Today is my 39th birthday.

I mean, my 29th birthday.

Oh hell. Whatever. Fine. I’m staring down 40. What of it?

I am in a bit of a reflecting mood right now. It has been a big year of accomplishments for me. Let me clarify a bit… I don’t say “accomplishments” in order to elicit a ton of “woo hoo” compliments, just in reflection. Obviously with big accomplishments come big sacrifices and many a sleepless night. I’m sure you know exactly what I mean…

But I have to admit, even for me, this has been a blessed year, albeit at a ridiculous pace. A cursory list:  taking care of my fantastic family, opening up the new business, launching Momz Share, attending Blog Her, being mentioned in the New York Times (twice!) and Wall Street Journal, raising over $2,600 for charity and running the New York Marathon, meeting wonderful new friends and business associates and learning a heck of a lot in a short time… to name a few.

No wonder I am tired.

You know, I was talking to my friend Pat a couple of weeks ago and we had a conversation that has stuck with me… He asked me “what was next” on my list after conquering the NYC Marathon. I didn’t have an answer for him. I merely shrugged and said, “I think nothing. I don’t have anything on my agenda. I guess I am going to take a break.” He sat right up in his seat and said, “Oh COME ON! I don’t believe that for a second. I know you Jen and you won’t be able to sit still for long.” (I am paraphrasing, of course.)

Let me just say – I hate him for being right. Gah! But I love him for challenging inspiring me.

For right now, however, I am content to just sit quietly and reflect. (And plot my new world domination goals.. muwahahaha)

Business goals I have. We’ve mapped them all out. Personal goals are another matter. And blogging goals, well, that is really high on my list right now. I’ve am very antsy to get back to some serious writing. (Just need to survive the holidays first…) As for my family, well, I will be launching a middle schooler next year and if there is a perfect time to really concentrate on your family, this would be it!

In the interest of wrapping up the year, I put together a quick and dirty slide show for you. Thank you all for being such a huge part of my 38th year… darn! I mean 28th year. Cheers!

Here I go again.  RE-FOCUSING.

I blame BlogHer.

It clarified my vision. It changed my bloggy opinion. And most of all it gave me a new direction.

While I am working behind the scenes to get my new vision in focus, I’ll still be blogging it up like normal.  But hopefully the near  future will bring topics more streamlined and less “all over the place.”

This site will still keep the same sense of humor and the same values… it’ll just be a little bit more of a resource for busy working (and by working not just the kind that drive to the office) moms.

And of course I’ll still ramble on about whatever I want.  Because that is what I do best.  And that is also what drives my hubby crazy. Heh.

Luv,

J

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)

Welcome, friends!Nice to meet you…

I’m a bit of a newbie blogger so I am truly excited to be participating in Pensieve and Musings of a Housewife’s Blog Hop ’09!

My name is Jennifer and I began my little blogging journey on Tots2Tweens and totally fell in love with it.  From that point I was encouraged to write a parenting blog called Momma Mania for my local newspaper. (I kept @mammamania for my Twitter name so please feel free to follow me and we’ll chat!)

I soon found out that blogging is kinda like getting a tattoo… you get addicted and just want to do more and more and more…. That is where this little blog came in. I just wanted to OWN my own blog. I wanted to write WHATEVER and not worry about it.  Kid stuff, book stuff, running stuff, life… whatever I feel the need to dish about.

Personally, I’m at a bit of a crossroad in my life.  I’m in my 30′s but just really figuring out who I AM. With each day I live, I seem to discover more about myself. I no longer feel the need to fit in and conform to what others might expect of me. That is a huge relief.

So why the title “Hip As I Wanna Be?” Well, there are a lot of reasons for that. But the reality of it is that as a younger person, I never gave myself permission to BE what I truly wanted to BE. I always second guessed myself and tried to conform to others standards. (Always such a people pleaser!)

So at this point in my life, I am a working mom on a quest to successfully juggle my life, my marriage and the mania of male offspring while struggling to get my mojo back. And based on the feedback I’ve received, I get the feeling I am not alone in this.

Who else is in the trenches with me?