BlogHer Babes to Follow!

Well, BlogHer has officially come and gone. To be honest, it was nothing I thought it would be and everything I never expected (how’s that for confusing?) What I mean by that is: I thought I’d spend all day in sessions, and just talk to people at mealtimes and at parties. With the discovery that the sessions were being liveblogged and podcast, though, I gave myself the license to actually go out and meet everyone I’d been talking to (ok, stalking) on Twitter/the blogosphere for weeks, months, and in some cases, years. This post is dedicated to the amazing ladies that I came to know and love in two short days!

First, I want to say that meeting miss Morgan of The818 was by far the best part of my trip. Serendipitously, we discovered that we’d not only grown up in the same area (about 20 minutes away from each other), but that we went to the exact same temple. In a conference of 2500 women, across the country from our home state… so crazy. Here’s the culmination of our brand new lady love on Saturday night-

@the818 and @linzlovesyou post-Sparklecorn, pre-Cheeseburgher

BlogHer, here we come!

In just a couple short (and jam-packed) weeks, my awesome bosslady/partner-in-crime from Shoestring and I will be headed to NYC for my very first conference.  Lucky for me, it also happens to be the epic annual BlogHer conference, where thousands of women bloggers unite to talk all things bloggy.  Here’s what I’m excited for:

1. NEW YORK CITY!- not much needs to be said about that. It’s been since 6+ years since I was there…oh, how I miss that city.
2. Networking- with over 2000 lady bloggers (and a few guys too), BlogHer is a crazy opportunity for anyone interested in blogging and social media
3. Learning- there are so many sessions to choose from, it will be so hard to decide! Definitely want to hit the one on designing my own WordPress theme, though! I’m also crazy lucky to be going with Melissa, serial entrepreneur and the brains — and beauty– behind Shoestring. Not only does she rock, she’s also a great mentor and well-connected, which will make the entire experience even more beneficial.
4. Blogging- since that’s the whole idea of BlogHer (who woulda thunk?), I hope that will push me to do more exciting and thought-provoking blogging, both that weekend and in the future.
5. Brand interaction- alright, that makes me sound like a sellout. But really, it’ll be interesting at the very least to interact with representatives from brands, both big and small, that I use/buy on a regular basis. And I’ll be honest, I’m totally ok with getting free swag, especially now that I won’t have Caltopia to replenish my pen supply this semester!
6. Extreme Social Media- I have the feeling that this weekend will be chock-full of Tweets, FB posts, blog posts, etc. etc. etc… and I couldn’t be happier. Nerdy as it may be, I really am a digital native and there will be lots of learning going on in the rest of the social media sphere this weekend too!

Other happenings coming up include our Worchester Clothes Swap on 7/31 (Nightline will be there!), starting contract work for my fried pickle friend Sonja at The Cultivated Word, and, as always, startup networking events.

What are you excited for this week? Fun projects at work? Relaxing with family? Getting through to next weekend?

East coast livin’

It’s officially been a week since I moved from CA to Boston… and I can officially say that I’m loving it here! Granted, the weather has been bipolar at best, and completely psychotic at worse. Don’t believe me? Check out this video that @Lor3nzo filmed from the Microsoft NERD center yesterday! Thunderstorms in June aside, Boston/Somerville/Cambridge etc. are so amazingly vibrant. There’s always something interesting going on, which is great because I’ve still got tons of free time right now.

I’m still sleeping on a 2″ pad, but now I have a (free) bedframe so it’s one step closer to a real bed. I bought earplugs last night, which are a GODSEND. Seriously, if you have noisy neighbors, don’t hesitate. Buy them! I lucked out by having my dad’s family out here, and they’ve all been really helpful in trying to get me settled. I’ve been even MORE lucky in that I’ve got my two best friends from college out here, both of whom I’ve gotten to spend time with already! Seriously, could my friends out here get any more awesome? (see below)

The past week has been filled with so many amazing things, here’s a little rundown…