Ok guys, it’s totally time for my BlogHer post! And I know why I’ve been puttin’ it off/avoidin’ it since it ended, um, 11 days ago (oy!) – it’s a beast! So much to share, make fun of, & give props to.

I’m gonna start at the very beginning, which Julie Andrews tell me is a very good place to start. Early Friday morning I had a 10a appointment to be interviewed in the PepsiCo booth as part of their Women: The 5G Network series. I wasn’t sure how they got my info or what they were gonna ask me, but that didn’t stop me from saying, “Duh!” So, right after the Newbie Breakfast (which I only caught the tail-end of, because I went to the non-newbie breakfast without realizing it because, um, I was a newbie. But thanks to Anna and Lori for saving me a seat anyways!) I tried to counteract my extremely poor sense of direction & find my way to the Expo Hall that the PepsiCo booth was in. When I finally found it (after, um, 25 minutes – and it was 10 feet from where I was for breakfast!), I was shocked to find not just a stage, not just lighting equipment, not just two cameras, not just a “set”, not just a super sweet Access Hollywood-like interviewer, but a make-up person, too! I mean, for serious, people. I loved the heck out of this, and here’s the finished product to prove it!:

So fun, right? My headband had a cute feather on it that was actually on the side of my head facing away from the camera, but you live and learn, right?

I can go on and on about Day 1, but Tara did a great job of describing my sentiments exactly in her recap called, approporiately, blogher10 – it was, um, weird. Here are the highlights in picture form:

Top left: Me with the actual Jimmy Dean Sun guy from the actual Jimmy Dean Sun commercials. He asked me my name and I said “Michelle.” I asked him his and he said “The sun”. Ah, to be an actor again. Top right: Me and Mrs. Potato Head (credit Tara). This is when it struck me as odd that this constitutes going to work. Bottom left: One of the three Marmadukes from the movie. To take pictures with. What?! Bottom right: The funnest part of my day! We skipped out on the Lean Cuisine lunch or whatever they were serving at BlogHer and I went to Johnny Utah’s with (from l-r) Tara, Megan, Rebecca (who tweeted this about me: “Musical theatre kid turned career coach. Great vintage style. Carrie Bradshaw’s smarter little sister.” She’s so my new bestie) & Ashley.

And thank my lucky stars for Amy recognizing me from the back (it was a Blog Out Loud reunion!) during the Voices of the Year keynote at the end of Day 1, because she saved me with the question, “I’m meeting a friend downstairs for a drink. Wanna come with?”  Not that hearing excerpts from the bloggers given Voices of the Year award wasn’t important or awesome or anything, but when the Holocaust excerpt got read and then the graphic breast cancer excerpt got read, well, it was too much for me to handle at 5:30p on a Friday. We went to the hotel bar and turned into a big group when Erin, Miss E, Lulu & the Mojito Maven joined us! Girls whose blogs were named for some of my favorite beverages? So my peeps. I tore myself away to head to the EZPZ Party, which is the only one that I (a) got in to and (b) could attend, because I had no idea that BlogHer had stuff beyond the dates/times that they gave us when we signed up (namely 8a-10p Friday and 8a-6p Saturday). They had parties on Thursday & Saturday nights, but I had plans, people! Geez Louise Louise, that was annoying. OK, rant over.

So, I went to take the 10 minute walk over to the party, when what awaited me right outside but a pedicab mob of Marios:

I don’t think that they had anything to do with BlogHer – they were outside the Ziegfeld Theater, which was showing Inception, which also has nothing to do with Super Mario – but still, an odd sight (yet not as odd as I would have usually thought it, considering the day!) nonetheless.

I made it to the party without my Cart (like Super Marios – get it? I know, I know, I’ll get off the stage) but didn’t last too long because (a) I was tired (b) I had all the “swag” with me (which, um, don’t lynch me, but I thought was mostly junk) (c) they had very little food but a big bar, so I was getting drunk & quick. But the view from the restaurant was spectacular & they had a fake photo booth, so I made sure to take a shot with my new cute blogging teenage friend (she was there with her Mom & stepdad – so cute!) who told me more than once that I was “really pretty.” Seriously, everyone at BlogHer is my new bestie.

Is this you? If it is, please please let me know! I didn’t get a card for you & don’t know where you are. I’d love to follow your blog & read about your first year at college!

In summation, the only thing that kicked ass about BlogHer the first day was the people (Session 1 was eh, I skipped Session 2 and walked out of Session 3), and if I didn’t already have a ticket for Day Two, I probably wouldn’t have showed up. But I’m so glad I did, as BlogHer redeemed itself on Day Two! Come back tomorrow to get the recap, but first, I must leave you with this question, which I implore you to answer in the comments after your first glance at it (don’t look too long!):

What body part is this?

Tags: Michelle's Memoirs, Rousing Reviews, Vocal Videos

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 1:27 am and is filed under Encouragement for Everyone, Happy Hooplah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.