I'm kinda of curious since you seem to have been infected with the Shroud brainrot, do you have any thoughts on Idia and Lilia being internet friends?

oh I have absolutely been infected with Shroud brainrot, how did they shoot right up next to grampa vampire and his idiot dragon son, I did not anticipate this plot twist

"Idia and Lilia don't realize that they're WoW friends" is probably my favorite running gag (+ bonus Silver bragging about his Cool Jock Gamer Dad in front of Idia, who makes neither connection and ends up just being super intimidated by this hypothetical chad dad). and if I'm being 100% honest I was actually a little disappointed that it ended up being blatantly shown because it makes for SUCH a good "hey wait a minute" moment as they both go on about their online bestie. BUT their friendship is actually really sweet and getting to see (and now hear, Lilia WHY do you talk like that online WHY IS THAT YOUR ONLINE VOICE) them interact more than made up for that, so I'm happy to see it! 💚 now that it's in the main story I am expecting some choice bits in episode 7. can't wait for Idia to be forced into even more social interaction against his will.

there is also a particularly good bit in one of Idia's stories where Lilia brings up the possibility of meeting offline and they're just. both of them are just like.

Nick 28/100 “I was born and raised in Santa Monica.” Did you go to SaMo [Santa Monica High School]? “Yeah. I went to Grant Elementary, John Adams Middle School, and Santa Monica High School. The full Malibu Unified School District curriculum.” Isn't SaMo known for celebrities attending their high school? “Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen. When we went there Mel Gibson’s twin kids went there for like half a semester and the rumor was that they were sent there as punishment. They’re like, ‘Here’s some public school for ya.’ I didn’t even know they were there when it happened. Actually Santa Monica is one of the largest populated high schools. I think there’s like two thousand students on campus at all time, which is unheard of, you know. Venice High was like the second, like 1,500, and then there’s like Palisades and Malibu High. Those were the Northsiders,” chuckles Nick. What was it like growing up in Santa Monica? “Santa Monica, you know you hear like, quiet, friendly beach town, it is not friendly or quiet by any means. It is such a small city that has like, I mean like, gangs. There like five gangs in a five mile radius. Your Graveyard Crips, which are right across the street from Santa Monica College, your SM 13, basic Santa Monica thirteen gangbangers, Venice Shortline Crips, you know those three gangs, it was crazy. There was like murders all the time, and by senior year homies were gettin’ shot and like dyin’ and like holding services for these fools. Our football team, we never had a good football team because we were all a bunch of gangsters and we could never finish practice on time, and we never showed up, and you know when we did show up to play they wouldn’t play us ‘cause we’re a bunch of assholes. So it’s crazy, like Santa Monica was such a diverse group of just like beach kids and thugs, and just everything you can think of, it’s crazy.” So where in Santa Monica did you grow up? “Twenty-third and Ocean Park. Man I remembered my mom payed about $650 a month in rent for a single standing unit house, you know a two bedroom, one bathroom, it was awesome, and I was looking recently in the neighborhood, it’s a twenty-seven ($2,700) and over month place,” says Nick laughing. $650 a month in Santa Monica? “Yeah. Yeah it was unbelievable. It was the best, and Santa Monica is cool, lot of side streets and then alleyways everywhere so we can always just get to anywhere we needed to get then through an alleyway.” So where was a go to spot in high school? What did you do for fun? “Well, there were go to spots, like I was riding the bus in like fourth grade, that’s when I started riding the bus, it was fifty cents to ride the bus, so the Santa Monica bus line took us everywhere. So there was always 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier. The 3rd Street Promenade was like the spot throughout middle school and high school, and you know they’re broken up in those blocks before they did all those renovations. The third block was called the ‘Promenade Rats,’ that’s where all the Promenade Rats would hang out, literally because the kids would have rats hanging on their shoulders. We wanted to be like those kids so we’d go hang out with them and smoke, and sneak into theaters and shit.” I thought they would be called Promenade Rats because they were rocking a rat tail [hairstyle], like back in the 90’s. “Oh, yeah the rat tail!” laughs Nick. “No, it’s because they had an actual rat tail hangin’ off their shoulder from a rat.” Was the 3rd Street Promenade as built up as it is now? “No, no. They put in those statues of the dinosaurs and stuff, and the fountains, so that brought a lot of attention so people would crowd around the fountains, so it wasn’t like really cool to hang out there and be a punk anymore. The Santa Monica Pier they had torn down all the old shit that we loved and put in a rollercoaster and a huge ferris wheel, so that kinda killed that. We stopped going there. The beach man, it was tough ‘cause you get on the bus in West LA because everyone was using their grandparents address so they can go to SaMo High with the rest of their friends, so we were one of those families that would use my grandma’s address, livin’ in West LA, taking the bus there, and man it was so hard to get off the bus when you can just sit on for two more stops and be at the beach and just chill at the ocean all day, you know. It was the best place. So it was tough, you know you’d be like, ‘We’ll go back second period. Ah, crap. We’ll go back third period. Oh, well, no point of going back now.’ That was always tricky.” How do you feel when you go to Santa Monica now? “It’s changed,” laughs Nick. “It’s all changed. Even in the last like, when I was working in Santa Monica like ten years ago, it changed so much just from then, you know. They put in that new Gold Line train, so just every couple intersections, just massive train construction for a bridge or stairway to get to the bridge.” Do you feel it has changed for the better or worse? “Umm. It’s hard to say, you know. It’s not the old Santa Monica, Old Santa Monica was chill. I guess in the sense that no one can afford to live there anymore, that’s not for the better.” Los Angeles is known for many things, one of which is the Entertainment Industry, and it is a well know fact that many individuals in the industry are not originally from Los Angeles, and is somewhat rare to find someone that is a Los Angeles native. What’s a big misconception or stereotype that many people have about Los Angeles or Angelenos? “The stereotypical thing would be something you see on Saturday Night Live. How people talk about how many highways it takes to get around the corner here and there, and we’re all laid back. I took a cross country trip with my buddies when I was seventeen, and it’s a whole different universe in between LA and New York, you know, and that’s what runs this country. And so I would say it’s easy to feel like once you’re here, born and raised here [Los Angeles] you feel like, ‘Well this is how it is everywhere.’ You can’t help but think like, ‘This must be how it is everywhere else,’ and that trip really taught me that, no it’s not. That we are a collection of the world’s top entrepreneurs, you know everyone comes here for a reason and that’s to get a great gig. There’s definitely opportunity out here and so I don’t blame people for flooding, but to answer your question, ‘A misconception?’ Yeah we’re not all laid back surfers that are doing yoga, or like hang gliding from the mountain tops, it’s a struggle out here. It’s not easy-going, never is, never has been.” So what did you do after you graduated high school? “I was wrapping up my pilot license. I got into flying real young, that was something my grandparents thought would be like a really good umm, school wasn’t my biggest thing, you know I stuck it out and finished it, but there was a little college money set aside and we kinda pow wowed and thought flight school could really hone some skills and put to use, and maybe become a private pilot or a commercial airline pilot. So I did that at the same time through high school and I think I got started too young, I got tired of just flying around by myself, or when I did have my private just the idea of flying one person to the next place, I just became a chauffeur to the skies.” What were you flying, a Cessna? “Yeah, Cessna, and later I moved onto multi-engine and got a little practice in the turbine engines and stuff and that’s when I realized this really isn’t what I want to do. We spent like fifteen grand in college fund to get there, and then the big kick in the pants was they had changed the rules to where you had to have a BA (Bachelor’s degree) to be a commercial pilot and that was the whole point was you didn’t need that. You needed a high school education and you needed a pilot license, and then hours, and so that changed. I could have been an instructor you know it’s just more of the same. Logging hours while someone is paying you to fly the plane. You know that tanked and I started working, making good money working. I graduated early, I graduated in February as opposed to June. I discovered summer school and college credits and everything to just graduate as soon as possible and start working. I moved out when I was seventeen with my buddies, you know we got a killer place together, threw the best parties, everyone worked, we just had to choke together like $1,200 dollars a month rent between the three of us. So that kept going for, you know we moved from that place to another place to Hermosa Beach, and that place was insane!” Nick lets out a laugh. “That was party central. We would bring the whole pier back to the house with us.” What season of your life are you in? “I think I feel like I’m definitely learning a lesson. I’m growing and learning from mishandling a lot of funds over the past ten years. Definitely that’s bitin’ me in the ass, so I’m like, you know kinda just like...I’m adjusting. Like to quote Eminem in 8 mile, ‘You know when you gotta stop tryin’ to live up here and start livin’ down here?’” Nick laughs. “You know things like that. I think, umm, desperation creates innovation and here I am with the Flick Nelix, and realizing this is something within my means that I can fully wrap my mind around from the beginning to end and make it happen. So that’s where I’m at. I’m starting to realize that I gotta get my shit together soon ‘cause or else it’s tough livin’ out here. West of the 405 is not for the weak.” Did you always have a passion for bikes? “Yeah, growing up that was, man, until I discovered chicks and pot it was all about just anything action sports related. Just cycling, skating, snowboarding, surfing, volleyball, just everything, so I’m tryin’ to dial back to those roots ‘cause it’s tough sometimes to find a passion and for me it’s being creative. Any opportunity to be creative, let alone get paid to be creative is the dream. So if I can sit around and conceptualize a bike and take it from a vision to a physical being, it’s very gratifying, and I get really pumped and excited about it, and not a lot does that these days.” So why vintage bikes? “Because I know that there’s a growing market in it and everything comes around full circle every so decades and I caught wind of this 70’s wave of old racing bikes, English road bikes, and it all started when I started restoring my uncle’s bike just for fun, just to get back into a hobby and then just going through the process and learning more about that process, and about that era of bicycling and it just ramped up from there. I saw how much potential there was and how little people were doing. Any opportunity to be creative is the direction I’m heading.” How did you start Flick Nelix? “Aside from tryin’ to open up my passion for cycling, I’ve recently learned how avid a road cyclist my uncle was, and I remember him showin’ up to the house to family events, and he’d ridden his bike from God knows where and he’d show up all broken and bruised and bleeding ‘cause some asshole ran him off the road, or you know he took a spill, or he was with a pot of bikes and got wrapped up, and I started remembering these things and I was just like, ‘Man, we owe it to him.’ He had passed away back in like 2002, 2003, so his bike had been sitting around in storage for that long [fourteen years] and I just remembered seeing this relic of a bicycle, and obviously I’ve been watching some shows on restoration and stuff like that and I figured ‘I love this, this is fascinating, I wish I had something to restore.’ Sure enough, there it is, it’s been waiting for me the whole time, so I gave it a go. I look into the best way to restore an old 70’s English road bike, and the way to go is you’re gonna paint it, you gotta powder coat it so it will never rust again, find the original decals, the original components, make sure everything is polished nice and bright and clean, and once I got to that point I realized that when it’s finished and it’s beautiful, it’s gettin’ tons of compliments, I was takin’ pictures of it, gettin’ a good response online, and I started to realize that there was money in this to be made. It’s not a whole lot of money but you know if I can make a couple hundred bucks here and there, a couple thousand bucks at the end of the month, it makes sense to me.” What was the story behind the name, Flick Nelix? “My name is Nick Felix and an old co-worker buddy of mine out of sheer boredom started calling me Flick Nelix, which is just a simple twist of the lettering of the name. I guess it stuck with me and then years later, you know I’m just shootin’ the shit, havin’ drinks, good friends and thinkin’ about, you know, ‘It’d be cool to get a cycling company going, maybe sponsor some riders, or start machining custom parts for bikes,’ and I asked my buddy, ‘What do you think about Flick Nelix?’ and he’s like, ‘It sounds like a trick, like a skateboard trick, like a double helix, a Flick Nelix.’ And we just got hyped on it and it stuck with me ever since, and when I did that restoration I kinda thought how I can brand it, you know. I’m not just flippin’ bikes like a Craigslist bike flipper, you know I’m restoring them to their former glory. The bike is worthy of a restoration process. Yeah, that’s how the name came about.” If you could go back in time ten, fifteen years, what is the single greatest piece of advice would you give yourself? “Dude, it’s so not exciting at all. It’d be, ‘Save for taxes.’” Nick laughs and adds, “But that was a unique situation that I was in that just fell on me like a pile of bricks, you know. Let see. I wouldn’t change any life decisions, I wouldn’t change any of my friendships, you know, I would…” Nick takes a moment of reflection. “You know it’s not fun stuff, it’s depressing, it be like maybe go back and help someone who wasn’t doing as well that didn’t make it as long as I did. Someone that may have taken their life, you know stuff like that I could have maybe have helped, things like that. Nothing really cool, like ‘Ah, man, I wished I never hooked up with that one crazy chick or something. I’ve got an answer that I would change. I would tell myself to never stress. Never ever stress. Especially over something you can’t fix or change on the spot, never stress. That’s what I would tell myself. Don’t worry, be happy, everything is going to be okay, you know.” What do you want to do before you die? “Getting in more traveling, as much traveling as possible. It’s all about traveling for me. This will always be home and it’s never going anywhere, so it’s okay to bail out of your hometown for a couple of years if you have to.” What do you like about traveling? “I guess the new experiences. I like just getting lost without ever having to worry about getting lost. I learn that when I drive, you know my worst is when I’m driving and I get like rage and then I start getting mixed up on directions and where I’m going, but when you’re on a road trip and you’re just tryin’ to get from, say like from here to New York, you can’t mess up as long as you’re just going one direction, you cannot go wrong. I remember that feeling on that trip I took when I was seventeen, I remember that feeling, never worrying about where we ended up or how much time is left in the day or whatever because it didn’t matter, and that’s what it’s like when you’re traveling.” What is your best friend going to say at your funeral? “I hear it to this day man, just fun to be around, and ahh, I don’t know, and I get that from my parents, I get that from my grandparents. We’re all just fun, happy going people. We rather laugh than bicker, you know, that’s just the way it is. In my family it was easier to be a friend than a parent figure, a grandfather figure, a grandma figure, let’s all just have fun together and not take things too serious.” 72 stories to go.

