Wow. I mean, WOW. BlogHer’11, what can I say? I had a blast.
The nerves I had building up to it were pointless. Once there, meeting all the fabulous women, it’s hard not to just settle in and become part of the madness. Though, in fact, I wasn’t so much a part of the madness, as I didn’t really “do” many of the actual sessions or conferences or run around pushing my “brand” but more relaxed and attended the parties and met so many amazing women {some who made me feel like a celebrity, thank you}, some whom I already felt like I knew and so many fresh faces I can’t even count, not to mention the entire BlogHer Staff who are to be commended for their brilliant efforts in bringing women together like this.
So without further ado I give you, in a nutshell, MY weekend {Thurs-Sun} at BlogHer’11.
* The view from our balcony at the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina. {though my camera lens makes it appear much closer than it actually is in reality}
* My bro & my husband …the two people I spent the most time with and who accompanied me to most of the parties I attended. And 2 of the maybe 20 men total at the entire conference 😉 {also, yes, my husband wore his fedora the entire trip ;}
* The pools below us …we were on the 23rd floor.
* At night. I’m telling you, the views from this hotel are SPECTACULAR!
 
* Night one {Thursday}, I met my fellow Section Editors at BlogHer & had my first Mojito at the bar by the pool. I have to admit, the grounds of the Marriott and the hotel itself, as well as the staff, were excellent.
* I interviewed Carley from digitwirl on Friday afternoon, on a stage, in the middle of the expo. And while I was ridiculously nervous for it, it actually went very well. Unfortunately, this is the only shot I have of it so far {taken by my sister in law, the818, thank you!} and even though it looks like we are arguing here, we are not 😉
 
 
* After the interview on Friday I totally and finally relaxed …and we had lunch at Roy’s where my Mon Mode purse hook came in quite handy!
* My bro …carrying the818‘s bags while she was busy running around.
* Some napping…
* The view at night was just as spectacular.
* And then we got dressed for Sparklecorn…
 
* But before Sparklecorn, we went to You-phoria {by One2One Network} which had the most amazing moving wall mural ever. I was in love. {check the quick video below!}
* I actually bought this navy sequined dress at Modcloth for New Years Eve {blogged about here} but ended up staying in so it was the PERFECT dress for Sparklecorn where I finally met the very very fabulous Le Musings of Moi & The Stylish Housewife whom I feel like I’ve known forever. * Also wearing my Salvatore Ferragamo navy satin heels & Aldo leopard clutch from ages ago and feather earrings are from Forever21.
* I mean, really, I have never seen so many women on one dance floor. It was AMAZING. I’m telling you!
* With my bro, on our balcony, resting my blistered and aching feet after dancing at Sparklecorn. {sadly, the boys couldn’t get in without passes ;{
* The opposite view from our balcony at night… …and in the morning
* Seriously, the views, I could not get over!
* Much of Saturday was spent relaxing out by the pool with the818, Linz Loves You, tie a little ribbon and the heir to Blair …and a duck …and though I didn’t really get any photos, I did get a bit of a sun burn.
 
* Saturday night I wore my Mara Hoffman black dress, House of harlow necklace, and old Guess buckle heels. I honestly can’t believe I didn’t take more outfit shots for you guys! It was just such a whirlwind, it didn’t really cross my mind.
* First we went to a Pan Am Sony Pictures party sponsored/hosted by the fabulous Barbara Jones and the One2One Network again where we first screened the pilot for the new show “Pan Am” on ABC and had the best dinner and dessert you could imagine on the 34th floor of The University Club in San Diego. The panoramic view was incredible to say the least and our take-home was the most fantastic retro Pan-Am bag filled with goodies. I have to be honest when I say, I didn’t attend BlogHer and/or parties for the swag …in fact, I didn’t care about it in the least {and I may have been the only one ;} but these retro bags are so adorable it has become my new camera bag.
 
 
 
*After the Pan Am party, I was supposed to hit the Style Suite at the Hard Rock but based on advice from a friend, I didn’t make it and really I can’t tell you how bummed I am that I missed it. We stopped in our room to freshen up a bit and randomly caught an unforgettable firework show from our balcony.
* We ended our trip with the CheeseburgHer Party …which actually smelled like cheeseburgers. And while the smell of McDonald’s at a party is kind of gross, the party itself was fun and yet another night of hundred’s of women {and my husband and brother} dancing til we couldn’t feel our feet.
* And here’s the only shot I have from it …my glowing arm party!
* We woke up Sunday morning very sleepy and ready to go back home. The sun was so bright, I couldn’t even look at the camera.
* One last look at our view… and we were off. Back to LA.
BlogHer was such a wonderful experience, if it happened to be on the West Coast every year, I would go …but next year I think it’s in New York and I’m not too big on flying so I’ll make no such commitments as of yet.
I have handfuls of business cards to go through and URLs and Twitter handles to find and follow which I will be sorting through this week. It was so lovely to have met everyone I did and bummed I missed a few of you ladies {Mama Kat & Bethany and so many more!} but I’ve come out of my closet, so to speak 😉 and am possibly much more open-minded about meeting my fellow bloggers and far less anti-social than I had been prior to BlogHer. In fact, for not attending one single conference session at BlogHer, I actually learned a lot. And that’s something.
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