On My Way to the City by the Bay

When the lights go down in the city
And the sun shines on the bay
Do I want to be there in my city
Ooh, ooh

- Journey

Yes, I'm headed to the City By the Bay today! This will be my first business trip on an airplane by myself... and I couldn't be more excited about it! I mean, I am a little nervous, let's be honest, but my overall feeling is excitement. This will also be my first time to not only San Francisco, but California! I've always wanted to visit California, but just never had the chance!

There are three things I want to do while I'm there:

1. See the Golden Gate Bridge.
2. Eat sushi.
3. Ride a trolley.

Image by Earth Informations

Image by The Boquete Gourmet

Image by jrodmanjr

I know that might not sound very ambitious to you, but considering I'm only going to be there for two and a half days, I think that's pretty ambitious. And also considering the reason I'm going is for the NCMPR (National Council for Marketing and Public Relations) Summer Institute on social media! A few of the topics the conference will cover include overall benefits of social media, performance measurements in social media, mobile applications, case studies, effective online reputation management, and how to prove the importance and benefits of social media. That might sound like a bunch of gobbledygook to you, but all of that stuff is right up my alley and I hope I get to learn a few new things!

And for those of you who don't know, NCMPR is an organization that is just for marketing and PR professionals at community and technical colleges. Basically the coolest organization ever. :) And I'm about to go super nerd on you... but during the national conference in Philadelphia a few months ago, I won the award for the top "at-home tweeter" and got this sweet brown leather portfolio and I'm finally going to put it to good use!

I also got most of my hair chopped off last night in time for the conference, to give me more of a professional and sophisticated look. :)

Before:

After:

I cut off 8+ inches total, and I'm going to donate that ponytail to Pantene Beautiful Lenths, which means my hair will become part of a wig that is donated for free to American Cancer Society wig banks across the country. Pretty cool, huh? It's something I've always wanted to do, and I was a little nervous about cutting off the required 10 inches for Locks of Love, so this was perfect for me!

And although I'm only going to be gone for less than three days, I am very sad that I'm missing my first ever Tigers softball game tonight! :( Here's to hoping that they get a win tonight, and that I make it safely to San Fran!