I'm pedicured, packed, waxed and shampooed. My house is clean, the laundry is done, the floors are vacuumed. In just a few hours I will climb out of bed, toss on some clothes and get on a plane headed for Chicago. There I will attend Blogher - an event I look forward to all year. I see old friends, meet new, and enjoy myself so, so much. I thought it would be a good idea to follow Denise's lead on Blogher...
One week from now, 07/24/09 - 5:21pm CT, I will be blissfully exhausted and thrilled to have met all of you. I'll have a whole lot of business cards in my pocket and a whole lot of names and faces and phrases jumbled up in my head that I may or may not be able to make sense of once the post conference glow wears off and I'm trying to figure out just which of you said THAT brilliant thing.
On 07/25/09, while basking in the post conference glow, I'll begin to hear stories about amazing women who I did not meet and I'll be sad that I somehow missed your awesomeness in person.
I'll also have a wee bit of regret about not having spent more time with you, and you, and also you. With 1500 people in attendance, I'm not going to have nearly enough time to really get to know anyone.
I know this is how it will go because it is what happened in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
In the aftermath, I will spend days and days surfing links from the business cards I accumulated. I will spend hours and hours trying to find someone whose name I only partially got or whose face I'll recognize when I see it or who had such an interesting story that I wish I'd gotten her name or her card ... but I didn't. I'll search and search and search. Google will get a hard workout, I guarantee it....
What do you say? Help me (and everyone else) get to know you now -- it will help us get to know you during the conference and after we've all gone home, too.
Here's what I had to say - cross posted from Blogher.com. Will you be there? Leave me a comment so we can meet up. I promise that I'll probably forget your name and most certainly have something spilled on my clothes - but I AM friendly. :)
I'm Carmen. I write on Mom to the Screaming Masses, on The Elff Diet, and I'm the blogger for
Zwaggle and DietsInReview. I have six kids and we deal with food
allergies, migraines (kids and me), autism and processing delays, and
dealing with both preschoolers and high school seniors at the same
time. I live in Virginia with my husband, the hardest working man
ever. I spend most of my day online, and can be considered a Facebook
addict. (Is there a 12 step program for that, I wonder?)
My passions in life include Muay Thai boxing, Capoeira, reading,
training, running, and blogging. My daily activities usually consist
of a grocery store run, a couple loads of laundry, and lots and lots of
tattling and refereeing. Notice how the two lists don't overlap. Three
of my kids also train Muay Thai, which means that we spend a TON of
time at the gym. My kids also play soccer and run cross country.
I carry my BlackBerry with me everywhere I go and use my iPod for
hours and hours. I love music and love to
sing. I can't sing at all, though.
I like chocolate but it's not a passion the way really good cupcakes
are - not grocery store cupcakes, but bakery, gourmet type deals.
I drink. Not to excess, but I DO have six kids, so I think that
entitles me to a pass every now and again. I don't like animals, don't
like candles or flowers or candy - but I am still a girl. I checked. :)
I am sooooo unprepared for this. But? I will be there on Thursday around noon. I will be the one hiding behind the plants.
Posted by: Issa | July 21, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Have a wonderful time.
Posted by: Debby Pucci | July 21, 2009 at 11:14 PM
Hi Carmen, I live in the Chicago 'burbs. I won't be at Blogher but I hope you have a terrific time here. Enjoy some pizza and party on!
Posted by: Sabz | July 22, 2009 at 12:51 AM
I love Facebook too. Yesterday I found a friend that I have not talked to since High School, and in this moment of happiness I will even admit that high school grad was 25 years ago. Have a great time at Blog-her and take lots of pics.
Posted by: mm | July 22, 2009 at 06:41 AM
I love that "I'm still a girl, I checked" cause I totally can identify with that. I wouldn't mind if flowers showed up but I don't go pining for them, I like jewelery but it's only for the resale value.
Posted by: kyoot | July 22, 2009 at 08:35 AM
I so cannot believe that you are going to miss the wonderful VA humidity this weekend. BRAT!
Have a great time!
Posted by: Jessica | July 22, 2009 at 09:59 AM
If you ever make it up to DC, stop at Georgetown Cupcake. The cupcakes are to die for, although admittedly pricy. I tell myself, that as a cancer survivor, I'm worth it--every time I fork over the money. LOL
Check out their website--
http://www.georgetowncupcake.com/home.html
Pat
Posted by: Pat | July 22, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Have a great time! I have a funny (I think) flower story. I am not much for flowers as I don't think they are worth the money. Then, one Valentine's Day, DH came home with a fabulous bouquet of two dozen red roses with baby's breath and I honestly melted just a little with the sweetness of it despite the fact it was flowers - before he said "One of the women in my office got two of these today and figured she'd better only bring one home, so she thought you might like this one!" Apparently I got flowers from a two-timer I hadn't even met!
Posted by: BeeBelle | July 22, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Have a great time in Chicago! I like chocolate, but I'll take any baked good over chocolate candy any day.
Posted by: Young Wife | July 22, 2009 at 08:12 PM
hey gal. i found your blog and came here to say hey. sorry i missed you at blogher and hope to get to next year's...meanwhile so glad you went and enjoying reading peep's summaries and such. stay in touch. hugs...
Posted by: Tresha Thorsen | July 27, 2009 at 11:36 PM