um, blogher pt 2?

guess who never finished her blogher breakdown? (hint: it's me!) too much stuff going on, but not really. things like joining the new rec center ($12.50/month for me & $25/month for s-time to get our butts in shape!), 2nd opinion appointment about my colitis (md told me today he wants more labs because i may have developed autoimmune hepatitis-sweet!) and using extraneous exclamation points! !!
anyway, back to blogher. what i can remember of it, that is. on saturday we hit up breakfast, went to suzanne's panel and i scouted the expo halls again while she did her booksigning. we ended up lunching with another panelist from suzanne's session, which was really an enjoyable lunch. that was when the cranky began because i was really getting sick of so much of everything (perhaps a premature bit of homesickness) & we ended up at dean & deluca so i could bring some chocolates home for s. the afternoon was a big blur and then we met all the cool kids for an indian dinner at vatan, which was amazingly delish. i'm sure i'll forget someone, but liz rizzo, zandria, sassy monkey & her fake husband, suebob, suzanne and a couple fun people i met for the first time were there. appetizer course had so many delightful treats and you could have second helpings of whatever you wanted, then they brought out the main course, which was the same way. a large round tray with like a classy, metal cafeteria tray with space for each item. it was at that point that i realized my gap jeans had decided to part ways with me. either that or the fat on my thighs had finally rubbed together so much that they were near to starting a fire because a small (read substantial) hole developed on my left inner thigh. now admittedly, i wear my long & leans 2-3 times a week, not all day, but quite a bit for the past 18 months since i bought them. and gap material quality has gone downhill in the past few years (much thinner fabric), so it could be a combination of a number of factors. by the time we had our subway adventure, the cheezburgher party, sparklecorn and the paperbag-hatted walk home to await my shuttle, the hole was at an embarrassing point. and lo, it only got bigger as i packed and stayed up with suzanne for my 3am shuttle pick-up.
but i was glad to get home, no matter how much fun i had and i absolutely can't wait until next year or whenever i get together with all the rest of you beautiful people.

blogher-licious: breakdown

here we go: on thursday, much too early, s & i left for the aeroporto and thanks to construction, i ended up getting to security at 6:20 for a flight that was set to leave at 6:45am. almost died and security took pity on me as the only person scurrying through (totally forgot to take out both my laptop & my baggy of liquids, der!)
thankfully, the rest of the trip was fine, besides picking up the supershuttle and listening to the couple next to me discuss how coney island and long island were both islands in nyc and they were pretty sure people didn't live there.
got to suzanne's, picked up my key, gave tycho bunnae a pet and walked to central park to get a metrocard. why i decided on a 7 day unlimited pass beats me.
suzanne met me to drop her stuff and we headed to the hilton, where i met the darling suebob and we headed out for dinner, while suzanne went to the ce dinner for blogher editors. as suebob and i looked for sustenance, s (so many esses in my life!) texted me that he was playing with puppies at the rescue and sent me a pic, to which he responded when asked whose it was: 'ours' i about flipped out. we have enough on our hands with grover as it as, much as i want another puppy.
paninis eaten and meeting up with a friend who moved to nyc a couple years ago outside the hilton, it was time to head to the people's party. in the huge ballroom, i instinctively headed towards suebob's tulle/tutu making table for a bit. making the circuit of the ballroom on the way back to the table, i ran into the famous jonna, who hugged me and asked what my plans were, party-wise & whatnot. sadly, that was all the jonniker-action i got, even though i kept seeing her throughout the weekend and i'm sure she thought i was stalking her because people i was with/around kept trying to catch up to her (ie suebob, sassymonkey).
come friday, suzanne & i went to breakfast and drove at least 3 separate sets of people away from our table during the opening welcome. then time for the expo halls, where we got loaded down with swag. dropping it off at suebob's room in the sheraton, we barged in on sb catching up on sleep and in her skivvies (ooh-lala!). lunch and the sex session with @avflox, who then roomed at suzanne's apartment with us after eating druze cuisine at gazala place. this was, of course, after the community keynote and voices of the year gala. we were all concerned about how the posts would translate into art. when suzanne finally saw her art, some of the comments seemed inappropriate as the posts and art seemed a bit disparate. (someone had posted "joyful" under the photo for her post about her grandfather and the holocaust) while there i saw suebob in a grouping with a cute redhead and stroller, wherein i was introduced to lawyerish. i felt like a bit of a douche because i'd read her blog from jonna's, but then when it was password protected & back to an open blog, i didn't start reading again. and hoo boy, what i've missed! she's adorable and oh-so amusing and her babeh is gorgeous.
so the 3 of us, suz, av & i, geeked out early on friday night & surfed the internet at the apartment the rest of the night.

