On being at a sex conference without your significant other

I was spoiled at Momentum this year, because my boyfriend was with me, doing a public art project. I kept walking by and saying hi and kissing him and if people asked me about my dating life I'd tell them that's who I'm dating. It was our first little adventure out of the tri state area, and since most of my travel is on my own, it was nice to unwind after a long day with him. While I will probably never not enjoy a hotel stay. I would be lying if I said seeing couples just being couply at Catalyst didn't make me a little jealous, and I don't get jealous very easily.

At the same time, when I haven't been conferencing, I've been working trying to cupcake blog and sex diary edit and basically do a lot in advance of my trip to Dubai and an utterly unexpected opportunity came up Monday (yes, I do know it's Rosh Hasahanah, but I'm a far better media whore than I am a Jew, sorry, not to mention, I don't want to have to atone for not doing everything I possibly can to sustain this haphazard so often feels crazy career) that meant I went to Nordstrom rack to buy a brightly colored dress and the shoes seen below. I never want to jinx things (learned that lesson long ago) so if it happens, I will let you know tomorrow, but anyway, I've had a lot to occupy my mind and my time and am not sure how much alone time we would have actually had, but still. What's funny is that for the most part I enjoy being alone and that's how I spend most of my time when I'm in NYC or traveling, and I love the freedom to change plans at the last minute and rearrange and follow whims, which you can't do as much with someone else by your side. It's how it is, but I definitely miss my guy and maybe if he hadn't gone to Momentum his absence wouldn't have seemed so prominent. I know, I should get used to it, like the heat, as I prepare for my 10-day trip, but still, I am looking forward to seeing him and being utterly boring and suburban as we go get my eyes checked at Costco. And in all honesty, he would've detested the heat, not to mention the plane ride, and I wouldn't want to subject him to those, but that doesn't mean I can't miss him.


my utterly cozy if a little lonely hotel bed


Hot tub!!


I don't know why palm trees make me happy but they do


public art also makes me happy


and foundtains!


I've eaten several huge and delicious meals at Potholder Cafe Too




Catalyst does NOT mess around. They fed us fried ravioli and made-to-order pasta on Friday night, and at my erotic writing workshop, which gave me lots of ideas and I hope people enjoyed, there were notepads and pens at every seat! That's a sign of a well organized conference.


my new shoes that I broke in at Bawdy Storytelling (catch them October 25th in NYC and regularly in the Bay Area) last night, where I told the story of how writing my first erotica story, "Monica and Me," way back in 1999, led me to one of the best relationships of my life. You truly never know where writing something down will lead, and that's part of writing's magic, in my opinion. Catalyst, baby!