BlogHer
Next Entries »Wandering NYC and better NY State license plates
Monday, August 9th, 2010On Friday, I wrote about the ugly new license plates in New York State. If you missed that post, you need to check out how far we came over my lifetime, only to go back 10-15 steps. Ugh!
While in NYC for BlogHer, TechyDad and I opted to walk around the streets by the Hilton for a little while. Please note, we were so close to everything it was amazing. We walked a block over to Broadway. First, we saw this:
We opted not to have pizza there and continued to walk down. . .
I drooled and wished that we had tickets to see this:
Sad to say, we did not get to see that or the following:
We kept walking down and saw marque after marque of plays we would not get to see along with other interesting signs. Then we went into the Hershey Store for a few minutes.
There was a lot to see, but it was nothing like their home store in Hershey, PA.
Across the street was another chocolatey retail wonder. Here is the sign as it changed outside:
We had to go inside to wander around the three stories to compare it to the Las Vegas store. Not quite as much, but my oh my a lot of M&M packed into one NYC store!
While there, we saw the solution to the UGLY new New York State license plates. Here they are:
After this, we went back toward the Hilton and stopped by Ray’s Pizza for some slices to go. We wandered back around the corner to the Hilton and went back to the 31st floor to inhale, and relax before day 2 of BlogHer.
More on BlogHer10 coming soon.
Greetings from BlogHer 2010
Sunday, August 8th, 2010Just wanted to say hello to everyone from NYC. TechyDad and I have been here for BlogHer ’10 since Thursday. It has been a whirlwind of learning, networking, seeing/meeting friends, having fun and barely sleeping. There will be a lot to share in the coming weeks. For now, here is a photo of the two of us heading to the parties Saturday night.
See you on the flip side after we venture home in our shiny red Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (amazing SUV) thanks to the Chevrolet Sponsored Carpool. Thank you again to Lisa G and the rest of the amazing people that made the adventure downstate possible.
P.S. A special thank you to my parents for making this amazing weekend possible. If they had not helped out with the boys this experience would not have been possible. THANK YOU to an amazing Nana and Papa who are so very loved by the boys and us.
A childhood best friend
Thursday, August 5th, 2010It’s only fitting that today, while heading to BlogHer, I write about long time friends. Later today, while at BlogHer, I will finally be able to meet many people that I have known in the blogosphere for three or more years. I am so excited about this. The list of people that I hope to meet and some see again (from DisneySMMoms) would be too long to list here, plus I no doubt would leave out someone important without meaning to hurt feelings.
Last Friday, I had a reunion of a different kind. I have to admit, I was really giddy about this. I actually called my parents to see if I could have a friend come over to "play" at their house. When my parents heard that it was my lifelong friend and former neighbor Julespearl, they immediately agreed. Heck, they were excited at the prospect of seeing her. They had probably not seen her since my wedding, nine years ago.
Growing up, Julespearl and I were inseperable. The two of us would knit together on the porch in the summer, watch Little House in the Prarie first thing each morning, and share our dreams of teaching. She was actually one of the few people that knew I secretly wanted to teach when I started off at pharmacy school.
Julespearl and I have tried to get together in the past, but things just didn’t work out. This time we both knew it was a must. So the other night I sent her a message. I asked if she could come over to play – seriously! For old times, TechyDad even made WhirlyPop popcorn that I brought and we had ice tea as we chatted while the boys played. The sad thing, Julespearl had never actually met my boys in person while we both lived in the same city all these years.
It was like time had stopped and we had never grown up. We talked and talked and talked. Each of us catching up on things that have or are happening in our lives. We both commented on how special our neighborhood was growing up. All of the kids played together, summers did not need camp because we all went on adventures to the park and beyond together. It really was a different time period. As much as I love our neighbord here, our busy schedules means that we do not see each other often and it is sad especially based on my childhood.