#TheIslandOfTheDolls #DSM #SPN #RP Part 1

Written by @LoneHuntressIRP & @TridentHunting

Annie:

| I paced the floor of Dean’s office. I needed to do something.

Sam had been nice and showed me how to use the computer for research. It was way different now than the way I’d found cases before. It was easier but also made the vastness of the world easier to access.

I plopped down in Dean’s chair spinning around as I try to focus on one thing. But my mind spun just as I did in the seat. The chair stops it’s spin and I open the laptop on the desk. Thinking I’d find bookmarked anime porn, I pause as the article opened up.

Isla de las Muñecas

I read through file after file. I saw the faces of different girls that had gone missing under unique circumstances. Then the dolls. Creepy as shit. Tourist reports seeing the arms and legs following them as they toured the island. Reporters chalked that up to overactive imaginations of witnesses. But hunters know differently. Behind the strange stories, there was always something there. Something that went bump in the night. The boogyman or a ghost. Something supernatural to explain everything that couldn’t be explained.

I pulled a credit card from the desk drawer and booked the next Red-Eye to Mexico City. I’d figure out how to pay back the cost of the flight when I got back. But that would be another worry.

A couple of hours later I snap my seatbelt closed and stare out the window of the plane as it starts to descend. Nervous after my first flight, my fingers dig into the arms.

“Welcome to Mexico City. Sorry about the bumpy landing. It’s not the captain’s fault. It’s not the co-pilot’s fault. It’s the asphalt. Please remain seated until the plane reaches the gate,” the stewardess, I mean the flight attendant, says. “The pilot has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign, it is now safe to deboard. Thank you for flying with us, and enjoy your stay.”

“Hi, do you know where I can get a ride to the,” I glance down at my notes then back up at the attendant, “Xochimico canals?”

“Welcome to Mexico City, Señorita,” he says, “there are buses there.”

“Gracias Señor,” I responded with an accent that would make my tenth-grade Spanish teacher roll in her grave. :::::::::::: John: -John had been trying to keep an eye on everyone but things had gotten crazy. Something came across his desk though that signaled that something was off. A credit card statement on one of Dean's cards. Mexico? What the fuck was the boy in Mexico for? Picking up his phone he called him. And to his astonishment found out his eldest was at home safe as was Sam and Adam. That left one person with access to their credit cards and case files... he and Dean talked it over and concluded it was Annie. Dean had offered to go after her but John told him no. Dean had enough shit going on, getting off the phone he rounding up his secretary and lead team officer. Giving them instructions to hold the fort down leaving Dean in charge while he was away. He kept a gear bag at the office, it was a have to with their lifestyles. He called his pilot and headed to the airfield to get on one of their private jets. What the hell was the girl thinking he had no idea but he'd take care of this hunt and bring her ass back to the US in one piece. For whatever reason he felt responsible for her now.- ::::::::::::::::::: Annie:

I give a sweet smile to a toothless old man selling Churros from a cart and hand him a few bills. I'd hadn't converted the currency right so I hoped I gave him enough. He hands me my treat with change so I was satisfied.