more to come...

yippee skippy!

so to go along with my excitement for blogher next week, apparently i won a gift certificate to p&g. suh-weet! i'm already thrilled about seeing all my peoples and meeting some new ones, reconnecting with the folks i met last year, the parties, the swag, the sessions! only one week from today & i'll be there. only 2 more full work days, too.
speaking of work days, i'll only be working a half day on friday because s asked me to come with him to the sending off ceremony of his old battalion. the 832nd are being deployed to afghanistan and i'm glad to be able to take the morning off to wish them a safe journey. it also happens to be the largest deployment of iowa soldiers since wwii. both s & my brother were in iraq with combat engineer battalions and i am so glad that neither of them will be sent back again. s was out as of january this year and my brother decided not to re-up after my sil found out she was pregnant.
here's to the brave soldiers: we support you!

wow, that devolved into a pretty serious and sappy post. i'll be sure to keep it more peppy the next time.

5 years

today is grover's first birthday. can't believe my baby puppy is a whole year old and that we've had him for almost 10 months. (at the moment, he's hanging over the arm of the couch and digging through his toy box for something else to play with.)
i also realized that i missed my 5 year blogiversary. apparently i started blogging in january of 2005. whoa! that's kindof unbelievable. and it makes me think i'd better get back on this blogging horse for the umpteenth time. perhaps i'll have something of a portfolio or theme by the time blogher rolls around. or at least get back to work on my book i haven't touched in over a year. yowza! bad mar!

wow!

so apparently s arranged with my mom to buy me tickets to blogher '10. i just filed his taxes this afternoon and went to check my e-mail before bed. i saw 2 confirmation e-mails for my tickets with my parents' e-mail address. mom said i'd better ask s about it. pretty much spent his whole tax refund because i do things for him all the time. and so, besides buying the plane ticket, i guess i'm gonna be crashing at suzanne's place. good thing she knows i don't snore.
that explains why he kept asking me when the early bird deadline was. aww....

the air up here

we're on the 30th floor here at the sheraton & about 9 times out of ten when we step on the elevator to get to our room, my ears pop. apparently the altitude is too high for me.
blogher has both surprised and disappointed me. along with bringing me to tears, making me laugh until my sides hurt (& tears run down my face), intimdated and inspired me. writing is such a tortuous experience for me. this probably explains why i haven't so much as touched my book since december even though it needs major tweaks and editing.
yesterday was great fun and the keynote speakers, every last one, were incredible. i'm still feeling a bit squiffy about handing out my cards to people, be they 'famous' or completely unknown to me. there's the idea that has wormed its way into my subconscious after years of inferiority complex that i am not worthy (ala wayne's world) & i don't know if i want anyone reading/judging my whinging. this was part of the discussion in the lifeblogging session yesterday afternoon: basically why do you have to justify your posts when they are addressing your life? and yet, i feel the need to do it. it's probably a large part of the self-deprecating humor that i've used as a protective shield for as long as i can remember. (not that there's anything wrong with things like sarcasm; i enjoy it in other people but there's a fine line you can cross so easily with a slip of the tongue.)
i honestly need to get over this and i also need to be more diligent in writing either on the first book or even get back to doing the researching/writing on the second one. we shall see how this goes once i get home tomorrow. life has changed immensely with s moving in so maybe i can dedicate more time to other important aspects of my life that i've neglected lately.

guess what?

