A Mommy Story

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 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.