Laura Lohr

Not Just an Alliteration

The Social Network—Laura Lohr Style

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Today was a day chockful of opportunities to socialize with adults. This, you may shrug off and say, “Yeah, so what? What’s the big deal?” The big deal is that for the past six years, I have been a stay-at-home mommy with nothing fancy to wear, elbow deep in poop. Actually, all of that is a vast exaggeration, but you get the picture. I have been at home, taking care of the family, many days shaking my fists, wondering when I would have some semblance of a social life again. In due time, Momma. In due time.

I spent my day at work today, around adults, having adult conversations and I really enjoy it. I truly do. Allie Kat was at day camp again today and loved every minute. I still cannot shake the guilt of leaving her there during the day, yet she is having a blast. I miss her. I am watching my little girl grow up before my eyes and the little precious moments slip through my fingers like grains of sand. She is becoming more independent. She is becoming more social. She does not need me to kiss every boo boo. Part of my heart aches. On the other hand, I am enjoying getting back to the work force and rediscovering my own identity that extends beyond motherhood.

There was an award ceremony after work. It was a roast actually. It was a lot of fun to get out, eat some tasty California Pizza Kitchen cuisine and hang out with the girls from the office. I was awarded, “New Kid on the Block” and they made me feel a part of the team—that my work was valuable. It felt wonderful!

The roast was over at 6:00 p.m. and I ran over to a tweet-up hosted by San Diego Family Expo and San Diego Bargin Mama. It was in La Jolla, a few blocks down from where the roast was at Apollonia Greek Bistro. It was the perfect location to hang out on the patio and chat it up with other bloggers. I met up with old blogger friends and new ones. They were giving out Dearform slippers and I needed a new pair. I was only planning on staying for an hour. I stayed for three!

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@SugarJones and @SD_DealsnSteals
I met Sugar at BlogHer 2010 in NYC. She is an awesome lady. I met Kate tonight for the first time. We had great conversation.

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@ThePinkyProject & @KathieZaccaria
Angela and Kathie were fun! We are planning another tweet-up at the Del Mar Races in August. I can’t wait!

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@designsbyjaness & @mommycanrun
Janessa had a really cool experience where she made some jewelery for Amalah and her business took off. It was a interesting story. Janessa is sweet.

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@Sign4Baby & @SoCalwithKids
I loved hanging out with these two ladies. They were so much fun.

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@MyNameIsTobyAnd & @kidventures
I am now following Toby on Twitter. Toby is a rescue Jack Russell Terrier. Toby’s owner is on the left, representing Toby.

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@Sign4Baby, @SEXucator, @ThePinkyProject

Photo credit: Angela of The Pinky Project

I was having so much fun, I could not leave after an hour.

I called Mr. Bear, “I am talking and I cannot shut up,” I said half-joking, because really I could not shut up.

I was in my element. I was chatting with like-minded people. We talked about our smart phones, our blogs, social media, marketing, and every geeky topic in between, since there are professionals as Tom Johnson that specialize in marketing. It sometimes blows my mind that there are other people that like to geek out with their gadgets as much as I do. Unlike leprechauns, they do exist and I felt like I was surrounded by kindred spirits.

BlogHer is going to be terrific. I cannot wait!

Everyone was all a buzz about the BlogHer conference coming up in two weeks. It is difficult to not be nervous before going to the conference—I know from experience. I am not nervous this time around. I am excited for the opportunities coming up in two short weeks.

Are you going to BlogHer? Are you a geek like me? Let me know.

20 Years

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Tonight Mr. Bear and I went to his 20 year reunion. I was a bit unsure of how it was going to go. I did not know anyone from Mr. Bear’s high school, except for him. The reunion was held at Rock Bottom Brewery in La Jolla and it was a nice location for such an event.

While scanning the room, it occurred to me just how different the 20 year reunion class looked compared to the 10 year reunion class. Everyone was fat and old. I mean some people had aged more gracefully than others, but overall everyone was fat, old, and drunk. It is more of a reflection on the fact that we are 38 years old more than it is a reflection on Mr. Bear’s graduating class. I mean no disrespect. There were some attractive 37, 38 year olds. It merely occurred to me tonight in a real way—we are nearing our forties. It was a bit overwhelming in a way. I was thinking, “WAIT, I am not finished growing up yet!”

