Under the Arch

Saturday, it suddenly occurred to me that the Fall semester is only 2 weeks away and I don't have any pants that fit. Well, I didn't have any. I went on a little shopping spree at work. I've been gathering a few things here and there when something not to be missed was heavily discounted, but I needed some things that were student teacher appropriate and still me. And then, I took pictures, so I could share it all with you all. Yeah, I know, you're thrilled, aren't ya? But, here's the thing...at Blogher, everyone asks you what your blog is about, and other than saying it was about me, I didn't really have an answer. So. I'm going to try a few things here and there to see what sticks. I have tons of interests, but I have no idea if I want to talk about anything in particular or just flounder about as usual. I hope you will bear with me. ;) I'm going to try fashion first, so we'll talk about clothes today, cool?

(The photos were kinda grainy from the low light and, er, something that I should have done with the camera, so I amped up the grainy, which turned out pretty interesting.)

I've been working my little butt off, a week's worth of hours in a weekend and I have some school work to finish up tomorrow, but the Blogher story will continue, I've barely started, just haven't had time to write like I want. I have managed to upload more photos and if you've left questions in the comments, I will be getting to those and finishing my story this week. There will be a Naked Monday tomorrow, I've just about finished my school shopping and I have an idea I want to share. ;)

My photos are on flickr, which you can find here.

I'm going to share more about Blogher, but first I wanted to tell you a couple of things that happened since I came home.
My car is in fact totaled, I found out for sure a couple of days ago, so I'm trying to figure out how to live my everyday life without a car, something I've never had to do before. It's interesting how incredibly LONG it takes to get anywhere now. Ugh. Other than that, it's not so bad. I'm fixing up my bike so that I can take quick jaunts to Target and the grocery and if I start this new job soon, (fingers crossed) riding my bike to work will be possible. So, basically, I've suddenly become very green. ;)
The other thing I wanted to mention is a sort of epiphany that I had. That guy at Walgreen's really made an impression....I think I'd like to start dating again. I'm ready. Sort of. I'm sort of ready. I'm interested in being ready. Something like that. ;)

So, these are the things that I remember from the first night:

