You know I had to do it. I couldn’t get my mind together to do a Blissdom recap on Monday. I mean, I’d only been home for like 24 hours. I couldn’t possibly organize my thoughts. (Or my suitcase.) And here I sit, home for a good 48 hours and still my mind is ajumble. (That’s a word, right? Ajumble?)

Anywhoo. I’m going to recap Blissdom 2011 for you anyway. This is going to be the non-touchy-feely, the barely-bloggy, basic post:

What Amanda Did, Who She Saw, What She Wore and Yes, What She Ate At Blissdom 2011 Recap.

Enjoy. If you can.

1. The Blood Water Belt

photo by the fabulous Kathy Hill

Wednesday was MY day for THE belt! I was the first of the blissdom-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-belt to proudly display the belt. And I loved telling the story to anyone who asked! (You can see Mandi and Sarah in the belt later in the week!)

2. Cupcakes and More

photo by the majestic Mishelle Lane aka Secret Agent Mama

You know I had to get a picture of me with food near my mouth. But honestly, there was no way I could get these in my mouth. They were huge. And for all those that are worried, I only ate half of the Red Velvet and gave the Chocolate one away.

Along with the cupcakes {not at the same time, of course} we had more Orville Redenbacher popcorn than we knew what to do with, Blue Bunny ice cream cones, Nestle Valentine Cookies and a pint of two of Red Lobster‘s Lobster Bisque. Oh, and some coconut chocolate chip cookies from Staci. And a really yummy Chicken and Balsamic Tomato thingie from George Duran. I guess I didn’t get many pictures of me shoveling food in my mouth because everything was too yummy. See:

3. Tea Collection

The first night at Blissdom I spent a few minutes in the swanky FedEx Business Center at the Opryland. Why? Because Tea Collection was sending me a few of their gorgeous pieces of clothes to wear at Blissdom! EEK! I know! How cool is that? It was a surprise as to what they were sending. (Especially because when I took my measurements I was a S/M until I measured my waist at an XL. Yowza.)

When I opened the box, I found these two lovelies:

Seaside Studio Stripe Wrap Cardi and Nova Mar Bella Scarf by Tea Collection

The scarf is actually red and PURPLE. I wore it with a super hawt red dress, black leggings and flat black shoes. I can’t even believe how stylin’ I was. You’ll just have to imagine it since I don’t have a picture of it.

The sweater was so comfy I could have slept in it. I wore it with one of Staci‘s shirts (an awesome long tunic-y thing from the Gap) and my pirate boots. Yes. I have boots. Yes, they remind me of pirates. No, I do not have a picture of them.

4. (In)Courage

Mary, me and Hilary

Thursday night there was a big party at the (in)courage suite. There were cupcakes, free gifts and lots and lots of people. Some of my favorite people, like Mary and Hilary above. And some people I’d been dying to meet–like Lisa-Jo, the fabulous Gypsy Mama, Gussy, The Pleated Poppy and Lisa Leonard {by the way, I could have kicked myself for not telling Lisa Leonard how intensely special it is to have a handmade necklace from her on Mari Luz’ neck and a matching one on mine. The little jingle of that necklace puts my heart and mind in a good place}. Plus, I met people that I didn’t even know I wanted to meet and then did–like Melissa from The Pleated Polka Dot!

5. Sisterchicks

Jill and me. Laughing. or Gossiping. Probably both.

me, Staci and Becky

Mary and Sadie/Sarah playing telephone. Yes, we played telephone.

Staci said it best, these girls “filled me up”! What a lovely, fun, easy time we had together. And I didn’t even get pictures of Mandi, Jen, Christine, Tricia or Jessie. Or Alicia, Hilary or Kathy. That would be because I didn’t bring my camera. Because I broke the lens when I went to California. Hmph.

