These gals showed me all around their city. Kizz was my BlogHer security blanket. Talaura was my anchor. Kizz helped me push myself forward and made sure I made it onto the subway heading in the right direction. Talaura, God, what can I say about Talaura?

We laughed and laughed. We talked about everything from boys to religion. We walked and walked and walked. We laughed some more. But what I cherish most of all are the quiet times. Those moments sitting in a cathedral listening to a choir rehearsal. The moments making faces at each other while riding the subway. That moment when we were so enraptured with our Nutella pizza that we didn’t talk.

My time in New York would have been nothing with out them. Happy Love Thursday!

Everytime someone asks me if I had a good time on my trip, a huge grin spreads across my face and I reply “I had the best time”. Whenever someone asks me what I did in New York, I’m at a complete loss for words. I haven’t even managed to get a rundown of BlogHer up here. All I can manage to come up with is “I had a great time”. And I did. Have a great time. (Cue cricket chirps now). Seriously, I don’t know what the problem is. I finally got all of my pictures uploaded, and I thought that would be helpful, but still I’ve got nothing. Today though, today I make an effort.

First of all, lets talk about the conference. I’m not going to give a day-by-day rundown of all that I did. Kizz has done an excellent job of this. I will say that I sat in on some really great panel discussions, the first of which was about finding your passion and finding a way to do what you love. This was a great session for me to start with because it’s where I decided that I did need to make some changes to the blog. It was the session that got me all fired up and ready to go.

From there, I went to a panel discussion about sex and blogging about sex. This was great fun and enlightening (don’t worry mom, I’m not turning this blog into a sex-talk blog) and they had an awesome swag bag for those of us in the audience.

The next day of the conference, I went to a session about dealing with loss and grief on the internet. All of the people on the panel are amazing and brave and I completely respect them, but this session solidified my decision that there were things that I just won’t blog about. I am perfectly okay with this.

The last session I went to was on how to make my pictures ten times better. I gleaned lots of useful knowledge from this one, particularly that I need Photoshop (or Lightroom, which is what Chris is pushing for) on my computer.

I think what I got most out of the conference was the wonderful people I met. Ananda was one of the first people I met and she was so nice and helpful. We talked about the joys and trials of teaching yoga. Boni was one of those people I met at the beginning of the conference who was always a reassuring face in the crowd throughout the conference. She also gave me some great resume advice. I met soooo many people I can’t even begin to keep them all straight.

There was Zahra who just made me laugh and Stephanie who I’m totally going to connect with when we start planning our trip to Kansas City, Missouri. Everyone was so encouraging and wonderful. During one of the lunches a woman at my table said something about the fact that there didn’t seem to be any “mean” girls present. I think it’s because those of us that are into the whole blogging thing were probably once the victims of those “mean” girls.

And I think the only way I’m ever going to get any of this typed up for the blog is if I keep BlogHer separate from all the sightseeing stuff. Also, I still don’t even know what to say about all the sightseeing stuff.

It’s good to be back in a routine. There’s so much I could put on this list, but I decided to just leave it with last week stuff.

• Getting to know some one I already liked a lot even better
• Surprising Misti with a framed copy of her Bagel Boyfriend
• Dancing naked with the bathroom door open to a Flaming Lips tune
• The sweet cantaloupes from our garden
• Putting my veggie sandwich in my new sandwich container from Hillshire Farms
• The lovely sweet comments left by my readers
• Clean sheets
• Spending time with Amy
• Making this list while I should be paying attention in lab meeting
• Pizza dough with fresh basil
• Having Chris home
• Wine, laughter, and food shared in Misti’s backyard
• Being excited about something

Enjoy your day!

I came back from New York to over 100 degree temperatures and a slightly neglected and droopy garden. So you can imagine my surprise when I found actual food out there. That’s just a small representation of the amount of peppers that I’ve harvested. We have a bagful in the freezer. I was very happy to pluck the cucumber because I’ve planned veggie sandwiches for my lunch this week. The cantaloupe were the biggest surprise. I have two more out there that were not ready for picking. These two may be small, but we ate one of them already. It was sweet and juicy and perfect.

A long time ago, before college, I was very bold. I pushed myself to do things I really didn’t feel comfortable doing like getting on stage or speaking in public. I did all of this in the name of scholarship. I was willing to withstand the knotty stomach if it meant that I was going to get out of the small little town where I lived.

Once I got to college, I didn’t have to do those things any more. I didn’t have to assert myself or entertain. I just had to be and this was a relief. But maybe not such a good idea. When I realized that I would be attending BlogHer alone and traveling by myself to New York, I was suddenly gripped with fear. How was I going to do this? How would I ever be able to talk to anyone? I had let myself fall into Wallflower Status.

But something strange happened in the weeks leading up to BlogHer. In panic mode, I impulsively contacted Chookooloonks through chat to ask her about business cards. And that one little act or seed started to grow. When the actual BlogHer event started, I was talking and handing out business cards right and left, meeting new people, laughing and joking, and joining in. I almost didn’t recognize myself. So, when I finally made it to the front of the line for Karen’s booth at the Gala, I knew exactly what I wanted her to paint on me. (Photo graciously taken by Kizz.)

