It’s odd that the one thing that stops me from blogging for almost a week is a blogging conference. The busier my life gets, the less time I have to write about it. Let’s just stick to bullet points so I can take another nap while my body tries to figure out what time zone I am in.
- In San Francisco they paint their houses pink, purple, orange, blue and all sorts of beautiful colors. If I see a purple house in Indiana I automatically wonder, “Was purple paint on sale that week?”
- I could not get over how many hills there are in San Francisco. The world has a third dimension, did you know that? Every time I’d drive up a street I’d say, “Wow, look at that hill!” Indiana is so flat that it was shocking to be able to see buildings rising up above and below me on sharp inclines.
- I now have 4 USB flash drives. Thank you, swag tables.
- My panel went very well. I did not fall off the stage and I kept my legs crossed so I didn’t give anyone a panty shot up my dress.
- Someone suggested they should sell T-shirts that say “I got fat at BlogHer.” If they did, I’d be the first to buy one in an XL. This city is the home of Ghirardelli chocolate and they don’t let you forget it. Cookies, cupcakes, and croissants, oh my.
- I arranged a royal tete-a-tete with Princess Nebraska and got to meet Mr. E and the adorable lil’ Eli. When she was asked what she was going to do that day she got to tell people, “I’m meeting a weight loss blogger…at the In-N-Out Burger,” because I am a weird kind of weight loss blogger. They don’t have In-N-Out Burgers in the Midwest and I had to partake while I could. They were very kind to drive me all around town site-seeing. We mostly stayed in the car though, because it was FREEZING, and because they had a big bag of taffy in the front seat that was difficult to pull myself away from.
- I got to meet several other bloggers in person and can verify they are real people and not artificial intelligence programs, including (in the order I pulled their cards out of my big plastic baggie of business cards): Mo from Big Fat Deal, Anne and Weetabix from Elastic Waist, Stephanie from Back in Skinny Jeans and Noshtopia, Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen, Zandria from Zandria.us and the BlogHer site, Carmen from The ELLF Diet, Susan from Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit, Stephanie Klein from Greek Tragedy, Corrinna from A Celebration of Curves, my roommate Anne-Marie from a zillion different blogs, Busy Mom and lots of other people, but I am too lazy to enter all of their URLs in this post and they will now hate me forever for not link-checking them. Sorry!
- Lots of other fun, interesting things happened, as well as a couple weird, not as fun things, none of which are appropriate to talk about on this blog. These events will stay sealed in my secret vault forever.
- BlogHer attendees were KRAZEE about Twitter. I now feel intense pressure to Twitter even though I don’t really want to. Tweet!
- Overall, it was interesting to observe how a group of 1000 women (and some men) interact with each other.
Okay, back to bed. Someday I will have the energy to unpack and sort through my backlog of email, but probably not today.
debby says
July 22, 2008 at 12:20 pmGlad you had fun in S.F., PQ! Being a local, my imagination goes wild in thinking about what the unmentionable events might be!
I never thought about all the color–just took it for granted.
Isn’t Ghirardelli the best! Glad you got to enjoy some!
dietgirl says
July 22, 2008 at 1:01 pmOh my, is it sad that out of all these excitin’ bullet points what I really want to know is… HOW WAS THE IN-N-OUT BURGER? Hehehe. Sleep well, PQ!
Laura N says
July 22, 2008 at 1:05 pmOh I have always wanted to go to the In N Out Burger. My husband has a t-shirt from there… he loved the burgers, of course. Glad you had fun and are home OK. I really really want to go to next year’s event. I remember when you and DG and others were at last year’s in Chicago. It is just too cool to meet real life bloggers. Where is next year’s going to be? Gonna have to look into that.
Good luck getting back on Eastern Standard. =)
town mouse says
July 22, 2008 at 1:29 pmtwitter is the crack cocaine of blogging. Don’t go there
Busy Mom says
July 22, 2008 at 1:35 pmIt was great to see you!
Zandria says
July 22, 2008 at 1:57 pmIt was a pleasure meeting and talking to you at BlogHer, Jennette. (And look! I’m actually leaving a comment this time.) :)
Red says
July 22, 2008 at 2:08 pmSan francisco! SanFranciscoSanFranciscoSanFrancisco.
I was just there on Saturday to see Eddie Izzard at the Orpheum. Though it was considerably less of a haul for me than for you.
I wonder if we crossed paths…
Gayle says
July 22, 2008 at 3:01 pmI am still reading your book. I can’t tell you how excited I am to read about this journey of yours. So much of my life is represented here. I am 61 years old. I have had this struggle all of my life! I have been through such a long journey of weight weight weight. This book is so REAL. I have read some of the archives. I can say that PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE everywhere! They do treat you different! Before and after. Watch out though because now I’m getting the old lady treatment.(HA-HA) Sounds like most of you are younger. I know I have to end this so HIP HIP HOORAY for this book and all the real feelings it holds!!!!!
