Yesterday there were roughly 300 tickets available for the conference, and it was sold out. Today, there were 750 tickets available, and it is also sold out. There are a LOT of people here. And in a place with this many women, and this few bathrooms, it’s amazing everyone is still being civil.

The Hyatt San Jose is a very pretty place, but lacking in some areas. For one, our rooms are a little strange. Even the Motel 6 has a sink outside of the bathroom so one person can be at the sink while the other is in the bathroom. Not here. And no exhaust fan in the bathroom either? I had to wipe the steam off the mirror every 2 minutes after my shower in order to get ready.

And for a blogging conference, the lack of network infrastructure is painful. It’s taken several hours and lots of stops and starts to get this post written and published. I spent most of the morning staring at this message:

The hotel clearly didn’t understand the network needs of women bloggers. At least half of the women here have laptops, and they all want their share of the WiFi space.

After the welcome message, the crowd split into the Birds of a Feather breakout sessions. I stuck around to hear about the BlogHer Ad network, and now I am so excited about it. It’s no secret that Google Adsense is not a good structure for those who get less than 1000 hits a day to their blogs. Plus, the weird links they find to put onto my site are mind-boggling. After hearing Lisa Stone discussing the BlogHer Ad network, I can’t wait to sign up. And I’m thinking about this at the moment because I’m currently sitting in a session about making a living from your blog. And one of the panelists is Dooce. Yes, I can see Dooce right now, from a distance, of course. Although in the picture I took of her, she looks like she’s got demon eyes. (and you can see that I was nowhere within reach of her)

I swear that figure far away in the darkness is Dooce. Just take my word for it, OK?

After the ad network meeting, it was time for the Mommyblogging as a Radical Act session. Any argument that mommy bloggers are not a strong force could be crushed by seeing the crowd gathered for this session. It was awesome to see so many mom bloggers gathered together in solidarity. More amazing was that there were several people there who are not moms.

Lunch was poolside today, and once I saw the spread I felt right at home: burgers, corn on the cobb, potato salad and apple pie. Only baked beans could have made it more of a midwestern meal.

I’m missing my warrior princess, but every time I call home she seems to be just fine without me around. Although I did tear up a little when I had this conversation with Cordy on the phone a little while ago:

Aaron: Here Cordy, talk to mommy!
Cordy: Bah-wahababa!
Me: Hi Cordy! It’s mama!
Cordy: Itza mama!
Me: *stunned* Yes, it’s mama! Are you being a good girl for daddy?
Cordy: Itza good!

I’m skipping the last panel of the day in order to rest up for tonight’s cocktail party. I’m sure there will be more drunken blogging, because once again there will be free wine.

No worries, Aaron, it’s of the temporary kind.

My Mommy Blogher tattoo

There was free wine last night. Free, unlimited wine. Combine that with a bartender serving one liter portion sizes, and you’ve got a party.

As seen in the post before, the nipple pasties came out for the party. We of the Nipple Cover Brigade were happy to model for anyone who wanted a picture. I really think this year’s tagline for BlogHer should be “Did you get your pasties yet?“

I finally got to meet Dutch and Wood, and meet the adorable Juniper. Juniper is so tiny – Cordy is only a few months older and could easily squish her if she fell on her.

Somewhere out there is a picture of me being felt up by Jennster. Who took that picture, and where is it? Oh wait, I found it – it’s on Jennster’s camera.

There’s also a picture of me chugging a glass of wine. Again, I have no idea where that picture is.

That’s the funny thing about BlogHer – no matter what you’re doing, there’s a camera nearby and it’s sure to end up on the internet. Luckily most of us are blog whores who love being all over the internet.

Too drunk to blog. More in the morning.

Me with Sarah

Women with pasties (Liz, Kristen, Catherine, me)

Sarah, Aaron (the Kaiser), Erin, me

You can see the mood of the party.

I swear I can’t feel my toes.

I’ll be updating this post throughout the day, to save everyone from a crazy number of posts. So check back later for more updates.

8:45am – The swag! My God, the swag!! Gift bags, free jump drives, books, nipple pasties (dude, you know I’m going to try those!, and even condoms. (But still no KY Personal Mist. Sheesh.) I swear, my favorite word has got to be “freebie”. The intro has just begun, and then we’re off to the first session.

9:50am – I’m currently in the first session – Blog in Box. Nice overview of all of the different blogging platforms out there. Yes, I will not be sticking around Blogger forever. I appreciate all they’ve given me, but they are unreliable at best. One gem I’ve already been told about is Blogsome – a free hosting site that lets you try out and customize a WordPress blog. I’ve been thinking about WordPress, and now I can try it out without paying for hosting, to decide if I like it or not.

We’re also discussing blog etiquette, which is always fun. When is it OK not to link back to someone? (OK, my Blogroll is out of date – sorry everyone!) What do you do with trolls? (Don’t feed them, don’t talk to them, don’t poke them with a stick.) When do you delete comments? (When they’re from Blogtards?)

LUNCH

Have I ever mentioned that I’ve never been in a convertible before? Like, never. So where else should I have my first experience but in California, and with the fabulous Mir? We were offered the chance to test drive Saturn’s new cars this afternoon, and it was impossible to pass up. It. was. awesome.

And, just to be practical as well, I test drove this:

The new Saturn Vue hybrid – mom-mobile with an environmental edge. It does lack the horsepower of the convertible, and it’s not going to have everyone turning heads, but you can easily hold a family and a toddler’s amount of crap in it. And it has leg room in the back, which is lacking in my Sentra. And A/C. Me likey.

During the shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel, I met my first blogger – Mayberry Mom! We had arrived at the same time, and started chatting right away. We decided to get dinner together after we checked in. I was really nervous that no one would know me, or want to know me for that matter, but after running into Mayberry Mom I felt much better!

As I was taking my bags to my room, I heard someone yell out my name. I turned and saw the adorable woman walking towards me. She asked, “Now do you know who I am?” and I yelled out “Izzy!” We hugged and talked for a bit, and then she had to run off to some special gathering for those in the BlogHer ad network.

After dinner with Mayberry Mom, I wanted to find my roomie, Her Bad Mother. Turns out I had seen her on the patio, but I just wasn’t sure it was her and was too scared to walk up to the large group of women and ask. So I grabbed a drink and planned to walk out to the patio, but I never made it to the patio. Catherine (HBM) found me in the bar, and soon I was surrounded by all of these blogger I know and love: Liz (Mom101), Julie (mothergoosemouse), Suebob from Red Stapler, Izzy, Amalah (yes, THAT Amalah!), Karen (Troll Baby), Mocha Mama, and the list goes on an on and on!

It was wonderful to meet everyone, and to meet several bloggers I had never known before. It felt like we were all old friends, just catching up. And I did get all of those hugs I needed so badly.

Even more of these lovely women are arriving today, and I must run and shower to get ready for breakfast and registration.