Yes, I Was At A Blog Conference. Don't Mock

I'm home! With a reliable internet connection and mineral free bottled water and not a single person trying to get me to test drive a Saturn. Woo-hoo! (Sorry, you had to be there to get that.)

I survived BlogHer 2006.

And what a survival it was.

1. I had NO IDEA that blogging was such a big deal. Seriously. I feel like I have been living under a rock for last decade and the rest of the world has been blogging up a storm and no one bothered to send me so much as a postcard saying "Wish you were here." There are bloggers who get THOUSANDS of hits per day. People make their WHOLE LIVING by blogging. BLOGGING!!! Blogging about random crap! *I* blog about random crap... where are *my* thousand readers?? (Actually, scratch that... I'm no good under pressure). But really... blogging is huge! Who knew?

2. Speaking of huge... the Hyatt in San Jose was SOOOO unprepared for just how huge they (we?) are. 700+ women (and like 9 men) alllllll trying to log onto their blogs and get into their flickr pages and set up / listen to their pod casts AT THE SAME TIME was not a pretty site. I'm pretty sure we actually blew up their server... I definitely smelled something burning.

3. And then there were the mommy bloggers... don't me wrong I LOOOOOOOOVE mommy blogs. Seriously. I'm currently addicted to no less than 5. But the mommy bloggers... all together in one big group... let me tell you... they are a force to reckon with. I'm quite sure that if they wanted to take over the world... say tomorrow... they could.

4. Apparently I need blog business cards. Stop laughing. I kid you not. EVERYONE has blog business cards. People were like "Oh my gosh! What's your site? Do you have a card?" And all I could think was "Crap! I'm in WAY over my head."

5. There are famous bloggers. FAMOUS. And everyone at the conference knew exactly who they were and were like paparazzi all weekend. It was nuts! I, the rock dweller, of course had no clue that these women even existed. I felt like I was at some Hollywood party, and Lindsay Lohan was there, and I was like "Wait, what was your name again" to her. Idiot.

On the upside... I got to meet and hang out with one of my best blog friends, Jes, as well as lots of other amazing women whose blogs I cannot wait to check out!! The web of bloggers is UNREAL - and although I'm a pretty peripheral strand, I'm glad I'm part of it.

Greetings From BlogHer 2006

Because I'm in a room filled with bloggers... (like REAL bloggers... geez, I'm such a nobody)... but anyway, because I'm in a room filled with bloggers and I feel the overwhelming need to write something... anything:

Hello from BlogHer 2006!!!

There. I know I feel better. You?

Kiddy Pool

Just how many full sized adults can you fit in one kiddy pool?

Apparently, this many:



(For those of you keeping score at home, that's 14!! Yes, my friends and I are strange.)

If Looks Could Kill

Kyle and I don't mess around when we arm wrestle! :)

Sad

They made us review our emergency contact information at work today... you know ensure everything is still current and whatnot in case of a disaster... and on my list of people to contact, I, of course, had my dad listed.

Hmmmm. Well, I suppose that contact number isn't really valid anymore.

There were two options:

• Update Contact Information
• Delete Contact

*sigh*

I had to click Delete Contact.

And just like that, he was gone.

Addendum

Attention please, in light of new evidence - namely an email from Mike K. wanting to know why Luke got all the credit for my ice cream yesterday (see Exhibit A) - I would like to make an addition to my last blog post.

I hereby bestow upon Mike K. a coveted Honorable Mention in my blog:

That Mike K. - he's such an honorable guy! :)

***

Exhibit A - Email from Mike K.

Hey! I was half responsible for Luke going to Dairy Queen. I even helped pay for your ice cream.
Don't I get an honorable mention in your blog?
Later,
Mike K.

I Am LOVED!

No, not by Kyle's mom.

Not that Kyle's mom doesn't love me or anything (because, really, I'm a great girl, and how can she not love me?) ... but, still, she hasn't written the 90-page email expressing her overwhelming approval that I wish she'd write.