Kalyn says
July 22, 2008 at 3:20 pmIt was fun having dinner with you (especially when my shoulder finally stopped hurting!) I didn’t eat at In-and-Out Burger, but I definitely ate a lot of not-the-tiniest-bit-South-Beach-Diet-friendly food!
debby says
July 22, 2008 at 3:33 pmHey Gayle, welcome to the blogging world from ‘another old lady.’ I am 53 and I really enjoy it and the support it offers. Good luck on your weight loss journey. You can do it!
Lisa says
July 22, 2008 at 4:22 pmDid you find the In-N-Out Burger a little bit disappointing? I’m thinking that maybe you need to be a regular fast food burger eater (which I’m not) to really appreciate In-N-Out.
I’d love to read more about “Overall, it was interesting to observe how a group of 1000 women (and some men) interact with each other.”
Donna says
July 22, 2008 at 5:34 pmYou MUST blog about your weird events. Come on, PQ, us lurkers count on you to provide fun in our lives. Love your book and I really appreciate that I have a signed copy.
Rosemary Molloy says
July 22, 2008 at 6:34 pmJust read your book and loved it. I’m always interested in food/weight loss/fitness/nutrition, etc. I recently lost 71 pounds, essentially the same way you did, through diet and exercise. However, you had a bit of an advantage over me: youth. I’m 71 years old–never have been healthier or felt better in my life.
s says
July 22, 2008 at 8:47 pmcool!
glad you had fun.
Stephanie Quilao says
July 22, 2008 at 9:51 pmSounds like the only thing you missed on the trip to SF then was an earthquake and SF’s hottie mayor Gavin Newsome. They took down the 100ft poster of David Beckham in his Armani briefs in front of Macys. Too bad…lol… It was so awesome to get to spend more time with you Jennette. You’re a rock star!
Colin says
July 22, 2008 at 11:08 pmI’m with you 100% on the Twitter. Plain blogging has one teetering on the precipice of *too much internet*.
Michelle says
July 22, 2008 at 11:38 pmWhere’d you go for In&Out Burger? I wonder if you were in my neck of the woods (Marin). Glad you had fun!
VerseFameBeauty says
July 23, 2008 at 12:05 amI pretty much exclusively tweet instead of blog now. It keeps me from forgetting things I wanted to mention throughout the day.
fd says
July 23, 2008 at 8:15 amPastaqueen, am totally knocked out by the endless energy you seem to have. Just discovered the book blog and you’re ‘how to’ guide and am exhausted at the thought of that winter you spent working, losing weight and writing a book. You rock! and it has inspired me to finally finish my MA thesis and go to the gym…before in my state of guilt for having chosen one or the other, I was doing them very halfheartedly. Thanks for sharing with us and thanks for the inspiration!
PastaQueen says
July 23, 2008 at 12:14 pmIt was yummy. I was told to watch how they make fries by sticking an entire potato into a machine that spits out fries, so of course I instead had a conversation about geology with Mr. E instead and totally missed this culinary wizardry.
PastaQueen says
July 23, 2008 at 12:18 pmI don’t think they’ve announced where next year’s conference will be, though I’ve heard rumors of Vegas.
Stephanie Klein says
July 23, 2008 at 4:29 pmYou were excellent on the blog to book panel at BlogHer, very well-spoken and relevant. You’re warm, personable, and such a pleasure to be around. It was so lovely meeting you in person. You really are such an inspiration. If you ever find yourself in Austin, please let me know. I’d love to get together again.
PastaQueen says
July 23, 2008 at 4:59 pmI went to the one at Fisherman’s Wharf. Then I saw some sea lions.
crockpot lady says
July 23, 2008 at 8:39 pmI had so much fun hanging out with you. And I will totally be your personal Crock-Pot shopper. I think you need a red one.
:-)
xox
steph
Miriam says
July 23, 2008 at 11:04 pmI totally got a hankering for In-n-out burger and fries! Oh how I wish there was one in the huge state of Texas! I love your blog and it has made me want to try to get my excess off. Thanks,
Cari says
July 24, 2008 at 11:37 amOMG. I went to In-N-Out for the first time when I was in California earlier this year. AMAZING. Husband and I plan to go to San Fran next year, and I’m counting the days. Although here in Ohio we have Swenson’s, which is just as good. :-)
Cynthia says
July 24, 2008 at 8:11 pmIt’s OK… when I moved to the Bay Area from FLAT, FLAT, FLAT SE Texas, I referred to the Oakland Hills as “mountains”. LOL!
As for Twitter… I refuse to tweet! Nothing that makes me stay on the computer even more time can possibly be good for me. Stick to your guns!
And yes, food is very good in San Francisco!
Anne-Marie says
July 25, 2008 at 11:17 pmI wish I WAS an artificial intelligence – then I still wouldn’t be so exhausted from BlogHer. Hope you enjoyed In N Out, too. (I miss them – the closest one being in Vegas). And thanks for being a great roommate!