Mar 15
Everyone,
I have gotten into a very bad habit of staying up way too late at night. That makes me super crabby and uncooperative in the morning. Which makes the kids clingy and whiny. Which only compounds my mood. It’s a nasty cycle. I really should go to bed earlier. But here I am, after 11:30pm, still up!
This past weekend, I was also up at this hour, but doing something much more fun than blogging and working. I was meeting a ton of new bloggers at Momz Share. What is Momz Share? Momz Share is a series of events, held quarterly and hosted by a different, D.C. Metro Region blogger. Lolli and I went armed with our treats to share and our cameras to take pictures. She took all the pictures, I didn’t take any. I joked with people that I travel with my own photographer when Lolli and I hang out. And it seems we do everything together lately. 
Jen (Hip as I Wanna Be) and Lara (Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom) are the founders of Momz Share and are so much fun! There was tons of food, tons of prizes from some awesome companies, and lots of really great conversation.
I was so excited to meet Jessica from A Parent in Silver Spring. I have been reading her for a long time and I knew we could be friends. And I think we kind of are now! As much as friends who read each other’s blogs and have met once. I think I spent over an hour talking to her and Lolli. (See her blog for a picture of the 3 of us.)
I had so many interesting conversations with so many people. Sadly, I totally missed winning a prize by only a year each time. Rats! The winner was picked by who was blogging the longest. I said 6 years, the other gal had 7. But looking back on my archives, I have totally been blogging for 7! Plus, all those years (3) of having an “online diary” at iparenting BEFORE blogs became easy and popular. That makes 10 years of putting my story online.
Now I sound totally nerdy. But this nerd is having a great time meeting all these amazing bloggers!
Safire
Safireblog meetings, Momz Share
Mar 08
Everyone,
This was a weekend of firsts for me! I was able to go to my very first conference ever. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I mostly went to go hang out with Lolli and to see what the fuss was about. It’s not every day that you get to go to a conference so close to your home! I got wait listed but ended up getting a ticket very soon after. Lucky me!
After we got our name tags, we found out that we were sitting no where near each other. Drat! I ambled my way over to table 9 and did the small talk thing with Evolving Mommy and Sarah. And I took notes! In my brand new personalized notebook for blogging conferences. (Because I’m already signed up for 2 more!) Our first session was run by Scary Mommy, MamaKat from Mama’s Losin’ It! and our organizer, SITSgirl. They were so much fun to listen too! They talked a lot about building your blog and building your brand. This was the first thing to get my mind turning at the conference.
Sadly, I missed some of the talk because of a call from Juice. He took all 3 kids to the hardware store that morning to build rain gauges. They all helped hammer, got aprons, the whole bit. When he got back to the car, he realized that he had locked the keys in the car! Ack! A visit from a locksmith and much money dropped for 10 minutes of work, he was able to drive home. Poor guy. I felt really bad and wished I could go home to him and the kids.
A break for lunch in a beautiful room overlooking the harbor was just what I needed. I had a great time talking to all of my table mates and having some delicious cake.
Our next session involved a table change. Instead of being in the nose bleed section, I got to be front and center at table 4. I was soon joined by another Maryland Mom Blogger, Parenting By Dummies, and Diane from In My Own Style. I learned some things about the PR road map and realized a few more things about my blog. This is where I started jotting notes down in my handy dandy note book about my own blog and things I want to do.
And then, Tara talked about SEO and I decided. Things are going to change with the blog. I think I took the most notes here and got really excited about the change!
After a lovely Jello break and meeting Holly, we got to go back downstairs. This time we picked our own table because there were no more numbers on them. That was fun! I got to sit next to Stimey (who I actually read online) and Michelle who is a nanny to twins! She and I didn’t get to talk long enough and I’ve enjoyed reading her blog. We have a lot in common!
We were given some guide lines from attorney Stacey Ferguson, found @justicefergie, on how to be responsible with product reviews and give aways. And then my brain filled up and exploded.
Seriously, what an amazing conference. I met so many other new friends and have some amazing things to read.
We were able to go out with everyone after. We went to a dueling piano bar (a first for me…never been in a bar before!) but we didn’t stay more than 10 minutes or so. It was just too loud. We ended back up at the hotel restaurant for some good pizza and good talking.
The party didn’t just stop there. We were able to use the hotel conference room and just sit around talking. So much fun. This was my favorite part of the whole conference. It was like a big old sleep over. But instead of talking about boys we thought were cute, we talked about husbands and kids who are cute.
