Attending Blissdom ’12? Join Me For a Photowalk on Thursday!
I’m so excited to be flying to Nashville, TN next week. I’ve been lucky to be involved with Bissdom since the beginning, when it was a tiny, one room event. Every year it has grown and become even more brilliant. I cherish the time I will have to spend with friends who I don’t get to see for the entire rest of the year! I look forward to the fun, love-filled, happy community environment that awaits.
But this year I’m even more excited because I’ll be doing something I love to do in association with the conference – hosting a Photowalk! I know that many of you love to take photos as much as I do, and doing that together is just the best kind of hangout time that photographers can plan. There is endless beauty inside of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, and we’ll be walking through it under the biodome and among lush plants getting some amazing shots along the way. Let’s photograph an indoor waterfall together, what do you say? 
All levels are welcome – bring your camera in phone, point and shoot, DSLR – whatever you have!
Please RSVP: http://plancast.com/p/9w85
Have questions? I’m happy to answer them!
Walk Details
- When: Thursday, February 23rd, 10am
- Where: Meet in the Magnolia Ballroom
- RSVP: http://plancast.com/p/9w85
- Hashtag: #BD12PW
Social Media Details
Please RSVP for the walk (even if you’re not 100% sure you’ll make it) at the Plancast Page here: http://plancast.com/p/9w85
Blissdom ’12 Photowalk Facebook Group – if you’re planning on attending, please go join the group. This is a great place to see who else will be there and ask questions or make suggestions.
Blissdom ’12 Photowalk G+ Page – Are you on Google+? Add this page and keep an eye on it. After the walk, when you share your photos on G+ use the hashtag #BD12PW and tag the page and I’ll start gathering and sharing the photos there. The hashtag stream will be a very easy place for us to see each other’s photos. Please note that I can’t circle you back with this page until you circle me first – it’s a spam prevention thing. So please go circle!
Blissdom ’12 Photowalk flickr Group – Love flickr? Join this group and after the walk when you upload your photos to flickr, you can add them there. Tag your photos with Blissdom ’12 Photowalk.
Blissdom ’12 Photowalk Snap MyLife Group Collection – Do you share your photos on SML? I do! (Find me here.) We can all easily add to this Group Collection on SML and have them in one place.
Or course, it’s great if you Tweet photos during or after the walk. The Hashtag for our walk is #BD12PW wherever you can use a hashtag.
Whew! I think I covered all the bases, but please feel free to ask me any questions or offer suggestions. I look forward to seeing you guys!
Loter’s Blissdom 2011 – Part 2
Jockey & Tide sponsored Thursday night festivities at Blissdom and it was seriously a blast. My roomies (Mishelle, Dawn, Leslie, Victoria) and I all got dressed up and headed to “the red carpet” to kick off the night. This was basically just a chance to act silly and be photographed (Malia joined us on the carpet).
photo by Heather Durdil
Mishelle captured a great shot of the red carpet photographers, Casey, Hannah, Elan, and Heather.
We ate from a variety of foods provided to us – my favorite thing was pulled pork sandwiches with a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. What can I say, I’m still a NC girl at heart when it comes to BBQ!
I was also witness to a momentous occasion: Mishelle had her very first Guinness.
We all enjoyed the food and drinks, chatted, and laughed together.
last four photos by Mishelle Lane
After hanging out for a little while, we headed into the nightclub, Fuse, to watch performances by Michelle Branch and Mat Kearney.
What a treat – both musicians put on a fabulous show. I was particularly excited to see Michelle Branch, as I’ve utterly adored her music for so many years.
last two photos by Mishelle Lane
I generally don’t go all “fangirl” and have photos taken/do meet and greets, but I didn’t pass up the opportunity this time.
photo by Jana Warnke
Once the performances were over, there was dancing…
…and then people wandered off here and there throughout the hotel to eat, hang out, and just have a great time, late into the night.
photo by Mishelle Lane
These are memorable portions of the night – the times you spent laughing with various groups of friends, catching up, sharing hugs, smiles, and silly moments.
At some point later on, Mishelle, Jim, Diane, Amy and I ended up in the Garden Conservatory. As you can see, we spent a little time being goofballs.
Mishelle and her camera… she had me model for her throughout the hotel. I didn’t argue… even when she asked me to climb onto a piano. What can I say? I’m easy.
last two photos by Mishelle Lane
And of course, Diane gave me her now traditional, on-camera, one-finger salute.
It’s this kind of silliness that makes time with best friends so fun!