i'm at blogher & have a passed out a few cards & still noone wants to read my blog. not that i care (too much). w00t w00t! i'm having a grand time rooming with suzanne & suebob. i met count mockula today & the 4 of us hit up marshall field's, erm, macy's so i could get in my lush fix in person. i held them up a bit because the salesperson sortof accosted me, but i was pleased with her assistance in making my purchases. i just didn't want to make the others wait so long for me. we then went upstairs to the cafe & i ended up having the world's smallest banana split (at 11am) while the three lovely ladies each had a slice of frango (mint chocolate) ice cream pie that they all agreed was divine.
i've met some other lovely ladies thus far & attended one session (lifeblogging), which at times seemed rather vitriolic but overall was a fabulous panel. picked up a bit of swag (lots of usb drives & coupons and random goodies), but missed out on the really good stuff at the swiffer lounge last night when we got here by about 20 minutes.
currently chilling on the supersoft mattress & comforter in the room (30th floor with an amazing view!) probably ought to cut this short & head down to find the other chicas for the keynote & suzanne's booksigning.

on my way!

i've now ordered some cards for blogher to pass out in case anyone wants my details. guess i'd better get to it and start blogging some more substance.



i'm extremely excited and anxious at the same time! for now, i'll just anticipate the long holiday weekend, so i don't worry myself sick.

sore bum

poor little grover has a sore bum. took him to the vet this morning to get his rabies shot (it's 12 weeks & he's 11 weeks, 5 days) & he got his 3rd booster for distemper, i think. boy did he yelp when dr. y gave him the first injection, then cowered over to cuddle into me. then he turned him around and poked him in the other side & he howled some more. so he's all drowsy & tender in the rear when i pick him up. luckily, i don't have to pick him up too much anymore. in the past 2 weeks, he's progressed so much, it's incredible! when we first got grover, he was none too stable on his feet and weaved around like a tiny drunk. barely able to climb over the lip on his crate. last weekend we picked up a playpen to go around his crate & the edge is easily 3" high; now he can hop right over it like a furry hurdler.
yesterday i taught him up, which is the most adorable thing ever! i showed s this morning & he almost died it was so cute.
motherhood is grand!
speaking of motherhood, i get to meet up with the fun & talented suzanne of cuss tonight for an impromptu party for her sister's newborn, who wasn't supposed to arrive until june. can't wait!

her blog

well, yesterday i started contemplating attending blogher 2009. i know i haven't got the audience, but as it's close (chicago-less than 4 hours away) and i'm autograph hound (no, not really), i thought it might be a possibility. i mean, i'd get to be near/meet some of my favourite bloggers.
it'd be pretty awesome to finally meet des and remeet suzanne. hopefully i'd get to meet suebob, too! and there are a ton of others, who i'm too lazy to link at this moment. it could be really fun. slumber party!
that would mean an awful lot of vaca time in july/august, though. if i take off july 24th, i also have to put in time for august 12-17th for my brother's wedding and travel time. then, there's the possibility of moving out of my apartment or at least helping s move into a new place, which would be the first of august. luckily the 1st is on a saturday this year, but if i have to move, i need to be out by 7/29. (stupid college town leases-every landlord/property management in town is 1-year lease only going from august-july of the next year!) so far, i've already asked for the 24th off & my bro's wedding week, but we'll see if i need moving vacation. or, you know, win the powerball. whatevs.

apology

i've been pretty much unresponsive on a lot of fronts lately. i haven't done laundry in 3 weeks nor have i bought groceries in nearly as long. my carpet needs vacuuming, my bathroom needs cleaning & my dishes need a good bath. but for the past month i haven't felt like i have the energy to do anything, besides go to work & get through the day. the fatigue and abdominal pain has moved to include chest pain. i think i know what's wrong, but don't want to get into the gory details.
so if you're on that list of things i've neglected, i'm sorry. one of these days i hope to wake up & feel better, but until then, it's all i can do to post a couple sentences on the blog.

givin' some lovin'

thanks to the bundle of sweetness that is suzanne, i am now the proud winner of a shiny, new blogger award.