Next week is my 20 year reunion. Well, next week is sort of my 20 year reunion, as our reunion was canceled due to lack of interest. Personally, I think it was way over-priced and that is why not one is going, but that is another tale. There is a small, informal get-together next week and I am trying to make it work out to go. I do not know if I will be able to make it though. Mr. Bear has to be picked up from the airport that night and I do not know how I am going to make that work out.

The moral of this story? Appreciate every moment of your youth. Before too long, you will get older, and it will happen quicker than you think!

The Big Island-First Installment

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Mr. Bear and I have both been to Hawaii. We have both been to Maui and Oahu. We have never been to any of the Islands together. My mom’s cousin moved to the Big Island five years ago and has been urging us to come and visit. We finally booked our trip in late December and arrived on the Big Island on Sunday.

After the tsunami in Japan last week, we watched the news, wondering if it would hit the Big Island. It hit parts Kailua-Kona, along the shore and waited to hear news from our family in Hawaii if it was safe to come. Although there was some damage along parts of the coast, the damage would not affect our travels. After hearing the “all clear,” we watched with sadness at the damage in Japan.

We arrived at the airport in Kailua-Kona in the afternoon. My mom’s cousin Teri and her family surprised us with the warmest Aloha welcome we could have imagined—complete with flower lei’s for the girls and macadamia nut beaded necklaces. We were greeted with the Aloha Spirit and made to feel quite welcome.

We then got our rental car and followed Teri’s family to Costco, where we stocked up with goods for our ten day stay on the island. Harold, Teri’s husband, introduced us to poke. It is officially my favorite food and I am certain I could live on it. It is so tasty! Next, we went out to eat in town, where we were able to witness some of Kona’s famous beautiful sunsets and much of the tsunami damage that hit Kona. Dinner was delicious!

We are staying at a condo that has magnificent ocean views from most of the windows. It feels like home over here. If you are ever looking for a reasonably priced place to stay that is beautiful, fully gated, and comfortable, e-mail me. The place is amazing and the owner is wonderful!

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This was our view, our first morning at our condo.

We spent the second day and night visiting with our family, at their beautiful home that sits on top of a hill, overlooking the coast. They sit at 1900 feet and one can see the entire shore of Kona on this side of the island. They have an incredible view from their lanai and their lanai is the most comfortable, inviting place to sit around and enjoy the scenery. Allie Kat played with the dogs, the chickens, the cat, and her cousins. I do not think we have ever seen our kid have so much fun as she has been having the past couple of days.

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Allie, climbing the black lava at the harbor.

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A sea turtle, beached at the harbor.

We walked around their property and picked fresh fruits from their trees. We tried bread fruit last night and learned how to properly cut a mango. Their house is beautiful! It is a fantastic place to be and their hospitality has been fabulous!

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This was our dinner, which most of us kissed and posed for a photo. This is my dad kissing the fish. Harold is holding the fish.

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Bread fruit—not from their trees, from the local market. Deliciously prepared.

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Allie, enjoying local bananas and mango for breakfast.

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Mr. Bear, in his Hawaiian lei.

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Just one of the beautiful photos I snapped, while relaxing on the lanai at my mom’s cousin’s house.

We have been around different parts of the island and have spent a lot of time laughing, relaxing, and enjoying the moment. I do not think there is a place we have been that has felt like home, the way we have been made to feel here.

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The harbor, near Teri and Harold’s home. There were sea turtles on the beach. It was another perfect sunset!

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Tomorrow, we have waterfalls, botanical gardens, and who knows what else to discover. What I do know, is that it will be amazing, like every day has been so far.

Blaaawwging in 2011

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It seems like forever since I posted here. I have a confession to make—December is not my favorite month. It is a month of obligations, busyness, buying gifts, trying to fit it all in, and failing miserably at balance. Do not get me wrong, I love Christmas. We have a five year old, full of wide-eye wonder and excitement; I love me some Christmas. Nonetheless, those priorities begin malfunctioning. The good health and inevitably, good cheer fall out of favor, in exchange for yummy goodies, and GOOD GRAVY, I forgot to get the Christmas cards out. To top it off, I had some sort of jaw pain for most of the month and had my first ever (and hopefully, last ever) emergency dental appointment that yielded antibiotics to combat a wretched sinus infection. Not fun.

