After being in the big city of New York, home in Suburbia seems a little, well, boring.  It is indeed true what they say that New York is the city that never sleeps.  And apparently BeachMama had a hard time sleeping in the big city.  I am not sure if it was being away from my family or just the noises everywhere (car horns go all night long) but I did not get my best sleep while in New York and I was never so thankful for my own quiet bedroom as I was last night.

I have been trying to decide what to write almost all day.  I have done laundry, wrote a few lines, made lunch, wrote a few lines and downloaded pictures then wrote a few lines.  Then it all didn’t make sense so I started all over again.

I went to BlogHer and I loved it.  My partner in crime and roomie, A Crafty Mom made it to NYC only to come down with a tummy bug that saw her spend a day and a half sleeping it off in bed. I would have rather that hadn’t happened so I could say that the trip was perfect from beginning to end, but it did and we have to acknowledge it.  We did agree that it was probably the best place to be for her to get sick as she could spend the day and a half in bed getting better instead of trying to take care of her children while sick.

While A Crafty Mom was getting better, my other roomie, Barbara, was helping me get around NYC and keeping me encouraged to do stuff by myself.  I had registered for the BlogHer 5k Tutus for Tanner along with A Crafty Mom and thought about bailing out.  Why would I run around NYC by myself in a tutu? Why?  Because I can and Tanner can’t. That is why. With everything that went wrong for Tanner to make it NYC, surely I could put on my running shoes and run around the streets of Manhattan with my tutu flying in the breeze.  Shannon was live Tweeting the run, so she caught me bright and early in my tutu.

I made it.  Imagine that. I am almost 40 years old and I managed to run a 5km square through Manhattan with strangers staring, laughing and me singing, taking pictures and crying.  Yes, crying.  Running is emotional and when you do it for someone else that makes it worse.  Add to that I was tired and the song “Forever Young” by Alphaville started playing as I was pushing the last few blocks. It was all I could do to not break down and sob.

With the run behind me it was officially time to start attending BlogHer.  I made it to the opening speeches and the first round of sessions and was having a great time.  I did expect a little more from the opening, a chance to meet others or something, but we were a large group so there were other ways to get out and meet others that I had to make use of.  The sessions I attended were great.

After listening to others talk about their experiences, good and bad, I have come to the conclusion that BlogHer gives you what you want to take out of it.  I went there with very little expectations.  I have a teeny tiny blog, it isn’t even small to me, just teeny tiny and all I wanted was to either confirm what I was doing was right or should I be moving in a different direction.  And that is what I got.  I got to hear others share in their experiences of writing, photography, small blogs, fitness blogs, environment and activism.  And all of it was great.  Even if all I took away was that I was doing the right thing,  I am happy.

I did not go to Blogher expecting to walk away with sponsors or book deals or even to be recognized. I went for the community and the sharing and that is exactly what I got. Were there sponsors onsite? Sure, did I talk to any, nope.  Did I try, nope. I went to a few parties and built more of my community and it was fantastic.

Was I recognized?  You bet. I met two fabulous ladies whom I have known for a few years now, Emily and Cooper from the Motherhood.  We tweeted with each other and Emily was certain we would meet, I on the other hand wondered.  Then I stepped into a very full elevator and who was right in front of me?  Emily.  And we were going to the same floor.  After years of emailing and talking through blogs and comments I got to give them hugs and share for a few minutes.  And that for me, was fabulous.

I also got to meet Kathy Buckworth, whom I did a book review for and that was really lovely as we were dancing it up on the dance floor and I saw her and knew I just had to say hi as we had tweeted that we should meet up at some point there.  I ran into Erica and Sharon from the Yummy Mummy Club, whom I had met at Winterlude. And Candace from Best Tools whom I volunteered with at the Food Bank. It was a little like a reunion of sorts, but a good reunion, not an old High School reunion.

I also got to meet another special lady, but I must include a photo and really it is a post of its own so I will save that for tomorrow.

So yes, I loved BlogHer10.  I loved the women that made it wonderful for me Shannon, Lara, Brie, Barbara, Shannon, Andrea, Julie, Sherrie and Cheri-Lynn.  And a huge shout out to Chevrolet and Adria for making out drive there and back quite lovely in our fabulous Chevrolet Equinox for our #ChevyBlogHer Roadtrip.

And yes, I would love to attend BlogHer11 in San Diego next year.

It is hard to believe that the February meeting of Entrepreneurial Moms has already come and gone.  And what a great meeting.  Held on Tuesday night at Lagos we got to hear Shari Westman of Comfort Keepers speak on how and why she decided to start her business and how she has managed to keep going through the challenges of starting a company and raising a family.  Shari was very motivating and wonderful to listen to.

Again another great group of women turned out for the event. There were a few new faces and I am already looking forward to the March meeting.  My only hope is that I am much healthier than I was this past month.

 Shari Westman, Comfort Keepers

Carolyn Mehdi, Shari Westman and Janet McCausland

Co-Directors

Carolyn Mehdi and Janet McCausland

Wednesday night was the Launch for the Ottawa Chapter of Entrepreneurial Moms.  And WOW what an awesome group of women.  The room was full of gorgeous successful Moms, Moms-to-be and Moms of the future.  I am so excited to be a part of such a wonderful community.  I was asked to bring along my camera and capture some of these great Moms.

