When I was driving through the hills between Nashville and my house, I had grand plans for the post that would sum up Blissdom better than any other post on the internet.
The post would be amazing, inspiring and not one of those posts where only the folks who attended the conference appreciate them.[1]You know what I’m talking about.
But like I said, I was driving so it wasn’t as if I could whip out my laptop and start while I was going 80 on Hwy 65 so the ideas floated around in my head and got left on the roadside.
Now I’m stuck with trying to remember the good and the bad and not paint the conference with a broad-brush one way or the other.
The Gaylord Opryand Hotel is huge and walking the distance to the moon and back multiple times a day is probably one of the many reasons my feet look like they belong on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I missed my kids and Tucker to such an extent I wanted to come home immediately after my HTML session–which went really well, btw; I didn’t even puke. My will to stay somewhere whilst surrounded by new people was pretty much sucked right out of me when Cara said, “I miss you, Mommy. When are you coming home?”
Sob! Ugly crying and all that.
And then I dried my tears, removed all of the mascara from under my eyes and went on with it…and walked right into one of the women who had been at my HTML workshop who shook my hand and thanked me for making websites and analytics not look as scary. Which completely made that part of my day since I had it firmly rooted in my brain that I had completely screwed the pooch during that workshop.
It snowed. It was pretty. I’m glad I only had to drive through torrential amounts of rain.
We partied every single night and for a couple of days all I drank was coffee and booze. No wonder everything on my body hurt. But it was worth it. I got to see sides of people–though not back sides–I never would have seen if not for some bumping beats. I made friends with the club staff and the DJ and got to cut loose; I haven’t danced in public since before Cara was born…maybe 2003?
Because of multiple night of partying, I don’t want to hear AC/Top 40 music for a very, very long time.
My friend D collects vintage aprons. I was born in the wrong decade. I wanted to hump D’s aprons. She brought the aprons to Blissdom and gave them away; she kept her favorites.
I picked this one:
Cara picked this one:
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW opening keynote.
I have nothing to say about this that would add any meaning of substance to what is already there. But who needs substance, right? Wanna know what I liked about Brené? She didn’t seem to buy her own hype. When I was sitting at the “badge checking” table acting like I was gonna shank someone if they tried to sneak by me, Brené walked past me. I stopped her and let her know how much I thought she rocked. She actually thanked me and I’m pretty sure she meant what she was saying. I’d hang with her.
Then there was the Love Drop crew.
I had the pleasure of meeting Nate St. Pierre, J.Money and Lauren. These three are involved in Love Drop, Love Bomb and It Starts Us. Go to the links, read what they’re all about and get involved. Nate, J.Money and Lauren are making tangible differences in people’s lives; you can too.
Then, of course, there was the flashmob; Jana choreographed the whole ball of awesome.
The way it worked was a bunch of women watched video tutorials Jana posted in a “secret” Facebook room. There were different waves of folks and awesome fingerless gloves were a must.
If you want, you can watch the tutorial videos since Jana made the private room public.
Jana did a kickass job. Feel free to clap; she deserves it.
Saturday night, Heather and Malia invited me to dinner at Holland House. I want to live there. I know it will get crowded and a bit awkward when the customers come in but that place has a fully stocked bar; how bad could it get? The food was so fabulous I can not remember the last time I had a meal that good. The martinis weren’t half bad either.
Right before Blissdom, I told Heather I wanted to have a “food experience” and I laughed at myself but I wasn’t joking. If I go to a restaurant and the food tastes like I can make it at home[2] then I’m not a happy chick. I was very, very happy when I left Holland House…and it wasn’t just because of the martinis.
After dinner, we went back to the black hole that is Gaylord’s hotel and danced one last time.
My feet are happy to be free of shoes. My face is glad it didn’t have to wear makeup today. My husband is glad to have his best friend back. My kids are happy to have their mom home.
And my heart?
It was filled full by a few good friends but it and the rest of me are very glad to be home.
