Blissdom Conference Recap

Life has gotten away from me once again dear friends. It's been over 2 weeks since I've been back from Blissdom and I'm just now getting a chance to post my recap!

This was my first time attending Blissdom. I was anxious about going because I had heard that the attendance at Blissdom wasn't very diverse and I wasn't sure how I would fit in or how comfortable I would feel. I also was going to be flying solo since Ny and Jonesie weren't coming along. That said, I really wanted to go, not only to hang out with and meet new blogging buddies, but also to support Barbara Jones who has been a supporter of Blogalicious since the beginning. Also, Blogalicious was going to be a sponsor of the Blissful + Bubbles party hosted by The Clever Girls, and I wanted to be there for the event. And so, I went. And my trip didn't disappoint!

Everything was well done. The hotel was spectacular; the agenda had just the right mix of educational and topical discussions; the parties were fun; and the vibe was warm.

For me, the highlights of the weekend were:

- The Opening Keynote by Kevin Carroll of Katalyst. He was phenomenal. Why haven't I heard of this guy before?

- The "Striking a Balance" panel. It's not often that you sit in on a breakout session that touches you and resonates on such a personal level. All of the ladies on the panel were awesome, but I have to say that this was the moment when I knew I had to meet Carmen of Mom to the Screaming Masses in person.

- And I did. Which leads me to another highlight: watching hilarious YouTube videos with Carmen and Shannon of MomReinvented. Love those gals!

- Lunch with Isabel Kallman of Alpha Mom, Kim Moldofsky of Mom Impact; and Jennifer James of Mom Bloggers Club. As if I wasn't already impressed with Isabel and all that's she's done, at lunch I learned that on top of everything, she used to be an SVP and Solomon Smith Barney AND a dancer in Salt n' Pepa videos!! Loves it.

- The Final Showdown of the U.S. Potato Board's Tastemaker Challenge. OMG this was so much fun. A mashed potato bar; potato vodka; cheering on some of my fave bloggers including ModernMami; an impromptu cheerleading routine from Jessica Knows; WHOOMP! There It Is blasting over the speakers - I'm telling you, it was a ball.

- And last, but not least, my absolute most favorite moment of Blissdom was girls night out with Carrie of Bilingual in the Boonies; Modern Mami; Yoly of Cuponeando; Jennifer James; and Lizzie of LizzieB TV. These girls are the definition of "good peoples." We laughed, shared, laughed, dished, laughed, drank and dined. Then Carrie took us on a personal tour of downtown Nashville. What a fun evening.

The Closing Session of the conference was moving as well. MckMama recounted her experience of almost losing her son and how her blogging community helped get her through those difficult times. Top that off with a video montage of attendees giving their well wishes to Anissa Mayhew who is recovering (and finally home!) and it was no wonder that boxes of tissues were on each table.

All in all, it was a good trip. The level of diversity was still pretty sad, but I was expecting that so it didn't really bother me. Things got a little stressful towards the end because Snowmageddon hit the D.C. area and I learned that I would not be flying home as scheduled. But all's well that ends well and I got to hang out with Amy from Resourceful Mommy, Cecily from Uppercase Woman, and Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife. Eventually, I made it home safe and sound, with a weekend of new and strengthened relationships in my pocket.

#StrandedAtBlissdom

It's Sunday night and the Blissdom '10 conference has officially been over for 24 hours. Yet, somehow I am still in Nashville, Tennessee, in my hotel room, at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. There's a contingent of about 8 of us that are stuck here, unable to fly home because of DC Snowpocalypse 2010. Normally, I would jump at the chance to sleep in a hotel bed, alone and without interruption, watch grownup programming on TV and eat out without having to worry if the restaurant serves apple juice, but not this time. I've been away since Thursday night and I miss my family!

I'm imagining them doing all sorts of warm and cozy family things like playing board games, drinking hot chocolate and watching movies by the fireplace. I could be catching up on a ton of things that I've been meaning to do for and with them, like sort out their closets and let them brush my hair. When will I ever get the chance to be cooped up in the house with my gang for 72 hours straight?

In know that in reality, they are probably tearing up the house, running roughshod over everything and generally driving each other and Hubby nuts with their hooting and hollering. It's a long way from the peaceful silence of my hotel room.

And I miss it.

Nashville, Here I Come...

Tomorrow night I'll be leaving for Nashville, TN for Blissdom 2010. It's my first time going and so I'm quite excited. I'm looking forward to seeing some friendly faces of bloggers that I only get to see IRL every once in awhile and to finally meet others that I've only tweeted with! Barbara and Alli have really pulled out all the stops and organized a weekend full of great information and fun events. As a matter of fact, Harry Connick Jr. will be there performing on Friday night. How cool is that? I took another look at the conference agenda last night and it's going to be tough to decide which sessions to attend since they all look interesting. Blogalicious is sponsoring an event hosted by the Clever Girls on Thursday night called Blissful Bubbles + Bites which is going to feature lots of fun prizes, cool gals and bubbly drinks. Don't forget to attend to enter to win a free pass to Blogalicious 2010.

Hope to see some of you there!