Humph.

But I am definitely loved by my friend Luke!!

See, my company has been shutting off the A.C. in our buildings every day at 2pm to save electricity. (Do not get me started on the zillion other ways that my company could - and should - be saving energy and money instead of making their employees sweat to death. Morons, all of them.)

So anyway, it gets really hot in our buildings. And today, in an effort to make it up to us, (a pitiful, lame, small effort - but an effort just the same) my company gave everyone free ice cream from 2 - 3pm. YAY.

But, of course, I had a meeting scheduled from 1:30 to 3:30... and no one in my meeting seemed to care that we were missing FREE ICE CREAM!!

So the meeting went on and by the time I was done all of the ice cream was gone. Boo.

Well, at just the moment that I was feeling blue for missing out on free ice cream, my friend Luke stops by to invite me to go to Dairy Queen. (Maybe he too had been stuck in a meeting filled with ice cream haters, and as a result missed out on the free frozen dairy goodness? Maybe.) Sadly, I told him I didn't have time to go, but thanks anyway. :(

And you know what he did? HE BROUGHT ME BACK AN ICE CREAM!!!

YAY!!!

That Luke - he's such a nice guy! :)

Hello, Nice To Meet You, Please Like Me

Thursday night, I met a friend of Kyle’s from high school… a notorious, self-proclaimed, girlfriend hater. (Seriously? Seriously.) She has disapproved of almost every girlfriend Kyle has ever had since high school. Ugh. So, no pressure there, right? Right. Well I met her, and we had dinner, and she seemed nice enough. In fact, I could even see us being friends. She is potentially moving out here (to SF) in the near future, which could be really cool… Why, you ask? Duh, because if I can get her to like me then I totally get bonus points on the giant girlfriend score board – and one must never underestimate the importance of keeping score… until, of course, the “boyfriend” becomes the “fiancé”… at which point the score becomes obsolete because an engagement ring trumps all.

Hey, I don’t make up the rules.

On Saturday, other important introductions were made. For starters, I met Kyle’s mom for the first time. Dun dun dun! Until this weekend, my only contact with the woman was a phone call to discuss the severe stomach flu that I was suffering from a few weeks back. (She’s a doctor. I was vomiting uncontrollably. I was desperate. Thinking back, it probably was not the best first conversation to have with someone’s mother.)

I also met Kyle’s aunt and uncle and cousin this weekend too. We all went camping on the beach in Central California (His dad was there as well, but I’ve met him before.) AND, because we were camping only an hour away from where my mom and step-dad live, MY MOM AND STEP-DAD MET US AT THE CAMPSITE FOR DINNER!!!

AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH.

As if meeting a boy’s family for the first time isn’t difficult enough as it is… this adds a whole extra layer of pressure. Will they like me? Will they like my family? Will my family like them? Will everybody get along? Please, God, don’t let anyone bring up politics. Sheesh.

Turns out, everything was fine. His family was gracious and warm and inviting. My mom didn’t embarrass me with any “Courtney was so cute when she was in diapers” stories. My step-dad made AWESOME grilled portabella mushrooms, which everyone LOVED. We had plenty of wine (I think that helped A LOT). And everyone got along famously.

Whew.

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch too.

I kicked a soccer ball around with Kyle and his parents for a while (I’m getting much better, thank you very much)… we cooked a lot… Kyle's aunt gave me an awesome lip gloss that she got at some LA fashion week thing (score!)... we had a blast kayaking in the ocean where we saw sea lions and all sorts of cool birds… and we spent lots of time just sitting around the campfire chatting and enjoying each others’ company. It was a really lovely weekend.

Now I’m just waiting for the report back from Kyle about whether or not his mom likes me. Keep your fingers crossed!

