A BlogHer Recap Post of My Very Own

If I had actually sat down and written a pre-BlogHer10 post like I planned this would be a nice bookend to it. But I didn't, so you will just have to take my word for it that BlogHer was pretty much what I expected it to be.

My goal was just to have fun so I went into it with very little expectations. I planned to just go with the flow, have a good time, and not worry too much about what I was supposed to be doing. I told myself that I would go up to anyone and say hi and introduce myself. And I would ask to join a group if I felt alone.

All of that I did, and it made my experience fabulous.

There were disappointments of course. I missed almost all of the keynotes because of my need for massive amounts of alone time. I was chatted out and needed time to chill and wander by myself. I really wish I had seen Amy sing and had heard the speeches from the international activists.

I didn't walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and my three hour plane delay made me have to cancel my afternoon at MoMA.

There were a few nasty people or just people I thought I would bond with but ended up not clicking with.

But all of this was overshadowed by the random moments that made the trip wonderful...

A play I picked in spite of its bad review turned out to be awesome. And the Tavern Direct dinner that I RSVPd to randomly was delicious and meaningful.

The completely chance way I met Ann and Amy (no, unfortunately Amy did not offer to make me popular): two bloggers who I frequently read and just think are all around awesome.

How I kept running into the same people over and over which led to me spending lots of time with MaryMac and MissGrace.

That so many of the people I tweet with were people I just adored in real life and want to be best friends forever with (there's way too many to name but Lauren, Fadra, Sue, and Allison all have photographic proof with me so they get special shoutouts).

Having Kelli, who had met me once at the pre-BlogHer meetup in St. Louis, generously reach out to me time and time again during the conference and in addition give me an awesome hug every time I saw her. She wrote a great recap post that really sums up the love I felt from new and old friends.

Meeting Ryan and telling him how much I love his writing and how it's made such a difference to me as the mom to special need kids. I only wish I had told Jenn the same thing when she was nice enough to have me up to her room at 12am.

That I didn't get into a single argument with my roomie/sister in law.

Pretty much I went all out and was dorky, sarcastic, silly me the entire time for better or for worse. If you don't believe me, you can check out the Sparklecorn video which features me twice thanks to the Baby Pop Designs mask I was wearing (thank you A Girl Must Shop swag bag!) (for friends that didn't go, I am at around 2:43 and 3:00 if you don't want to watch the whole thing. You should though, because it rocks)

I will probably write a bit more about BlogHer in the next few days, because hey free blog fodder, but I want to sum it up by saying: if you've wanted to go, go next year. It really is what you make of it. Just go and have a blast.