Do and Do Nots BlogHer 2010

So during BlogHer10 there were quite a few things that others did and that I too did that were very annoying and frustrating. Lessons learned I will call them, some of which are amusing,, some more concerning. So as the days progressed I started to document them, so that I could share not only with you bloggies but also if someone is looking for some guidance next year they can read my Do and Do not list:) hahaha (and maybe laugh and or pause for a moment).

HUGE DISCLAIMER- I'm not attacking anyone and you are entitled to pick and choose of these which are offensive and acceptable to you.

Let's just start by saying this was my first BLOGGING conference, but it was not my first conference. In my primary career field we often have conferences or seminars both locally and nationally where we continue and update our education, network, market and have fun seeing people who work in various parts of the country and various 'genres'. We have fun going to parties or dinners after hours.

DO NOT Hold your hand up to ask a question for 40 minutes and turn your ears off. What you often will realize is the question will be answered while your waiting, so you can put your hand DOWN and listen and wait till its Q/A time.

DO NOT Okay I know this is a blogging conference, and social networking is of utmost importance as follower and stats matter. But maybe if your at a SOCIAL conference,, use this time to I dunno GET OFF YOUR PHONE AND COMPUTER for five minutes to be SOCIAL!. This drove me nuts and I understand the irony of this offending me, and perhaps its because there is NO way during my 'work related conferences' would we ever insult a guest speaker by texting/messaging or typing during their presentation. I do understand that you may need to set up a meeting or meet up with people after a class or luncheon,, but if your going to be glued to your computer and not acknowledge the person next to you or the rest of the people at the table around you... maybe you should have stayed home cause I think your missing the SOCIAL part.

DO make new friends at each table/chance opportunity. You might read my name-tag (and I might read yours) and it may not seem like a super catchy blog you have read before, but perhaps,, your blog is the one that will change my life (or vice versa). If there is an empty seat, grab it and start a conversation with the person next to you, exchanged business cards, share knowledge and empart wisdom. SO much of this happened that I LOVE LOVE LOVED, but you DO have to not be shy for about 2.2 seconds and just sit your tushy down! (Anyone can fake being un-shy for 2.2 seconds right?)

DO NOT leave the sound on your computer or cell phone so I can hear every tweet,text, chime that you receive. That is RUDE, and doesn't impress me at all.

DO NOT chug champagne at a party because you have another party to get to. Champagne will mess you up!

DO NOT assume you can get to every party, but DO wear comfortable shoes so that you can TRY!!!

DO feel free to talk to other Bloggies on the elevator, some of my favorite conversations were stuck on the elevator for much longer than needed to go up or down some stairs.

DO NOT try to catch a cab when they are all switching shifts.

DO NOT Use a 'question' at a seminar as an excuse to promote yourself shamelessly. Its one thing to introduce yourself, its another thing to introduce,plug,promote, and give a 10 minute tutorial on what you sell why you sell it and why your the best and most honorable person to buy from (GAG).

DO NOT go to a table of people and pass out your business card before introducing yourself or taking even an IOTA of a second to I dunno.... ask who you just dumped the cards (that are not cute!) if they have names or intersts or even WANT your card. Oh PS.. I threw it out!.

DO sit down at a table of strangers and chat and introduce yourself and get to know the people who you are speaking with and ask for THEIR business cards (if your likely to read their blog) and offer yours in trade. Result: meeting people different from you that help make you more awesome! SCORE!

DO Give it a try! Next year is in S.Diego and I will not be attending as I'll be getting married a few weeks before so I'll be in wedded bliss or something. But you should either go to BlogHer or Blissdom, or I think there is a Canadian Blogher, and look nearby and if there is not a meetup,, create one!

How to have Girl Scout Cookies all year round...

So I had been putting off eating these until I returned home from Blogher. I thought it would be kind of me to wait and let Kevin have some too and not just eat them all myself. So once they arrived I knew I wouldn't be able to hold off for long.

