I met a few gals this weekend at BlogHer 14. Smart chicks, cool chicks, so-creative-they-blow-you-away chicks. When I got home and started looking through all those business cards, I checked out their blogs, too. What do you know? Smart blogs, cool blogs, scary creative blogs, just like the chicks who write ’em. Funny how that works.
Here are some of the talented broads I met this weekend:
Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess. Jenny and I have met at a previous conference, but this year we shared a special moment. She gave the first keynote of the event, and afterwards, I approached her to tell her how listening to her book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, helped me through the very difficult three months when I had to pack up our whole house and get it rented out, while taking care of all three kids alone because Erik was in California. I used to play the audiobook while I organized and packed the massive junk heap that was our basement, for an hour or two each night, and knowing I was going to get to laugh my ass off helped me find the energy to face the work after a long day with the kids. I thanked Jenny, we hugged, and I didn’t even try to steal any of the human hair she bought in a kiost at the Denver Airport.
Kate Canterbury, The Guavalicious Life. My BlogHer roommate Kori and I met Kate at the Speck happy hour and instantly hit it off. Fun gal!
Johanna Stein — not actually a blogger, but the author of How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane (& Other Lessons in Parenting from a Highly Questionable Source.) She led a session on screenwriting and was so helpful, and she has written some hilarious videos like Thanks Mom and Angry Squirrel.
Jennie Goutet, author of blog and book A Lady in France. Jennie and I met at the closing party and couldn’t believe how parallel our lives had been, since we had lived in Paris the same year and had also both lived in China.
Deb Rox, Deb on the Rocks. Deb is a very well-known blogger whom I personally had not had the privilege to read before, but when she took the stage for her 10×10 (little speeches made before keynotes by invited bloggers), we realized that she is amazing — funny, genuine, just super great. Some of the 10x10s were boring — this was not one of them! Then that evening, after we had slugged some wine at a happy hour and were heading out of our room to attend some suite parties, we noticed three hotel staff members emerging from the door directly across the hall. We asked them what had been going on in that room, and they said they had been setting up a party. I told them, in a way I only can after 3/4 a bottle of red wine, “Oh yes, we’re going to that party.” And Kori and I strode right in and made ourselves comfortable on the couch in the empty suite. Moments later, Deb emerged from the bedroom and we found out that we had just become the first guests of the Queerosphere! We had the chance to hug Deb and tell her how much we’d enjoyed her talk one on one before other guests showed up, and then we had the privilege of making it look like the party was already rolling when the first “real” guests show up. My advice: Always have a couple of slightly drunk chicks crash your party before it starts to get everyone in the mood.
Ryan Pilate, 24Volumes.com. Along with Sara Cook and Marcella Campbell, Ryan made me a lovely champagne cocktail, with bitters and all, at the best party I have ever been to in a conference hall hallway.
Cassie Kiefer, Ever in Transit. Cassie told me about Travel Massive, a meet up in San Francisco that I can’t wait to go to. Cassie writes Ever in Transit with Kevin Adams.
Skye Killen, Planet Jinxatron.
Heather Eatherton, Mama Dish.
Christy Newell, Giveaway Train.
Bonnie McCarthy, This American Home.
Jill Brehm Enders, Jillibee.
Jenny Lauck, vice president influencer services, BlogHer. Jenny held a door open for us and I didn’t realize until we had walked through that her nametag matched the name on all the emails we’d been getting in the run-up to the conference. She was very sweet and told us the story of how she ended up working for BlogHer after being a speaker about mommyblogging at the first conference 10 years ago.
Sarah Fader, Old School New School Mom.
Dawn Quayle Landau, Tales from the Motherland.
Joanna Hawley, Jojotastic.
Joanne Lare, aka Trudy Triumph. Neurogenic Bladder.
Elizabeth Edwards, Table for Five. Elizabeth was at the BlogHer when the late Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the politician John Edwards, keynoted. This EE missed the keynote — and later she found out that Mrs. John Edwards said in her speech that she knew there was another Elizabeth Edwards at the conference! EE missed her chance to meet the famous and by all accounts wonderful EE, and now she’s out of luck because that EE is of course now dead.
Rachael Moshmon, Shrinking Monster and Last Mom.
Elizabeth White, My Life Such As It Is.
Marybeth Collation, Boomer Grandparents.
Barbara Goldberg, The Evil Stepmother Speaks.
Ashley Grant, The Famous Ashley Grant.
Melissa Au, Moms Review 4 You.
Juliette Merchant, Mahogany Mommy.
The Miles Mom 