This goes back to those posts where people are continuously asking how to make it happen? How do you do it? Where did that come from? And my answer to you is simple…just ask. Honestly, Buck Rogers will ask me questions on occasion about how I got something and then he will follow it up with , “never mind, I know, just ask”. And, that’s it……so check out the following get up for my date night tonight…..Necklace compliments J n J Collections, Vital Earth Traditions, Crocs and Blissdom 09.
I’ve written a few posts already about Blogher but this is the final one. It is only befitting that I arrived home to find we have no internet service. That was on Wednesday (it’s Saturday evening) and so, with that, I’m going to put out my final thoughts and post it whenever I get internet back or I make it back to a fast food restaurant with Wi-Fi.
Let me say this as a preview of my thoughts…..being without internet has made me think long and hard about what I have to say, just so you know that I didn’t sit down in haste and write some bunch of crap. I am home, I’ve emptied all the bags, worked on laundry and carefully studied my feelings about Blogher (and read Jen Lancaster Pretty In Plaid in 2 sittings because people, she is THAT awesome).
Part Two: The greatest sponsors out there for anyone.
Part Three: The next four hundred great blogging women that I met. (Four hundred might be a bit of overkill but as I haven’t started writing them all down yet, I’m just guessing there’s that many)
Part Four: The Most Famous “Nice” person on the Earth
Part Five: Two of the biggest fakes in the blogging world that I’ve ever met
Part Six: The single most snotty and unbearable blogger I’ve ever met.
Part Seven: People I missed and I may just cry because I wanted to meet/see them soooo bad.
So, here goes…..
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PART ONE – THE FOUR GREATEST WOMEN IN BLOGGING
1. Stacie from StacieinAtlanta and The Divine Miss Mommy came to my rescue on more than one occasion. We didn’t get to hang out like I had hoped we would but when I sent out an SOS because I had lost my wallet, Stacie was the person who showed up with cab fair and an extra 20 bucks for the remainder of the weekend. Stacie was also the person who I spent the most time with at the Atlanta Mashable Event so if you are looking for good bloggy friends, Stacie is an excellent person to start with.
2. Stephanie from BizzieMommy was my roommate. She endured what any other roomie that you’ve never met before would have to endure. And, I think we did quite well as we often managed to share a cab without even planning to do so. So, in the future, if you need a roommate, I can say to you that Steph is a great choice and will treat you well.
3. and 4. Kim from CraftyMamaof4 and Crafty Mama of 4 and Beth of PlusSizeMommy or The Plus Size Mommy are tied and not necessarily for 3rd and 4th. I simply got my brain to them in this order. They were my rock at Blogher. The let me lounge on their bed when I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk another step. They drug my arse to a few places that I really didn’t think I wanted to go but had a blast once I was there. They volunteered me to volunteer at an event that I wasn’t invited to volunteer at originally. I managed to talk Beth’s ears off the first night out of excitement and then only got like 3 hours sleep before hitting the trail for the Ford event…but oh my, it was the greatest weekend with these people. Honesty, they were fabulous. I can’t say enough about them. I have no idea how they were able to run and rip all weekend like they did because I couldn’t keep up with them for anything…they are machines people, machines.
PART TWO – THE GREATEST SPONSORS OUT THERE
This is again not in any order other than the way my brain thinks about them over the course of writing.
1. I’ll start with Stacie who was kind enough to help me with a room in Atlanta for 2 nights before I actually flew to Chicago. We had planned to have dinner together but we were both running crazy trying to get our stuff together. Like I said above, I didn’t get to spend enough time with her. The best part is… Atlanta happens to be my favorite city ever and it’s a car drive and a weekend hop away. So, look out girlfriend, I’m coming after you.
2. My flight was on a buddy pass on Air Tran which doesn’t fly out of Birmingham so that was why I wanted to go to Atlanta early and rest up (I’ve explained my penchant for fatigue already). A great sponsor by the name of Joseph who is the owner of J n J Collections was kind enough to help me get this flight arrangement. He also provided me with some great jewelry to wear at the event. I even gave away a $25 gift certificate (and as soon as I have internet, I’ll remind you who it was because right now, my brain is fried).
3. Slim Perfect, Girlfriendology, MuffinTopless and Oh Social were rocking the house. I had an awesome make-over (from Bombshell Artistry) and if you didn’t see the photos of that transformation, you missed it all. The best part was that I had sent my Slim Perfect items ahead of me via UPS and they didn’t make it. And, the dress I ended up wearing was absolutely nothing short of “meant to be”. The shoes I had were my black flip flops with the big black and white zebra striped bows on them and the dress…not only did it match and fit, it was given to me by the sweetest woman I know. Folks like Carole aren’t around every corner just handing out clothes now are they?
