A Box of Souvenir Tampons

6.11.2014


I feel like such a goober that I got so stressed out about my business trip last weekend. I kept telling Jordan that I knew it was all going to be fine, but I still couldn't get myself to calm down. At least I'm aware of my neurotic tendencies.

Thursday morning I woke up at 4:00 a.m. feeling sick to my stomach. It was like race-day morning only there wasn't going to be a medal at the end.

The thing I was most nervous about was a problem that has plagued women of all ages since Adam and Eve tied fig leaves together to cover themselves in the Garden: what was I going to wear? Normally I don't spend too much time thinking about my outfits, but this was different because I'd never done anything like this before.

I didn't want to over dress and look stupid. 
I didn't want to under dress and look stupid. 
I wanted to look cute but not too young. 
Professional but not too boring.

First world problems, I guess, but it sure felt like a big deal at the time. Which is why I stuffed my carry-on with tops and way too many shoes, because a girl scout is always prepared.

I met up with three coworkers at the airport, who all had a tiny duffle bag with them. And I was all, "It's cool. Don't mind me and my 25-pound suitcase that's top heavy and won't stand upright." I might as well have been wearing a sign that said FIRST BUSINESS TRIP.
I'm such a dork.

We flew from OKC to Houston, where we changed planes for Salt Lake City. I brought Divergent to pass the time, which I finally got from the library after being on the wait list for over a month. 
I finished it by the time I got back on Saturday, and let's just say it was definitely not worth the wait. Click here for my Goodreads review if you're interested, and then feel free to email me and tell me I'm crazy or yell at me or something. But just so you know, I stand by my review.

Upon arriving in SLC, I found out that business trips are extra legit if you get to stay in a room like this:

I felt like I was on cribs. King bed all to myself, and you better believe I slept diagonally across it just because I could. 

My 180 view was this:
Winning.

So then I unpacked and tried on the twenty outfits I'd brought before deciding on both of these for Thursday (photo on the right) and Friday (photo on the left): 
I only realized later that both involved purple and are also basically the same outfit just switched around. WHATEVER I LOOKED AWESOME.

I won't bore you with a lengthy play-by-play of my meetings. All I really need to say is that there was a lot of sweating. As in, I didn't stop sweating once the entire two days I was there. When I told Jordan, he was all, "Welcome to my life." For real, though. The dude is a furnace. I'm pretty sure his internal body temperature is 108 degrees.

Thursday night after dinner, my coworkers and I walked around downtown SLC. We went to Temple Square and saw the Mormon Tabernacle, and we sat in on part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal, which none of you probably think is cool, but I was with a bunch of choral geeks who loved the heck out of it. Apparently the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is kind of a big deal in the choral world.

Friday morning I woke up early and hit up the hotel fitness room for a run. The ONLY reason I did this was because I told you guys I would and because I didn't want to have packed running clothes for nothing. However, getting up was a struggle, because I was super tired and feeling nauseous yet again. 

The nausea continued to increase as I ate breakfast, and I was confused about why I was feeling so sick, when what did I find out but that my monthly friend had arrived!
Hurrah! <--sarcasm

By friend, I obviously mean most hated of all enemies. 
And I was all

Of course I was not prepared because HELLO this was unexpected. **Insert rant about irregular girl problems.** So I had to do the run/walk of shame to the hotel gift shop to spend $10 on a tiny box of feminine products. Tampons, okay? I said it. 

That box and a 2 oz. jar of local honey is all I brought back with me from Utah, you guys.
That is not what I call a memorable souvenir.

So I called my mom, because you can never be too old to call your mother about important life events such as getting your period on the day of an important business meeting.

She pumped me up and was all, "You can DO THIS." And I was all, "I CAN do this." 
Cue the Rocky soundtrack. 

In the end, my board meeting actually went great, and I still have my job, so that must mean nothing went horribly wrong. Also I am 100% satisfied with my outfit choices, so success on that front as well. 

Also x2, my uterus didn't decide to eat my insides after all, which is always a good thing. Live to cramp another month. That's my motto.

Friday night was party time! Also known as when we all took a bus into the mountain to Park City.

We passed Olympic Village on the way (it looked really cool) and saw some of Olympic event areas like the ski jumping and the bobsled. Park City was cute, but I honestly wasn't extremely impressed. It seemed very touristy. However, I imagine it's really neat in the winter with the snow, etc.

In one of the gift shops I got asked, "Are you traveling for business or pleasure?" I said, "Business," and then felt hard core.

