Laura Lohr

Not Just an Alliteration

BlogHer 2014 Recap

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BlogHer2014

At the end of July, BlogHer had their tenth annual blogging conference. I hadn’t planned on attending initially because the last time I went, in 2012, it was so crowded that it was nearly impossible to attend a conference session and then, there was the Martha Stewart affair, where there was a near stampede of 5000 or so bloggers trying to get into the room that hotel staff would not open. That gave me such a panic attack. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun in 2012. It was in New York City and that, on its face, guarantees a level of enjoyment, simply because of the location. Nevertheless, 2012 was disorganized, a lot of chaos and not at all what I anticipated. There was bad behavior of bloggers trying to nab swag from the tables in the Expo hall and rude behavior from the hotel staff. It was insanity. In spite of all of that, there was networking, exciting parties, great food, tremendously positive experiences that did compensate for some of the pandemonium that ensued.

This year, I decided to give it another chance. I had the good fortune to receive a gratis conference pass, in exchange for volunteering at the registration desk. This was much to the credit of my dear friend, who was, sadly, not able to attend the conference and volunteer. Thank you, Melissa! *smooches* Mr. Bear and I had previously discussed possibly driving up to San Jose (where the 2014 conference was held) for BlogHer, then extending our trip to various other parts of Central and Northern California. This fortuitous set of circumstances lined up for us and away we went!

 

ROAD TRIP!

RoadTripSanJose

We set out from San Diego to San Jose at 4:00 a.m.  Even with our potty breaks, coffee breaks, driver switching breaks and a stop at a road side fresh produce stand, we made it to San Jose by 11:30 a.m. Somehow, we missed the L.A. traffic on the 5 freeway. Win! I think I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. *Yawn* I was tired, but we pressed on and made it in record time, in spite of following the speed limit.

AllieCherryStand

Once we got through Los Angeles, it was a lot of farm country. We stopped off to get some fresh fruit. It’s a long road!

RoadTripThroughTheSticks

The Good of BlogHer 2014

The conference was held at the San Jose Convention Center. This made for a positively wonderful venue because there was plenty of room to spread out. The ballroom was large enough to accommodate all conference attendees. Further, there was a fixed number of tickets to the conference sold. This meant that no area would get crazy congested, therefore, no panic attacks for yours truly.

The food was good. There was a reception the first night, where the appetizers were plentiful and delicious! This was my fourth time at BlogHer, so I knew that I needed to eat dinner. The food at the reception was probably enough to serve as dinner and very well did, for me.

Working the registration desk was a lot of fun. It did tie up 3 hours of my day both days, but it was worth it! I met a lot of interesting people checking in and people working the desk. I’d definitely do it again!

This year, they did not have any out-boarded parties. Every party was a sponsored BlogHer party.  Some parties were invite-only. Some parties were open to all. There was definitely a noticeable shift in focus from the parties and the swag, to the conference itself. This was a pleasant change in many ways, because people were more centered on blogging and networking than they were about the out-boarded aspects of years past. For the first time, I was not concerned about what party I was missing or who had a plus one invite that could get me into a party.

There was a great line up of speakers! Friday, was none other than The Bloggess—the witty and entertaining Jenny Lawson was the Keynote Speaker. Who better to open the conference? (Conference videos, session notes and photos should be coming available ) From there, was Arianna Huffington and Kerry Washington. I caught a glimpse of Khloe Kardashian and got my picture taken with her at the Expo. The closing party entertainer, was no other than Rev. Run of Run DMC. Squee!

I had a lot of fun seeing familiar faces and getting acquainted with new blogging friends. I had breakfast with my amazing and talented boss, Barbara Feldman of Surfnetkids.com. I spent some time with my dear, dear friend Jen of Losing the Shadow Behind Me. I met a Stanford professor and talked to him about his class in entrepreneurship. I got to chat with Cecily Kellogg at the closing party (the party formerly known as CheeseburgHer). I saw my friend and fellow San Diego blogger, Kari, who got me situated with a hotel, when most of the hotels near the conference were sold out. I got a stack of business cards from many new friends I met (I still haven’t gone through them!). Of course, I saw/met many other people. Please forgive me for not giving everyone a shout out!

I made a lot of awesome connections with different brands at the conference.  I loved chatting with the PR reps from the different brands and trying their products.  I LOVED the Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee maker and I’m pretty sure I have to have one. I am pretty sure I NEED a carmel latte macchiato every day.  Yummy! I loved the Skype people, who gave out phone battery back-up packs. I used it every day! The Samsung refrigerator is OMG! Since a new fridge has already on my wish list, they had my undivided attention.

The Bridgestone people were AMAZING! I got a fabulous massage, which was then followed up with a manicure. I got silver nails and Allie got red. How awesome are they?

I WON!

PS4Winner

I won a PlayStation 4 at the Chuck E. Cheese booth at the Expo! I couldn’t believe it! Allie and I had been through the Expo once before. She won Monopoly and I won Scrabble. I decided to spin the wheel one more time and BOOM! PlayStation 4! Ohhhhh, yeah! We’re anxiously awaiting its arrival.  Thank you, Chuck E. Cheese! We also received an abundance of tokens and coupons for free food and free play at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Allie is over the moon!