4. Ford was another party responsible for part of my trip. I slept on a super comfy bed at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers courtesy of Ford and I was able to take part in a tour of the Ford plant and meet many great people during that event, including but not limited to Scott Monty.
5. The biggest and bestest (is that a word, screw it, I’m using it) sponsor was the Affinia Chicago who are listed in your airline guide as one of the “must see” places in Chicago. Their lounge on the roof, known as the C-View, hosted a tweet-up on Thursday night for the Bloggers and hey, how cool is that? When I was being escorted to my room on Thursday evening, the bellman asked me who I was and why I was in Chicago. I gave him a rough low-down on me and my purpose. When we exited the elevator, he asked my room number, I gave him the number and he looked at me again with a surprised look and said, “Who are you again?” I laughed and asked why, he made me stand in the hall while he prepped what he called the “best suite in the building”. He lit the rooms with the diming lights, the bathroom with it’s glass shower and all. It was really just as awesome as the photos (see flickr jamcgyver is my username over there, but you can search for Blogher and seen thousands of photos) make it look.
6. My Precious Kids was kind enough to send me 300 of the car seat tags and I graciously handed those out.
7. Lap Belt Cinch, Inc or more commonly known as SeatSnug sent me 3 seatsnugs to give away and as I said, the winners will be revealed when I am online long enough to find out.
8. The Blush undershirt sent to me in burgundy which I wore more than I probably should have but it was awesome and it made my too short shirts look so cool, is something I will wear a lot, I can assure you of that.
9. And, there was the awesome pants that came to me via Dreamsacks and I really didn’t want to take off. I could have worn those suckers the whole weekend and then some.
10. Kelly Lynch Ring of Vital Earth Traditions sent me 2 shirts from Hawaii…yes you heard me right, from Hawaii which I graciously accepted and wore and again, major comfort zone.
Part Three: The next four hundred great blogging women that I met. (Four hundred might be a bit of overkill but as I haven’t started writing them all down yet, I’m just guessing there’s that many)
Again, these are only in the order that I pick them up out of the stack.
Barbara Jones from Everywhere! I mean really, this woman is a super hero.
Last and certainly not least…..
So Mi Speaks was looking at me intently, upon investigation, her business card looks almost just like mine…or at least with the same girl and green background…too funny.
And, finally, I was already a big fan of George from Crocs but after I thought my wallet was missing and this young man saw me in the state of “upset-ness”, he turned from a funny, silly, croc-loving guy to a sweet and adorable young man who cares. Don’t miss him, ever!
Part Four: The greatest famous person on the Earth
Jen Lancaster who is by far the most famous person I’ve ever met and happens to be the author of several books off of Best Seller Lists Everywhere recognized me when I approached her. I told her how I had ordered her book and received something different and we had a good laugh (That story is coming soon).
I think the reason I like her so much is I can relate to her writing because she is very much like me. She is the same age and she has a wonderful outlook….depending on who you ask. If you ask me, I have a great attitude and always have, if you ask Jen, she’d tell you the same about herself. Or as more than one blogger repeated this weekend, “It’s all about me”….it wasn’t Jen who said that but it is so very the way of the world.
So, if you haven’t purchased her new book, whatcha waiting for? Go, do it now.
Part Five: Two of the biggest fakes in the blogging world that I’ve ever met
As I mentioned, the whole experience is what you make it and there were 2 individuals (and I’m not naming names, they know who they are) who do not practice that whole “transparency” thing that has been preached ever so much at every conference I have attended.
I’m telling you, it’s one thing to be nice to me on twitter, to say nice things in comments on blogs but if you can’t look me in the eyes and be that same nice person, pfffffft, then so be it. I’ll be honest with you, one of these bloggers I had never met before Blogher and the other one I had met only once.
Both of the women were very clicky, very rude in the presence of their “buddies” and basically, I won’t go out of my way to be nice to them again. The same two people who return home and tweet nice things to me for the public to see acting as if they hadn’t just treated me like ass. Honestly, is that really necessary?
I mean, what happened to being transparent or being what you are in person as you present yourself online.
Part Six: The single most snotty and unbearable blogger I’ve ever met.