Still to come – Friday, Flashmob!, Girl’s Night In, and Saturday’s Photo Walk.
to be continued…
Loter’s Blissdom 2011 – Part 1
As I’ve said previously, Blissdom is a conference that completely has my heart, and my word for it is Love. While there from January 25 – 30, both my days and nights were filled with wonderful and interesting experiences.
Tuesday was a day of traveling, arriving, settling…
…random water show magic…
…meeting, greeting, hanging…
…and relaxing.
last four photos by Mishelle Lane
The highlight of Wednesday was the Photography Wisdom Workshop I helped teach. This was so much fun to be a part of – a large room full of women who wanted to get more intimate about photography with a hands on workshop. We all split up at different tables and gave mini lessons at each table about different aspects of photography.
Mishelle & Dawn – Camera Basics/Overview/Settings/Controls (Her notes are here.)
Deanna & Casey – ISO/Aperture/Shutter Speed
Angie – Finding the Light
Amy & I – Creativity & Detail
We shared our knowledge and our hearts about this thing we truly love: Photography. Afterwards a small group of us headed out to put our photography knowledge to practice. We walked and shot, asking and answering questions, and had a generally good time wrapping up the workshop.
photo by Mishelle Lane
Wednesday night was the kickoff party sponsored by ConAgra and it was so fun. Food and drinks were shared by a large group of excited attendees, buzzing around one another. The area was full of laughter and happiness that was palpable. I was so happy to see David and Kammie from The Social Path and Luckie, and Anissa Mayhew, at the party.
Later, Leslie and I cartwheeled through the hotel as everyone was on their way to have wine, cupcakes, and watch the premier of Working Class with special guest, Melissa Peterman. What, don’t you always cartwheel through hotels? Best way to travel.
When that was done, several of us picked up Jim in the lobby and hung out at Fuse, drinking and laughing.
At one point, Jim, Diane, Mishelle, and I realized we were standing in a circle, drinking, laughing… and Tweeting at a bar.
That’s how fun-lovin’ social media/tech-geeks roll, eh? Regardless, it was so good to spend that time with them, just laughing and soaking in the rarity of close proximity to people I adore online from great distances on a regular basis.
After many drinks, we retired. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep. Oh, boy.
Thursday was the first full day of the official conference. Let me just say that I never make it to all the sessions I want to go to at a conference, and I’m finally learning to be okay with that. On this day, I attended the two things that were most important to me (personally).
My advice to you for conferences is to find the sessions that are the VERY MOST important to you personally and make sure you attend those. If you can get to others, great; if you can carve other time to truly enjoy other facets of the experience (visiting with sponsors, spending time with good friends, networking with new business contacts, exploring the town you’re in) – fabulous!
I’ve mentioned this already, but the Opening Keynote speaker was Brené Brown. Her talk blew me away, made me cry, affirmed things for me, made me laugh deeply, had me nodding, and was basically time well spent. Her message is powerful, and I highly recommend you seek her out – watch her talks, read her book. When I got home I had the renewed confidence I needed to go back and pull up a 4-month old draft and publish it.
photo by Schmutzie
After the opening, there was a roundtable meet and greet time, a fun way for each of us to connect with our “tribe” and get to know one another.
Each tribe is headed by one or many “Tribe Leaders.” (I was one of the Photography Tribe Leaders.) This is an interesting new way to make sure nobody feels alone during the conference – no matter what, you will have a tribe to check in with! There’s even a “No Niche” Tribe. *wink*
After a superb ConAgra lunch, I wandered out into the expo hall, talked to the Purex Rep (who was totally awesome) and as I was wandering on, I suddenly realized that HOLY CRAP IF YOU ONLY SLEEP FOR 3 HOURS AFTER YOU ARE RAGINGLY DRUNK BY MIDDAY THE NEXT DAY YOU ARE SOOOOO DONE SOCIALIZING. Like that, I hit a wall, and I knew it was time to go to my room for a little bit.
Also, someone made me spill tea all over myself and I almost went back and decapitated him later just out of spite. This was totally a sign that I needed a nap, as I am generally a “punch them in the neck” kind of person rather than an “off with their heads!” chick. So I went to the room and slept like a goddess on soft fluffy pillows, fully dressed, for an hour. Then it was up and to the next session!
photo by Mishelle Lane
The Innovative Writing Session with Leslie, Jim, and Amy was fantastic – creative, informative, and hilarious. I really wish you all could have been there. You can see the presentation in this post at Jim’s site.
I think the most important thing they shared was an amazing piece put together by Shawn Burns for presentation during the session, something that he’s worked hard to get across to the community for some time, and Jim, Leslie, and Amy realized this was the perfect opportunity to help it spread. Even if you didn’t get to attend, I really think you should benefit from Shawn’s message. Now go to Jim’s site and pay close attention as you watch. You will thank me.
