Ok… So, I’ve been talking quite a bit or Blah Blah Blahing about BlogHer ’11 for the past couple of days nonstop (especially on twitter). BUT, that’s only because it was seriously an amazing and lovely experience for me.
Yes, of course there were weird parts or times that I didn’t really love (like BlogHer’s second morning’s breakfast of oatmeal… lame)… BUT, I barely even remember these lame moments. 😉
Since my brain is normally pretty scattered, unorganized and loopy… I will just list out some memorable BlogHer ’11 moments/highlights for me…
– Landing safely in San Diego… I may or may not have a wee bit of anxiety about the take off/landing portion of flights….
– I made it to San Diego…. and, Miss Mandy and Erika were in the baggage claim… Weird and awesome.
– Arriving early. It gave me a chance to settle in and prepare myself for the craziness that is BlogHer.
– The first day in San Diego. We all gathered in Mandy, Erika’s, Mae’s, and Beth Anne’s room for some wine time…. 😀 It was just so relaxed and fun… with lots of wine!
– Meeting Jenni and Torie. It’s like we were all meant to marry know each other in real life.
– Creating both this and this video at the Clever Girls party!
– Winning some free cash at the RetailMeNot booth. Word.
– The first session I went to: Change Yourself | Your Perfect Imperfections: Blogging Your Way to Self-Acceptance with Gretchen Rubin (Happiness Project) moderating. This is where I found out about the lovely Gluten Free Girl. Very inspiring.
– Talking about blogging with people who love it as much as I do!
– Really…. just having an amazing time where I took care of ME! I missed my baby girl a ton… but, I forget what it’s like to just do my own thing sometimes. It was a nice little break. 🙂
What I will do differently next year:
– Talk to more people! I talked to MANY bloggers. MANY. But, I still let my shyness pull me back in a few situations. The reality is: 99% of these blogging peeps are amazingly nice and welcome a hello and chat.
– The swag situation: So… I’m going to bite the bullet and check my luggage full of clothes (and pay the lame baggage fee)… and then bring an almost empty suitcase to carry on… for the swag. Yes, you will probably need it.
– Hang out with more bloggers. Of COURSE I loved hanging out with the 2 ladies nonstop. LOVED it, but I wish I had hung out more with some other sweet bloggers that I only really managed to say “hi” to a couple time. 🙂
– I am going to do a TON more research about the events and parties. I sort of just flew into it all laid back with the “whatever” mentality… I wish I knew exactly what each and every session was about before I arrived (of course… I don’t have to go to all of them… but, researching a session moments before it starts: hard).
Tips about your future trip to BlogHer:
– The trip will be what you make of it! I’ve read and talked about this with MANY-a-bloggers since the trip. You wont enjoy yourself if you sit in the corner and hide. If you’re worried you’ll be alone during the conference… you probably wont. UNLESS you hide yourself from everyone. Most likely there are more than a couple lady and guy bloggers that are feeling alone and need a buddy to walk around with! Throw yourself out there! Sit with the loan blogger at lunch. You may make a friend! I sent many DM’s on twitter to some bloggers to swap numbers so we can meet up. 🙂 Don’t let your fear of rejection hold you back (I know I do this a lot in my normal life).
– Like I said earlier: Check your luggage full of clothes… and, carry on an empty suitcase for swag. You’ll need it. Fer shizzle.
– Be realistic about the shoe packing situation…. being a bit of a shoe hoarder (yup) I had a VERY hard time limiting the amount of shoes I packed. AMAZINGLY: I kept it down to 4 pairs. WTF! Wow. I recommend packing a pair of sandals, cute/dressy flat shoes, a super comfy walking pair (my TOMS), and possibly one cute pair of heels… I wore those to Sparklecorn and kicked them off my feet after an hour. 😉
– Pack Moleskin, cushy Dr. Scholls inserts and bandaids and keep them in your purse. Just in case all that walking kills your tootsies (aka feet… Ruari calls them tootsies).
– Don’t over-pack on the clothes situation. I think you might regret having too many clothes. I planned out my outfits and made sure I had 2 for each day (because you will get sweaty and stinky) plus one extra… just in case. 🙂
– Pack some vitamins… if you drink, like me… you may want some vitamins to keep you fit and healthy. 😉
– Just relax… it will be fun!
Yeah…. I’m the one with a unicorn horn on my head… I may or may not be dancing with a cardboard cutout around 1:50…
These girls are AWESOME!!!!!!!! I met a ton of awesome ladies (and two guys) last week at BlogHer11… But, these videos…. just make me miss it… awe… These are flipbooks we made at the first party… the Clever Girls!
AND: Thank you AGAIN to the lovely Clever Girls Collective for helping sponsor my trip to BlogHer 11!!! Thank you! The party was awesome and YOU ladies are awesome!