I plop down on a bench, dangling my feet as I devour it. I was reminded that I hadn't eaten at all since I left the US. The bus to the Xochimico canals wouldn't be arriving for an hour at least.

I hadn't been on a hunt on my own in a while. And hindsight I probably shouldn't have traveled across the border alone. But I'm a big girl and can handle my shit. At least I hope I can handle my shit. ::::::::::: John: -John arrived at the airport and an SUV arrived to drive him where he needed to go. He knew Annie's flight had made it safely but she was ahead of him and it would take time to get to her in a third world country like this.- :::::::::: Annie:

I fling my backpack over my shoulder and climb on the crowded bus.

"Excuse me," I step over an older man's foot as I make my way to an empty seat. The sound of chickens crowing in a cage beside him caused me to jump. "Hi," I take a seat next to a little girl holding a doll. The doll's eyes were dark and cold. The girl looked up at me, her eyes flashed the same dark color. I blink, I was just seeing things though I felt a shiver down my spine.

I reach into my bag and pull out my phone, powering it back on. :::::::::: John: -The SUV moved slow through the dilapidated towns. People and animals just wandering through the streets. He looked at his watch, this was taking to long for his liking. Taking out his cell he wondered if he could even get a call out. Put he found her number and tried it.- :::::::: Annie:

I glance at the screen as the phone trills in my hand. The number didn't look familiar other than the area code. Kansas. Figuring it had to be either Jo or a Winchester I swiped the screen to answer.

"Hello?" :::::::::: John: Annie? This is John. Where are you? -He tried to hold in the annoyance and temper but he was sure it would probably bleed through but then again she'd went off half cocked.- :::::::::: Annie:

Irritation oozed from his words. I suppose running off on my own wasn't in my top five of the best ideas but I didn't want to put anyone out.

"Where am I?" I chew my lip nervously, "Well, I'm in Mexico City. Just got on a bus going to," keeping my voice low, "Isla de las Muñecas. There's something there. I know it." ::::::::::: John: I’m on my way. You shouldn’t go out the alone. Get a hotel and stay put till I get there. ::::::: Annie: "Alright, I'll text you when I get checked in," I chew my lip after disconnecting the call. I wasn't sure what to expect from John when we met up.

Would he believe me that there was something here? Or would he snatch me back up and take me back to Kansas.

I wasn't exactly ready to click my heels and head back. Not yet. Not until I figured out what the hell was going on.

A chill ran down my spine as I take the steps from the bus meeting the gaze of the dark-eyed girl again. It was fucking intense. And made my stomach churn. I draw in a deep breath and spread my lips into a warm smile again and walk to the front desk.

"Hi!" I catch the attention of a dark-haired man behind the desk, "Need a room." After some broken English from him and broken Spanish from me, I was able to check-in.

I drop my bag on the floor and toe-off my shoes and shoot a text to John. "I'm at Casa de Muñecas, Room 206." Then fall backward on the bed. Closing my eyes for just a minute. :::::::::: John: -He’d received her message and had gotten to town in the wee hours of the morning. Carrying his gear bag up the stairs of the hotel he found her room and knocked. It being so late he figured she was asleep. Glancing down the hall, no one in sight he used his credit card to open the door easily and slipped inside. Putting his bags down he took a seat in chair and shut his eyes a minute.- ::::::::: Annie: My minute turned into hours. I must have needed it. I didn't sleep at all on the plane. My lids flutter open and I jump slightly seeing that John had nodded off in the chair.

I pull the blanket off the bed and tuck it around him. Trying not to wake him. The clock ticked to four am. Still early. I shimmy out of my jeans and toss them over my bag before tucking myself under the sheet. Trying to fall back to sleep. :::::::::: John: -John awoke to a sound maybe a sense of movement. He stretched and looked at his watch.- Annie, are you awake? -His voice calm and not overly loud in case she was still asleep and it had been his imagination.- ::::::::: Annie: I nod as I raise up and rest my head on my hand. "Sorta," I give him a sleepy smile, "didn't mean to wake you." I was nervous hadn't spent much time with John. I wondered if I should brace myself for a tongue lashing or something else.

I  bite my lip and look up at him through my lashes. "I'm sorry if I worried anyone." ::::::::: John: -She sounded tired and he got that, he was too.- You're alright that's all that matters. Just please, especially out of the US take some backup okay? ::::::::: Annie: His voice was soothing and softer than I expected it to be. "I will," I scoot over to one side of the double bed, "the ferry to the island won't load for a while. Wanna try to get some more sleep until then," I glance over at the empty spot then back to him, "here is probably more comfortable than that chair." :::::::::: John: -He got up and walked over to the bed taking his boots off, laying down beside her.- Thanks Annie. :::::::::: Annie: I turn to face him on the bed. "Did you get a chance to look up anything on the island?" I tuck my arm under my pillow. "It's something right. I mean it's gotta be. Ghosts or something. There was this little girl on the bus," I could hear myself rambling on but I just couldn't stop the words from falling out of my mouth, "I swear her eyes flashed black. So weird right?" :::::::::::: John: I think it's a legit case Annie. And not weird, in a country like this especially when the infrastructure is so bad and corrupted it's a perfect opportunity for demons. How much do you really know about hunting? I'm not saying I don't think you're not capable, I'm just  wondering what you know and don't know. If you saw a demon then there's a damn good chance they know you're a hunter and are keeping an eye on you. That worries me. :::::::: Annie: "I started just outta high school, officially," I tell him. I didn't blame him doubting me even if it was just a little. John was notorious. So I was in awe of his skills.