Favorite Germany Moment

On my last day in Bremen, as I was saying goodbye to my family, my uncle Harold - my dad's younger brother - puts his hands on my cheeks, tilts my face up, and says, "Schön!" (which means "beautiful!" in German) and then gives me a big hug and kiss.

:)

Family is, hands down, the coolest thing ever. An absolute gift... in any language.

Just Plain Wrong

Last night Kyle and I went out for sushi... and the sushi restaurant (where we had the sushi) had a TV... and on that TV they were showing a movie... and the movie was Finding Nemo.

Did I mention we were eating SUSHI!?

Just Breathe

I miss my Daddy.

:(

And now I am crying at work and getting my fabulous new eyeliner all over my face. Note to self: waterproof.

This sucks.

Lost In Translation

Reason #4852 to teach your kids a foreign language... so this doesn't happen to them.

So there I am, in Bremen, Germany, enjoying a lovely evening with my German family. It should be noted that my German family does not speak a whole heck of a lot of English... and I do not speak ONE WORD of German (gee thanks, Dad.)

Well, my cousin, Andrea, put together the most amazing BBQ for everyone - really, everything was delicious... and I wanted to tell her - in German of course, so she could actually understand me. So I flip through my handy dandy German phrase book looking for the perfect phrase to express just how happy and satisfied I am with the entire meal.

I find the phrase... I get my entire family's attention (I want them to witness just how fabulously my German is coming along)... and I throw on my most convincing German accent.

And then, in PERFECT German, in front of my entire family, I say:

"Andrea, this food was inedible!"

Oh the look of horror and shock on Andrea's face! My aunt gasped. My cousin Sven was caught so off guard that he spit coca cola everywhere. And my uncle Harold, who had been absolutely SILENT up until this point, burst out laughing.

What'd I say, What'd I say!!!??? I thought to myself as I flipped madly through the phrase book.

Oh no!!!

See inedible and incredible are right next to each other in that stupid little book. An honest mistake, really, but I could not have been more embarrassed.

My family teased me about it for the rest of the trip... in fact, I'm sure I'll never live it down.

Ugh.

Germany Pictures

Here they are... all 495 of 'em... my pics from Germany and Montreal. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54287276@N00/sets/72157594185114940/with/183432079/

Sweet, Blessed, Distractions

Where does one begin?

Well, first, let's just say that it is probably for the best that I haven't been posting these last few weeks. Anything I would have written down would have been horribly sad and depressing. And I think I'd rather move through the pain rather than immortalize it forever in black and white. (But, oh! the tear jerking novels I have composed in my head as a my own personal form of therapeutic torture.)

Luckily I have been blessed with a myriad of distractions... not the least of which was my amazing trip to Germany with Kyle.

To catch our plane, Kyle and I had to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco immediately following the funeral... we left around midnight and arrived in the bay area sometime before 6am. I was just barely getting over a bout with the stomach flu... and Kyle was just starting to come down with it. (When it rains it pours, right?) We got to my house... I did the most atrocious packing job of my life... and then we set out for his house and then the airport. Kyle spent the majority of the plane ride very very ill... but we made it to Europe in one piece.


On the Plane.

Kyle's German friend from high school, Dominik, (he was a foreign exchange student from Germany back in the day) picked us up from the airport and took us home.

Dominik lives in Darmstadt, just outside Frankfurt, in an awesome studio apartment. We stayed with him for a majority of the trip. It was SO NICE (and FREE!). We basically had his whole apartment to ourselves because he stayed with his girlfriend down the street. (Oh to live down the street from Kyle… that would be *SO* convenient!)

Two days into the trip we saw our first live World Cup game in Kaiserslautern. (US vs. Italy) It was absolutely magical!! The fans were amazing. The stadium was amazing. The game was amazing. I felt like I was Harry Potter at the Quidditch World Cup. So so sooo cool. Everyone dressed up and yelled soccer cheers and there were American and Italian flags EVERYWHERE. The whole experience was just perfect.