BlogHer was amazing. Yes, it’s insanely busy… you’re always scheduled to do something… BUT, it’s worth it. I learned quite a bit at the sessions I did attend… but, the best thing about this conference is being around all of these bloggers! It was so great to be able to talk about my blog without getting the, “yeah, I know you blog already” look. The bloggers were my favorite part of the whole conference. Loved it. Seriously… these bloggers are CA-razay! In a good way…. of course. 😉
Ummm…. and, here are my millions of iPhone pics I took. 😀 Linking up with Amy of course. 😀
AND… because this post should just be longer…. This is how we kicked off BlogHer ’11:
I have more to share about what I’d do different next year… and what I’ve learned (because I know you want to know…). For now… just a few highlights and dislikes.
Hey everyone! My interview on Flux Stories is now up! It’s all about the mommy blogging world and how it’s helped me move on from past issues about my birth and postpartum…. Ruari was like 14 months old when it was written by the way…. 🙂 Here it is.
Hey! Missed you guys! Well… I’m back from BlogHer… BUT, I’m still recovering. I’ll blab all about my wonderful trip tomorrow and the next day… and the next day… and the next… 🙂 For now… how about another hair experiment….
So… I do this hair style A LOT. It’s nothing fancy… it’s more of a get this hair outta my face style. 🙂 BUT, it’s cute and simple to do. Simple is a SUPER plus for me. I have really long hair… but, I’m completely weird and I don’t usually like it down… So weird. So, up it goes…. The wrap-around side-braid shouldn’t need any bobby pins… just 3 clear hair ties and some hair spray for fly-aways.
Ok…. here goes…
Grab just a small chunk of your bangs right up against your part, I started on the right side of my head (if your bangs are super short… just let them hang and grab some hair behind them).
Start braiding (Or, french braiding I guess). I braid to create a sort of crown of braid on my head… grabbing small chunks of hair to weave in and hold the braid up every couple of braids or so.
When you get to the back of your head start braiding down to bottom of the opposite side of your head (for me this is the left side). When you reach the opposite side of your head: stop grabbing hair to weave in and just finish off that braid and put a hair tie on it.
Split your hair in half in the back. Take the remaining hair on the right side and start french braiding the hair on the nape of your neck towards the left side. (This is a great step I take for me. My hair is super slick and always slips out if I don’t do a second braid by my neck.)
When you get to the back left side of your head finish off the braid and put a hair tie on it.
Now, with all of your hair on the left side split your hair into four pieces (the 2 braids will each count as a piece). And, you’ll do a four chunk braid. I have no idea what this sort of braid is called… but, it makes my normally skinny braid SO much thicker. How about instead of me trying to explain it… just check out this image I found below. It really is simple once you get the hang of it.
That’s it! You now have a super/amazing/awesome wrap-around side-braid. Ta-dah!
If you try this hairstyle out and blog about it with a link back to me… let me know! I’d love to link you to this post to inspire others to create pretty hair!
Thank you Don for guest posting while I’m away at BlogHer! Please give Don and his sweet family a visit when you get a moment here: Adeline’s Daddy
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Dad… Dude… just a vowel sound separates the two, but in some ways they can be a world apart. This weekend this concept jumped in my head while I was at the Indie Art/Craft market that my wife does… she had some interns who (while it wouldn’t be the norm) are young enough to be my kids, but while we were sitting in the tent I called out to my wife… “hey, check out the color of that stroller, that’s pretty sweet and different than I’ve ever seen”… I turned and looked at the interns, they had a blank puzzled look on their face. It then dawned on me that before I found out that I was going to be a Dad, things that get me excited have turned much more toward Baby Land. So, I’ve compiled a list to illustrate how your focus and priorities can change pre baby… and post baby.
Every time I see someone cruising up the street pushing a baby in a stroller, I pause to look and see what they are working with… I feel that I have extensive knowledge of strollers now. I can call out most makes and models by an approaching glance on the street. “Check out that Uppababy vista, it’s like ours… but I think it’s this years model. At this point, I could tell you more brands of strollers than guitars, and my Gibson Firebird hasn’t seen a thousandth of the Daylight that out Uppababy Vista has in the last year.
I got a carrier before Addy was born, and I counted down every day until She was big enough to be carried in it. I actually bought 2, and possibly would have got more… I think it almost bordered on a shoe fetish like pursuit. And now if the opportunity for baby carrying arises, I have a carrier in our diaper bag and if I forgot it there is a backup in the back of our car.
If I had a choice, right now, between going shopping for Addy clothes or clothes for me, I would most surely pick Clothes for Addy. Since the pursuit of the cutest little girly outfits has struck me, I tend to overlook my own need for new gear… until my wife walks me into JCREW and tells me it’s time to stock up.
I still get a lot of books and read a lot, but, I’m more often reading about Brown Bear, Brown Bear than Andy Warhol. When I got to the book store I may leave with a book under one arm, but I have three kids books under the other.
Riding a bike with Addy in a seat behind me will have to wait for some time (if my Wife ever let’s me do it at all), so for now I’m mostly on 4 wheels instead of 2. I feel a little neglectful toward my 70’s single speed Peugeot, but my stroller is pretty hip too.
At the end of the day, with my Wife cuddled against me in our bed was the best feeling in the world and nothing could make me feel more relaxed and fulfilled… until the time came when I could reach my hand a little further and feel my Daughter peacefully sleeping beside her.
I still love all of the things that I have loved and felt passionate about over the years… but I love my Daughter more.
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