women

Lots Of Estrogen, Lots Of Swag, Lots Of Blogging

October 20, 2008 By Blonde Mom 22 Comments

I spent my Saturday in a dark bar with a bunch of hot women from the Internet. How’d you spend yours?

Seriously, a great time was had by all at Blissdom ‘08 at the Hotel Preston here in Nashville organized by the talented women of Blissfully Domestic and sponsored by One2One Network and Epson.

I have to admit I was suddenly overcome with nervousness the first five minutes I was there because of an unexpected ”uhhhh…meeting lots of new people” reflex. I wasn’t going to mention that, but I know some people go through that…so there you have it. Once I started talking I was fine, so much so that I probably didn’t stop talking ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT. Just ask Mrs. 007 and Lori from Front Porch Legacy, both lovely new bloggers from Middle Tennessee that I sat with.

Check out these Blissdom speakers:

Tsh from Simple Mom (who needs Martha Stewart?)

Jennifer from Playgroups Are No Place for Children (check out her informative posts for bloggers)

THE original Busy Mom

The Nester (squeeee!)...again, who the heck is Martha?

Lotus from Sarcastic Mom

Karla from Looking Towards Heaven, VP of Blissfully Domestic

Alli, the queen bee of Blissfully Domestic

Megan from Velveteen Mind who can work that mike and is the brainchild behind Blog Nosh magazine

Robin, editor of Blissfully Domestic’s new faith channel

and keynote speaker Lynn Terry of Click Newz

Michelle Lamar (White Trash Mom) was not able to attend and I was bummed because I was hoping she’d demonstrate some mad Halloween tampon crafting skillz.

It was all very informal with lots of great hair in one room. I mean I could not stop wanting to touch the Queen of Shake Shake’s hair when we were talking, ya’ll. Leisa Hammett, a Nashville writer whose 12-year-old daughter is an amazingly talented artist, was also queen of hair for the day. So I’m obsessed with hair…I digress.

We were treated to an awesome performance by Jessie Baylin, who just appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Several of us went to dinner at Sunset Grill and I sat with some of my Nashville peeps and the Cincinatti crew: Shannan from Mommy Bits, Susan from Working Moms Against Guilt, and Amy in Ohio. I thought about taking Mrs. CPA’s adorable baby girl home with me, but decided against it.

Everyone there was just awesome and I know I am forgetting to link to some of you lovely ladies (like just now I am adding Ginger from Attention Target Shoppers and Missy from the House of Flying Monkeys). (Gush, gush, smooch, smooch.)

Me (yes I am that short), Malia from Live, Laugh, Love, Amy from Milkbreath & Margaritas, and Lori from Front Porch Legacy (she and Mrs. CPA get my vote for best Southern accents).

Mark your calendars for February when Blissdom STRIKES AGAIN. Will there be signature pink Blisstinis? I bet there will.

p.s. Thanks to Johnson & Johnson for helping me provide their great new Melt Away Stress lotion for the swag bags!

p.p.s. Secret Agent Mama has an awesome photo set on Flickr from Blissdom. She is an amazing photographer! Ginger at Attention Target Shoppers has a great recap...I met her Saturday and got one of her fun business cards.

Filed Under: Bloggy Things 22 Comments

You Go Girl!

October 15, 2008 By Blonde Mom 2 Comments

I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday about some hip and lower back pain (don’t ask…it’s basically caused by Isitonmybuttwaytoomuchitis coupled with Ipickupacertain3yearoldwaytoodamnmuchitis) and as I sat in the starkly decorated examining room I glanced around for reading material that wasn’t a freebie handout from a pharmaceutical company. I saw a fairly new copy of Redbook magazine and as I flipped through the pages I landed on an article about blogging, so naturally I had to read it.

I stopped when I saw a familiar smiling face. My margarita buddy Nicole, who is now living in Charleston and who is founder of The Soccer Mom Vote blog, a fabulously informative collaborative political issues blog written by moms from across the country, was featured in the August issue of Redbook as one of six inspirational female bloggers Check out Nicole’s page from the article here and while you are there, read about the other inpsiring women bloggers featured in the magazine. I tried to find a mention of this little media spotlight on The Soccer Mom Vote, but Nicole is not one to over toot her own horn. So I’ll toot it for her, dammit. She did do some personal horn tooting on her blog, Sitting Still, back when the piece published but I had not seen it in print. There’s just something about the printed word that seems much more “real” than online publishing. And that Blogland is the truth to this print journalism major who remembers typing Basic Reporting assignments on a typewriter in 1991.

p.s. Speaking of blog friends and amazing women, I’m very excited about attending Blissdom this Saturday, the first ever conference organized by the blog divas behind Blissfully Domestic.

Filed Under: Bloggy Things, Friends 2 Comments

OK, So You Can Be Too Blonde And Too Thin

June 13, 2008 By Blonde Mom 29 Comments

I had my hair done today and I was overdue, per usual. My ends were stringy; I had roots. Basically I was one missed shampoo shy of looking like a homeless woman. I’m really bad about pushing it. When I met with clients at work face-to-face I was much better about the hair upkeep. Now I interact solely on the phone or via e-mail with clients so the need to maintain my hair just sort of takes a back seat. I still refuse to wear a scrunchie outside the house, though.

My hair dresser up and quit yesterday so I got to see the owner of the salon as they were shuffling appointments. This was really a treat since the salon owner charges close to three times what my hairdresser charged, does spots on local TV, and her clients include a lot of local broadcast TV personalities.

I have a photographer I can recommend, but since she’s only 6, you’ll have to provide transportation as her Barbie scooter limits her to our driveway.

The salon owner basically said what I already knew, sitting there in the chair in my black smock, looking at my fried ends that definitely took some damage at the beach. I was too blonde, so she toned it down.

But then she asked me if I’d noticed hair loss after I had Miss A. And I had to say yes. I remember taking a shower and pulling out strands of hair every time I shampooed. She showed me how my new hair growth was thinning out. Visions of me as a little old lady with bald spots and wearing support hose ran through my mind.

So now mama’s got her some new fancy shampoo and conditioner for thinning hair.

Hey, I still don’t have any gray, though.