After the Martha Stewart party on Thursday, Mr. Bear and I shared a cab with a woman I met at the tale-end of the party. Judy is an adoption advocate and has 3 children that her family adopted through an international adoption. She was so interesting, so smart, and sweet. We both had a great time at the Martha event. We could not believe we got to be a part of it!

Do you know how many BFF’s I gained through this conference? These woman are freaking amazing!

When we returned to our NYC Hilton home, Mr. Bear and I partook in some cocktails downstairs, walked around Midtown a bit, then had a drink at the Warwick Hotel, across the street from the Hilton. Neither of us had any clue the famous patrons that have lived or stayed for extended periods at the Warwick Hotel: Elvis Presley, Carey Grant, Jimmy Stewart, the Beatles, the Monkees, Jimi Hendrix, as well as many others. We sipped our $11 pint of beer and opted not for another beverage at those prices, feeling a bit of celebrity ourselves. We smoked cloves and then went to bed at 3:30 a.m.

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Friday

Friday morning, I missed the Newbie breakfast somehow? How did I miss it? I haven’t a clue. We did not get our conference agendas until we hit breakfast Thursday, not when we checked in. It would have been helpful to have that manual on Thursday(((Shrugs)))) Oh well. If there is one thing I learned about BlogHer, it is to be flexible. Do not over-schedule. Relax. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Breakfast was sponsored by Tropicana. When we walked into the breakfast area, greeters were shouting, “Don’t forgot ‘Juice with Bruce!’ Meet Bruce Jenner before you leave and get your picture with him!” You can see in THIS post that I did, in fact have juice with Bruce, and it may have been one of the more awkward moments of my life. I only got my picture with him because I find the cast of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” to be rather cartoon-like. Besides, I thought Mr. Bear would get a big laugh out of the pictures. In spite of everything, Bruce seems the least cartoon-like of all of them. I stepped up to Bruce and said, “Could I get a picture with you?” He acquiesced and I handed my camera to someone to quickly snap our photo.

Only, it did not happen quickly. My cell phone or the person I asked to take the picture malfunctioned and I stood there arm and arm with Bruce Jenner, while she fumbled with the thing. I laughed my nervous laugh. The obnoxious one, reserved for situations such as these. We reset the cell phone and at long last, click, click. Voila! We had a picture. Finally. It felt like five minutes of awkward, however, was likely far less time.

Tamra Barney of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” was also at breakfast, however, I concluded having one uncomfortable brush with celebrity was more than enough. It would be unfair for me not to mention—Mr. Potato Head and the Pillsbury Doughboy were also there. They seemed friendly enough.

I made an oath to myself before arriving at BlogHer. I would never sit alone, stand alone, or isolate. I vowed to introduce myself and my goal was to pass out all of the 1000 business cards I brought with me. I accomplished my goal of introducing myself, nonetheless, I only half accomplished the second goal. I probably have 250 business cards left. Not too shabby! I sat at a almost full table of women, near the front of the room. I met, Liz of Everyday Goddess, whom I was familiar with her and her blog. I met some other women at the table, some familiar faces and some brand new. There was a lot of chit-chat, then the keynote speaker began. The keynote was inspiring and I felt like a part of something very important. You can find the keynote speaker transcripts/podcasts (and of all conference sessions) HERE. Then, we were dismissed to the conference sessions.

All I can say about the three sessions I attended (Writing Lab: Writing Inspiration: Stoke Your Creativity, Personal: ROYO – Latinas in Social Media, and Professional: ROYO – Social Media is Bringing Sexy Back to Branding — Do You Have the Social Media Strategy and Tools for Success?), is this: phenomenal, inspiring, awesome, and FUCKING AMAZING! They were so good and I came back up to the room, reeling from the head-full of information I had been bestowed. It was honestly, a little overwhelming, yet not regrettable.

I hastily got ready to go back downstairs after freshening up after the sessions; exhausted, however, not ready to succumb to the fatigue. I grabbed a beverage with Mr. Bear, whom I had not seen ALL day, then got back to it. Somehow, I forgot that the Aiming Low EZ PZ Party I had been so incredibly excited about was at 6:00 p.m. that evening. I am so sorry to say that I missed it. 🙁 I almost cried.

I met some women at the bar downstairs. One I particularly connected with, I had no idea what an accomplished writer she is! Tracey was super friendly and so interesting to talk to. She was down to Earth and I ended up feeling like I had known her for years.

I finished up my Pink Twitter (a drink the hotel was offering in honor of the conference) and made my way to the Gala party, where the fun really began. I hold the opinion that the Gala should have been Saturday, rather than Friday, as it would have been a great time to wrap everything up. The crowd was rather small, as there were many private events going on in the city. Nevertheless, I have to say that as few people that were there, I meet some amazing people and had a blast. There was karaoke. Enough said. (For fuck’s sake, can I think of another word than “amazing”? I guess not!)

Guess who forgot her camera up in the room? The elevator situation was a bit frustrating. It took sometimes 20 minutes to get an elevator up or down. Because we were on the 26th floor, taking the stairs was not an option. I would argue that getting an elevator was more difficult than getting a cab at rush hour, in New York City. So, camera stayed put in the hotel room. On another note, this post is very verbose, tomorrow’s may not be, as I will have photos! photos! and more photos! I have been warned, however, that photos of me that evening do exist and to be afraid—very afraid.

I went to the party alone, which was rather intimidating. I sent Mr. Bear a text message saying I was all alone and feeling a bit uncomfortable. By the time he answered my text, I had met a group of girls that I hung out with the rest of the night. I met Jen from Boston, Jenn of Growing Up Guarro and Jenn’s co-worker Sierra, of Actual Mom. The two Jen(n)s and I were inseparable the rest of the night, laughing like school girls and having a great time. We wandered down to the bar, where we closed it down.

Jen from Boston and Jenn (Jenn, two N’s) This photo is from the following night—the parties! Oh! The Parties!

I turned in at 3:00 a.m. It was a full and exhilarating day! I cannot even put into words how much fun I had and what an experience this truly was! Stay tuned for the parties! the swag! the photos! and other adventures!