BlogHer '11 -- Laid-Back Bonding (Part 1)

Being a newbie at BlogHer -- the annual femme-dominated blogging conference -- isn't such a bad thing.

Checking out the vast Expo Hall -- where this year in San Diego you could catch everything from the Statue of Liberty made out of Twizzlers to a replica of the Sesame Street stoop featuring Cookie Monster and Elmo -- was thrilling. And the panels that I attended were definitely inspiring. (It's impossible to balance it all, apparently. Whew!)

But what was especially wonderful about the conference was meeting up with my fellow bloggers and bonding over common interests (motherhood, working, chocolate!) in the laid-back atmosphere of sunny San Diego.

I had heard that last year's BlogHer in New York (where it will be held next year, too) was a little on the frenetic, crazy side, but this year was mostly calm, and I was all about taking it easy while also learning a thing or two.

Oh, and the view from my hotel room didn't hurt, either.


Even though I've been blogging for almost 3 years, there was still new stuff to learn. On a panel called "Success on Our Own Terms," which featured a discussion among high-powered women moderated by Huffington Post editor Lori Leibovich, I heard from Trendera CEO Jane Buckingham, The Hollywood Reporter Editor Janice Min, Huffington Post BlackVoices Editor Christina Norman, HuffPo's Parenting contributor Susan Stiffleman and motivational speaker (and sister to Arianna Huffington) Agapi Stassinopoulos.

"People are so hard on themselves," Min said about the parenting/work balance, "and we have to let some of that go."

Norman added that we as women (who tend to worry about stepping on others on the path to our own success) don't have to view success as coming at the expense of someone else's failure. We have our own path and our own unique accomplishments.

For me, something Stiffleman said rang especially true: "We're modeling for our kids what it's like to be engaged, and a lot of that is only half-way." Eek.

Not that I've ever been like that before. *cough*

There were also fun parties (yay MomsLA, FamilyFinds and Disney Baby, just to name a few!) and lots of fun products to check out.

But more on that later ...