I met a blogger online a few months back. We seemed to connect. Everything was nice enough. Then, by some mark of the beast, she changed from a nice, sweet person to chat with, to a mean and nasty individual. This person made a name for herself at Blogher and trust me when I tell you, it’s not one that you would want to have labeled on you. Honestly, if you aren’t part of the click, then just move on, kissing ass won’t get you there any faster. OOPS!
Part Seven: People I missed and I may just cry because I wanted to meet/see them soooo bad.
I had major aspirations for meeting Backpacking Dad and reuniting with Tanis from Redneck Mommy and Jenny from The Bloggess. It is so wrong on so many levels because I really needed some of Tanis’s encouragement and Jenny’s good vibes…
Ok, so yea, Blogher was all that and a ball of wax. I did post already that the single most important thing I learned was that I prefer small groups. I was part of 2 of the most elite parties held at Blogher. The one which Carole hosted for the make-overs by the winners of the Slim Perfect contest, there were just six or seven of us hanging out there with food and wine for a few hours and hello, that was way cool.
The other party was the one that took place in the hotel room when I was with Beth, Kim and Stephanie (and I wish I had seen more of Stacie, she would have fit in nicely with our little party of people – call us clicky, whatever, we rock).
I did find that I enjoyed sitting in the lobby people watching a big part of the time and certainly it shouldn’t cost a fortune to sit in the lobby and people watch. Normally I save that particular activity for Christmas Eve when I love to go to the mall and watch the not-quite-finished shoppers run around in a frenzy. This year, I got a bonus shot of people-watching.
Never mind that I sat in the airport in Chicago on Monday, all day and Tuesday all day and into the evening watching people. Some were great, some made an ass of themselves and others were just fun to…watch.
I will wear a piece of jewelry from J n J Collections sometime between Thursday at 6 and midnight Saturday night. I will have on one of the following pieces:
If you see me wearing this, write down Joseph’s website address on one of YOUR business cards (or piece of paper if you have no cards). The first person to do this will win a $25 Gift Certificate to J n J Collections. If you miss me wearing it the first time, keep watching, I have some discount coupons for the ones who are just a little late getting to me
2. Thorn clothing: I have 2 T-shirts from Thorn Clothing. One is for a teenager and the other is for a very small framed woman or teenager. I will not be wearing either of these since they are both part of the scavenger hunt. The process is the same, write down the website www.thorn.com on a business card or paper and give it to me. The first person who does this gets his/her pick of shirts, the next person who does this gets the other shirt, and then the rest of you who do this get a prize too.
3. Seatsnug – I do not remember how many of these I have, however, the rules are the same, find me, identify yourself with your business card and with the seatsnug (www.seatsnug.com)address on the card. I will give these materials out as long as I have them.
4. Blogalogues goodies – don’t miss out on those….no scavenger hunt for those, they will be everywhere
I will also be sporting clothing from Slim Perfect and a couple of Hawaiian shirts courtesy of Kelly of Vital Earth Traditions and shoes, I’m wearing 2 shoes……..too bad no one wanted to sponsor me a new air of shoes for Blogher since the right one of every shoe I own is remarkably different than the left shoe which in some cases has never been worn…*hint hint*
If you are a regular here, and geez, I know there’s not many of you, you know that I have done a complete re-design. The site is the same but the face is just different…prettier in my opinion.
What do you think?
How is navigation? I am not finished getting my tabs up for various pages but working hard at it. Let me know what you think.
Since things are so different and because some people have been very good to me lately, I want to share a few ideas with you.
First and foremost, yes, I am still in a cast. It’s a gray boot but I am non-weight bearing. I have tried a few times to put some weight on it but it is extremely weak. Boy Genius says it isn’t as weak as I think it is, it is mostly just that I am afraid.
But, the fact that it’s been in a cast for over 5 months has caused it to atrophy. Not that you can tell by looking at that big know on the outside of it but it truly is weak.
Secondly, I am going to Blogher the end of this month in Chicago. Now, I’ve never been North of the Mason Dixon Line and the only other place I have traveled is to Hawaii and the Bahamas. So, this should be an awesome trip…real and in my head….as well as all those who like my southern accent. Oh well, hopefully they don’t assume am stupid just because I speak redneck…don’t think it doesn’t happen on a regular basis.
And, finally, the best and most important part of all….the people responsible for either getting me to blogher, providing me with great stuff to hand out at the conference or those simply making me look good while I am there. That last part is a tough one for everyone I bet…*laughing at self*
First of all, how will I get there? I am flying and I am flying courtesy of someone I did just a small favor. He is definitely been able to reciprocate and way more than I could ever repay him for. That is Joseph of J n J Collections.