There were many wonderful visits we had with family and friends. Some day, I will sit down and post those pictures of the fun we had. There was even a date get-away weekend that was completely fab and very blog worthy. For now, suffice to say we were busy having fun and living out of suitcases, or packing and unpacking them.

Here it is, January 7, 2011 and those Christmas cards never went out. I lost my way in the fitness department and we have been hit by the plague (READ: Kindergarten germs) a thousand times, it seems. Nevertheless, I have to say that 2010 stacked up to be a phenomenal year.

Some Highlights:

1. I lost 20 pounds and learned how to eat right. (I gained some of it back and am 5 pounds away from losing it all again. At least I did not give up!)
2. I started Boot Camp and loved every painful minute of it. I met some awesome people and got fit doing it.
3. I started writing a book, and while it is only a quarter of the way finished, I exercised some flabby creative muscles.
4. I got out. I met some incredible friends in the San Diego blogging community and look forward to getting to know them better.
5. I went to NYC and to the BlogHer conference. It was awesome! I learned so much and met some incredible friends.
6. Allie went to preschool and to Kindergarten.
7. I ran the AFC Half Marathon for the sixth time and beat last year’s time by 12 minutes. One step closer to a personal record! (My personal record was set before having Allie. Must get back in shape.)
8. I took a writing class for no other reason, except for the fact that I wanted to.
9. I learned a lot about myself and truly learned to like myself. I learned to balance family, friends, work, and play a bit better. I have some goals to work on, yet I know what I want out of life.
10. I had an all-around good, clean, and fun year.
11. I discovered that I want a career change and I know what I want to do. I will keep you posted on this as the year progresses. Pretty awesome stuff, though.
12. We managed to not use a credit card at all, (except to book travel and paid it off before the bill came in). This was three years in the making and we have made good progress.
13. I applied for and got a job through a friend I met at the pre-BlogHer meet-up in July. This is my first job since before I had Allie. I am waiting on some paperwork, so I will not go into detail just yet.

I have some goals for this year:

1. Get down to my fighting weight.
2. Start running regularly again, or swimming. I must make this a habit. (I am looking forward to beginning the year with regular Boot Camp.)
3. Eat healthy and small, frequent meals.
4. Do an even better job managing and balancing the household. We have made good strides; however, there is always room for improvement.
5. Get the office under control. We have many organization and storage issues to tackle. The month of January is the month!
6. Get rid of those clothes that do not fit—all of them. I have been hanging onto some things and it is not healthy. Even when I fit into a smaller size, I want new stuff. 🙂
7. Read more.
8. Blog More.
9. Have more date nights with Mr. Bear.
10. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
11. Get organized with meal planning again. Start using my lists after I write them.
12. Travel more. This goal has sort of taken care of itself. We have a trip planned to Kona, Hawaii coming up soon and I can hardly wait.

I cannot wait to see what the year 2011 has in store!

BlogHer Saturday: the Parties, the Swag, the Sessions

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I barely woke up on time Saturday morning. The red eye flight on Wednesday evening/Thursday morning, the late night Thursday, the early morning Friday, the late night Friday, and I was hurting. I went to breakfast, feeling a bit nauseous. The breakfast from the morning before had a variety of foods. Saturday was chockful of CARBS! SWEETS! MORE CARBS! AND PASTRIES! Blech. Not exactly what I needed. I needed protein—STAT! After piling a plateful of food that I could not stomach. I found my new BFF’s Jenn and Jen from Boston and we commenced to discuss our crazy fun night. What parties would we attend? What sessions were we going to? Would I have time for a nap? (No.)

We parted ways and I confess that I went back upstairs to close my eyes for *just* a second. I freshened up and made it through the sessions, consuming, breathing in, digesting the sessions, and learning so much. I attended the sessions entitled: Writing Lab: How to Use Your Blogging to Make You a Better Writer, Passions: Fitness Blogging: Motivate Yourself and Your Readers, and Personal: ROYO – Little Fish in a Big Pond: Understanding, Accepting, and Loving Your Small Blog. I cannot say which of these three I loved the most. They were all profoundly informative and had great dialogue. There is something magical about being involved in the conversations in the room. Being surrounded by such intelligent, talented, amazing woman was something I will not soon forget. Hangover be damned, this was something special and I drank in the time spent in those conference rooms.