It’s like you were there, right? You can thank me in the comments. (Heh.)
to be continued…
Blissdom: It started with her.
On Tuesday, January 25th, I flew to Nashville to speak at and attend Blissdom, a Women’s Blogging Conference hosted by Allison Worthington, Barbara Jones, and Paula Bruno.
A few years ago, I was sitting in Alli’s kitchen, having coffee with her while my son was surreptitiously crayon-decorating her kitchen cabinet. We had several moments like this, two moms enjoying one another’s company, talking about motherhood, life, blogging, and dreaming of the future. These playdates were like therapy for me; each visit was a refill for my sanity. Girlfriends: Life’s Prettiest Meds.
Okay, maybe not always the prettiest. But definitely the most fun?
Back then she talked about wanting to do things on her website to help mothers, and women in general. Eventually, she shared that she dreamed of more than the blog; she wanted to go further, help more people, chase bigger dreams. During one of our visits, Alli asked me, “So, what do you want to do with your blog; what is your goal? You want to rule the Internet, right?” I didn’t have dreams of Internet Domination, though, and I said, “Well, no… I really just hope that people will read and enjoy my content.” Alli’s response? “Oh, no no no, honey. We have to build a Kindgom!” She made me laugh, but I could sense her drive.
That was Alli – big love, big dreams, big plans. Add in all her hard work, and it equals big success, and there she is now. I’m so proud of her, and so excited to see her dreams coming to fruition. She’s worked damn hard to make it from Mrs. Fussypants to co-hosting her own blogging conference, and she’s worked her arse off for it every step of the way. You know what she’s also done, every step of the way? She’s kept the love, the genuine caring, and the desire to help others and support women a core part of her agenda and personality.
I had to say all this before I even start talking about the specifics of my trip. I saw her, before all of this Blissdom stuff, as a mom and woman, a girlfriend, in her home. I talked to her on the phone about her dreams, plans, and eventually – progress, while we also gabbed about daily life and motherhood. As months and years danced past us, making our children older and our hairs a little grayer here and there, we’ve floated in and out of emails, twitter @’s and Skype conversations. Alli is a friend, and someone I trust.
I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me, “Is she really the nice person in real life that she seems online?” My answer is always Yes. Is she perfect? Nobody is perfect. Is she flawed? Of course she is, aren’t we all? She’s not a “mean girl” or a ruthless backstabber. Alli is a genuine, kind person, and I’ve never seen her as anything else. I’m glad her big dreams and hard work have paid off for her. Walking into the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville on January 25th for the 3rd Blissdom Conference, I was excited about the week ahead, and, as always, proud of my former playdate partner and girlfriend.
In the coming week, I’ll post several photos from my trip (as well as some taken by others that show things I didn’t capture) and give you some of the highlights of the conference (from my experience), but I had to share this post first.
photo courtesy of Rachel at Southern Fairytale
our regularly scheduled program will return after this brief period of bliss
I got this tiny bell in the HerStory Workshop today, at Blissdom. Isn’t it cute? Thanks to Aliza and Maya. The exercises they offered were thought provoking. And I discovered that the story of my life is entitled, “I haven’t screwed up too bad, yet. But give me time.” You’d buy it, right?
I also want to give giant props to the ladies who paneled the Writer’s Craft Workshop. I *thoroughly* enjoyed myself – what a great discussion. I had the beginnings of what I think is going to be a very good post in my hands when I walked out of that room Thursday evening. Thank you so much, Megan, Arianne, Deb, and Amber.
I’ll be heading back to the Opryland Hotel (can you say “friggin’ gorgeous?”) tomorrow morning and staying until Sunday (Weekly Winners may post late this week, but it will be up by Sunday sometime.) Thank you so much, Monica & Bridget, for letting me share your hotel room.
Gotta go pack a bag now and get a little sleep before I hurry back over there tomorrow to hug on some more beeshes.
I love seeing so many women that I think the world of in one place.
Every time I hear a squee, an angel gets her wings.
The one where I make you look at my ass. And Elvis.
Have you seen a ton
of Blissdom Conf posts this week?
Here’s another one.
Thought I could not go.
Husband gone and no childcare.
No conference pass!
Thursday? Felt sorry
for myself. A bit jealous.
But then realized…
Your happy is what
you make it. So, Friday I
hopped on over there.
In the parking lot
saw my first three hot ladies.
FLINGER LICKED ME. SCORE!
From eleven to
one:thirty I ran people
down with B’s stroller.
Entered a sea of
mingling, chatting ladies.
