E is for Enthused

I spent Thursday and Friday surrounded by very enthusiastic bloggers over in Bellevue. I should be specific, they were Nintendo Enthused. We were gathered for a Nintendo Ambassador Summit to take a tour of the Redmond, WA Nintendo offices and check out the new Nintendo 3DS.

Can I just say that Brand About Town and Nintendo know how to treat their Ambassadors? Because, WOW they really do. Even as a local, I was asked to join everyone at the Bellevue Hyatt. Do you know what that means? I got my own room with my very own king sized bed. I didn’t even sleep with ear plugs in because there was no snoring and no cats crawling on me. And while I missed my little family, I l-o-v-e-d my little getaway.

And it really did feel like a mini-break since I hardly ever go to Bellevue even though it’s just across the water. Hell, I even got a little lost finding the hotel (the entrance was practically hidden! Or I am directionally challenged. *cough*). There was a fabulous cocktail reception Thursday night where I learned that Open Bar is code for Dangerous. I checked the time and it was only 7:30 and OOPS I had consumed 3 drinks in an hour.

Don’t worry. I danced it off to Footloose on the dance floor.

But then I had 2 more cocktails. What? Vodka Tonics go down so smooth.

I had a great time running into familiar faces and getting to know new Nintendo Enthused bloggers.

Kerri & Jen were honorary Enthusiasts that night. Also, they are very tall. (And pretty.)

The next day we were bussed out to the Nintendo office where we were given a tour of their new building and given the chance to play the Nintendo 3DS. IT WAS AWESOME! The facility is beautiful. They’ve done a great job of going “green”. They even encourage a healthy lifestyle among their employees- their cafeteria has a healthy lunch option every day and it’s half price. You even get a punch card and when you buy 10 healthy lunches you get a free one. Plus they have a soccer field built outside for employees to be active.

Due to high security, we had to be escorted to the bathroom (probably so that none of us ran off to take photos as there was a very strict photography rule). I am not sure they realized what they were in for. There were at least 100 of us, mostly women. That’s a lot of bathroom trips. I personally was responsible for at least 6 of them. But I CAN EXPLAIN. It goes like this: hotel air + 5 vodka tonics = very dehydrated the next day. The cure? 8 bottles of water. Hence, my familiarity with the Nintendo bathrooms.

And now I’ve made this Nintendo post about peeing. That is so like me.

Diane (MomoFali), Mishelle (Secretagentmama) & Me getting our game on.

As many of you have read/know, I was never much into gaming. But then Nintendo approached me about being a Brand Ambassador and I’ve been hooked. I absolutely love playing games on the Wii. I even just picked up The Michael Jackson Experience and can’t wait to get my hands on Just Dance 2. Because I LOVE to dance. I take my DSi on all my trips to entertain me. And now, thanks to Nintendo, I have a 3DS to play with.

I was blown away by it. The technology is unlike anything I’ve seen. I can’t recommend it enough (though it is NOT appropriate for kids 6 and under to play games in 3D but there is an option to change the game to 2D for them). I had a blast playing games- especially playing Street Fighter with Mishelle who totally kicked my ass. Note to self- don’t pick Rose even if she is a pretty belly dancer because she has no fighting skills except whipping her scarf which IS NOT HELPFUL IN ASS KICKING. I totally remember my sister and her high school boyfriend playing that game- the sounds of the game gave me a flashback.

And if all that wasn’t enough, they took us all out to dinner in Belltown that night. I got to dine at Black Bottle with some lovely women. I had great conversation, delicious food and wine. And will someone please plan a party for me in the back room of that restaurant? Because that was fun.

Some of my favorite bloggy people: Kim, Chris, VDog and Greeblemonkey.

It was a whirlwind of activity and I had so much fun from start to finish. I can’t thank Brand About Town and Nintendo enough for showing us such a good time, treating us like royalty, and giving us an insider’s scoop on the new Nintendo 3DS. If you haven’t checked it out yet, do! I think you’ll be blown away like many of us were.

And now, back to reality.

**Bonus shot: Some of you requested to see the outfit I wore to that party last week. Well I recycled it for my Nintendo night on the town.**

Dress: DKNY from Macy's. Tights: red from Lane Bryant. Shoes: Poetic Licence from DSW. Pashmina: borrowed from my friend Aimee. Necklace: from Lane Bryant many years ago. TA DA!

 

FTC Disclosure: This trip was sponsored and paid for by Nintendo and Brand About Town; however, I was not paid or compensated in any way for my thoughts and reviews of products.

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