The BlogHer conference had a lot of free stuff. I mean, more shiz than I could possibly imagine. The sponsors were numerous: Chevy, Nestle, Jimmy Dean (sausage), Tropicana, Wal-Mart, P&G, PepsiCo, Playskool, T-Mobile, Pilsbury, Firefox, Microsoft, and MANY, MANY more! Each sponsor had FREE! STUFF!! WOOT! I left so much behind in the hotel room, because I just could not pack it all and take it with us (You are welcome, Cleaning Staff of the Hilton. I spent all my cash on booze the night before. Consider the Swag a tip). Everyone was buzzing about the Swag! Martha Stewart had two bags of Swag to give and I kept the stationary punch—something I would have never justified purchasing myself, but look forward to using.

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There was a Playdoh set given out by PlaySkool, but thank you TSA for considering playdoh a liquid. Some fine gift I gave my daughter—without the Playdoh.

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There was just so much. Free $150 jeans! Free make-up! Free make-overs! Tampons! Free adult toys! Boxed food! I went to the Swag suites upstairs, where Ecco Shoes was giving free pedicures, previewing their Fall shoe collection for women and passing out cupcakes and champagne. I cannot even believe how much stuff was given out. Corporate America cares about what women bloggers think and it amazed me how much we matter, as women. It was a bit overwhelming to comprehend, as I was not expecting to see it first hand. I have been asked to review products on my blog, but THIS was mind-blowing! Fill out this survey and get this Swag bag. I have more recyclable grocery bags than I could use in my lifetime. Each one, was filled to the top with goodies.

The Parties

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Oh, BlogHer and her parties! There were so many activities going on all the time and many of them going on simultaneously. I was unsure before arriving in New York, if I would get into any of the parties. They were doing things differently this year and by the time I got to RSVP, they were all wait-listed. Great, I thought. I had a bit of angst, as my new BFF’s and I had each gotten into a different party, each owning our own agenda for the night. It was looking like I was flying solo.

I went to the first party with Jen from Boston. It was Bloggy State of Mind and it was so much fun! They had street dancers that were so talented! We stayed for a while, grabbed some drinks, and ate some of the yummy appetizers. The music was good and I did my white girl dance.

Next up, was SPARKLECORN! This was the party that Jenn was looking forward to and I didn’t know what to expect. The cake had peanut butter and jelly filling. There was karaoke. Even the President made his appearance. Who knew Barrack Obama would be there? (Not really, but there was a cardboard representation of Obama and people were dancing with him. I understand there was a congo line, with him leading the line). I had so much fun and the time went by so quickly. We met up with Jenn and had even more drinks! I danced even more white girl dancing and for the first time in a long time—I didn’t care that I don’t have rhythm.

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Sporting my Blogalicious head piece around my neck, because I am an original. Or, something. Glow bracelets and necklaces, courtesy of Sparklecorn.

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Carmen and ???. I met Carmen at the Fitness Blogging: Motivate Yourself and Your Readers session. She is so inspiring and such an awesome lady!

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I love this picture of Jenn. It totally captures her personality. The girl is hilarious!

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Sierra, Jenn’s co-worker. She was sweet and adorable.

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These two girls were all dolled up in their Sparklecorn gear.

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The cake

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Jenn and Sierra

The next party was the one I had been looking most forward to—CheeseburgHer! At this party, there was McDonald’s food and a table to decorate your own CheeseburgHer hat. There was more dancing, more drinks and more fun!

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CheeseburgHers!

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I loved this girl’s hat!

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There were plenty of places to hang out and relax, including in the CheeseburgHer beds.

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Who was that masked man?

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Jen from Boston—is that a Pink Twitter in your hand?

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Cheesing it up!

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Jenn and I

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Mr. Bear, getting his cheese on.

I had a great night. I got into all the parties I wanted. I got to meet so many cool women, including Y of Joy Unexpected. I have been blog stalking her for the past couple of years. I introduced myself to her and she gave me a hug. She was beautiful in person. She was very warm and friendly (not that I expected any less from her). I was a little nervous meeting her and I did not get a chance to talk to her for long, but she was sweet. Her recount of the CheeseburgHer parties (on her blog) of the past were one of the reasons I was so excited about the party.

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