BlogHer 2008: East Meets West and All The Rest
View of San Francisco from Pier 39 taken by Dana and shown here, with her permission, because she knows I.M. Adork!
Dear BlogHers,
As if my arrival into the crazy that is BlogHer wasn't manic enough -- seriously, flying 6 hours, cross-country, allows a person plenty of time to think about stuff, like telling people about my blog(s) and then trying to come up with a reasonable explanation of what exactly it is a "Professional Dork," you know, does -- it was a bit of shock to realize that I seemed to have left my heart (along with my camera) in San Francisco!
Yep, it came to me -- some where in between Union Square and the San Francisco Bay -- what if I don't ever want to go home?
Freezing my lips off at my first professional baseball game -- SF Giants vs. Brewers -- with Dana (she's from Wisconsin) and loving every minute of it -- oh, and I TOOK THIS PICTURE, it was on the last day and when I remember...you know...I had a camera phone!
The last time Dana and I got together was in April and she came to visit with us, here in Jersey (it was cold then, too) so, the kids and I took her to one of our favorite boardwalks. We treated her to really awesome lunch (Jersey makes GOOD pizza) and then...well...it went quiet. Even my kids felt that something was different. We watched her face change from that of being in the comfort of friends to absolute awe, as Dana saw the ocean for the very first time, and my family and I felt very privileged to have been a part of that!
Shannon, yet another Shannon, Kerry (me) Amber and Dana - the closest I've ever come to being a part of a true-life posse, sort of - photo taken by Elizabeth, last year's roomie!
I made some really great friends here and -- especially, when we got the chance to reunite at the People's Party - I couldn't (still can't) imagine having to go back to my normal life, without them.
Then, I fell in love with Lesbian Dad -- yes, of course my husband Garth (not his real name) knows -- she was on the Mommyblogging Radical Act panel and I stared her down in total awe. She made me think (I know, act surprised anyway) and I soon realized that, though most of us felt the commonality of blogging, there is no such thing as "normal." We each share our lives with the people who we love SO MUCH, that it sometimes hurts.
[Please read her post picked to be read during the Community Keynote]
Damn, if I didn't want to bottle up some of that power...just a smidgen, would do me good...and smuggle all of these women home!
Me and Jenn shamelessly borrowed from Busy Mom's photo stream - with her permission, of course!
Like, Jenn (a.k.a. Mommy Needs Coffee) who I've been reading for, like, forever and perhaps the toughest (yet, soft and totally squishy inside) blogging chick I know and would probably feel right at home with me, here in Jersey!
Me and Mrs. Flinger -- sounds like a great title for a song, a book, or something, yes? -- shamelessly lifted from...you guessed it...Mrs. Flinger!
Then, Mrs. Flinger smacked my ass -- yep, right there in front of the sponsors and everything -- and, besides the fact that I am already absolutely bananas over Jenny, I found yet another reason to move to Seattle!
Though, San Francisco DID have it's moments -- damn, but walking to Fisherman's Wharf...and back, again...TWICE...nearly killed me -- I knew that this trip was going to feel different. Why? Because, I was no long a BlogHer Virgin!
Shannon, Diana, MammaLoves, Shannon (who ALSO knows I'm a DORK and let me borrow this pic from her) Erika, Jenny, my new best friend from Macy's and Me!
Then it hit me (no, NOT Mrs. Flinger) and this is where all the marketing, public relations and newspaper people visiting with me here today should be paying very, very close attention...ready...every time we blogging-type moms get together, I find myself in the middle of something big. A part of a growing family, if you will, who don't have to think twice about making me feel right at home.
In fact, there was SO MUCH sharing (and licking) that a lot of us seem to be suffering from the BlogHerBolaVirus.
[covers mouth and sprays Lysol]
Aaaand that will be more than enough, for now.
With much love and admiration,
I.M. Tired
The End
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