I arrived in San Francisco on the BART from the airport(thank you, thank you, thank you to Blogher for the specific instructions on how to get from the airport to the hotel!) and as I stepped off the escalator onto Powell Street, I looked up to see a giant mall and a giant Forever 21 (everything's bigger in SF! Like Texas! Only cool and humid!) The cable car line was right there, but I needed to find the hostel and I knew it would only be a short walk. I found the hostel with little trouble, checked in, and found my room, where I changed for the parties that night. Deep breath and walk to the Westin. Wandering around the lobby (helllloooo, did not fit in there AT ALL!), wearing my favorite Forever 21 dress, skinny jeans, and chucks, I spotted bloggers that I recognized in the bar, but couldn't tell if that was really a party or just where people were congregating. As I struggled to scrape up the courage to make a decision about where to go, I noticed two girls(women? females about my age?) wandering around too. Without even thinking about it, I went up and asked them if they had any idea where to go. They didn't either. We decided to go to the Newbie party and see if anyone knew where the People's party was located. Up we went in the tower elevator (where I saw Ali Martel! And freaked her out with the staring! because I wasn't completely certain it was her! I LOVE name badges!!!) got our badges from the Blogher peeps that we would need for the rest of the weekend and attempted to mingle. There were servers wandering around with fancy appetizers on fancy platters and I didn't recognize ANYONE. Dammit. After a few minutes standing there awkwardly, I spotted Kelley walking across the room. Ok, I know her. Sort of. Well, ok, I've met her. And we've spoken. So I should be able to just walk right up to her, right? I'm not sure if this was all said internally, or if it all just spilled out as I thought it, but after another deep breath, I walked over and acted like I should be there and should have no problem speaking to someone I barely know and well, of course she'll remember who I am, because I am just. that. fabulous. Kelley was her gracious, lovely self and told me how to get to the People's Party. I went back over, grabbed Whitney and Regan and dragged them downstairs to the other party. Here's where it gets fuzzy. There was drinking involved (tequila sunrise! yum!) and swag, and again standing about somewhat awkwardly, but easier with lubrication. I met the Bloggess in the bathroom, apparently before she started holding court in there. I had my picture taken with her in front of the urinals. (most of the men's rooms were renamed ladies, or something) Yes, she really is that funny in person. Times 10. LOVE HER. At some point, we went back upstairs to the Newbie party, muuuuch easier drunk. I was introduced to Stephanie, who works for Blogher. She gave me her card, and I OF COURSE shouted, "Oh my gawd, you're the crockpot lady?!! That's awesome!!" Because I am a dumbass. And there was TEQUILA! And it was FREE! She (Stephanie) was hilarious and I love her to pieces. She's the bestest. (She introduced me to another Missouri blogger. From Kansas City. Not realizing that they are hours apart. She apologized for her lack of geography knowledge. lol) And then I filled out a mommy survey to get a free flash drive. I'm not a mommy. They didn't know that. I hope I didn't ruin their survey. I don't remember what it was about. ;) I saw Crystal outside the People's party at one point and I wanted to go up to her, but she was talking to someone and I thought I would see her again. And then didn't. Boo. I introduced myself to Heather B. I don't remember what we talked about. I saw Megan for about 30 seconds, introduced myself, we agreed to talk later when she wasn't trying to host a kick ass party and....never saw her again. Boo. I got a swag bag....and a free tshirt and talked to many other people, but I'm still sorting through my cards. (Did anyone else think they had a ton of those things and then realized when they were laid out at home that you really didn't have that many? Just me?)(Also, I made them all into magnets. Cuz I am crafty. And a giant dork.) When I get it all sorted and have a chance to go visit everyone, I'll link to all of them in a post. Most of the people I met at Blogher, I had never read, which I think is great, but I can see that my Google reader will be less than thrilled. ;) More Blogher to come, feel free to tell me when you're tired of hearing about it, I won't care, but I encourage everyone to share their feelings. (ok, I'll care, but not enough to stop talking as any of my co-workers can now tell you lol)

The thing is, I took over 300 photos this past weekend and if you haven't already heard, I won the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom program in one of my sessions. I've spent most of the day learning how to use it and tweaking photos. Between that and catching up on the internets and scattered napping(yes, I'm still jet-lagged), actually writing a post has been on the back-burner. It doesn't help that I feel like I have a ton to say, but can't quite figure out where to start. Here's what I'm thinking...the photos that have been uploaded to flickr are here, and to start, here's a list of thank yous.

• Thank you to my friend's Dad who took me to the airport. He was going anyway, but he didn't have to drop off a stranger at the Southwest check-in and I appreciate it.
  
• Thank you security guy at Lambert Airport who had a sense of humor about the pocket knife that he found in my bag. I really did forget it was in there. I had thought about sticking it in my checked bag for all the walking I was going to be doing. I wish I had.
• Thank you for the older gentleman at the SF airport who offered to catch me when my suitcase tried to pitch me onto his head.
  
• Thank you to the staff of the hostel. I was a newbie and they were all kinds of helpful and answered all my questions.
• Thank you to Whitney and Regan, who let me hang out with them all weekend.
• Thank you to Dana for getting me into a swell party, the Nintendo people were super nice.
• Thank you to the waitresses at Lori's Diner who let me hang out there and made me feel at home. ;)
• Thank you to the guy at Walgreen's who asked me out. You are cute as can be and if I hadn't been so freaked out at everything, I would have taken you up on your offer. Though I wouldn't have moved to San Francisco for you, you were the first guy in a long time that I was even remotely interested in. Also, hugs from handsome men are always appreciated, I can't believe I didn't think to give you my card. I am a dumbass.
• Thank you to the cable car driver who was freaking hilarious and the guy who stood and blocked me from the wind.
• Thank you to the gentlemen who answered my questions about the bus routes.
• Thank you to the woman that I was talking to a the Macy's party who told me that she would have never guessed I live in the midwest. (I can't remember your name, there was champagne involved.)
• Thank you to the really nice gentleman who helped me get my suitcase down the stairs to the BART, when I realized that the escalators don't run at 4:30am.
  
