BlogHer 2006 is now done and over, and the Hyatt has been abandoned as everyone returns to their hometowns. Well, everyone but me. My flight leaves tomorrow morning, so I’m using the downtime to continue with the play-by-play recap of the conference.

Yesterday afternoon I noticed I was having trouble focusing on any conversation I was in, so I decided to rest in the hotel room for a bit. I don’t talk to this many people in a normal month, let alone 3 days. It’s tough to be “on” all the time and with so many people at once. It’s overwhelming. All was good, except that there was a knock on the door, and a lady asking if we were checking out yet. I explained that Catherine and I were here until Monday, and she said we needed to be out of the room, and to talk to the front desk.

I went to the front desk, and was told that we had checked in for the first night, but not for any other nights. (You’d think you wouldn’t have to do that.) The guy at the desk said that they needed the room and we were being thrown out for not checking in so the room could be given to someone else. I told him that we had both checked in, but he wouldn’t do anything else without Catherine there.

So I then tracked down Catherine, who was waiting for the final panel (with Arianna Huffington) to begin. It was really bad timing, and we were both pissed off. The girl at the front desk didn’t help the matter at first by giving us attitude. (Worst thing said, “Well, how is that our fault?” Uh, little girl? We’re the customers, and you’re the one who represents the ones who screwed up. You will not win this battle.)

The situation was finally resolved (and thankfully the girl dropped the attitude), and we went back to the panel to admire Arianna Huffington. More about her in a later post, once I’ve recovered from the weekend and can think a little more coherently.

After the final panel, it was time for the final cocktail party. As can be expected with a conference of over 700 women, the food and drink were consumed quickly. And since it was the final night, you can probably imagine what silly acts were undertaken.

BlogHer Girls Gone Wild – who says mommy bloggers are dull?

There’s no way an innocent face like that could swipe a box of Weight Watchers candy, right?

…and yet here’s Mocha running off with the loot.

This morning the breakfast tables were jammed with bloggers as we ate our eggs benedict and said our goodbyes. I’d say it was a bittersweet moment, but it wasn’t. Because, as Suebob said, “It’s not like we’re saying ‘I’ll keep in touch!’ and then never write. We’re bloggers.” So yeah, the goodbyes were more of a “See you on your blog tomorrow!”

And listen up – don’t think we didn’t miss you. Yes, you. I can’t count the number of times I said, “I wish [any of you who I read] was here!” You were missed, and we want to see you all at BlogHer 2007 in Chicago next year.

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.