Then I was on a roll. Talaura and I participated in the Yoko Ono’s instruction piece entitled “Scream” at MOMA. One of the best parts about this was hearing all the other screams as we strolled down the stairs and out the door. We had started the ball rolling and it felt really good.

Then, while we were strolling around Central Park, we came across this little stage. I decided that this was the perfect time to mark number 39, sing on stage, off of my Life List.

OK, so it wasn’t my best performance and my audience included a small group of skateboarders, Talaura, and Kizz. But I did it. And I really think I needed this week of boldness. I needed that nudge, that kick in the pants, because I came home knowing that I am ready. For whatever comes this way.

Today is Friday the 13th …Dun duh dun. I’ve never been the superstitious type. Though, Chris and I had originally set our wedding date for March 15th. We changed it to the day before when we realized it was The Ides of March. Nope. Never been one to worry about the dangers and pitfalls of a Friday The 13th. I’m usually just glad and thankful that it’s a Friday. And I just realized that I have no idea where this post is going. Probably because I’m tired. I think the trip is finally catching up with me.

So, today, I am thankful that it is Friday and that I will have a chance to rest over the weekend. I need a chance to start organizing some things that are rattling around in my brain. I have a few more pictures uploaded, but I moving kind of slow because I want to get them organized in sets as I upload them. I’ve been too scatter brained to figure out exactly how I want to group things. I need rest and a little patience.

I am thankful that Chris has made it to Orlando safe and sound. I’m sure he’s having a great time even though he’s not going to the Star Wars Celebration until tomorrow. I am thankful that we’ve both had such wonderful opportunities this summer. I am thankful for the time I will get with Misti this weekend. I have so much to tell her and I need some one like her to hear all the things and ideas I gathered from my trip. Plus I have a special surprise to give her.

Hope all is well and that every one is having their own Thankful Friday.

I had never been to New York City and was very much like “Country Mouse meets City Mouse”. I couldn’t stop gaping at all the…stuff. I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of the actual buildings of things I’d seen on TV and in the movies. I couldn’t stop myself from pointing and saying “hey! look at that!”. I don’t think I’ve felt this kind of wonderment in years.

New York City architecture is amazing. A person could spend years just looking at all the buildings. Just looking. Just spending months noticing the shapes, the curves, the blend of old and new. Just stopping and noticing the way the light bounces off of this building onto the building next to it. And it’s ever changing. Kind of the way I want to be.

Happy Love Thursday

I didn’t get to bed until some where around two this morning, so this post may be a bit crazy and random. But I thought I needed to get something down. I suppose that it can be summed up in this way: BlogHer was AWESOME!

I met so many new people and you should see the stack of cards I acquired. Everyone was so nice. I met and visited with some of my most favorite bloggers. I learned some things and I was inspired. I mean really inspired. I suddenly realized that I want people to follow this blog, and I want it to be more than it is at this moment.

There are changes coming to the blog. Chris has been trying to get me to making some of the aesthetic changes for some time now. Well, I think I’m finally ready for that. There will also be some content changes. I’m not getting rid of anything that I’m already doing, just adding some things. Most of these things won’t happen over night, but the seeds of change have been planted.

Now, I’m off to start editing and uploading the over 300 pictures I’ve taken. Maybe I need a second cup of coffee for that.

I think this week I’m giving myself a break. There may be some time to write and update while I’m away, but I’m not counting on it. Tomorrow morning I leave for BlogHer and New York City.

I can’t believe I’m doing this and I can’t believe how excited I am. It was all I could do to keep myself from jumping up and down all day today. Plans would be made and I’d start laughing. More plans were laid out and I’d go into hysterics. NEW YORK CITY!

This post everything today. Read it on Thursday and think about the love of the anticipation of a good thing. Read it on Friday and be thankful for gifts we can share with each other. I can’t wait to spend time with Talaura and meet Kizz (I hope she realizes that I will call her Kizz all the time). I can’t wait for everything. My bag is all (mostly) packed. The last thing I need to do is turn off the computer and pack it up. And that’s what I’m going to do.

Oh Man. Last week was not too pleasant (work wise). But this week? This week is coming up Milhouse. I have some good things on the list from last week. Just be prepared that next week may be a whopper.

• When Hooper decides he wants to be a lap dog
• My hair. It’s awesome!
• The fake meat balls we had in the spaghetti
• Hearing all about Robin’s vacation
• Meeting Randy and Katrina for dinner
• Cruising through the city with my brother and sister-in-law on their motorcycle and me on the scooter
• Ethiopian food
• Buying travel sized stuff
• Trying out a new taco place where Chris and I turn out to be the minority
• The Flea Market for so many reasons
• The vegetarian sandwich at the Asian Food Market
• My boss gone for ten whole days!
• Two days until I’m in New York City!
• Cucumber salad with Greek yogurt blended with garlic and dill
• The finger nail polish I bought for my toes (NYC, Soho)
• My new goggles
• My new elephant measuring cups (they’re so cute!)
• This day

Hope every one is having a great Tuesday!