"I've learned a lot on the job, I suppose there's no real training class for this," I raise and rest my head on my hand, "I know about possession and stuff. But I haven't successfully depossessed anyone before." ::::::: John: Do you have an anti-possession tattoo or charm? Because it's not pleasant to be ridin' by a demon. We should get up and get moving. I've read the local lore and I know the caretaker died not too long ago. I also saw where a few tourists have gone missing so you are right there is something going on with the little island.

Fab Five San Fran trip!

(top left clockwise: Muir woods ; Golden Gate Bridge ; Muir woods ; Dream Valley ; Dropbox ft dinosaurs 🐱‍🐉)

Intro

Thanks to Stemettes and Deutsche Bank, me and 4 other ladies were flown out to San Francisco to attend Dreamforce 2017!

This blog post is going to be a run down of everything that happened, how awesome it was and how you could be flying off next year to attend a conference with Stemettes ✈️

(left to right: Gate B39 at Heathrow Terminal 2 ; Plane just before take off at Heathrow ; Luggage Claim at San Francisco airport)

Day 1- Travel

Got up much earlier than normal, like much earlier. Dragged my luggage downstairs, triple checked i had everything, proceed to run around the house headless making sure I had everything- especially since I wouldn’t be coming home after the trip I would be getting a train straight back to university in Birmingham. Then my dad eventually set off from the house and I waved goodbye until Christmas break.

The fact I was going to San Francisco with 7 people I had either never met or had barely spoken to was scary and it still hadn’t quite kicked in yet by this point. Stemettes had been so gracious and picked me as a winner and offered me such a wonderful opportunity to do things so many things outside of my comfort zone and throw me into a world of unknowns. I had been preparing for a long time now to make this trip work alongside keeping up with uni work and running a hackathon, AstonHack 2017 but I was ready for the challenge!

I elected to get the heathrow express since I would get a discount using my railcard and it was the quickest way out of heathrow upon my return. So my parents dropped me off- we actually ended up having to run for the train but I got it, found a seat, settled in and all was merry.

It really did take 15 minutes and before i knew it I was taking the lift up to the departures hall. I was anxious as I wanted to make a good first impression and I knew I’d be spending lots of time with these 4 ladies and the 3 chaperones during my week long trip. Once through the entrance I realised I had no idea where they were but I found them through the power of Whatsapp group chats and we started chatting away. 

Then we went off to go through check in- using the self service machines but being in a muddle because you couldn’t remember the flight numbers but we all came through unscathed eventually and when we reached departures we went to a restaurant to eat. This was the first chance to really sit down and ask them about who they were and how they ended up winning the competition so it was really interesting to hear. We all had a chance to wonder around duty free before we met up and headed to the gate. Yasmin and Charlotte even bought each of us some neck pillows! Then we headed to the gate which was one of the furthest ones away 😞 but we boarded with no issues, found our seats and before you know if we were flying through the air (bit of a Christmas reference there just bc it’s that time of year 🎄❄️☃️).

Our next stop was Vancouver around 9 hours away, they gave us a hot meal on the plane and a snack just before we landed. Our connection wasn’t that far away so we made our way through the terminal, following the lady who had kindly escorted us to the right place. We actually went though US customs in Vancouver- using a self-service machine to scan our passports and show our ESTAs as well as have a border checkpoint officer scan it and ask why we were going to San Francisco. Then we go into the departures lounge and was once again allowed to be free and I got something to eat since my body hates aeroplane food 🤢. Then we were soon off to the gate and boarding the next plane. I wanted to get some Tim Horton's but it just so happened that the one in the lounge, right next to our gate but closed for refurbishment 😭. I always had Toronto on the way back though so my hopes weren’t lost yet! This was a much smaller plane and the flight time was only around 2 hours. 

We landed in San Francisco fairly late at night so we went straight to get our luggage, where we nearly had issue with some luggage but it all was fine in the end, found out where the shuttle bus was and then we were off to the hotel, catching glimpses of San Francisco as we raced by. We all checked in 🏨 , had to play a game of hide and seek with the rooms for a bit but we eventually found them and I fell asleep straight away- ready for the week ahead of us.

(left to right: Muir woods ; Breakfast at cafe 😋 ; Alcatraz Island)

Day 2- Sightseeing

Breakfast we met up in the hotel lobby and tried to get a table at a place called the Pinecrest diner but it was so busy so we walked around and found another cafe to eat at before heading to the bus tour shop nearby. We got on the coach and it took us to:

> Alcatraz- we got to via a boat and we did the audio tour around the main prison building 🎧

> Muir Woods- drove over the golden gate bridge to get there 🚌

The bus then left Muir woods, headed down more windy windy roads and dropped us off at Sausalito- a little city on the shoreline just north of the golden gate bridge. We walked around the shops a little and found a weird shop which sold lots of random and funny gifts such as weirdly captioned gum packets, cowboy rubber ducks, the world’s smallest rubber turtle and even had a huge wall of Funkos. 

The driver asked where we wanted to get dropped off and we had decided on Chinese for dinner so we did just that and it was great 🍜

(left to right: Moscone West Trailhead lobby ; Mark Benioff’s keynote ; Exploratoruim for EU Salesforce party)

Day 3- Dreamforce begins!

During the night Sharmin and Sofia had had some bug issues in their rooms and in the morning we left for another hotel. From the new hotel we called some cars to take us to the registration point to pick up our Dreamforce badges 📛.