I won, again! On Saturday, I was notified that I had won a Lightscoop for my Nikon camera. Lightscoop is a little tool you attach to your camera to avoid direct light, red eye and harsh light. It evenly distributes the light from the flash, so pictures come out more professional.  I can’t wait to attach my Lightscoop!

Were Previous Years Better, or Was BlogHer ’14 Just Different?

The parties.

Cheeseburgher2014

Going to BlogHer, to me, has been all about the social networking opportunities, as well as making brand connections. The parties were there, they just weren’t the same. There is something exciting about hopping in a cab with a few blogger friends and making it to a party off-site (BlogHer sponsored Ford picnic, for example) in the past. I missed most of the parties because I was exhausted and went to bed at an embarrassingly early hour on Friday night. That’s not BlogHer’s fault. That is the nature of hopping in a car at 3:30 -4:00 a.m. from San Diego to San Jose, then attending a conference as soon as you arrive. They just didn’t have the same vibe.

Saturday night was the Mc Donald’s BlogHer Closing Party, formerly CheeseburgHer. I have to say that as much as I enjoyed a 6 piece chicken Mc Nugget and a strawberry smoothie, there were some things I missed. There were no Mc Donald’s bag hats. The photo booth of 2011 and 2012 was missing.  It didn’t have some of the traditional elements that made the party one of my all-time favorites. I know I am being nostalgic, chasing the dragon of my first BlogHer, but it didn’t have the same feel. I did have fun and seeing Rev Run was pretty awesome!  I spoke to several people that were first time attendees and they seemed pleased with what the conference offered. Perhaps, it’s really a matter of my own nostalgia.

Uhhh, Sparklecorn—where were you? I missed Sparklecorn! No Sparklecorn. No Sparklecorn cake. No dancing with glow bracelets. Boooo.

The Expo—it wasn’t as big as it has been in the past. I think this was a total shame. There were many brands that weren’t there that have been there in the past. Usually, it takes a few hours to get through the Expo, if I’m moving fast. This year, I was able to get through in about 30 minutes. I heard rumors of why it was smaller, but I don’t know for sure why.

The sessions—I think I’ve been blogging for so long now that I find that the sessions don’t pertain to me the way they did in the past. I didn’t see anything that really grabbed me and skipped going to sessions altogether.  Also? The number of sessions seemed to have diminished. I remember there being a lot more sessions to choose from in the past. There wasn’t as much variety.

The good and bad of being at the convention center was space. It was nice to be spread out and have space, at the same time, everything was spread out and it made networking more spread out. If that makes any sense (No).

Overall Assessment

I think for any conference, or event, it is what you make of it. I had fun. I enjoyed myself. I saw what I wanted to see. I Like with anything else, you get what you put into it! connected with those I wanted to. I prioritized what I felt was important and that’s what I did. I found a lot of value in in attending BlogHer. I  love an opportunity to see my blogging friends and to make more friends. I love visiting a city I don’t live in and exploring. I love connecting with brands and finding out about their products. I love all of those things. In the end, the conference was what I made of it, like anything else.  Will I go again next year? I don’t know.  There was a lot of speculation from BlogHer veterans that this might be the last year of BlogHer. I might be inclined to go again if there is another one.

Touch and Go Book Review #BHBC

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I read a lot of non-fiction books. I prefer them mostly, as I am always looking for ways to improve myself and find myself perusing the self-help, nutrition, health and fitness sections. Occasionally, I will choose a fiction book that friends recommend, however, for the most part, I read non-fiction. I like to push myself out of my comfort zone sometimes and when I had the opportunity to read Touch and Go, New York Times best selling author of suspense, Lisa Gardner, I was excited to see what she had in store for me. I had not read any of Lisa Gardner’s previous books and was not familiar with her writing style. I wasn’t disappointed.

The story opens with details about the Denbe family—a beautiful, picture perfect family that, by all appearances had it all. Within the first few pages, nevertheless, Libby Denbe narrates the story and I quickly learned that nothing is what it seems. Libby and Justin Denbe arrive home after a date night to be surprised in the foyer by kidnappers and nothing would be the same again.

I enjoyed reading the book. I love Lisa Gardner’s writing style, her plot and character development and her surprise ending. I have to admit, I began having my suspicions of the “surprise ending” chapters before the story wrapped, although Gardner did have some other surprises in store for me. Gardner has an ability to paint vivid pictures and I found myself having a lot of difficulty putting the book down. There were a few nights when I could not sleep because I wanted to find out what would happen next. Before I knew it, I would get out of bed and come down stairs for a cup of hot tea and to take a massage on my chair with my book. If you are interested in massage chairs then go to https://reviewsfield.com/best-massage-chairs.

I have already been browsing Amazon books for Lisa Gardner’s previous novels. I have to admit that I think I might be hooked. There is good reason for Gardner’s frequent appearances on New York Times Best Seller List.

Disclaimer: This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. I was compensated for my review, and received a copy of Touch and Go HOWEVER, I only recommend products and/or services I personally believe in.