6. Swag

That’s short for–SUPER COOL FREE STUFF THE SPONSORS THROW AT YOU. Or something. Anywhoo. We got the typical free coupons, keychains, food, panties and jump drives {ok, maybe panties aren’t typical!}. But my fave? The manicures and massages! Thank you GE and Freschetta!

Staci and me. Well, our hands anyway.

7. Workshops

Kathy and I (seriously, did we NOT get a picture together, Kathy?) attended the Wisdom Workshops–which were more in depth, specific classes. I went to a Prompted Writing class (which I will be sharing the results from over the next few weeks), SEO and Monetization.

Now, I have all the tools to be an amazingly talented writer that pulls in every single google search AND makes bookoos of money. Ahem.

Seriously, if you are planning on attending Blissdom 2012, go to the Wisdom Workshops. The rest of the classes during the conferences were ok, but not as detailed as the Wisdom Workshops. Really great info.

Oh, and the final keynote? Scott Stratten of UNmarketing. He was UNbelievable and UNdeniably the best presenter of the weekend. Absolutely UNmatched.

8. Can O’ Bliss

I cannot even describe this. Basically, our illustrious road-trip-planner, Staci created a game for us to play on the way home. Well, just read these tweets and see what happened:

9. Flash Mob

I have been a long-time fan of Improv Everywhere and would love to be in one of their “missions”. But when I heard someone was planning a Blissdom FlashMob a la Improv Everywhere? Well, I was too chicken to join in. But I SHOULD HAVE. Because it was SO incredibly fun. I was crying and laughing at the same time.

I couldn’t find any good videos that showed the whole thing but this one begins with the Sisterchicks, so you’ll get the idea…

Blissdom Flash Mob

{And apparently I can’t embed it either. But you’re gonna wanna click it. It’s funny.}

10. Friends are Friends Forever

What can I say? Bliss. That’s all.

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Wanna join in the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun? Just WRITE an amazing top ten list on your blog. Then LINK back to my blog so others can join the fun. Next, PASTE your url below. Finally start visiting, tweeting, stumbling, like-ing and commenting on the rest of the participants. Even just 2 or 3 or 8! It’s so fun to see a little bit of traffic and interaction when we link up! For more guidelines and a cute little button see my Top Ten {Tuesday} page.

linked to JoLynne’s Blissdom Recap linky!

also–if the photos weren’t marked, they were taken by Staci or my laptop’s PhotoBooth. So don’t even think about stealin’ their awesomeness.

Blissdom 11 Recap: Top Ten {Tuesday} is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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It’s that time again—Blissdom is right around the corner. For all you non-bloggy readers, that’s one of the big (and more centrally located) blogging conferences! This will be my 3rd year attending. And I promised myself I wouldn’t post a billion and a half times about Blissdom because for all you non-bloggers, I know it seems like a trekkie convention or something. Then I realized, probably most of my blog feels like a strange convention of sorts. So, whatever, we’re going with it.

The last day or two I’ve been following the hashtag (#blissdom) on twitter and reading what everyone has to say about the conference. And suddenly I realized, “ACK! Blissdom is mere DAYS away!”. Suddenly, it was all I could think about. I thought about the first time I went to Blissdom {alone} and what I was thinking and how blogging has changed…or at least how my blog has changed. And I decided to do a Blissdom-centric post for you today. From one semi-qualified-old-timer to you:

My Top Ten Tips For Surviving Blissdom and Getting The Most Out of a Blogging Conference

1. Make a Date

Me and Amy. Blissdom 10.
Playing with PhotoBooth on my MacBook.

Last year I made a date with Amy from The Finer Things In Life. I had recently discovered her blog and was taken by it. She’s organized, articulate and personable. I knew she saw blogging as a part-time job, but also thinks motherhood is her first and full-time job, too. I needed HER advice. So, we sat down (on the stairs, no less) of the lobby and talked blogging. A few other bloggers joined us and it was *my* best part of the weekend. I learned a lot, heard REAL conversations and formed friendships.

