Well, the Escape is over! Phew!
At this moment, Kristin and I are sitting together in our suite (a good perk we negotiated with the hotel) and recovering from an awesome, albeit exhausting weekend. While I am blogging, she’s editing the show we recorded Friday night in front of our live audience. She’s got headphones in, so I can’t hear the show myself, but she is laughing. A lot.
There are so many stories from the weekend, but I have to say this was probably our best Escape yet. San Antonio is a great city for a weekend trip, especially if you are interested in history, architecture, margaritas and guacamole. Our location at the Hilton on The Riverwalk meant the moms could step outside and walk to art galleries, boutiques and restaurants at their convenience.
On Saturday the ladies had an opportunity to test drive some 2011 Chevys including the brand new Cruze and even a Corvette Grand Sport. In our suite, moms tried out the newly released XBOX with Kinect, the remote-free gaming system that really gets you moving. I swear I was out of breath after playing a round of dance central with Kristin. Talk about fun. Several teams of Manic Mommies competed in our Intel scavenger hunt, learning how to use Foursquare and Twitter in the process. One lucky team of three walked away with three brand new laptops!
And that was just our sponsored activities.
This is the first year we actually recruited an amazing team of volunteers. Usually it’s just Kristin and me doing it all with help from her mother and my sister (neither of whom came this year). Having so many additional hands on deck allowed us to socialize more and meet many more listeners. This was, in a word, amazing. And I can’t end this post without acknowledging our inspiring closing keynote speaker, Angela Devlen and all of the Mom U. workshop leaders.
There’s lots more to say, of course, but if you listen to this week’s podcast you’ll hear the fun. You can also check out all of our photos on Flickr. You can also share your pics on the Flickr Group.
Thank you manic mommies, our friends old and new for sharing your weekend with us. We hope to see you again next year!
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16 Responses to In The Company of Awesome Women
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I am home and while I am thrilled to peek at and snuggle with my sleeping kids, I cannot tell you how rejuvenating this was. Love you both!
Thank you, Erin and Kristin, for a wonderful weekend full of awesome women and great fun. I appreciate all of the hard work you put into the community you have built. I truly believe you are doing a great thing, bringing moms together to commune, commiserate, and celebrate. I came alone but left with many new friends, including both of you. Thanks again for helping me “Escape 2010″!
I too want to thank you. I cannot imagine the work that goes into planning an event like that. I totally appreciate all the work. I came by myself too and I now have a lot of wonderful friend. Thank you!!!!
GREAT job, ladies! I truly felt like I was with a bunch of really close friends right from the get go. THANK YOU!
What a wonderful weekend! Thank you ladies for making it possible to “escape” from home, make fabulous new friends and rejuvenate! Can’t wait until next year! THANKS!!!
Ladies, still another year went by without the chance of attending the escape BUT the podcast was HILARIOUS… it reminded me of when Ira Glass does a live show. The laughs and the humor were great! You have more than just a podcast in your futures!!!!
Congrats and cheers to you!
Rachele, in Atlanta
The Escape was a blast! I haven’t felt this relaxed in quite some time, and was pleasantly surprised to find my house intact, the children fed (just wish they were bathed) and not even missing me (which was a bit of a disappointment). It was like meeting old friends everywhere you went! The weekend was perfect! Thank you so much for all your hard work!
Thanks again, Erin and Kristin. It was a great Escape weekend and I feel honored to have been a part of it. Thank you for the opportunity.
As you said, “a weekend away and there’s hell to pay.” Now it’s back to the grind…
What a great trip! Being my second Manic Mommies Escape I can say they just keep getting better! Can’t sait until next year!!
Oops- meant wait!
I LOVED the Escape as I always do! Congratulations on another incredible event. Also, thank you for the acknowledgement. I was so honored to be this year’s speaker and was touched by the many thoughtful comments made by attendees after my session. Everything and everyone was so great! Thank you for all you do.
You ladies did a fantastic job pulling this all together!! I thoroughly enjoyed doing the workshop at the Escape and all of the wonderful women that I met along the way! Great job!!
I’d like to add my voice to the chorus of “thanks” for a job well done! I had a great time, fell in love with San Antonio and met new friends from Texas, Arkansas, Indiana and many other places. And I have to say, one of the highlights of the weekend was my test drive in the Corvette – especially when I blew past an unsuspecting Porsche!! And winning the tickets to see the Spurs in a luxury suite was completely unexpected – though I have to admit I may have enjoyed the dessert cart more than the game!!
Thanks so much for making it all possible and I can’t wait to see where we’re going next year. And all of you moms who came on your own have totally inspired me and if my mom friends are slow to sign up next year, you can count on me to register with or without them!!
So happy everyone had a great time – so wish I could be there – next year for sure.
So i didn’t attend, but i did feel that i was there in spirit. Apparently i’m the ‘adorable girl’ who can’t keep her hands off her husband (seriously, you need to get some to relax a little!) the funniest thing was when i asked if you really didn’t like sex that much you slid your chair away faster than you could gasp a ‘I can’t believe that she asked me that!’ thought. And to prove my point, you ladies joked at the top of the escape podcast Erin hadn’t had any good sex in 5 years!! lol.
Again, my coworker asked me if that was me and was ‘outed.’ I had Steve, my husband, listen to the podcast and he just thought it was funny.
And, NO! it won’t be the last podcast i listen to. Though my coworker told me i was semi famous now that i’ve been on the podcast several times- 2 VM and 1 mention by Kristin. Thanks for a great show, as always. I laughed so hard i nearly cried- at work!
Listening to Science Friday on NPR and Ira Flatow’s talking about the research that went behind developing X-box Kinect – I got to try this out at The Escape. Very cool and very fun.