• Thank you to the other really nice gentleman that helped me get my suitcase onto the bus.

All of you people rock! And even though most of you will never read this, I'm sending all of you good thoughts and thank yous!

More BlogHer coming up!!

Update: I had my picture taken with the red stapler! You can find it here!

I have so much to tell you all, but I just woke up from a nap on the couch, and jet lag, she is a bitch, so tomorrow! Or today, since it's 12:30am!! With pictures!! And links!!

I am writing this on a computer terminal at the hostel and I realized yesterday that with all I have to talk about, you all are going to get so sick of hearing about it before I run out of steam. Sorry? ;)

A couple of things that are too long for twitter:

I met two women in the lobby last night looking for the People's Party. I noticed that they looked as confused as I did and asked them if they knew where they were going. We've been hanging out ever since. I haven't been to their blogs yet, but if their personalities are any indication, I will be a loyal reader from now on. I'll link to all the blogs I've discovered when I get home, cuz I've met some kickass women, and the weekend has just started.

Dana from Mamalogues was invited to an event by Nintendo and graciously offered to take me along, so that's where I'm going tonight as soon as I go to the BlogHer party to get autographs for MP. (MP, it IS people from The Closer and Saving Grace! How much do you love me right now?!)

I had a bit of a crazy moment this morning when it all just became too much, but I'm feeling much better now. The whole thing feels sort of surreal, like I shouldn't be here, like it couldn't really be ME doing all this, but it IS, which kinda blows my mind.

There's a picture of me and The Bloggess in front of some urinals floating about out there and I want a copy!!

I discovered that planes and I do not get along. Apparently my allergy/sinus issues make the pressure feeling you get when a plane is descending much worse than it should be cuz it feels like someone is shoving a sharp pencil in my ear. It's not supposed to feel like that, apparently, so my plan is to get the strongest decongestant known to man and take it monday for each flight. Keep your fingers crossed, I'd really like to avoid curling up in a fetal position in my seat this time. ;)

I'll try to stop again for a bit, but right now I want to get back outside while it's still nice. See you later!

See you on Monday!!!!

Y twittered this and I think it's appropriate (or not, depending on how you look at it) Enjoy!

Well, I'm still moving around, just slowly. No Naked Monday this week, sorry. Between working, laundry for BlogHer, and my discomfort, I wasn't inspired to share this week. Next week, though, will be Naked BlogHer! Hee.

I am doing well, no lasting damage to anything but my car. She wasn't much to look at and I guess I can be thankful that at least the car wasn't a great financial loss, just really bad timing. I've never been one of those people who thinks, if I hadn't gone to McDonald's to get a breakfast sandwich and a sweet ice tea, I wouldn't be in this situation. But when I stumbled out of my crumpled car, wearing that sweet tea, it was hard not to, especially as the green light was still staring right at me.

I've never had an accident like this before and I found that it was harder to recover from mentally than physically. I am starting to get my head back on straight, though, and thank god I live in an urban environment with public transportation. A bus and an mp3 player is all I need. ;) I should have a car of some sort next week, if nothing else, it seems I will be borrowing a family vehicle until I figure out a more permanent solution. Right now, I'm dealing with the lovely hassles of insurance companies and towing a car. Here's hoping the bruising on my ribs fades by thursday, cuz laughing, one of my very favorite activities, is painful at the moment. ;)

Thank you everyone, for the well wishes, I appreciate it more than you know. :)

I was in a car accident this morning. Some idiot in a borrowed car without a license or the English to communicate ran a red light, and though I tried to stop, I hit him. I'm fine, bruised but fine. My car, though, she is fucked. Of course, all this happens 4 days before getting on a plane. Fuck. Just fuck. I'm completely exhausted and uncomfortable and fully expect to be wearing nasty bruises from my seat belt to BlogHer. More later, I'm going back to bed.

