I woke up Sunday 8/7 knowing I had to quickly say goodbye to my now good buddy, Miranda {Diana had left in the middle of the night}. I helped Miranda ship off some of her swag & Diana’s forgotten laptop. While in the hotel lobby {in my pj top no less}, I was able to say goodbye to Erika, Casey, & Katie as well as figure out that Nichole & I had similar flights out.
I’m still in shock that Alena collected enough swag to fill a double bed, that my swag filled a huge suitcase, & that my Scout bag made for the perfect carry on. Yes, you can call us BlogHer newbie swaghags. I love free shit. I won’t buy shopping bags, lip stuff, cloth diapers, water bottles or pens for a while. I’m thrilled with the children’s toys, other toys, books, nail polish, gifts & gift cards I brought home.
After a hastily eaten quesadilla with Jen & Angela, I said goodbye to Hannah & Alena, dragged my bags & checked out of the beautiful hotel. Nichole & I left at noon & chatted non-stop until her flight left at 330. It was great to have more one on one time to talk infertility & future blogging as well as having someone to watch your bags while you enjoyed a diet coke or as in my case, figured out all my delays. I hated saying goodbye but am already enjoying a closer online relationship with her.
Knowing I still had time in San Diego plus a very close lay over, I switched to sit closer to my gate & found Molly. Yay for more bloggy chats in the airport. With hugs goodbye, I boarded the flight to Phoenix. My Phoenix to RDU flight ended up being delayed 3 hours which meant I was able to get on it yet it also meant that I arrived in Raleigh at 3am.
Was the BlogHer hangover worth it? Absolutely. Have you seen that it took four posts to recap the fun?! I love the women I met, the companies I connected with, the friendships I grew. I realized from BlogHer that I like who I am & came home maybe a little more confident that I could go off kinda {but not really} alone & have a rocking good time. BlogHer taught me to feel like a real blogger/writer now instead of this girl who does this thing on the internet.
I felt a bit that BlogHer was like high school for me {yes, I’m a weirdo who enjoyed HS}. I loved & tried to be involved in so many groups because I hated to not spend time with everyone. And I still feel like I didn’t get enough time with each individual blogger. I don’t know what I’d skip, but I left craving more time to absorb awesomeness from so many ladies I just barely had time to chat with & hug.
Will I be photographing & running around in NYC for BlogHer12? Maybe. While I admired & enjoyed seeing the babywearing blogging mommas, I don’t think I’d want to do that. I also don’t think I’d enjoy BlogHer super pregnant. So BlogHer12 is a maybe. And if I’m not there, someone better take 500 photos, so I can live it vicariously through them!
With that, my BlogHer recaps are done. Can I call myself a BlogHer veteran yet?!