Here is just a sneak peek (to be fair, I don’t want to list names because I can’t remember everyone’s names, so I would just be sprinkling names here and there but, feel free to leave a comment on my flickr page or below if you are in one of the photos):

Our Hosts and Chapter Co-Directors Carolyn Mehdi and Janet McCausland.

Isn’t that an amazing looking group?  Lagos was a lovely venue to meet, although if we get any bigger we will need to move to a bigger room.

I should also include a shout out to Erin Blaskie, our inspiring speaker of the evening.  Erin shared with us tips on using Social Networking to help our businesses grow. If you ever get a chance to hear Erin speak take it, she is really wonderful.

I am so excited about the Entrepreneurial Moms Launch coming up next week I just had to share.  So far in Ottawa we have not had anything like this where we can come together to learn and share about being a Mom and an Entrepreneur. This is our chance.

Entrepreneurial Moms started in Calgary and is now growing at an alarming rate. Here is a little blurb from their site that says it better than I ever could.

Entrepreneurial Moms of Ottawa recognizes that an Entrepreneurial Mom is a multi-faceted, dynamic woman whose priorities are many and whose time is precious.We acknowledge that an entrepreneurial mom’s business success is intricately dependent upon a few fundamental aspects of her life being functional, healthy, and, ideally, thriving.We discovered on our journey of connecting and supporting Entrepreneurial Moms that the fantastic women we honour so much actually place as much value on other facets of their lives as they do on their entrepreneurial success.What makes Entrepreneurial Moms unique, it seems, is a statistically significant sentiment that while business is important it isn’t everything, and it alone does not complete us.

For the Launch next Wednesday, January 20th (7pm Lagos Bar and Grill, Dows Lake Pavillion) we will get the opportunity to hear Erin Blaskie speak about Social Media and how to use it to our advantage.  I can’t wait to hear her speak as she is truly an inspiration to anyone who is considering running their own business.

In addition I missed Janet McCausland and Caroline Mehdi (Co-Directors of the Ottawa Chapter) when they were interviewed on CBC Radio on Monday with regards to the launch.  I was however, able to get the sound bite, so if you missed it and would like the opportunity to hear it click here .

I look forward to meeting more Mom Entrepreneurs from Ottawa next week.

*I am not affiliated with Entrepreneurial Moms, I just love the concept and am very excited to be involved with such a wonderful group of women.

On Tuesday, I had lunch with a former colleague.  Actually, two colleagues.  We get together once or twice a year and easily fall into place as though I had never left to have a baby and did not return.

My initial lunch date was with a lady I lunched with almost every Friday for three years.  And days in between we would often walk the campus at lunch getting in a 2-3km walk without having to step outside.  And this was not your average walk, this was a powerwalk.  I stayed in wonderful shape from those walks alone.  Nothing like putting running shoes on with your power suit and briskly walking the halls chatting it up, almost every day.  I actually kept it up until I was almost 7 months pregnant, which is why I was so much skinnier with J than I was with Apple.

The additional lunch date was with a gentleman that was in my group, but moved out during one of the rounds of downsizing (I lost count at 12 or so).  We used to meet for coffee on occasion and chat on Messenger as we were both at work early and got the bulk of the day finished before anybody else would even arrive.

As I was walking the halls of my former employers, I truly felt like I had never left.  So much so that as we were heading out after lunch, I stopped to go up the stairs like we used to (no elevators for us).  I have been back quite a few times since I left after having J, but this was the first time I went alone.  And this was the first time, I wished I still worked there.

I know it is not the same, most of the employees are gone, the halls that were once crowded with people and laughter are quiet and empty.  The morale is at an all time low and really, despite the fact that most of my old team is still in tact, I can honestly say that they wouldn’t need me anymore.

Five years and three months ago, I left the corporate world.  And if I am 100% honest with you, I will tell you that I miss it like no tomorrow.  But.  And yes, there is a but.  The thought of leaving my kids in the care of someone else, anyone else but me (it wouldn’t even matter at this point if it were a relative or a daycare, it would not be me) just makes me sick to my stomach.  And this alone makes me happy with the decisions we have made as a family.  I just wish that once in a while I could wear my heels and suits and not have to worry that I am getting wrinkled or spilled on. But, for now, my uniform is jeans and a t-shirt and my shoes are slip ons, this is just the way it is going to be for the next little while.

And I am Ok with it.

I keep forgetting to plug my own little on the side thing that I sometimes do. And in the spirit of blogging on a Saturday, here is the short and skinny.

I am an agent for Stuck on You Labels. They are really cool little labels that you can stick on things that you don’t want to get lost. Or if your kids attend a school like the one J attends where everything must be labeled, it works out so much easier and prettier if you have some on hand that are ready made.

They offer a wide variety of colours and icons to choose from. J has a surfer dude on all of his clothing labels and a hockey player on his labels for his ’stuff’. They also offer monogrammed sets, like school supplies. There are some pretty cool things that can make great stocking stuffers for kids, like the personalized note pads.

If you like to keep things organized for yourself, you can pick up some Christmas Jumbo Dots
or create your own Address Labels. They also offer Kitchen Labels, and labels specific to allergies. So much to choose from.

There you go. I will put a link in my sidebar for future reference. If you are interested at all, just click on the link and it will direct you to my page. If you live in the States don’t be afraid by the Canadian page, at the bottom you can change your country by clicking on the “Click Here” button.

Sorry to make it short and sweet and photoless, but I am working on some Christmas presents and don’t want to be distracted for too long.

And yes, we had an almost tvless day again today, very good, very very good.