#BlogHer11: Third Time’s A Charm!

August 11, 2011

BlogHer ’11 was my third, and there was something magical about it for me (shut up).

Okay, the first two times I attended BlogHer were pretty darn good too, but I had the most fun this year, perhaps partly because I didn’t overdo like I did last year. I don’t even know where to start with my recap so I just decided to spew randomness sprinkled with pictures. That’s organized enough, isn’t it?

Favorite moments: (so many, and in no particular order!)
1. Lots of quality time with my favorite “really, really, really wish we were neighbors” Jersey girl, Liz. I luv huh.

liz and melisa smurfy
Photo credit: Shannon Entin (www.disciplineproject.com)

2. Giggling with my roommates, especially each night when Momo came in really late and we had our bedtime gigglefest. It’s really nice to fall asleep smiling in the presence of good friends.

3. Renting the surrey with Michelle, Sue, and Liz. That episode deserves its own post, and tomorrow you shall read it.

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4. Working out with NBC’s “The Biggest Loser’s” Bob Harper. It was truly the biggest thrill in my fitness life, ever. I will also write a separate post about Bob. Lucky you.

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5. Listening to the keynote featuring PepsiCo’s CEO, Indra Nooyi. She’s an amazing woman.

6. Attending Sparklecorn, featuring DJ Skribble, and never leaving the dance floor. That’s 3 1/2 hours of shaking what my momma gave me, folks.

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7. The third annual Party in Room L. It was epic. The Party in Room L always takes place in the LOBBY after CheeseburgHer, and there are bubbles, clown noses, and this year, glow bracelets. It was pretty spectacular this year because the crowd was bigger than ever and was made up of my favorite people, including lots of my friends from the now-defunct Cre8Buzz. If you’re going to Blogher ’12 in NYC, look for me in Room L around midnight, and join our little party (4th annual)!

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With Mr. Lady and Busy Dad!

8. Meeting several people I’ve wanted to get close to for a while now, Deb Rox (one of the best writers I’ve ever read. Love her!) and Lisa (BEYOND funny, sassy, and smart too! Love her!) being two of them. Meeting these ladies and spending time with them was spectacular.

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If you have not met Lisa, you should. That's all.

9. Spending time with ladies from a private group we all belong to on Facebook. I had not met a few of them in person before, but we all fell right into the kind of “I’ve known you forever” kind of IRL experience.

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10. Voices of the Year: If you attend BlogHer and don’t go to the VOTY, you are MISSING OUT on a wonderfully touching, funny, bittersweet, thoughtful, exhausting experience. My Momo was chosen as a Voice this year and I was so, so proud of her (I even started crying late that night when I told her about my *FAVORITE* part of her reading: dork). All of the ladies who read were quite amazing, and our table was definitely going through the provided tissues like they were going out of style.

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11. CheeseburgHer. Bag hats. Drinks. McDonald’s. Drinks. Friends. Great intro to the Party in Room L. That’s all I can say about that.

12. Harassing Busy Dad because he didn’t wave back at me when we passed each other in the lobby. He is so harassable.

13. Making up words (like harassable) and phrases to fit my needs. Another example? Pissoffable. Also? Telling Momo that once my mom told Jim, “Don’t be down on yourself, that’s stupid,” which was epic in itself, but then Momo thought I said, “Don’t be downin’ yourself”, and that became the catchphrase of the weekend. Guess you had to be there.

Other fantastic pictures:

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With Michelle and Vanessa (@FrenchFoodieMom)

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What? Doesn't everybody attempt to look this adorable while sipping a margarita and deciding what's for dinner? Photo credit: Sue @ascapecodturns

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Don't be downin' us.

Attending BlogHer is a little bit like going to NeverNever Land. Attending a conference at which almost all of my best friends are in the same room/area/whatever is…well, there’s nothing like it. And the laughter? Non-stop.

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How many days until BlogHer ’12 in New York? Anyone?

 

(EDITED: Whoops! Forgot to give photo credit on that last picture. Sue @ascapecodturns was behind the camera on that one. Thanks Sue! xoxo)

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28 Comments

  • Katie

    August 11, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    I’m gonna have to solicit your advice on joining BlogHer and making friends! LOL… the BlogHer conference looks like SOOOO much fun, and I really would love to go one year, but I feel like I would know no one at all (I joined BlogHer a while back, but I never really knew how to get into the community) and it would suck for me.

    You should write a guide on BlogHer for n00bs LOL. 🙂

    • Melisa

      August 11, 2011 at 1:31 pm

      OMG, it is seriously so fun. Everyone who is new gets so anxious, but all weekend long it’s just totally “okay” and encouraged, even, to walk up to total strangers and start a conversation. I found that, for my first time, it was helpful to connect w/ a few people on twitter ahead of time and then meet up in person upon arrival. You should come to NYC!!!!

      These 3 BlogHers were–seriously–three of the best, most fun weekends of my adult life!!

      P.S. I haven’t gotten “involved” in the BlogHer online community either: it doesn’t have anything to do with how much fun you’d have at the conference or how many people you’d meet. I mean, it’s just one community out of many others. Does that make sense?

      • Katie

        August 11, 2011 at 1:37 pm

        Makes tonnes of sense!!
        NYC is one of my favourite cities in the world, so I totally want to come (I’ll have to save my pennies beforehand though! hehe). It’s good to know that not everyone who goes is big into BlogHer – I thought it was mostly a community thing, so I felt a little silly even looking into it before. I am totally okay with talking to random strangers, so I think it’d be super fun!

        I think I will definitely look into it!

  • Lisa

    August 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    C’mon now. SO MUCH FREAKING FUN! So cool that a bunch of ladies can come together and be so supportive. It should be called BraHer because of all the support! Oh, and the learning…

  • ascapecodturns

    August 12, 2011 at 9:02 am

    THank goodness for the supplied kleenex at VOTY!

    So much fun, I have had a hard time explaining to everyone what we were laughing at all week. Kind of a ‘guess you had to be there’ experience!

    And Lisa, Bra-her? That is brilliant! (Although the 5 men that were there may not like it.)

    • Melisa

      August 12, 2011 at 4:39 pm

      Thank you! I’ll trade you “recap lessons” for “photobombing lessons”.

      P.S. I think our next gathering might be in your neck of the woods, this January. 🙂

  • Jen @ Born Just Right

    August 12, 2011 at 10:06 am

    I’m super bummed I ran out of my #BlogHer11 energy and missed the party in Room L. You rock and I love this recap. Maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to better recap soon! (And I’m going to create a category on one of my blogs called “Yipee” – that’s awesome.)

  • Lynn @ Walking With Scissors

    August 15, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    The margarita-sipping, menu-perusing picture is the most adorable thing ever! I want to pinch your cheeks now. Or put you in my pocket.

    I had the best time this year! I’m really hoping to get to NYC next year to do it all over again!

    • Melisa

      August 15, 2011 at 8:44 pm

      The thought of me riding around in your pocket cracked me up.

      And you’d BETTER get to NYC! OR ELSE! 🙂

  • Michelle

    August 16, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    So. Much. Fun. Don’t be downin’ BusyDad though! And ummmm I have to admit that I told my husband I was pissoffable today. Officially a word yet?

    YOUR Momo. *snort*