Back in Amsterdam for the Pre-meetup!

Since Brett and I had already promised the girls we would make breakfast, we made a quick trip to the supermarket and bought some breakfast supplies. Then we proceeded to impress them with our culinary skills! haha I think they liked the breakfast, or either they were just being nice. But no one was sick afterwards, so it couldn't have been too bad. After breakfast we packed the car and headed out to Amsterdam. And I want to say thanks to Brett for letting us crash at his place for two nights, also!

Our first stop in Amsterdam was the hostel where Julie was staying. Once we deposited her in the hostel, it was to the Movenpick hotel where Lynn and I were staying. Brett and Lynn dropped us off there and they went onto the hotel where they were staying.

The first person I met in the lobby was Bill (the_bill). I was surprised to see him because I didn't realize he was staying there, too. The next person to show up was Sylvie. I told her I would wait in the lobby for her because she was staying in our room. Lynn, Sylvie, and I then checked in after we waited in the bar for the room to be ready. Sal, Eric, JC and Aioh were also staying at the same hotel, as well as Wendy. But Wendy would not be coming until the next day.

I had been planning to call several people we were going to meet, but forgot my address book where I had put down all the numbers. So that plan was out the window. Before we left the hotel later in the day, Alex came to the lobby and met us. And since the details are not very clear right now, let me just say that we ended up going to a pub called the crooked house.

The people here were the aforementioned TBs, and also Bennie, Ket, Marina, Edwin, Melissa, Ivo, Julie, Erin, Brett, and Grace. So we had a pretty good group. We spent a couple of hours here before moving onto the Tango restaurant to get something to eat. At the Tango, we also hooked up with Jim, Joy, and Shaun. Things were going really well, all except for the fact that Ket was a sick boy:(

Next it was onto the karaoke bar where many of the others were already present and had started the party. I was anxious to get there because I wanted to finally meet Lili! Some of the others who were also there were Wade, Sal, Eric, Harriet, Rob, Manuel, Jenny, Thomas, Oussama, and Bart. I hope I am not forgetting anyone. The karaoke didn't exactly turn out as planned.

..Lili, Wade, and Sal were the only TBs who sang, unless I missed someone from earlier in the evening. But, despite that, the pre-meetup was a huge success!

My first order of business was ordering two Bailey's...one for me and one for my Bailey's partner, Lili! It was so great to meet her...and she had no doubt who I was when I handed her the Bailey's! Of course, it was just an awesome experience to meet everyone there that I had not met before, not to mention the TBs I already met at previous meetups. Naturally, as the case is with meetups, there were lots and lots of pictures being taken, lots and lots of drinks and shots being ordered, and lots and lots of good times! My one disappointment tonight was that I had missed seeing RJ who had to leave just prior to our group's arrival.

This was simply a super night, and if it was any indication of how the mega-meetup would turn out, I knew we were in store for ONE HELLUVA NYE!!!!