I’m so excited to share with you my Yahoo! Shine You.Reinvented interview!

Yahoo! was at BlogHer talking about reinvention and I had the opportunity to sit down with them and talk about my personal journey:

I must confess, I really don’t like myself on video.  I am highly critical of everything (!) especially my tendency to assume the I-talk-way-too-fast-because-I-am-nervous persona.  Ahh, well.

CONNECT WITH YAHOO:
Twitter: @YahooShine
Yahoo! Shine “You.Reinvented”: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/youreinvented

BlogHer 2010 was NOTHING like I expected. Which confuses me.  And makes it hard to wrap my head around.

Let me start this post saying that I am a BlogHer newbie.  A veritable baby in a sea of blog conference experts.  Now, you must know that I stalked BlogHer online last year.  Truly. I read all of the tweets.  I visited all of the posts and I camped out on the Flickr stream.  So I had an idea of what to expect.

My ideas were wrong.

Being a self-help kind of girl, I expected BlogHer to be centered around education and learning. Err… not as much as one would think.  I mean, there were many sessions covering diverse topics.  But many people blew them off.  In fact, some of the bloggers I met confessed that they didn’t even go to one session, which blew my ever-loving-mind. I, personally, was there for an education.  I own my own business and I blog on that site as well as here and at the Washington Times Family Today community so I was ready for some serious blogging and social media  input.  I was going to take notes and write serious posts on what I learned and how to apply it.  Sadly, I will not be doing that.  Yes, I did take away nuggets of good information but overall the sessions were designed to be very informal.  (Apparently Power Point and handouts were not allowed.) That informality did not jive well with my personal goals.

But the networking, well, the networking opportunities were priceless. I’m an extrovert so I have no problem introducing myself to other people and engaging them in conversation.  Which works to your benefit when you are in a huge convention like this one.  And honestly, that is where this self-help gal gleaned the most information.  I learned more from my peers than I did in the sessions.  And I am completely okay with that.  Learning is learning is learning!

My fellow bloggers and I conversed about honesty in blogging, we compared iPhone apps for productivity, shared our personal stories, observations and goals and really connected. That part was priceless.

I got to meet Dawn Meehan (author and blogger at Because I Said So) who was my inspiration for blogging in the first place and Jo-Lynn of Musings of a Housewife who was the first blogger to ever acknowledge my existence.  My roommates Bailey (Makeover Momma), Lara (Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom) and Jennifer (Savoring The Thyme) were a blast to hang out with.  And the parties and gatherings? I can’t even begin to describe how interesting and fun they were.  From those I met some phenomenal entrepreneurs and inspirational professionals.  I was treated like a queen. (Which any mom will tell you is rare.)

Most importantly: I left BlogHer with a new direction and new vision. I found inspiration in my fellow bloggers and they helped me clarify my vision for this blog. (Which will probably take on a new direction going forward.) The knowledge that I already had was reconfirmed by the sessions.  I learned what to do and what NOT to do. Was it worth it to attend?  Yes. Yes it was.

Besides all of that, I sure had one hell of a good time!

Wondering if BlogHer is for you?  I recommend you read this article:

• BlogWorld v. BlogHer: the Differences are Apparent (blogworldexpo.com)

At the moment I am alone.

It is the first time I have been in a quiet breathing space since Wednesday morning before my trek to the BlogHer10 convention started. My last few days have been a whirlwind of activity, so much so that it left this manic mom in need of a breather.

Granted, it is my first BlogHer experience so I realize that being a newbie, I am not pacing myself well. I’m trying to take it all in and experience as much as I can.  (Especially considering the fact that I am in freakin’ New York City.)

It is way too premature to evaluate my experience yet but here is what I know so far:

I can exist for two days on a diet of cheese, cupcakes, coffee and champagne.  I will most certainly pay for this later my friends. OH YES. I WILL.

The Pillsbury Dough Boy is frightening in person. Especially when he is sneaking up behind you.

I am not nearly as young as I think I am and therefore shouldn’t dance all night at a bar somewhere in Manhattan.

Hot dogs at midnight on a street corner are infinitely better than hot dogs at 9:00am on a street corner.

There can never be enough coffee.

Double beds are not large enough for two grown women. (Especially if you are sleeping with a very leggy Jennifer.)

When you take a small walk in New York, you may end up in the Wall Street Journal. I know, right?

S’mores.  Who HASN’T had them?

There are rite of passage.  As American as apple pie.  A huge part of any childhood memory.

Everybody loves S’mores, right? Who DOESN’T?  I’ll tell  you who.  My husband, that is who.  My husband isn’t fond of S’mores because they contain one vital ingredient – chocolate. Yes, my man hates chocolate.  Which is another blog post entirely, my friends. He is lucky that we are still married.

So we had a problem to solve this weekend because the boys and I love S’mores snacking and hubby snubs it. The challenge? Find a recipe that the hubby will like.

Let me just pause here to ask you a question: Am I the only one in the world who didn’t know that you could make  S’mores with bananas? And mint? And, hello? Strawberries!  Well, you can my friend. (more…)

So excited to announce that the official Momz Share website is live!  So very, very excited!

What you can expect from the new site:

• News about blogger networking events in the Baltimore / Washington D.C. Metro Area
• Guest posts by fantastic bloggers on important topics.
• Features on area bloggers and much, much more!

Not that I am cheating on you, but I have a confession to make… I’ve been spending time on other blogs lately.  Gasp! I know, I know. Shameful.

But in an effort to be truly forthcoming and totally honest and thus beg your forgiveness, I thought that I would offer up some links to my other lovers blogs:

My Body Is Capable – A post on the love/hate relationship I have with my body. As part of a series on the fabulous Melanie Spring’s blog.

Friendship On The Interwebz – For my pal @marymac who is going through a family crisis right now.

Blogging Resources 101 - I was asked to do a guest resource post for Nickelodeon’s Parent’s Connect Community

Building A Social Media Strategy – Okay, so this is my business blog.  I’m a regular cheater here. Does it still count?

If you meet me at Blogher next week know one thing: I am going to be entirely fake.

And I admit it.

Which counts for something, doesn’t it?

But I am doing it for YOU.  So that I don’t scare the living hell out of you when you meet me.  So that I somewhat resemble my profile picture. Heh.

In the next couple of days I have every manner of appointment scheduled: hair, nails, feet… you name it and I’ve scheduled it.  Except lipo and Botox because, well, my husband doesn’t love me.  If he loved me he would have agreed.  OBVIOUSLY.

I’ve even gone SHOPPING for you.  My $5.00 WalMart shoes broke last week after four years of service.  Perfect timing.  My tried-and-true black pants are splitting from my ever expanding waistline and my favorite shirts have been slobbered and sauced upto the nth degree by the youngsters.  It is better that you don’t see me that way.  I like my little blog-protected-world.

You know, shopping for most that gals that I know is a treat. For moi? Notsomuch.  I can never seem to find something that fits me when I have money and when I don’t (like today) I find a ton of things. Problem is, I don’t want to buy the clothes because I am working on losing weight for the marathon and so I don’t want to be in this size much longer.

I really hate being a woman sometimes.

But I digress… So if all goes according to my evil plan, when I arrive at the convention, my hair will be freshly cut and dyed.  I will have manicured nails and such.  I will be wearing clothing that my children haven’t ravaged yet.  In short, I will be a completely fake representation of myself.

Which makes me realize that if I offend someone’s sensibilities then I have no one to blame but myself.  Oh hell.  Didn’t think of that.

C’est la vie!