We went to get our badges from the main building at Moscone West and got our first taste of what was to come for the rest of the week. As we entered the huge lobby it was all decorated with a woodland theme, with fake trees and the pillars of the building turned into tree trunks. There was a dj blasting out pop songs and people milling around everywhere and we danced our way through the line to register and pick up our badges.

Then we took a walk around Moscone West to see what was on offer here. There were a few areas in the main convention hall on the ground floor such as the Trailhead Zone, Admin Meadow, Developer Forest, AppExchange Den and Startup Valley. We went around the room and learned that we could scan our badges at nearly every stand or station with employees and volunteers throughout the event and earn free swag that we could collect at a later time. There was plenty of swag being handed out in the Developer Forest with external companies giving things away such as fidget spinners and usb ports in the shape of a stick man. 

We were meant to attend the Aston Kutcher talk but by the time we wanted to get in it was already full! So instead we went to pick up our free backpack and other stuff and then took a ride around the block on some Dreamforce rickshaw bikes 🚴. We squished ourselves into the seats and had a great time rolling around the block- even if one of the bikes did malfunction we made it in the end!

The next thing we did was file into Moscone Centre North for the CEO, Marc Benioff to listen to his keynote 🗣️. You can read the highlights from his talk here. It was interesting to hear more about Salesforce and how much he valued his Trailblazers and how inspirational they can be. He also mentioned the 4th industrial revolution and how  “the world is in the midst of a wave of innovation and technology that is radically changing our economies, our societies, and our daily lives”. 

We then headed back to the hotel for a bit to explore since it had a games room and a beautiful garden area (!!) and then later that night we all went out to Pier 15 for the Salesforce EU party. We arrived fairly early tho and ended up walking down the pier to the ferry terminal to get some food for dinner before heading back and the party was in fully swing. There was a lady doing acrobatics in a hanging hoop and the whole room was covered in exhibits as it was being held in an exploratorium so there was much to look at. There was also nibbles and drinks being handed out. The Stemettes led us around and we met some of their friends, some of whom used to work in London but then moved out to the USA.

(left to right: Michelle Obama keynote ; 1 Hacker Way- Facebook’s HQ ; AT&T Park) 

Day 4- Dreamforce Day 2- Michelle Obama & Facebook

Thanks to the new hotel, we were in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf and for breakfast there was a iHop conveniently located right next door so this became our meeting points in the morning. We marvelled over the menu and at some of the weird breakfast food combinations such as eggs and sirloin tips but also how big some of the portions were for a stack of pancakes 😍🥞.

Then we hooped onto one of the scheduled coaches which was departing from a nearby hotel and we made our way into the city centre to queue for Michelle Obama’s keynote that morning. We joined a very long queue and at one point they closed the entrance saying it was full, but then after more waiting around we ended up getting let in, found some seats and hearing her talk about how children and young people are the future and they could go on to solve problems that we haven’t been able to solve; diversity everywhere and anywhere is key to success and finally you can do anything you want in this world, but you gotta work hard 💪.

Then we hopped in some cars to go visit the Facebook offices. We signed into the system in a little waiting area and a lady named Emmaka Porchea-Veneszee came and welcomed us. She took us to the food area to grab something to eat and explained what she did at Facebook. She was a briefing assistant to Mark Zuckerberg. She prepares him for each meeting and gives him all the background information about the people hes be talking to and tell him anything else he needs to know so he’s prepared. There was such a wide variety of food available- a huge buffet restaurant, a noodle shop, a bbq place and also a dessert shop just to name a few places, and it was all for free! She then walked us over to another building and we went to a meeting room and met another lady named Meghan Buonaiuto, and she talked to us about her role as a product manager and she let us ask her all kinds of questions like how she came into this role and what she did at college. Then aother lady came in, she was the Executive assistant to Mark Zuckerberg and she did’t have long so she just talked about her role, what it entailed and how she’d been at the company for over 6 years.

Then Emmaka took us on a tour of this new building we were in. She walked us past a clear glass cube in the middle of some desks where we all excited as we could glance Mark Zuckerberg in the middle of a meeting. She led us up to the roof of the building and it was so beautiful- it was a park landscape with foliage and deckchairs and it was so peaceful. There was also a juice bar where some of us tried smoothie shots and their Veterans Day smoothies that were available. When she led us back downstairs she left us with man for a few minutes and she came back out of a room with goody bags for each of us. There was a water bottle, a shirt and even a baseball cap which you can see if you look at the ed of my post for bonus content 😉

Then we headed back in the Uber and to make the most of our time we chose to go to Westfield shopping centre. We split up, walked around in groups and also popped into Sephora across the road and took it all in as we don’t have any stores in the UK yet 😭

Later that night some of us went to Dreamfest- a concert at AT&T Park starring Alicia Keys 💃 and Lenny Kravitz  🎤 and was supporting the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals. We had a great time singing along to New York and also eating the free snacks such as hotdogs, fries and coke cola.

(top to bottom: Equality summit keynote ; Dream Valley entrance archway with Saleforce mascots ;  Executive summit equality panel [with Anne-Marie second from right 💁]) 

Day 5- Dreamforce Day 3- Equality Summit

> iHop breakfast- enjoyed some more pancakes again 😋

> Hotel Nikko- Anne-Marie was part of a equality panel with executives only in the crowd. She mentioned what Stemettes was and then the fab five and we stood up to quickly say who we were. Afterwards some of the executives came up to us, i got asked multiple times if I was the one at university, but it was really nice to know that they actually listened to us and were genuinely interested in what Stemettes was and why we were there.

> Walk to Moscone West 🚶‍♀️- We talked to some of the executives and asked them about their jobs, why them came to Dreamforce and they asked me about how I was doing at uni, what I studied and also what my plans for the future were. I took a lot from these conversations as between them I got may words of wisdom.

