ummm, blogher?!

Mike has been saying for weeks now, "So, aren't you so excited about your trip to San Diego? It's coming up so soon!" And I have been all, "Yeah, I'm super excited," but totally done eyerolls at his crazy talk about its fast approach. But then I looked at a calendar. And may have peed in my pants just a little bit.

BlogHer is officially LESS THAN ONE MONTH AWAY.

Cue sweaty palms and heart racing and jumping for joy and the taste of vomit creeping up in the back of my throat.

I really am so, so excited about BlogHer. I can't fully put into words how excited I am, actually. But I have all of these anxious feelings crowding around the good ones--What will I wear? How will I possibly "do" everything while I'm there? What if, in real life, these internet friendships don't hold up? What if everyone I know is secretly judging me for going to a blogging conference? What if my roommate tries to kill me in my sleep?!

And, how, oh how, will I ever leave my sweet-cheeked budgie behind for 5 whole nights?

Yeah, that vomit taste is getting stronger.

So I did what any BlogHer newbie would do: I called for back-up. Well, by called I mean emailed. And by back-up I mean bloggers who have been there before. I asked them to share anything from a sentence or two to a novella, as long as it would help talk me off my pre-BlogHer ledge. Thank goodness, they responded.

(Their words are mingled all together here--probably it's clear without me saying it, but anything italicized gets credited to the amazing ladies contributing their advice and not to me!)

1. What to wear. This was a big one for me, since I have a tendency to overpack just to be on the safe side. "Blair" recommended dressing nicely but comfortably; in her words, you don't want to be too hot, too cold, or look homeless. Duly noted. Emily shared that comfortable footwear is essential--High heels are cute, but they'll kill ya. For real. That one's gonna be hard for me. But being on your feet all day doesn't exactly lend itself to toe-torturing footwear, so comfort is going to take precedence. For more on this topic, please head over to Harper's Happenings to read Mandy's fantastic post about stylin' yourself for BlogHer.

2. Pack an extra bag. I'm sure I'm not alone in hearing the rumors that the swag at BlogHer? Is outta control. All those rumors were confirmed: There is so much swag, you'll get handed free stuff just for walking down the hall! The answer to handling all that loot lies in bringing along an extra suitcase or bag to stow it in on the way home. On the way there, pack your clothes in a carry-on & fold a duffel bag in the front--no need to check anything on the way there & there's an extra bag waiting for swag. Brilliant!

3. Network, network, network. You're there to learn and network and grow, right? Then don't be shy--say hi and hand out your business card. Mandy assured me that even veterans of the conference get nervous--no one is immune to the butterflies. Overcoming them is so important if you're going to make the most of the experience. Don't worry if no one knows who you are--just introduce yourself and get excited for people to learn who you are.

4. Be ready to be tired. You'll go all day and all night and survive on little sleep. Everyone's in the same boat (and us moms have done the no-sleep thing forever, right?), so just accept that you're going to be tired and move on.

5. Don't forget your business card. There are some vital things to remember, and this is the most important one (have I mentioned how excited I am about mine?!).