As dinner time approached, Julespearl had to head home. She and her hubby were heading out to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Just another reminder that we had indeed grown up.
So today, as I make new friends and see others once again, I also look forward to making more memories when I get back home from BlogHer with my good buddy. I can not wait to sit down and knit together with citronella candles lit listening to Beetles in the background.
Happy 00110011 00110101 B-Day TechyDad
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010Dear JL,
Today is your birthday, and a special one at that. Not one with a zero at the end, but something more in the middle. I hope that you have an extra special geeky birthday. With any luck the end of your birthday week will be exciting and extra sparkly at BlogHer. I also figured you would get the message above. I went the extra distance here and went to a translator to figure out how to do it properly.
So now here is an acrostic poem that NHL and I wrote for you:
T akes us bowling and to other special places
E njoys time with his boys
C ooks us dinner every night
H as shared Ben Ten, Rug Rats, and Mythbusters with us
Y es, he makes us chocolate PB s’mores for treats
D eserves a magical vacation to Disney World soon
A lways puts our family first
D edicated geek in every way
Please know that the boys and I love you with all of our hearts. We miss you every day when you head to work, but cherish our family time with you when you get home. Thank you for being you, the man that I fell in love with at the outlets when we met, and continue to find more reasons to love each and every day we are together. I can not wait for our adventure together at BlogHer and beyond.
Love,
Your Angel Forever
NYC and BlogHer bound
Friday, July 30th, 2010A week from today, I will be in NYC at BlogHer. I am excited, nervous and overwelmed in a good way. There are so many people that I can not wait to meet, sessions that look incredible and fun parties that will add to the experience. Last year, I was one of the people that was not at BlogHer ’09 in Chicago. I had planned on it, but opted for a family Disney World vacation earlier instead. I remember sitting at my computer wishing I was there with everyone in Chicago. I saw all of the pre-BlogHer posts and drooled, then sulked when everyone was there and live blogging/Tweeting.
I vowed not to over write about BlogHer before the conference. Since this will be my first BlogHer experience, I am going in naive with the expectation to take it one moment at a time. Sure, I have a tentative schedule of everything I would love to do. Will I be upset if it doesn’t work out? Not really, there is so much that I will learn from BlogHer and I am thrilled to be able to go.
So my question to you this week:
Have you ever been to BlogHer in the past and will you be there next week? If not, please know I feel for you and hope that one day you will be able to attend if that is your wish.
P.S. One last thing before I go. I would like to take the time to thank Chevrolet. I am part of a group that will be carpooling to BlogHer in NYC in a Chevy sponsored vehicle. CutestKidEver, AlbanyMommy, TechyDad and I will be driving in a Tahoe Hybrid to our destination.
We are one of ten groups that were selected. They will be providing us with the vehicle, one tank of gas, ON STAR access, and parking once we arrive. They are not paying for additional gas, lodging or our tickets to BlogHer. If you would like to follow along with our journey and the others carpooling to BlogHer ’10, you can follow #ChevyBlogHer on Twitter.
Update: For those taking part in the #ChevyBlogHer carpool and want to use the banner, Lisa asked me to share. Here is the code to use:
<p><a href="http://www.blogher.com/carpool-blogher-10-chevrolet" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.theangelforever.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ChevyBlogHer.jpg"></a></p>
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
Aloha #110
Wearing pink for Cora – 7 months
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Do you see that beautiful baby girl above? She is saving lives as an angel. With the help of her brave Mama, Kristine, they are spreading awareness about CHD and having babies pulse oxygen levels tested at birth. I have written about Cora, and her mother has been my one and only guest blogger here with her poem to Cora during CHD awareness week.
Today is Cora’s seven month birthday. This is the day that Cora’s Story asks people to wear pink and help to spread the word about CHD. I purposely kept the one and only pink shirt that I own for today. When the boys and I went to the park with Nana, I took my picture. My mother asked why and I responded – this one is for Cora.