The hotel kicked us out of the room at around 12 am though. Lolli and I walked back to my car (just a few blocks away) and marveled at how many people were out that late. We got home at 1am and I crashed in my bed.
So. An amazing conference. I totally would do it again and now I’m excited for the other 2 I’m signed up for!
But what does this mean for my blog? Honestly, a whole heap. This blog was only ever supposed to be temporary. Like the move to Maryland was supposed to be temporary. 6 years later, we and this blog are still here. Even though we are no where near being in a permanent home, I feel like the time is right for my blog to move to one. So in the next few months, there will be a big change. I will be moving to a different blog hosting site, a different url, and a whole new look. Wish me luck and I hope you’ll follow me over there when I go!
Safire
Safireblog meetings, Bloggy Boot Camp, blogs
Mar 12
Everyone,
Who has a free Thursday afternoon in March? Want to go to Port Discovery with us? It’s half price on Thursdays. We had so much fun today with Karen and baby Evie! Well, I think Butterfly had more fun at the children’s museum than we did. She pumped gas, climbed a huge rope ladder, rode on a wooden horse, roped cattle, dressed up, played soccer, and wandered through a crooked house.
There was so much else to see that we didn’t! There was a huge climbing thing in the middle of the museum that I couldn’t take her in because of the boys. And the water room closed as we got up there. And they had a special room for tots under 4 with it’s only little climbing thing and balls, etc. but that room was closed when we passed it. I would love to go back and spend more time.
Karen and Evie came from Kansas to visit her best friend from college. Karen and I “met” online about 5 years ago. I think it’s 5 years anyway. We were both trying to get pregnant, along with Deanna, Jill, Amy, and a lot of other girls that I still keep in touch with. Karen and I talked a lot through out the day. At least, after I got our extra car seat in the car (after taking it out 3 times to get it to work! Curses! We spent probably 45 minutes in the loading zone at the airport trying to get that car seat to work).
We took over 2 tables at the fast food place to have lunch, and then off to Port Discovery! And Baltimore! Where I always get lost! Today was no exception. Except this time I didn’t get lost going into Baltimore, I got lost going out. And then we got lost going to the mall to meet up with Deanna. Juice was helpful enough to google map us back on track and we decided to eat at the pizza place.
Wow, we are brave women to go to a sit down restaurant with 4 infants and a 3 year old. My boys were ravenous and ate twice as much food as they normally do. They cried between mouthfuls so I didn’t get a chance to look at the menu until we were about ready to order. Luckily, Butterfly was willing to color and was a complete angel today. I wish she was like this every day. But I suppose bad days make me realize how good she can be.
I was also really impressed with Karen and Evie! They had been up since 4am their time to take their flight and were both still happy and willing to be dragged around by us. And Deanna’s little boy is a doll! I had fun meeting him too.
Come back soon Karen!
Safire
SafireBaltimore, blog meetings, Deanna, Karen
Mar 11
Everyone,
I think I go in cycles of being all okay with everything, and then I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done. I feel like my days are so full but I also feel like I never do anything. Like today. I didn’t get a shower until 5pm.
But looking back at the day I don’t have anything to show for my time. It’s not like I was busy baking or scrapbooking or anything. I did take a nap this morning while the boys were napping and Butterfly was watching her show. I don’t think I’ve napped in months. I could use another one.
I did exersise with my friend this afternoon while the boys took their second nap and Butterfly had quiet time in her room. And when the kids are all up, I spend time playing with them and feeding them (a huge chore lately, another post for another time) and cleaning them.
Needless to say I did NOT get all the birthday stuff ironed out and will have to work on it some more in a few days. I also did NOT get any laundry done, or even planned for my good friend Karen’s visit tomorrow. Planned as in printed out directions and packed the diaper bag. I have some time in the morning that I will be able to do that but still. I wanted at least a list of things to gather up in the morning done tonight. (Yes, I am one of those people who makes lists of things I should do.)
I think we’re going to have a great time tomorrow. I am either very brave or very foolish but Karen is coming to spend the day with me in Baltimore and then we’ll meet up with another good friend Deanna in Annapolis later. This is the first time I am taking all 3 kids out doing something touristy by myself. Karen will be there so she can help me keep an eye on Butterfly but she also has a baby of her own so we shall see how it goes. We may end up spending a lot of time in the car because everyone will be contained there.
Wish me luck!
Safire
Safireblog meetings, daily stuff, exercising, Karen, Lala and Vinny