All Dressed Up.


Just Before the USA-Italy Game.

After the game Kyle and I took the train up north to see my family in Bremen. Again, amazing! My grandmother, Aunt, Uncle, 3 cousins, their significant others, and my 2 second cousins all live in my dad's old hometown. It was so good to see them. It was good to just be there… taking it all in. And when my sister and brother and his girlfriend got there two days later, I just couldn't get over how happy I was. So much family!!! So many people with my last name all in the same room!!! We laughed, we struggled with German and English, we looked at old pictures, we took lots of new pictures, we had BBQs, we went to Hamburg for the day, we watched soccer, my grandmother bought us all ice cream cones like we were 5 years old, we had so much fun! I cannot get over how warm and hospitable and generous and wonderful my family is. I love them so much. My sis said my Oma (German for Grandmother) cried when everyone left. :( So sweet.


Struggling with German English Dictionaries.


My Oma and my Uncle Harold.


My Family!!


Oma and my Sis walking... So Sweet.


Caitlin, Oma, and Me in Bremen.

After four days in Bremen, Kyle and I had to leave for another World Game, this time in Nuremberg, a few hours from Munich. Again, we all dressed up and had a blast. Was sad to see the U.S. lose, but the whole experience was so awesome and the Ghana fans were such good sports that it didn't really matter.


Me at the USA-Ghana Game.

After the game we partied it up in Munich for two nights. Again we got to stay to for FREE!! (Stayed with a friend of Dominik's who lives in the world's SMALLEST apartment... but it worked out.)

While in Munich we saw the English Gardens, a few very cool beer gardens, and some beautiful old churches. Also, our friend, Nihar, met up with us there AND we met up with Kyle's brother, Kelsey, and a few of Kelsey's friends - So cool to have a posse of friends in a foreign country!


Me in a Square in Munich.


Kyle and Dom in a Munich Beer Garden.


Kelsey and his Friends at a bar in Munich.

After Munich we went back to Frankfurt to hang out for the last few days of our trip. We went to house party, drank a lot of beer, watched A LOT of soccer on the GIANT screen TVs that Germany had set up in all of the host cities, went to the Goethe house, and went to the natural history museum (which is sorta tough to appreciate when you don't speak the language and therefore can't read the plaques and signs next to all of the exhibits - but whatever.)


Drinking some Apfelwine in Frankfurt with Dominik's Mom.


Celebrating in Frankfurt the day Germany beat Sweden!

And then we had to leave.

:(

Luckily we didn't come straight home. We stopped for two nights in Montreal, Canada. What a beautiful city!!! We walked around Old Town, had a fancy dinner, toured the Notre Dame Basilica, saw the super cool Latin Quarter, drank some local microbrews, saw the University of Quebec and McGill University, walked along the waterfront, and hiked in Mount Royal Park. We packed a TON into a day and a half!


Juxtaposition of New and Old in Montreal, Canada.

And then we had to come home.

:( :(

BUT! Luckily we came home just before a 5 day weekend at work. So we got to relax and play in San Francisco for a while before I had to suck it up and come back to work.

Whew.

And so that's what I've been up to.

It's been so good to be busy (I'm finding that I really really don't like to be alone these days… harder to find distractions when I'm by myself) In fact last night was the first night Kyle and I spent apart since my dad passed away... I stayed up late and tossed and turned this morning...not so good. But it is what it is. When I'm feeling overwhelmed I try to push all thoughts from my head and just focus on being strong and on remembering happy things. When that doesn't work, I lie down and let myself cry.

But I must admit, I much prefer the distractions...

Home

Home. Safe and Sound.

No time to post now... but just wanted to let everyone know that I made it home and that I'm doing ok.

Thank you thank you thank you for the thoughts and prayers. You have no idea how much they have helped. Litterally, they've gotten me through some very difficult, and very sleepless nights. So again, thank you.