Sweet Cora, I read your Mama’s wishes the other day and had tears in my eyes. If only I could grant her wishes, especially the one that would bring you back. I do know that I am sending her something special in the mail. Some things to pamper herself and another item to help your charity. I know your family is helping to save other babies.
Kristine, one of my wishes is to give you a great big hug in New York City in a little over a month at BlogHer. You my friend are a hero. Never forget that you are an absolutely amazing and brave Mom.
Commenting on comments
Thursday, June 10th, 2010Admit it, we all like to hear from people after we take the time to type up a post. Whether it is something the family did, a Wordless Wednesday, product review or giveaway, all items published are a labor of love to bloggers. I will admit that I have a TON of blogs in my Google Reader that I follow and I do not get to each of them to leave a comment. Lately, I have been trying my best to stop by and say something at least 1-2 times a week.
As you may have heard, Telling Dad has done another Song Parody. The last one was just after the BlogHer drama and was loved by everyone. This time around, he changed the lyrics from the song "Seven Things" by Miley Cyrus. The new song is called "Say the Things" and has fun video from many bloggers that you will recognize. Here is his fabulous creation:
Be sure to head over to Telling Dad to read the wonderful lyrics of the song and to thank him for this masterpiece. I look forward to more creations from him in the future. Remember, the real message here is that as much as you like people leaving you comments, you must also do the same in return. Happy commenting!
Shoe shopping woes
Friday, June 4th, 2010Let me start by saying that I am not the kind of girl that likes to go clothing or shoe shopping. If I find something that fits and I like it, I will buy several of the item to last and call it a day. On Sunday, I went out to look for a dress to wear to a family wedding coming up soon. Nothing that I had worked for a number of reasons, so shopping was a necessity. My mother and father took me to look in places that they had seen dresses. After no luck at Kohls (no dressy items at all), we went to JC Penney. My mother had bought her outfit for the wedding there and knew that they had a good plus sized department.
We got to the department and there was a lot to browse though. Of course, any two piece items were automatically out. My top and bottom are much different in size. I could technically go to the non-plus size for pants and skirts, but not tops. *sigh* There was a large display of summer dresses without sleeves. I was ready to dismiss them when my mother talked me into trying them on. She reminded me that I could always something to put over my arms if I wanted it.
The first dress I tried on left me without words. It fit, almost too well. The length was perfect, the sides were high enough to cover my bra and the girls were in place nicely. My mother asked why I never wore sleeveless items. I think this reminded me why. Most items are not made to fit like a dress and show off too much bra or even more that should not be seen. I kept trying more dresses on and fell in love with another dress. My mind immediately went to the cocktail parties at BlogHer this summer. I walked out of JC Penney with two new dresses at 50%. A quick call to TechyDad made me realize I was lucky not to be home.
Now the hunt is on. I need a pair of shoes to match my dresses. If at all possible, I would like silver wedges so they can be worn with both. Thursday, I spent the day on a shoe hunt. Talk about frustrating! Thanks to a high instep, cute shoes are hard to find that fit. Shoe after shoe did not work. I really liked a pair of silver wedges at Macy’s, but after 3 minutes the leather left a nasty looking rub mark on my foot.
Looking online is great, but I really need to try something on. Not sure I have enough time to order something in case it doesn’t fit. I did find a great looking pair of shoes called Cupcake from the YOU line by Crocs. Before you roll your eyes, check them out here:
So my question to you this week:
Do you like to go shopping for dressy clothing and shoes and why do you feel this way? If you are a shoe expert, any suggestions on where to hunt would be greatly appreciated.
Update: About 30 minutes after I typed this on Thursday evening, I was talking to my mother on the phone. She was near another shoe store and asked me to meet her there. Thank you Super Shoes! I found several pairs of shoes that fit, were cute and worked with my dresses. Not the best photo from my cell phone, but it will do for now (modeling shots were on Twitter last night).
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.
Aloha #102
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