His friendship began as a business deal. A mutual acquaintance helped us connect and he has done something wonderful for me. First of all, he has a jewelry store at that address and an ebay store that you can see here.
He was kind enough to send me some awesome jewelry and he even gave away a gift certificate to one of my readers. Felicia was the proud owner of the gift certificate on my blog and others are preparing their contests and winners too.
So, with that, I give you…J-n-J Collections. Check me out when you see me in these two pieces at Blogher….
If you see me in either of those pieces, give me your business card with Joseph’s website address written on the back and tell me that you recognize the jewelry and guess what? The first person to do this? You get a $25 Gift Certificate….will that work? Woohoooo
Next, traveling. I am traveling to Blogher with one of the most awesome laptop bags you have ever seen. It is made by Solo Bags and honestly, I dont’t know that bag come any better than this one….
So, if you are in need of a bag, I highly recommend you check them out and see if you can find one for yourself.
And, finally, where will I sleep? That is the raging question of the week. I bought my Blogher ticket with the early bird pricing and I commenced to making reservations at the Sheraton where the conference will be held and at the Hostel nearby (on the reference of a previous attendee).
And, then, I ran into some great PR people who were able to help me out. And, then, some other opportunities came up and so here’s what you get when you are a over-nervous, first-time-attendee, who-is-definitely-not-rich, and willing-to-pimp-out-anyone.
I will be participating in the Ford Test Drive on Thursday and they will be giving me a pillow on Wednesday night. Then, on Thursday, I am going to be sleeping at the Affinia Hotels in Chicago.
Just take a look at this place….
There is a possibility that I have to make some other arrangements but either way, these guys have treated me like a Super Star. And, I know there are great things to come.
So, I check it all out, go get yourself some jewelry from J n J Collections and get a business card ready so you can win some jewelry too. Then, get your bags packed in a gorgeous Solo Bags and when you are finished, meet me at the Affinia or the Sheraton and we can have a drink….ahhh. I can’t wait.
And now, anyone out there want to help me find some clothes to wear? Anyone want to help me purchase these new clothes? Ok, I’ll be waiting…..
And with that, I bid you all a Happy Fourth of July…
First remember I’m still looking for guest posters (ahem Nino) as I will be updating this blog but I am in desperate need of help with the others since I am going to be zipping and zooming and not in one place for very long.
Second, don’t forget the Uncle Ben’s contest. For every tip you leave $1 is donated to help stamp out hunger. Don’t miss that.
And, now moving right along….I’ve never done a Gift Guide for a holiday. I’ve never been much of gifter or givee for that matter. I mean, yes for Christmas and yes for the kids birthdays but that’s it. Adult birthdays get a cake but that’s about it.
So, for me to formulate this little dealio here for you so that you can see a little work that a friend of mine does. i picked out my favorites and as always, there’s more on his website. And, pay attention, or you might miss a discount somewhere along the way…
I know I’ve used it a lot lately but doggone it, I can’t help myself. It’s just too funny…just like for many many moons I said, “I’m gone…gone like a chicken bone…†Don’t ask me why that was funny then either because it sounds rather silly now.
Anyway, for those of you who have been keeping up, and trust me, it’s no easy task, I have giveaways and contests and prizes running out the waaazooo…which can’t be a bad thing, right?
The latest contest is on Mom is Teaching and it is in the post Earth Day – Hello and it is for yet another History DVD. So, you don’t want to miss out on that, fo sho! Or should I say fo shizzle…hahaha! Ok, I’m medicated with cold meds, I’m thinking I’ll read this later and wonder if it was crack instead of Clarinex.
But, anyway, I have a really awesome giveaway coming up soon too. And it isn’t about TV, History, DVD’s or anything. It’s about a hot gift for you mom, your mother-in-law, YOURSELF. As soon as I get all the deets on that one, it’ll be on Mom~E~Centric. So be on the look-out.
Wait would you like a sneak peak at the upcoming give away? You can go look at the collection on J n J Collections. When my review product gets here…which will be one of these three pieces…
I can’t wait to see my review product! So, now, keep watching and remember it will be on Mom~E~Centric and I will be giving away a Gift Certificate to J n J Collections so one lucky reader can pick out their own piece of gorgeous jewelry. So, you know, for your mom, your mother-in-law or YOURSELF…always think about YOURSELF…too.
So, winners, did you say you wanted to know who won the One-Year Membership to A Flash in the Pan – of course you do…..and the winners are:
I can’t wait to see my review product! So, now, keep watching and remember it will be on 