OH MY GOD!!! Do you remember the first time you had a Thin Mint girl scout cookie? And you were like THESE are deLeeescious!? Except soon you realized that the timeline on thin mints are finite.. and while it was great that you had so many in a packet in comparison to those silly samoas,, they eventually were gone, and there was not going to be another cookie sale till NEXT YEAR!...


(I put three on the plate cause that's the suggested serving size and I like to TRY to start off on the right note.... ps.. I lost the pictures via the crappy camera and so I had to 'redo the pic'... and have three more cookies! oops:))

So these are better than Thin Mints... They are smooth like a peppermint patty with the mint filling but crunchy mint like the cookies of those girl scouts.!
(sorry girl scouts I'm not trying to steal your sale and give it to Oreo,, I'm just allowing us to feed our addictions through the year while your earning badges and stuff, I still plan on partaking in your 'sale')


(This is how they look inside.. YUMMY is what best describes how they look).

Okay so I'm not sure if there was like a coupon in the bag to share ya'll a link or a coupon code but if there is I'll come back and share it with you. That being said... Go buy a pack now cause it will change YOUR life too..

mine are now in the freezer and I'm stoked about my evening snack tomorrow:)

*I was given a box of Mint Fudge Oreos at Blogher 2010. I was not requested or required to review (alliteration folks).I was not monetarily compensated. But I have a personal problem with chocolate and mint so it was worth keeping,,, to me!*

I'm a twit! and I think I like it!

Well it took me a while to convert. I resisted mostly because I was afraid and nervous but as I observed my girl Shannon read and twitter and be apart of the conversation, I thought HOW FUN!??

Of course it makes me overwhelmed, especially when I see tons of Bloggers at the convention attached to their phones and tweeting thru sessions or thru parties and I kept thinking 'how will I ever keep UP!" I can barely keep up reading all your blogs that I love so very much and managing to stop to write mine!!!

But then I started to read blogs about twitter and about how people love to talk and have conversations with the people they read and whom read them, so I thought... aww shucks.. (yeah I totally didnt say that!)..

I said "what the hell!"

So I'm on twitter...
@meanderingD and I would love for you to follow me, and look forward to finding and following all of you!.

Nuggets that have VERY little to do with BlogHer 2010, ,,,, but are awesome

BlogHer 2010 has all kinds of amazing bloggers and knowledge and women, and frankly I think I was over my head (yay!) So in the next few blogs I'd like to try to share some of what I learned (as a true newbie!). But while I try to use some of my skills to make other pictures prettier or learn how to make my blog something you'll like more!.....

Today I'm going to show you the pics I took that were fun and silly and entertaining along the way:) Cause that's how I roll!:)

Four drinks for four amazing women!


The most amazing (and spicy) Mac and Cheese from Hallmark (someone find me that recipe!!!)


A Christmas cookie that we decorated!



Clyde the best-est friend for my cousin!:)


The mini-bar that we could open but did not buy from!



The fridge they brought us when I wanted to store Diet Coke and didn't want to get charged for it..


The jewelry store in the hotel that is named exactly how my cousin says my name (dan-ee-yell-i) :)


AND FINALLY,, the sky caps playing some hoops while we wait for our plane to get into the runway:) (you can't see this but they're wearing earplugs and that makes me happy)

Take a Bite out of the Apple!

Dear Bloggies,

I'm headed to Blogher 2010 and maybe I'll meet some of you, and maybe I'll learn lots to make my blog more entertaining and awesome for you to read.
I won't be bringing my laptop since a) its my fiance's and b) if its not plugged in it freaks out and turns off which is NOT useful and c) I don't want to make it more finicky. So I may be posting all my bloggie adventures afterward but I'm sure your all waiting with baited breath.

Or your not going and your annoyed that everyone's talking about it (sorry!).
D

Revisiting the wreckage ......

So have you ever been back to a place that was a 'tough chunk' of your life. Like you break up with a bf and that blockbuster you used to go to is now like hugely awkward and borderline painful? The blockbuster totally didn't change AT ALL (okay maybe it picked up some new releases) ,, but it was your memories that were like tainting or coloring it all to a place where you either can't function (depending on how raw the hurt is) or you just feel like its not right.