> 2nd Equality panel in Moscone West floor 2- I continued to talk to other executives. I talked to one guy who worked in a company in London who were looking for people studying computer science and I learned more about his company and connected with him on LinkedIn later!

> Panda express 🐼 for lunch- Went back to Westfield as it was nearby and I enjoyed as much orange chicken whilst I could 😋.

> Natalie Portman’s equality chat- Interesting to heard about her career so far and her academic achievements and what working in the entertainment industry has taught her over so many years.

> Equality summit keynote- got some pictures with the Salesforce mascots 📷 and listened to Laurene Powell Jobs, will.i.am and artist JR for their views on raising awareness of equality all around us and hearing personal stories, particularly the ones from JR about being punished for art pieces he has performed in certain countries.

> CEO Mark Benioff- got a picture with him after the talk! 📷

> Dinner- delicious chicken burger from a place near Moscone West 

(left to right: Bloomberg offices tour ; Golden Gate Bridge ; Dream Valley carousel)

Day 6- Dreamforce Day 4- Last day & Bloomberg

> Carousel 🎠- free ride because we were with Dreamforce

> Customer success expo - walked around and picked up some goodies, also completed my quest to win some more free swag!

> Bloomberg- We were treated to an office visit as they were just around the corner from Dreamforce. The lady taking us on a tour gave us information about the current work space and how it’s all used as their office was fairly small but they utilised it well. They showed us some of their current projects and how the Bloomberg software worked over some lunch. We also asked them questions about how they got to their current role and it was refreshing to hear some of their advice about climbing up in the professional ladder starting from college.

> prize pick up for the quest!- We all picked up a free item, I went for an Astro plushie, others went for a laptop case or Astro keychain.

> pier 39 seals- we visited and took some pictures with them. They did smell reaaaaally bad though but they were all so cute flipping and flopping and screeching everywhere.

> golden gate 🌉- we visited a landing area close to the bridge and took loads of pictures. Unfortunately the area became very foggy just as we arrived but 30 minutes later it was clearer and we got some amazing pictures.

(left to right: Slack reception’s sofa + name badge ; Lombard Street ; Heathrow terminal 2 baggage claim)

Day 7- Checking Out, Slack & Dropbox

In the morning we got up earlier than usual to get a shower in and to triple checked we had everything packed. Once we had checked out we went to a special place called the Pinecrest diner. We tried to go to this place on the second day but it was too busy and we have so many people it was going to be a long wait but when we arrived there was a large table free and we sat down almost immediately! I had the corned beef hash brown and it was delicious- I’ve tried to recreate the dish in my flat since coming back but to no avail. 

Then we walked over to the Slack offices 💻 where we met a lady who took us on a tour- I especially loved the names of the meetings rooms as they were emojis. We settled in a room and met with three developers who talked about their roles and gave us a little demonstration of their current work. Also they talked about how they got to where they are now. One lady came out of college with a degree in recreation and is interested in physics but she got into coding and makes slackbots now- she demoed a slackbot that would alert everyone in the channel that there was emergency in the office so they would know.

Our next stop of the day was Dropbox. We walked to their offices and had a tour from a lady who worked in the business department. She was very nice and explained the different areas of the building, showing us ‘The Mint’ which is their chill room with games, instruments and many beanbags, also their library which was very quiet and relaxing, their dinosaur display in one of the corridors and also their shiny panda mascot. We also had the chance to sit down with two more employees, a developer and also a product manager who let us ask them loads of questions. We also managed to get a crepe as every Friday they have crepes in their cafe for free and we picked a Friday to visit 😋! 

🌼🌻l🚗l🌼🌳 🌼 On the way back from Dropbox to the hotel we visited 

🌳 🌼🌻l🚗l🌼🌻 Lombard street. It was a sloping road where it  zigzagged

🌼🌻l🚗l🌼🌻 🌳 and had loads of pretty flowers and trees surrounding it.

🌻🌳🌻l🚗l🌼🌻 Directly opposite was also a steep road which presented us 

🌼🌻l🚗l🌼🌳 🌼 with a magnificent view of uptown San Francisco. We then 

🌳 🌼🌻l🚗l🌼🌻 headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage.

(Top left clockwise: San Fran airport ; heathrow arrivals corridor ; Marylebone station entrance 🚄 ; Marylebone station departure boards ; Heathrow Terminal 2 arrivals exit 👑)

When we got to San Francisco airport we checked in, went through security and then grabbed a bite to eat at a Japanese restaurant 🍛After a little wander we made our way to the gate and had a smooth take off for Toronto  ✈️.

By the time we reached Toronto airport it was early morning and we were all very sleepy. We went through security and border control again and back out to the departure lounge and waited for the gate to open. I could see Tim Hortons from the gate but the queue was as far as my sleepy eyes could see so I had to pass 😢. The plane was delayed for a while and some of our party had to go back through security again but they made it back with time to spare and we took off. As soon as we were in the air I went to the back section of the plane and as the plane was fairly empty, I took up my own row, laid down fully and made the most of the space. When i woke up at one point I found a breakfast tray above me but I mostly spent my time dozing off, so I was ready and energised to rush for my train to Birmingham once we landed.

At landing back at heathrow T2 I immediately turned on my mobile data and used it to check on train updates for my train back to Birmingham, leaving in just over an hour. Managed to make my train in time thanks to my luggage arriving very quickly, no delays on the Heathrow Express and a very friendly Uber driver and my day ended with me falling asleep straight away into my bed 💤.

Reflection

From this trip I’ve met so many inspirational people, especially women, that have made me so much more inspired to work even harder and that if I do that I really can get anywhere I want. Even though at university I’m just one of a handful of women on my Computer Science course right now, it doesn’t have to be like that in the future 👩‍💻.