Saw faces I knew.
While I still felt like
sort of a jerk outsider,
my spirits lifted.
That night, was honored -
four ladies came to my home!
For hours we all laughed.
Dawn*, Victoria,**
Sammanthia,***Leslie**** – they came -
brought food, drinks, and mirth.
Photo by Victoria, with Leslie’s Phone, Edited by Me. Heh.
A balm to my soul.
Can’t express how I needed
a night just.like.that.
Wasn’t planning to,
but Saturday morning I
hopped over again!
Photo courtesy of Domestic Extraordinaire
More love ly faces…
snapped a bra and then B and
I crashed a session!
Photo courtesy of A Mommy Story
(Oops! Sorry, Alli!)
We’re total rebels! B now
Blog Branding expert. 
Photo courtesy of Domestic Extraordinaire
Braden blogged along!
Okay, okay, it was a
Spongebob DVD.
(Damn, this is long, huh?
Heh. Sorry about that guys.
But it’s fun for me.)
I had a short, but
lovely (unregistered) time.
Wish I had seen more!
But Sunday morning,
more fun to be had on the
Blissdom Photo Walk!
Lisa, Jill, Roni,
Colleen, Leighann, Mishelle… then
Maggie and Michelle!
Walked Downtown Nashville,
took photos, chatted… enjoyed
the warm, sunny day.
Photo courtesy of Mommy Always Wins
Swooned a bit over
Elvis. I think Braden was
worried about me.
Photo courtesy of Mommy Always Wins
FYI: Some shots
require you to stick your ass
out for all to see. 
Photo courtesy of Mommy Always Wins
Did I have “total
conference experience?”
Hell no, I did not.
What I had instead,
was the best I could each day.
And? That was darn good.
*BEWBS
**”Snort that, bitchez.”
***The “i” is silent!
****She drinks when she cusses, ya’ll.
If you can’t have it all, take a little.
My fingers are cold.
Upstairs my child is sleeping.
I’m down here alone.
Thermostat set low
in the hopes that next power
bill will be lower.
My toes are so cold.
There’s work to do; I’m too tired -
Emotionally.
A short drive from here
women are laughing, playing.
Warm, happy, together.
Here, it is quiet.
I sit still on the couch and
ignore my numb toes.
Perhaps, in the morn
I’ll join them very briefly.
Just a quick warm up.
Let’s Get Mediocre and Screw. Up.
A couple of months ago I was at a conference with many other women. I sat there listening to the conference speaker in my outfit I had agonized over, with my embarrassing, ponytailed hair that really needed to be cut, and worried about my appearance. (Because really, it IS all about me. All. The. Time.) As I sat there with all the other shiny, pretty mommies, my blood ran cold when I heard the speaker say:
“Pull up your right pantleg.”
Uh-oh.
“Now take your left hand and feel the woman’s leg to your right.”
All the shiny, pretty mommies groaned. We were BUSTED. As I reached over and felt the girl to my right’s hairy calf, and as mine was felt up as well, I thought, “this is kinda hot!” “Yay! I am not the only one who haz ugly!”
The speaker then went on to say that we shiny, hairy mommies had just participated in the “ministry of mediocrity” – helping others by showing our real selves. Wiping off the lip-plumping-diamond-shine-hydra-gloss and puckering up with our skinny, dry, cracked smackers. She said that when we show others our imperfections, they can better accept their own.
The be-atch had a point.
It made me think of a good friend with whom I have playdates. We’ve decided to betrothe our two-year-olds (really, arranged marriages just eliminate so much of the worry!) so we get the kids together so they can start getting to know each other. This girl and I are both terrible housekeepers. I love going over to her house and seeing cheerios and three-day-old shredded cheese on the floor. It’s like Christmas! She’s giving me a gift by being just as bad or worse at housekeeping as I am. And you know what? I am as comfortable in her mess as I am in my own. We can relax, celebrate our epic failure, and have a good time together.
(Exhibit A: the current state of my living room floor)
So do me a favor, blogosphere. When I see you at BlissDom or BlogHer, and I stick my hairy legs in your face and ask you to feel them, will you obligingly do so and then show me a hairy pit or a chin hair? Don’t be a tease, I know you’re not perfect. Let’s compare uglies, get comfy, and party!
Come on, now…I showed you mine. Will you show me yours?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
There has to be some law against being that gorgeous even with a ponytail and hairy legs… anyone? No? Well, it’s a good thing for Jenny, then, because she’d be in the lock-up for sure. When she’s not too busy being so damn cute, she spends her time Mommin It Up! with her cousin Emily. Hop over!
Show Sponsors
The Awesome
