This past weekend was the much anticipated Blogher. I have known about Blogher for years, but it was only this year that I ended up going, and it was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time.
I don't think I was at any of the parties described as "the place to be". I walked away with almost no swag. I didn't go out to any clubs or off-site parties. But what I did get is worth so much to me. I had dinner conversations discussing the pros of creating a bacon cheddar cheese sented baby shampoo. I mostly managed to refrain from making a fangirl-fool of myself, except for Friday night when I ran up and hugged Linda and only belatedly thought "hey, maybe I should introduce myself first" (sorry about that!). I met bloggers I'd never heard of as well as those I've read for years. And oh, the stories. I could try to retell them here, but I don't think I could do justice to other peoples' stories. I loved just sitting and listening to everyone. That was probably my favorite unexpected joy of blogher; being around hundreds of natural born story tellers meant spending the entire weekend with my sides aching from laughter.
I was also blessed to spend a big portion of the weekend with Amy and Ezra. I've read Amy's blog for years now, though we hadn't hung out together before this weekend. She is just as funny and delightful in person as she seems online, possibly more so. And as if spending time hanging out with her wasn't enough, she also let me repeatedly abscond with Ezra. It is news to exactly no one that my baby cravings are probably strong enough to power the city of Chicago for a month. I can't have my own kids just yet (my doctors would kill me), so I jumped at the chance to babysit when Amy's late-night babysitter fell through. Sure, I missed out on seeing the unicorn cake, and I have exactly zero pictures of people with McDonald's bags on their heads. But I crawled around the hotel floor making VRROOM noises playing with cars, I nommed baby fingers and toes and was rewarded with gleeful shreiks and giggles, I had some awesome baby snuggles, and I read my book listening to baby sleep noises. What more could I ask for, really? I walked out of Amy's room on Saturday night covered in baby-snot, but happy. I soaked up the joy that is a Ezra, and I made a new friend in Amy.
All in all, a very, very good weekend.