Here I Go Again #BHBC BlogHer Book Review

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Here I Go Again Jen Lancaster

I finished the book Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster the other day and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. This New York Times bestselling author is witty, smart, sarcastic and fabulous! The story drew me in instantaneously and I couldn’t put it down from the start. I can’t wait to read more from Jen Lancaster!

The book is about the mean girl/prom queen Lissy Ryder that grew into an equally mean and nasty adult. Just prior to her 20th class reunion, self-centered, unlikable Lissy loses her job and her marriage is hanging by a thread. The prom queen gets a taste of her own medicine at the reunion and has to re-evaluate the actions of her past. When Lissy runs into a classmate of her past, her life is forever changed.

I loved this book—-I mean REALLY, REALLY loved this book! In the beginning, Lissy is such an evil, despicable human being. She is the sort of character in a story everyone loves to hate. Lissy Ryder is so unlikable that I actually found myself hoping for her demise. Jen Lancaster, however, crafts the story in such a way that by the time I reached the middle of the book, I was cheering for Lissy and understanding who she was deep down—or who she could become.

I love the writing style of Jen Lancaster. She uses references to music of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s to tell Lissy’s story and it brought me back to so many memories (both good and bad) of my high school years. I even found myself having dreams (or nightmares) about some of the monster mean girls from my high school days and it sparked my curiosity on Facebook. Ruh oh.

This is a great book for a woman in her mid to late 30’s (or early 40’s). There are so many relatable situations in the book that took me back in time. Seriously, you have to read this book!

Disclaimer: This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. I was compensated for my review, and received a copy of Here I Go Again HOWEVER, I only recommend products and/or services I personally believe in.

The Willpower Instinct #BHBC #Review

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willpowerinstinctuscover

I was recently provided the opportunity to read The Willpower Instinct by Dr. Kelly McGonigal. I have to say it was perfect timing, with the new year and various resolutions creeping up on me (PLUS, being sick for the past couple weeks and having some free time to lay around). I was super excited to get some guidance with some of those nagging resolutions for 2013, many that I carried with me through 2012. This year is my lucky year!

The author, Kelly McGonigal, PhD. is a professor at prestigious Stanford University and teaches a class entitled, “The Science of Willpower.” What I loved about this book is that Dr. McGonigal outlined this book as a professor would outline a course syllabus—in a logical, methodological way. The book does a fantastic job explaining the chemistry of the brain, scientific evidence and what exactly keeps us from reaching our all-elusive goals, year after year, no matter how badly we want to achieve them. She explains that much of our beliefs about willpower actually work to sabotage us from accomplishing what we set out to do.

I consumed this book from cover to cover, intrigued by what Dr. McGonigal had to say on the subject of willpower. I learned a lot about myself and why sometimes my strongest desires to meet goals are foiled by overwhelming desires to do what I wanted in the moment, instead of doing what would support my success. We really can take control of our lives, if we truly understand our biological functions, mental traps, and social factors that influence our self-control.

One of the things I found most fascinating, was Dr. McGonigal’s explanation of why we put our goals off until tomorrow. We, according to research, have an inherent belief that our future self will be more virtuous than our present self. She explains that we are hard-wired to prefer immediate gratification in many instances:

When we contemplate the future, our imaginations fail us in predictable ways. Far-off rewards seem less compelling, so we choose immediate gratification. We fail to predict how we will be tempted or distracted, so we fail to protect ourselves from abandoning goals. To make wiser decisions, we need to better understand and support our future selves.

I loved this book. The author speaks in easy to understand terms. She is witty and smart. I enjoyed it through and through. I found myself identifying with many of the scenarios she described in the book. I do believe that this book will be my handbook for success in the year 2013!

Disclaimer: This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. I was compensated for my review, and received a copy of The Willpower Instinct, HOWEVER, I only recommend products and/or services I personally believe in.

Diary of a Submissive—-BlogHer Book Club Review #BHBC

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Look out Anastasia Steele, here comes Sophie Morgan!

It seems that everyone I know is reading the 50 Shades of Grey series, including my some of the women in my life I would have least suspected would read. The genre of erotic romance has become more mainstream than ever before, it seems.

I read the book Diary of a Submissive this week and I have to admit that I did not expect it to be a love story. It chronicles the real life adventures of a 30-something woman and her quest for love, excitement, sweetness, strength and finding it all in one man. Sophie Morgan is a journalist. She is smart, she is young, she is exploring the world as young people do, but Sophie has a wild side.

I have to admit that I blushed a lot throughout the book. In fact, as I sit here typing this review, I feel the flush in my face as my cheeks redden. The story may not be for all readers, however it is very well written. The writing style has a flow and Sophie is a likable character. Aside from the erotic romance one is sure to discover between the covers of this book, there is a journey of a relatable young woman who comes into her own as she determines what she needs to be happy.

This book is not the genre I would typically read, nonetheless it was good to venture out of my comfort zone of what I would typically read. I may have done a lot of blushing and my eyebrows may have spent the better part of reading raised, in spite of that, I enjoyed the book.

Disclaimer: This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. I was compensated for my review, and received a copy of Diary of a Submissive HOWEVER, I only recommend products and/or services I personally believe in.

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