We all got up early Saturday morning (for a 6 a.m. flight!), and I looked rough. Our plane out of SLC was delayed about 45 minutes for a mechanical problem (always what you want to hear), meaning we had barely ten minutes to make our connecting flight in Denver. When I eventually made it home, I crashed hard.

Thus concludes the saga of Amanda's first business trip.

For those of you who actually made it to the end, I thought you might enjoy a comparison view from the sky. The mountains are a gorgeous part of God's creation, there's no doubt. But there's nothing quite like coming home.



Anyone else ever travel for business? Where have you gone?
Anonymous said...

The first thing I thought when I read how nauseous you were was, "she's pregnant." DUH Emily, read the title of the post. Ugh...too much baby stuff on the brain.

ANYWAYS...

Glad to hear that it went well. You got a baller room!

shelleystirs said...

I read the part about the king-size bed and laughed. We have one, and buying it was the best decision we ever made. I love that Mike works days now, but I do miss having our bed to myself. :)

I've never traveled for work, but I've been to a few conferences that happened to take place in GR, and I don't think a 20 minute commute counts.

Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch said...

This was such a fun recap! I'm glad all went well and your outfits were cute and different at the same time.

Yes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is really good and high and mighty. They have some super pretty music. BUT AMANDA ... do you remember our conversation last time we had lunch??? =)

Miriam said...

So many fun moments in your recap! I can't decide which one is my personal highlight: your top-heavy suitcase that wouldn't stand up? The arrival of your special friend, "I obviously mean most hated of all enemies" (which, btw, I agree 100%)?
Oh, I know: "Live to cramp another month. That's my motto."
Seriously, Best.Quote.Ever.

Kerry @ Till Then Smile Often said...

That is a sweet room! I have traveled to NYC, NC, DC, FL, TX and OKC but never time to explore enough. Never fun getting your period on vacation or on a trip. Bummer. Glad it went well otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Glad you survived your business trip! I've put off reading Divergent, despite having it recommended to me by several people. I'm not sure why, but likely because I'm tired of dystopian novels. But I'm not missing out on much apparently? P.S. Laughing at your motto!

Anonymous said...

I thought that too . . .

Kate said...

So glad you survive and got to keep your job! Never doubted you for a minute! But I totally get it. Even though I know I'm being irrational, I freak out any time I know I'm going to be in the spotlight. I always over pack too. Because the ONE time you don't over pack is the ONE time you are way under/over dressed.

I love, love, love Utah, but I've never been to Salt Lake City. Must go.

Madison @ Wetherills Say I Do said...

I've never been to Utah and I've always wondered what it would look like. It looks beautiful! Sounds like a great trip minus your worst friend ever arriving!

Our Pretty Little Girls said...

Haha the title of this had me laughing before I ever started reading. What a fun trip outside of the obvious. And $10 for a tiny box, eeessshhhh! Atleast you weren't in the airport though. That may have been $20!

Jen@Almost Gypsy Soul said...

Welcome to my area (well sort of....3 hours to the east, that is where you find me). Temple Square is amazing! You should see it at Christmas! I agree with you on Park City....its not that great. Olympic Park though....cool, I wish they would have dropped you off there.

Miss Nutralicious said...

I hope you like your job, because they hooked you up---that's a sweet hotel!

I've traveled 2 times for work. Once was great, the other time was for a week long breastfeeding conference. For the entire week I was alphabetically partnered with 1 of 2 men at the conference. Needless to say, it was one of the most awkward weeks of my life. I didn't bring home tampons, but I did get a box of breastfeeding nipple cream samples to bring back to the office.

Cute outfits (in a not-too-young, professional way), I love the sandals on the right. :)

Jamie said...

I used to travel work work all the time with my old job... awesome free hotel rooms are definitely a good perk! but I totally was that girl who did the overpacking what do I wear OMG bring it all thing a few times, and I've also had to find a local mall and buy more clothes because my trip was being extended. I suppose I could have had the hotel do my laundry but and excuse to shop isn't a bad thing, right?

Ali said...

Congrats on a successful trip! Also, I'm kind of impressed that you got into the Mormon Tabernacle because I thought only Mormons were allowed in. I could totally be making this up.

My first business trip I had to drive to the location, so I was sweaty the entire drive and wicked nervous. My second one was the first time I had been away from my daughter when she was about 5 months old. That wasn't fun, but it was a successful trip and I felt like I knew what I was doing. Wasn't my first rodeo! So, your next trip you will be a total pro at this business travel stuff!

Tamara said...

Outfit choices are always the biggest concern in situations like this. I think you chose wisely. I've never traveled further than 2 hours for a business thing (and they were never overnight) so you're totally legit businesswoman in my eyes! Get it girl.