Do it! Email a blogger you admire. Make a date. That conversation might be worth your ticket price.

2. Wear YOUR Clothes

Everyone freaks when they go to a conference or special event–WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO WEAR? If you’re like me you don’t have a lot of variety in your wardrobe. I wear jeans and a basic shirt every single day. I’m not very interesting.

But when I try too hard to be interesting and wear something I’ve never worn before I end up 1) feeling uncomfortable all day because I’m not used to the shoes, the hat, the scarf or the dress. And I’m wondering if people are wondering why I look like I dressed in another person’s closet. 2) thinking about my clothes more than what’s going on around me.

This year, I’ll admit, I have to buy some new shoes. You know I have shoe issues anyway. But besides that? I’m going to wear stuff I LIKE TO WEAR! I want to focus on feeling great and meeting people. Not worrying about my clothes!

Need some specific clothes advice? Try Simple Mom and Musings of a Housewife. They’ve got some great (and more fashionable) insight.

3. Unplug (a little)

fabu photo by mooshinindy

I’m all for letting your non-blogging friends and non-blissdom-attending friends know what’s going on while you’re at the conference. I’m all for tweeting someone I’m physically sitting right next to. Suzannah and I could be in the Olympics for texting each other while in the same room. But at one level you need to experience the conference for yourself, too.

I remember watching a man on the Small World ride at Disney. He took a video of the entire ride. And I thought to myself, “Did this man actually experience the classic Small World ride through a 2″ video screen?” It’s not worth it. Set down the camera, the Flip, the iPhone and the laptop. This is the one time your ONLINE friends are your IN REAL LIFE friends. Take that opportunity.

And don’t worry, you’ll find 5000 pictures of you after the conference–most taken by people you don’t even know. (I promise. It happened to me. And I may have stolen a few pics of others, too…)

4. Get It Right

The first year I went to Blissdom I sat in on a I-want-to-write-a-book-one-day session. Because a long time ago, before my blog, I did want to write a book. But in the middle of that session I realized, “Writing a book? Not interested.” And I should have walked into the other room and hit up the “Blogging for Basics” or whatever the other session was.

If you sit down in a session and realize it’s not what you thought–move! You’ve paid money. This is your chance to listen in on some great bloggy inspiration. Take it. Don’t stay seated because you’re afraid someone might see you leave. It’s ok. They are all wondering what amazing place you’re going to.

5. Ask Hard Questions

Marie and Me. Blissdom 10.

Last year, I sat on the floor of an Opryland ballroom while Marie from Make and Takes sat in a chair beside me. I asked her specific and serious questions about traffic, about why she posts what she does and how I could be more like her. <insert brown nosing here> I have admired Marie’s blog from the first second I laid eyes on it. She’s in a niche similar to Impress Your Kids. She seems to be always advancing and getting new ideas, breaking new ground and doing MORE with her blog. So, I asked her for help.

Did she laugh at me? Brush me off like a silly child? No. She talked to me. She gave me advice. Gave me some tips.

I could have been too embarrassed to talk to her. I could have been intimidated because her blog is so much bigger and better than mine. And I would have missed out on some good info. (And a great friendship!)

6. Don’t Hide

Everyone hides behind pretty blog designs, a nice profile picture and their twitter follower numbers. But guess what? There is more to social media influence than what you see on a blog or on twitter or on facebook.

I have recently added to my feedreader some women I’ve never ever heard mentioned on twitter. Some girls that I don’t even think have a facebook page. But they inspire me! They motivate me and they INFLUENCE me. If they were going to be at Blissdom, I’d want to pick their brains. I’d want to know more about how they craft their blog’s schedule, posts and community.

And guess what? YOU ARE THAT PERSON TO SOMEONE. There’s someone thinking, “I can’t wait to meet <insert your name here>.” And if you are too new for someone to anticipate your arrival, there will be someone who will say, “I am so glad I got to meet <insert your name here> while I was at Blissdom.” Your influence goes beyond knowing the right time to post on facebook or the best way to get a re-tweet. Your gifts and talents will shine when you let them!

