I’m finally shutting up about BlogHer now, right after this post. I already miss everyone. I wish I was back there being that person who was willing to just walk up to people and say hi. And I still have a lot of thoughts stewing in my head from the event that are simply too short to get into full posts. (Besides, if I took them all into full posts, you’d all stop reading from boredom.)
The solution? Bullets!
- There were a lot of beautiful women at BlogHer. By the end of Friday night, I was starting to wonder if I’d missed the spot on the form saying that you had to be beautiful to attend. Because if so I wasn’t fitting the bill, er, dress size. People I knew in “real life” joked that the event would be filled with socially awkward, overweight, plain jane women. After all, why would beautiful women spend so much time sitting behind a computer screen? But now I can show these people pictures to prove that female bloggers are not only beautiful women but also women who can carry on an entertaining conversation in person.
- Speaking of weight, a few of us wondered just what the sponsors were trying to tell us. We got a ton of free stuff. Some of the free stuff included a 3-month trial of Weight Watchers online, Contrex water (which claims to help in weight loss), a box of artificial sweetner, condoms, and a size medium t-shirt. So we all need to lose weight using Weight Watchers and drinking our “feminine water” so we can fit into the skinny t-shirts and then get some protected action with the condoms, right?
- And Contrex has to be the winner of Worst Product Name Ever. It sounds like birth control or some sort of medication: Contrex should not be taken with MAOI inhibitors. Side effects may include bloating, dizziness and a bad taste in your mouth. If any of your side effects are serious, please stop use of Contrex and speak with your doctor immediately. Do not use Contrex if you are pregnant, nursing, or plan to become pregnant in the near future.
- I don’t think I ever got used to meeting someone and having them say to me, “Yes, I read your blog all the time! I’m so happy to meet you!” I was flattered – really flattered – and usually left slightly speechless. It was one of the first times that I realized just how many people read what I write here in my little corner of the internet.
- There was one other blogger I got to meet in San Jose, although she wasn’t at the conference. Sunday night I met up with Violet the Verbose and her family for dinner and a chance to hang out. They’re in the middle of moving, and they have a 7 week old baby, which made it impossible for her to come to BlogHer, even if it was in her town. But she refused to be left out of the crazy fun, and even though she had no pasties, she decided to show off her hot nursing bra! She also introduced me to In-N-Out burger and gave me my first taste of this burger joint’s greasy goodness. Yum.
One more big thank you to the BlogHer organizers. Even though the pictures show the fun that was had, it was so much more than a big sorority party. My horizons were broadened, my mind opened to new ideas and new perspectives, and I got to experience a camaraderie I’ve never felt before. Everyone was a stranger to me, and yet I knew so many of them, or at least knew the part of them that they shared through their writings.
So thank you BlogHer, and thank you to all of the intelligent, warm, generous, and downright fabulous women I met this weekend. I can only hope that next year’s experience will be just as amazing in Chicago, and I hope I will get to meet more of you in person.
I’m done now. I swear.
It is hilariously wrong that I was instrumental in introducing you to In N Out Burger, since I have been a vegetarian for 10 years and was vegan for 5 of that – ha ha!
I’m so glad that you got so much out of the conference AND shared it via your blog AND in person. Thanks again so much for coming over! I’m stoked to have gotten in on the action a little bit by meeting you and getting your immediate after-impressions of the conference in person. I totally want to go next year!
I too noticed all the beauties, but no one made this fat chick feel like the band geek in junior high.
You’re BlogHer updates have been great. I’m sorta sad to see them end 🙂
Going through the bag of swag was pretty amusing, wasn’t it?! You get to put together a picture of what the advertisers think is the demographic. The USB key – cool. The pink-capped water? Not so tasty.
It reminds me of watching the Tour De France on TV with SwingDaddy. Apparently, the advertisers decided viewers buy cars (ok), beer (sure), and had problems with urination (huh).
Hey Girl, you keep talking about BlogHer all you want.
I am living vicariously 🙂
In and Out Burger? You lucky dog.
And those shirts? They barely fit Quinlan….!!!
Great pics, great wrapup (all of them!), and great to meet you!
Thanks for stopping by- I love the pics- looks like you all had a blast-good to meet the faces behind the witty museings! I love the pics of your little girl – how do you refrain from squeezing her to pieces all the time? she is sooooo cute! -Angie
i am a mommyblogger, i am cool with that!
i was telling someone that being without my son would be like being without my right arm, he is a part of me.
but that is why i have two blogs, one is my “mommy blog” the other is my “nurse blog” the two intertwine, but i seem to have much more to say in the mommy catagory…..
oh and i was hooked on the blogger updates!
I loved hearing about it. Cant wait to hear about next year =)
Mmmm… In and Out Burger.
drool
Loving the pictures!
I love reading your reactions to the conference. It just makes me more excited for next year!
I’m so glad that you were able to overcome your fear of flying and be able to meet all of these wonderful women. I can’t wait to meet you next year in Chicago!
As one who couldn’t attend due to a little scheduling conflict called GIVING BIRTH, I know I’ve enjoyed reading your commentaries!!
Reading all these stories about BlogHer made me feel like I was there. Thanks for sharing your stories and pics. Perhaps I shall have to think about going next year!
In-n-out burger! Yummmm …. And you’re right, CONTREX is a terrible, terrible product name. It sounds like a roach killer or perhaps a missile.
I’m so glad you had a good time. It makes me want next year to happen NOW. And Violet and her baby are so darling. I’ll have to tell her I remember those nursing bras, but I never got leopard print! Man alive! That’s cool!
Great wrap-up – I’m glad you hit on the feminine hygeine water!
I have to say what struck me most about the women was the inner beauty. The people I spent time with just radiated goodness. And that’s what made more of an impression than their dress size or the distance between their boobs and their belly buttons.