Tracy said...

Most business trips I've been on do not involve a suite for a hotel room. So score for you! You can never take too many work outfits because you never know what the weather will be like. My last work trip was to Washington DC and they had a snowstorm. Definitely needed multiple layers to replace wet clothes.

Rebecca Jo said...

Look at that room!!! Nice!
I've never had to travel for business... I'd freak out if I have to lunch with these people, much less out of state.
Isn't that the way ... I always fear Aunt Flo coming RIGHT when I don't want her to. Thanks nature.

The Lady Okie said...

Oh no. You cannot get in the tabernacle. There's a huge gate around all of it. The choir was rehearsing in a conference center across the street. I guess they move out of their regular rehearsal space during the summer months.

And yes, we're actually going back to SLC in February, so I will totally be all over that!

The Lady Okie said...

Good point! Airports are the worst for jacking up prices. I guess they can do that because you kind of have no choice.

The Lady Okie said...

Ha! Um, you win.
One time I went over to my friend's house and saw what I THOUGHT was a candle on her desk, so I opened it and smelled it and was like, "what is this?" And she was like, "that's my homemade nipple cream." Cue the awkward turtle. This is why you don't pick up random crap and start smelling it. Lesson learned.

The Lady Okie said...

A girl just can't get nauseous these days without everything thinking she's pregnant ;)

Susannah said...

Sounds like a great trip (minus your visitor, of course!). And your goodreads review is EXACTLY how I felt about the book... Pretty much to a T. I'm excited to see the movie, though, because I think the movie could be really good since the plot line and ideas in the book were pretty decent.

Amy said...

if i could cound the number of souvenir tampon boxes i've bought i would be suffocated.
i hate being irregular sometimes.
BUT I LOVE YOUR OUTFITS! and it looks like you had such a great time!

ramseygirl said...

So funny. I travel 7-9 months a year for business. All over southwest part of US and also been to Ca, NC, La, Co, Ar, Mo, and yes even to your state of OK! Will be heading to TN and Michigan soon. Loved reading abt your experience! After doing this for 2 years I remember ed my first trip with the overpacked bag and laughed!

Jennifer Prod said...

welcome home! first business trip is always pretty exciting business, huh? i remember wanting a job with travel, and then when i got it, well, i kind of missed my friends? oh well... i always remember packing NOT ENOUGH OUTFITS and taking a taxi to target to get something for a client dinner #underprepared.

Jessica Elyse @ Memoirs of a Mommy said...

You were in Denver and didn't hit me up?! I practically live in that airport these days. Next time (there will be a next time since you are now a traveling-kick-butt presenter), you must let me know. We will meet one day. Love you.

Maria said...

Haha. I always overpack. A girl needs choices, right? The one time that I was conscious about packing a super light and small suitcase I forgot a regular bra (I wore a sports bra on the plane). Thank goodness Targets are everywhere.

Nice choices on the outfits!

Unknown said...

I love the pictures of your trip and I enjoyed reading the whole story, tampon or not. :)
Well done on your first ever business trip!

Allison said...

Whew! So glad it went well! I would have been pretty nervous about it myself. And also pretty pleased to get to answer "traveling for business." :)

Good outfit choices! You look great!

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

That room is AMAZING! Look at you being a legitimate business woman!

Allison said...

p.s. Does that mean you won't read the rest of the series? I couldn't not. But I read the whole Twilight series too, so...

Dana said...

I enjoyed the first Divergent book, but felt like the series went further downhill the longer it went. I just finished the 3rd book...don't waste your time, especially if you didn't enjoy the first one. I've never met the author, but she is one of my very good friend's sister-in-law. She wrote the first book in undergrad she's super young.

Unknown said...

I really wanted to come up with something really funny and witty for a comment but my brain is broken. That is what happens when I get half as much sleep as usual. But I think you totally killed it on your business trip and I loved reading this and you totally rocked your wardrobe and your hotel looks awesome and I love all the pictures you took... and we're the same person in the fact that we both carry a point and shoot and DSLR.

Anonymous said...

I totes agree about Divergent. Overrated.

You rocked that business trip!!! Unexpected-ness and all. :)

-Amy

sarah e said...

Fun! Way to cope with **uncomfortable** circumstances. And for the record, I pull the old "basically the same two outfits swapped around" bit all the time. No shame!

Amanda said...

I am cracking up over Jordan being a human furnace! I say that same thing about myself. I don't even add blankets to the bed in winter because I am HOT from all the heat I somehow mange to produce. Haha!

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