7. Bloggy Cards

Yup. As weird as it sounds, bloggers like to exchange cards. Get some. Pass ‘em out. Collect ‘em. Then you can stuff them in your computer bag and forget about them for three weeks until you clean it out and realize you never even looked at them then you’ll start looking through all of them and get lost on everyone’s blog and it will be like Blissdom all over again. Not that I’ve ever done that.

8. Chill Out

It’s ok if you are late to the cocktail party. It’s ok if you don’t get to meet every single person you wanted to. It’s ok if you miss that picture with so-and-so. It’s ok if you catch out early to decompress and call your kids. It’s ok to sit down with a pen and paper and make some notes about your blog.

Make Blissdom about what YOU need for your blog, not what the published schedule says!

9. BE BIG

I would say a lot (not most, but a lot) of bloggers are more comfortable behind their keyboard than in front of it. So, just use that knowledge and be the sparkling person you are online. Say the funny zinger out loud. Walk right up to someone they same way you’d confidently send a tweet.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned (and not followed through on) in blogging is that if you put yourself out there–you will be seen as an expert. If you start a conversation in the elevator or confidently walk into a conversation, you will get a good response.

You place yourself out on your blog everyday. Bare. Give yourself the freedom to do the same thing in the only group of people who actually understand what that means.

10. Find ME.

me. blissdom 2010.
believe me, I will not be looking this glam.
secret agent mama worked her photog magic on this one.

Seriously! I wanna meet you! Tell me you’ve (even partially) read one of my posts. Mention you may recognize my twitter handle. Just say “hi!”. I’ll be at the Wisdom Workshops on Wednesday (with my good in real life friend, Kathy from House of Hills) and I will be sporting this FABU belt from Blood:Water Belt.

I’m part of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Belt and I am one of THREE people that will be wearing this same belt at Blissdom. Like the EXACT same one! We each paid for the belt–$28 which was donated to Blood:Water to supply clean water in Africa. I am SO excited to share this belt with everyone at Blissdom. If you’d like to take a gander at it, please come find me. If you’d like to wear the belt yourself, please join the Sisterhood!

BONUS: My “Get Your Blog Ready for Blissdom and Beyond: Tips from Top Bloggers” series for your perusal. It’s bliss*tastic:

Week 1: Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife: To Niche Or Not To Niche
Week 2: Christine from Boston Mamas: Niche and Beyond
Week 3: Andrea from MommySnacks: Limitations (or not) of a Niche
Week 4: Amy from Finer Things In Life: Building Your Blog Readership
Week 5: Marie from Make and Takes: Submitting Your Tutorials, Recipes & How To Posts

Will you be at Blissdom? Have you been to a blogging conference before? What tips do you have for us?

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Wanna join our Top Ten {Tuesday} fun? Don’t be intimidated by my long-windedness! Your list can be about whatever you’d like and however long you like—as long as there are 10 of ‘em! Just WRITE a great post, then LINK back to me so others can play, PASTE the url to your post below and then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants by clicking, reading, commenting, stumbling, tweeting and liking their posts!

Blissdom Tips: Top Ten {Tuesday} is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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I’m kinda with Jo-Lynne, my favorite part of a conference is the bloggy recaps. But to be completely frank the part I like best of those recaps is THE PICTURES. I want to see all my bloggy heroes in all their REAL LIFE glory. And you’d think I would have remembered that this weekend. I honestly met (and reacquainted myself with) SO many of my favoritest people in the world! But do I have a picture of it?

HECK NO.

Why did I lug that huge camera around if I wasn’t going to take pictures? I guess when Casey and Dawn are walking around taking shots like these…

photo by mooshinindy

photo by dawn. side-hug by mary

You just kinda lose your photo mojo.

