with fellow blogger, Elizabeth since we were landing at the same time.  She was easy to find and I thought she was great!  So happy to be there.  Elizabeth was a riot and I will never forget her pink wig!

Elizabeth was nice.  So far so good.  We arrived at the hotel.  Immediately I hear a loud “IT’s RHEA!” from across the street.  I look over and see Kas and Britany running at me with hugs.  All my fears disappeared and I knew at that point everything was going to be great!

The first few hours were spent meeting people that I felt I already “knew.”  None of them were strangers.  It was just a lot of  “Oh, HI’S!” to people I recognized and it felt like meeting up with old friends.  It was a great feeling.  We spent time in Trisha’s GIANT suite at the Prince Conti hotel.  I got my “credentials” and decorated my name tag.  Got the itinerary and headed up to my room to get ready for dinner.

My awesome roommate was Kim from What’s That Smell.  I loved sharing a room with Kim because she’s smart, funny and didn’t snore or hog the bathroom.  I just hope she can say the same thing about me!

6pm Friday night:  Dinner at Besh Steakhouse at Harrah’s Casino. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. dinner sponsored by Harrah’s Casino.  I chose to have the “Surf and Turf” dinner but asked them to “hold the surf.”  It was delicious.  It was great to sit down and finally get to start chatting with my new friends.

8:15pm Friday night:  Ghost Tour sponsored by Lingerie.com. Honestly, I was terrified of going on a ghost tour.  I do not like to be scared.  At all.  But this tour was fascinating.  We were led around the French Quarter on a Haunted History Tour by Kalila Smith who is author of French Quarter paranormal books.  She was funny and entertaining and I loved listening to her accounts of the history behind the haunting’s.  The building in the above picture is called the LaLaurie House.  She told of horrifying deaths that happened there and it’s well known to be the most haunted house in New Orleans.  I was just star struck to find it was recently owned by Nicolas Cage!  I do know that I tried to take several pictures of the building and my camera would not let me.  Only this one made it through.  Was it a ghost or operator error…I’ll never know.

After the ghost tour, I hobbled back to the hotel.  My feet were terribly blistered since I did not wear shoes made for walking around the quarter.  But I did not let the blisters stop me.  We changed and headed out dancing!  Holy cow, I have not danced in a very long time.  I had a great time.

If this seems like a long post…it is.  It was a very long day.  I found myself passing out around 3am.

More to come tomorrow…