It’s also made me more open to the idea of helping inspire others. During the week I was so honoured that so many women at these companies were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to take us around their offices and talk to us about their jobs and their path to success.

The only reason I was able to enter this competition was because of the Student to Stemette programme run by Stemettes. I signed up by chance, I was looking for summer work experience opportunities in my first year at university and came across the page, thought it sounded interesting so i signed up and I’m so glad I did. From the first meeting with my Sherpa (shout out to Neha who works in Deutsche Bank in Birmingham whoop whoop 🎉🎉) she taught me things about the world of work that I just couldn’t learn at university. She shared stories of her time working at the bank and also her beginnings as a electronics student.

If you live in or near Birmingham or London you should absolutely sign up for the scheme- there’s literally nothing to lose! You get to attend meetings with your assigned Sherpa (the mentor), you get free swag, amazing advice about working within the STEM industry and sometimes even work experience opportunities with Stemettes who organise all kinds of events all over the country!

But until next time ✌️

(fab five standing in front of a pretty sign at the entrance to Dream Valley 💁)

Check out all the pretty photos from my google photos album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/0AH6mOE9Kx6pW4P42

Bonus stuff

Check out all the swag i managed to collect below from the whole trip- the Stemettes told us to leave plenty of room for it and I’m very glad I left a lot of room for all mine!

If you’ve decided your going to take on the world, and solo travel is your new goal in life, let’s just talk about one giant love hate relationship that goes by the name of… transport! Let me just warn you that if you get bored easily, or motion sickness, and if you hate cars and busses and ferries and overnight trains and airports and needless to say planes as well as mini-vans that are soo overcrowded you can smell old mates breakfast next to you, you should probably just take a moment to think about your life choices.

Now hear me loud and clear.. I am NOT telling you to abort mission. You have to go, there’s no question involved. But just take a moment in amongst your dreamy thoughts of luscious beaches and gorgeous temples to sort-your-self-out. Now you’re sitting there thinking well how the hell am I meant to sort myself out? Or maybe you’ve already opened a new tab on your browser to google ‘how to sort myself out’. Just take a deep breath, do not fear, and keep reading.

If you get motion sickness, you need to start making a packing list ASAP. Your so confused right now, I can tell. But basically you need to pack light as hell to leave half your bag free to fill with motion sickness tablets. Not joking. You literally take transport every second or third day and it’s not normally a short stint, so you gon’ need to strategically pack that bag… annnnnd take a strong ass man with you to carry your suitcase full of pills (preferably someone who is bilingual so he can explain why your trying to cross a boarder with so many pills in your bag.) I’m obviously joking here.. but before you take off figure out what works for you and how it works for you, and make sure you do that every single time your about to take any form of bloody transport. If you need to sling back a giant horse pill with a triple shot whisky sour then you do that ma friend! Don’t let the fear of transport get the better of your adventurous soul. You got this! Luckily I’ve been blessed with a steady stomach when it comes to travel, but I know not everyone is so lucky. And let’s be real, we already have to be sketched out by potential food poisoning and diseased mosquitos and dodgy liquor, an uneasy stomach from transport is not something you should be adding to the list.

The real reason I’m writing this right now though, is actually more to address the ‘bored’ side of things. We all know that the 20 hour bus ride from Amsterdam to Barcelona is gonna be dead long and boring – but let me tell ya now, there is nothing you can do about it. Unlessssssss you take a plane, then there’s a lot you can do about it. But we’re on a budget here people and despite Ryan Air’s massive sale that bus is still 100 euros cheaper than the plane AND you don’t have to pay for a hostel for the night because instead you will be snoozing in luxury with 51 other travellers that smell like a floating cloud of hash because you’ve just boarded the bus in Amsterdam.

So step 1 of the 3 step process of learning to love transport, is to change your mind-set. I learnt to love travel in Europe when I went on a 37 day Contiki tour where you travel the entire continent of Europe, on a bus. Travel days can be long, but you soon learn to love them as you’re sitting there hungover as hell thinking to yourself ‘I literally do not care how old that stupid leaning building is, just let me catch some z’s!’ Your body starts to recognise transport as ‘sleep time’ or ‘me time’ and you see amazing things by day, party hard by night, and miss all the travel time in between catching up with your best friend snooze town. I’ve gone off the beaten track here. But what I’m trying to say, is start thinking of it positively. Not like ‘Ughhhhh a 15 hour overnight bus, this is gonna be hell’, but more like ’15 hours will breeze by after I eat and snooze and read and poop and stare at someone for an inappropriate amount of time.’ You gotta love it or at least pretend to love it and pep talk yourself into it.

Step 2 is to make this time entertaining or productive or relaxing or soothing or whatever you want it to be! Listen to your fav playlist on Spotify, download a sick movie for the drive and watch it on your iPad, get stuck into that book that claim’s to be life changing, write in your travel journal about the cute Spanish boy you met at the bar, read your lonely planet book to find out about what to expect at your next stop, pester the person next to you for an hour-long chat, nestle into that plush neck pillow that dangles off your backpack all day long, take an excessive amount of snacks to munch on every 15 minutes, make a travel blog and sit on that overnight bus to Bangkok writing this entry about how you gotta love that transport.

Step 3 is to strongly consider heavy sleeping pills if step 1 and 2 have not worked for you, because sorry but that’s all the advice I got! If steps 1 and 2 have worked for you however, then step 3 can simply be to preach the word to those cautious souls you meet along the way that are dying of boredom and hating a quality part of their travel experience. ‘It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.’ No just kidding, it’s definitely the white sandy beaches that are getting you through that dodgy train ride across India.