Maybe its not Blockbuster, maybe its a city where you grew up,,, or maybe it was the house where you got divorced, or maybe (shock)your high school.

Or maybe you don't even need to be in the location, you just need the certain people around to make you feel that way again.

Or,,as I noticed when we watched family videos back in May,,watching myself as a teen I was brought RIGHT back to all the emotions I felt as a teen, awkward and disapproving of myselfs, and mostly disapproving of ANY attempts my parents or family made to make me laugh (or god forbid make me laugh).

So I'm doing that this weekend. I spent two years living and working in NYC and while there were many blessings and TONS of personal and professional lessons that changed me forever, there was a lot of drama and a lot of pain and a lot of hurt.


During that time I chose to value my pride, my finances, my ego and what I imagined was my future instead of listening to all the things that were telling me otherwise.

I did not listen to my body, I did not listen to my emotions, I did not listen to my family and friends, and I did not listen to those that I cared about most and in most cases I stopped listening to me, and that right there bloggies..

IS A CARDINAL OFFENSE (in my book).

When I stopped listening to my instincts and I stopped going towards what brings my joy in from the core. When I stopped, I went from one drama to the next, one misery to the next and one frustration or poor decision to the other. I now know that it was God really testing me and building me up and pushing me around till I realized how valuable it is to have those around you that you love and trust and support, and how you can't put a price on being there for a birthday or a family member's event. How for someone who wants to have a family and be a part of a family,,,,, 'so called friends' are never ever going to be enough.

So I'm heading to NYC this weekend for BlogHer 2010 and I'm trying to make this conference not only a growth opportunity for my 'lil ole blog' but also an opportunity to close the door on the offensive choices that I made in my past, and let NYC be the beautiful mecca that it is. I'm going with a team of awesomeness friends, and girls that are my NY versions of a SITC crew so I'm stoked to laugh and cry and joke and celebrate and 'redo this' :)

Wanchai Ferry Dinner!!!

We were lucky enough to receive this awesome Beef and Broccoli Wanchai Ferry Dinner and two black tea sets for free to evaluate from MyBlogSpark.. The information, sample, prize pack and giveaway have all been provided by Wanchai Ferry through MyBlogSpark.

We were lucky enough to receive it quite a few weeks ago, but by a complete miracle in the Buffalo area its been like "GORGEOUS and really hot!' So this weekend it was a wonderful and yet a lil cooler 60 something,,, (which IMO is the ideal weather).

So we cooked up this Beef and Broccoli for dinner.
Our primary concerns:
1) Will we be hungry afterward like typical Chinese,
2) Will it taste like Chinese or more like college cafeteria 'Chinese food'.
3) Will it burn because of my limited cooking abilities.

So first you dump all the veggies and beef into a stir fry pot. I don't have one of those (mental note for the registry huh), so we used a regular pot but I was vigilant about the 'non stickiness occurring'.


Then we put the rice in the microwave to cook while we added the sauce to the stir fry part. Mental note to MOMMIES: If you have a teen aged boy near you (or someone with an equally leveled sense of humor),, don't let them see you put the sauce it,, when you squeeze it out it looks kinda,,,, lumpy... (heheheheheh)


So that simmered till it gets delicious and flavorful, and then we sat down for our meal.



Okay now to evaluate:)

1) Hunger levels: Well we were both totally full for at least an hour, but the portion sizes are not what we're used to (I blame the delicious Buffalo cuisine).

2) Delicious. Tasted better than Chinese actually because it was fresh and not all congealed and full of MSG stuffs and things.

3) I thankfully did not burn ANYTHING which is also a miracle.

So overall its was a really delicious and SUPER easy meal to make, and we look forward to trying some of their other varieties in the future. Mostly I'm excited about Shrimp Lo Mein and Szechuan Chicken.:) yum yum