My Heart Belongs to BlogHer '10

I am back from my epic adventure, also known as BlogHer '10.  It was indeed just that, epic.  There will be lots of posts the next few days about all of the different events and things I attended and did.  I had contemplated an all inclusive BlogHer post and then nixed the idea.  Way too much fabulousness to be rolled into one measly post for sure!

This was my very first blogging conference.  It is the biggest one for women held every year at a different place.  This year it happened to be in New York City.  Considering other venues have been Chicago and San Francisco, this was practically in my backyard.  So I figured, go big or go home.  I boarded the train last Thursday with some apprehension about what the weekend would bring.  I could have never imagined what it actually became.

BlogHer '10 was 2,400 of some of the most amazing bloggers from around the country.  All in one space.  Some may talk about the sessions, others the companies and swag, and still other the private parties.  Heck, I'll be talking about those things in later posts.  But what this conference really boiled down to for me was the people.

I have always loved to write.  I was the editor of the high school paper.  I started out in college majoring in communications and intending to go into journalism.  Then after freshman year I took a hard look at what I wanted my life to be.  I knew I wanted to be a mother and a wife.  Flitting off to whatever story I was assigned to whatever corner of the earth didn't jive with what I wanted myself to be in those roles.  So I morphed into an English major.  Eventually I would become a teacher.  I would leave after the birth of boy #3 because it just was no longer cost effective for me to keep working.  And right about then I began to blog.  To write about my passions.  My children.  My family.  My life as a stay at home mom.

I still remember this spring when I was invited as a mom blogger to attend a press event for the American Museum of Natural History.  I stood in the hall with my press badge and my heart leapt.  Somehow, somewhere along the line following my heart and having a family had brought me my dreams.  One could have never imagined the venue that blogging has become fifteen years ago when I graduated high school and headed off to become a writer.

Now, all those years later, I sat in a ballroom listening to the State of the Blogosphere surrounded on every side by women who get that.  All of it.  And a few men thrown in there for good measure.  I need not explain what a blog is, why people read them or why so many companies are interested in working with them.  No matter what these people chose to blog about, they get the medium and are shoulder to shoulder in there with me.

I can go on and on about the wonderful people I met.  There are lists of them.  I have a pile of business cards a good six inches thick.  Each bringing the memories of faces, smiles and passions shared.  It was wonderful to see my blogging friends that I have already met in person.  It was exciting to meet so many I talk to on a regular basis for the first time in real life, complete with hugs and laughs.  Best was to meet ones I had never met before albeit online or in person.

Many posts will follow this that will include pictures, friends and faces.  But today I leave you with just one.  Mine.  Photographed by my phenom of a friend, The Sophisticated Gourmet, the last night of the conference sitting on the floor outside the grand ballroom.  I think it says it all.

NECandles.com is my BlogHer'10 sponsor. They have paid for my BlogHer'10 ticket and in return are receiving advertising and promotion on Momma D and Da Boyz.