Wait! STOP THE PRESSES! I just looked through my camera and realized I DID get some pictures of my favorite bloggers. Well, two.

This is Marie from Make and Takes. I met her at ::whisper:: Nestle. But follow her blog like a madwoman and got to spend great bloggy AND Harry time with her this weekend. I think she might be a genius.

And of course, my bbb, Mandi from Organizing Your Way. I am continually amazed at her ability to just make things happen. I love her.

I also spent time (SO MUCH TIME) with Jill from Diaper Diaries. She is exactly the same in real life as she is on twitter and her blog…except she’s actually SO much yummier and richer and more robust. (Wow, she sounds like a wine.) I am in love with her. (Plus her hubby and son were there. Both adorable.)

The absolute best part of the conference was an impromptu round table on Friday morning. I was already planning on meeting with Amy from The Finer Things In Life. However, when we got our breakfast there was NOWHERE to sit except for on the stairs. So that’s where our meeting began. Soon, Alli from No Time For Flashcards joined us (another hero I was hoping to chat with), Raising Olives, Hilary from The Other Mama, Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife, Stolen Moments and…who else was there? Anyway, it was a bunch of delicious and wise bloggers. We had THE BEST, most honest and open discussion about traffic, how-to’s, purpose, posting and subscribers. I probably would have paid money for that 30 minutes.

I got to meet and talk with Michelle from Scribbit (SCRIBBIT!). I hugged Amy from Mom Advice. I talked to Janice from 5minutesformom. I met Audrey from Mom Generations (we share a May birthday!). I met a new great friend, Love Feast Table. We even drug Christine to our room! (Not as in DRUGGED, we just made her follow us…) Not to mention hugging the necks & shootin’ the breeze with Renee, Lindsey, Isabel, Christine, Melanie, Trish, Mary, Dawn, Sarah, Lisa, Darcie, Jo-Lynne, Andrea, Emily and more.

Oh, and did I mention my sisterchicks?

Now. Wasn’t that less embarrassing than the stalking from last year?

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Blissdom 2010: The Bloggers is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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So. I’m at Blissdom. I’m meeting and seeing some of my very favorite online bloggy friends. And I tote my laptop, my phone, my Flip AND my camera around. But did I get a picture of any of this bliss-tastic-ness? NO. In fact, I think I took a total of 20 pictures this weekend. And 19 of them were of Harry.

YES. AS IN HARRY CONNICK, JR.

He gave the Blissdom ladies a mini (as in 4 songs) concert. I was mere feet from him. He chatted and joked with us and even SPOKE TO ME FROM THE STAGE. Yes. He did. Is it bad to say that I was sweating when he looked right at me?

Anywhoo. I’m sorry that a brush with fame is the only thing I can mention about Blissdom right now. But it’s 1:40am after a krazy karaoke night and the sisterchicks are all sitting in their beds laptops open communicating via email, twitter, facebook and flickr. And well…I’m just too tired to tell you about the amazing women I met, the sponsors that honored us and the bloggy wisdom that was downloaded to my brain.

But those three topics sound like a pretty good posting outline, dontcha think? (See, I did learn one thing bloggy-related this weekend!) Anywhoo, the real BLISS this weekend was the friends…the relationships…the community—it was a sweet girl’s weekend with my sisterchicks and I think we may have even added a sisterchick or two to our brood.

@thevioletfig @itscome2this @stacib @oohamanda

Stay tuned for:
Blissdom 2010: The Sponsors
Blissdom 2010: The Bloggers
Blissdom 2010: Whatever Else I Forgot To Tell You

And if you were at Blissdom, link up your post at Musings of a Housewife!

#blissdom 2010 is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles.
-George Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life

Can you tell I’ve got my mind in traveling-gear? I’m off to Blissdom with my sisterchicks this afternoon. We’ll be twittering like mad–you can follow along if you’d like: @oohamanda @thevioletfig @itscome2this @stacib