KBO: This is where I'm staying while in San Francisco, the San Francisco Downtown Hostel, which oops, has lockers, so that alleviates one of my concerns. It's about a block away from the Westin, which is where the conference is being held. It looks pretty nice from the pictures on the website, but I'm prepared for much worse. As long as there is something semi-soft to sleep on and a shower, I'm good.

In the pre-conference info they sent us was precise instructions on how to get from the airport to the hotel, including photos of the signs to follow, so I'm good there, that was one of the things I was concerned about.

MP: You can follow my Twitters on your cell phone, but if you don't have a text message plan, I wouldn't recommend it. ;)

I'll arrive in SF after five on thursday and be back in STL at 3pm on Monday. Anything else you want to know, just ask.

when I'm so excited that I'm probably going to have something to say everyday.

I decided last night not to take my laptop to BlogHer. Here's why:

1. That fucker is heavy.
2. And old. The battery is useless, so if I needed to use it, it has to be plugged in.
3. I really don't think I'll actually have time to use it. 4 days, new friends, drinking=lack of blogging time
4. I can twitter without it
5. Since I'm staying at the hostel, I won't really have somewhere to leave it behind.
6. I'm going to be carrying a camera plus an extra lens and I only have two hands
7. I bought a 2nd sd card for the camera, which doubles the number of photos I can take.
8. If I do need to empty one of the cards (and frankly, I probably will) I can always borrow someone's laptop momentarily to send the pics to my yahoo briefcase or flickr (can I get the photos to my computer from flickr? Anyone know?)
9. San Francisco will be a lot of walking, do I really want to carry one more thing? I vote no.
   

So, here's what I'm thinking...there are a couple of ways that I can send updates here and I already know that I'll be twittering like mad, so if you want to follow me on my trip, now's the time. My Twitter page is here and I'll see what I can set up for the blog.

p.s. One more thing, we were given an opportunity to have a lunch demonstration with Rocco Dispirito (one of those celebrity chefs who is quite nice to look at) There was limiting seating, so we had to email to get in and it was a first come, first serve kind of thing. I received an email today that said that I got in, so that will be fun.

Dear Delta,

Please don’t lose my suitcase. My boobs are in there.

Thanks,
Mir

(click to read the whole post, this was just the last bit)

(This one's for you , Megan! Hee.)

I'm stealing this idea from Sparks and Butterflies for a BlogHer disclaimer. I've had the great fortune to meet a group of bloggers already on my home turf and I have been able to start friendships with an amazing group of women. BlogHer is my opportunity to do this again on a higher scale. That being said, I've already shown you mah bewbs and mah shoes, but here are some not-so nice-things to know.

1. Blogher parties = free drinks
free drinks = drunk Bri
sober Bri = sweet, kind Bri
drunk = funny, honest, snarky Bri (emphasis on snarky)
Please for the sake of all that you consider holy, DON'T let me drink vodka!!

2. I find many things funny that, um, others don't. I have unintentionally pissed people off by giggling inappropriately at something they said. I NEVER mean to offend, but, uh, it happens.

3. I have grown from a painfully shy adolescent to a shy adult who fakes social confidence really well. I'm also a listener and observer first, then a talker.

4. I like hugging. I may hug you. I don't bite, though, so that's a plus. I'll only lick if you ask.

5. I am extremely picky about food, so an unfamiliar eating environment makes me more nervous than the socializing.

6. I'm probably what you would call skinny, but I wasn't anywhere close to that a year and a half ago, so it's really hard to think of myself that way. I say this because if I say something about food or weight and you say something like, whatever you're skinny, like you ever had to worry about food, I'm likely to get pissy about it. Not your fault, totally mine, but there it is.

7. I'm about to start my period (wow, oversharing), so at least I won't be hormonal there. (though I am hormonal here. Can you tell?)