i'm blushing about the same colour as my hair when i read her post. i don't even know if i have 10 'bliends' i can acknowledge for how much i love them & reading their daily thoughts. i know i don't have 10 that haven't already been cool enough to receive this award from someone else. i guess i'm just gonna have to double up. here goes, in no order whatsoever:

1. cuss i read daily because suzanne's wit & wisdom is just too blunt & funny to go without. and meeting her was definitely the highlight of my first 'real' visit to nyc.
2. des is another kickass woman, who i can't wait to meet irl because she certainly doesn't mince words either.
3. suebob of redstapler always, always makes me think and more often than not splort any beverage on my computer screen with her anecdotes. she is simply awesomeness personified.
4. mdog is another some time snarky woman whose posts i enjoy & am glad to have met through the love of a musician's, now defunct, messageboard. (well the ol' beboard is defunct; i'm sure there's one that's operating now, but it'll never be the same as the old gang.) and through her blog i've been introduced to people i read regularly, even though they have no clue who i am lurking about reading their thoughts. (how creepy am i!?!?)
5. meegs, another former beboarder, has a wonderful grasp of sarcasm & thought-provoking social commentary. i only wish that my mind worked so logically.
6. can't forget amo & her blog, although with the new job it's going on two months since her last post. she's always encouraging & articulate. something about chicago & something about the beboard i guess. 3 former boardies & 3 chicago-ans.
7. i'm running out of steam, but that doesn't mean that jonniker is any less of a fascinating read. her stream of consciousness style & brilliant commenters always makes me wish i could respond to every topic. i find myself nodding & laughing in agreement with all of her posts.
8. this is one of those lurky ones i stole from mdog, formerly b109. it's now mostly a photoblog, and i love it just as much as when she posted more wordy blogs. i've been reading for a couple years & her god-given talent as a photographer astounds me. really incredible.
9. another one i've read for probably 3 years via mdog, lemonscarlet. because she has no comments enabled, i feel like a creepy stalker reading about her life & her amusing take on things.
10. this is a cheap shot because it's a joint blog i'm on, but missingtupperware is the way i keep in touch with my rl friends, a & j, both of whom used to live in the ol' apartment complex. they may have moved on, but at least i can keep up to date on their lives since i'm a terrible phone-o-phobe.

hope i didn't forget anyone or freak anyone out by mentioning how often i read. i neglected some friends' myspace blogs since they're private listings.
lotsa love!

appreciation

so in very few posts on her new blog, sullivan has shown that she's wise beyond her 24 years. her comment about losing s's 'conditional affection' versus having his unconditional love sortof struck a chord. everyone has given me such good, thoughtful advice & i appreciate it so much.
thank you suz, des, amo, jackie, suebob, mdog & everyone else, lurking or otherwise in my life. despite this whinging getting me more comments than i've ever had, i really am doing my best to move beyond this & focus on other things. get my life in order, as much as anyone really can. s has to do that too & perhaps we'll be friends once we get to the other side. my new philosophy, & don't take this as a negative, is 'maybe, maybe not'.

nyc circa feb 26

okay, here's my much-anticipated bloggings on my trip. (ha!)
after a delayed arrival in nyc, mum & i grabbed a cab from lga into the city. i called suzanne on the way to let her know that i'd made it. we finally got to her place (very nice, hugely spacious apartment) wherein i saw the purple chairs & met the infamous tycho.
even though it was sprinkling, mum & i were down for a brief walking tour. with her close proximity to the natural history museum, we spied this bizarre statue of tr out front. i couldn't find any close-ups, but a mounted tr is flanked by an indian and what appears to be a naked 'negro', as my mother said. not sure of the significance. did you ever find out, suzanne?
anyway, after passing that bit of interesting culture, we ducked into central park to see the john lennon imagine memorial, then figured out a place to eat. yummy bagel, lox & fake cream cheese for me, while suz & mum had pastrami. thanks for dinner! brief detour to a cupcake place to grab some snackies for breakfast, we headed back to suzanne's. met hubby, then suzanne kindly guided us to the subway and airtrain back to jfk & we snagged a shuttle to the hotel for our 8am flight the next morning. more to come later.
also, is that dismantled piano still sitting outside your apartment?