8. I'm not the best commenter, but I read tons of blogs, so if you give me your blog card, I will go and read, but I don't always know what to say, so I lurk a lot.

Pretty sure that's the worst of it, blech, let's talk about clothes next, k?

I had another Naked Monday post up here last night and...well...I hated it. It sucked and I apologize to the 3 of you who read it since I couldn't in all conscience announce it on Twitter. This is the post I should have done all along.

Last week, I went to see Ingrid Michaelson at The Pageant on the Loop. I love the Pageant. I know many people here in St. Louis hate the venue, but I love how it feels like a club and even though the drinks are expensive, the tickets are not and if you pay with cash, they waive the fee that every concert venue charges you for nothing, as far as I can tell. I've been to several shows at the Pageant and they always put on a good show and that's the important thing. I was there with my friend A, who I met through an ex and though we aren't close, I can always count on her for a concert buddy, cause we like similar music and she's always up for a show. We had great fun as usual and she was mesmerized by the opening act. (ok, I'll admit it, his singing voice was pretty sexy and you can hear for yourself on his myspace page here For Ingrid's myspace page go here Check them out, you'll like them. well, I do and taste is of course relative, but I recommend both)

The photos aren't the point of this post, mostly because I took them with my camera phone and camera phone=suck. But just to illustrate the night, here is a pic of Ingrid who was unexpectedly funny in that at one point she yelled into the crowd, "Come on, people, let me feel you up!!!!" The story of how she discovered the Arch had stairs and a museum and a "TRAM!" was hilarious too. What made the night for me was what happened in my head while I listened to her sing.

The girl on the left is the back up singer and, don't laugh, I've always wanted to do this. There's no reason you should know this, but I can sing. Like I used to sing, in front of others, and even competed in high school. Granted, that was...many years ago, but the point is I can sing. I don't have any interest in fame and fortune, I don't want my name in lights, but I think it would be amazing to tour with a band and sing back up. Small ambitions, but ones I never did anything about. Why? Well, I never had the balls. And now I do...have the balls, er, or something. So, I started thinking and I thought, what's stopping me from trying? Nothing really, and did you know that there are bands on craigslist looking for singers? There are!! So, here's what I'm thinking...any of you St. Louis readers up for Karaoke? It's been a while since I sang for anyone but friends and I need the practice before I audition for anything at all. Sound good? Who's with me? ;)

My friend asked me to take pictures of her cousin's children at the BBQ and since I am the camera junky, I happily agreed. By the end of the afternoon, everyone was looking at me funny...it could have been the growth coming out of my face. ;)
These are some of my favorites that I brightened up a bit with photoshop, I finally getting the hang of sharpening the eyes. ;)

(updated below)

I am not a food blogger, but these are so freaking good, I had to share. I am invited to a BBQ tomorrow for the 4th of July holiday. It is a standing invitation with a friend's family and I am never expected to bring anything but myself. Today, though, my friend jokingly said that everyone was required to bring something and then I realized that maybe I should. Knowing I have to work tomorrow before the party, it would have to be something that can be made ahead of time and stored in the tiny fridge at work. I was thinking about what I would want to eat at a party and I started to think about the Chocolate Bar and all the yummy things they offered on the cheese platters. So, I made my own cheese platter. I bought various kinds of cheese slices, some nice crackers, toasted some Bosnian bread and some nuts for spiced nuts. Mmm spiced nuts! I actually had a recipe from a long ago Camp Jeep, but some where in the moving I seem to have lost it. Food Network to the rescue! This is a recipe from Emeril and I've been "tasting" them all night to make sure they're all right. ;)

I was sitting in Blueberry Hill (Chuck Berry's restaurant) a couple of nights ago and I kept hearing this very distinctive laugh. I felt like I knew this person, but I couldn't remember who it was, or tell where exactly the laugh was coming from....until it hit me. Duff from Charm City Cakes! It wasn't actually him, but I'm thinking that I watch too much late night Food Network.