Who do you think you are?

My Dearest Arun and Anjali,
If I ever catch you being being rude to service personnel, I will Kick Your Ass in a manner befitting of a Queen*.

Love you!
Mama

*Also known as "royally"
_________________

On my flight back from San Francisco, a gal and her pal boarded at the last possible second, then one of the gals threw a tantrum that she did not get to sit with her friend. Hissy Fit Gal was incredibly rude towards the air hostess. She was also not particularly happy about sitting in the middle seat, next to me and my BABY (Yes, people, you read that correctly - I had the nerve to board an airplane with my BABY.) When the air hostess refused to serve the gal the requested Bloody Mary, I was so fucking relieved. When the gal went the bathroom, the air hostess asked if I was doing okay and I offered up my business card should she need backup that Hissy Fit Gal was out of line. The guy sitting in our row followed suit. It was a long flight although, I particularly appreciated the irony that my baby acted better than Hissy Fit Gal.

Oh, right. Almost forgot.... I went to BlogHer and yes, it was really fun. The end.

What's that you say? Not enough? Okay...

Bang! Bang!

• First, I highly recommend that you not bring your teething baby to BlogHer. Seriously, leave her at the baggage carousel with a couple of granola bars and wish her the best........... Of course, I did not realize that Anjali was teething. I thought that by 5 pm each day, she was worn out from all the all the stimulation. Um, we are home now and she is still out of sorts. And constantly gnawing on something, which sadly includes my nipples (a clear violation of my strict policy that if one is going to munch on my nipples, I should be wearing black leather and getting paid for the privilege) Anyway, I am not sure what to write. It was an odd weekend - actually very quiet. I lost sleep and had massive headaches, but they were from dealing with my 21 lb baby, not from hangovers. Still, I had such a lovely time, even though I nearly missed both cocktail parties and cut short many sessions by running back and forth to check on Anju (I completely missed Saturday's Keynote.) By the time 5 pm rolled around, Anjali was totally done. DONE, I tell you.
  
• My very favorite part of the weekend was watching Rita Arens shine during the promotion of her book, Sleep is for the Weak. I have my hot little hands on the book and I can report that it is awesome. Obviously, as a contributor, I am completely prejudiced, but this book is simply lovely with such a diverse set of voices sharing their (our!) experiences as mothers. I will write more about the book and my thoughts on it this week (also, I bought an extra copy to give away. Look for details on that as well.)
  
• To many, it appears that BlogHer is about networking and scooping up as many new readers as you can. $$$$$$$ For me, it was mostly about meeting my friends. I was so thrilled to see Marilyn and Brit - I wish the three of us could have spent more time together as a threesome, but our arrivals and departures were inconveniently staggered. Still, I am so glad that I got to have conversations with them that did not involve frenetic typing, hitting "send" and waiting (impatiently!) for a response.
  
• I loved having the opportunity to meet up with Average Jane sporadically and frequently over the weekend. Sure, we both live in Kansas City, but getting together these days involves complicated scheduling and certainly not quick texts that say "where r u? meet me in the lobby in 2."
• Dude. I got to meet The Monkey (yes, that one. The one wearing the Suit.) She arrived in a blaze of glory - dragging a huge purple suitcase, tottering in high heels, her hair in wild curls. Her suitcase contained a veritable arsenal of tweezers, hair products, jewelry, curling irons and a few more sets of heels. I think I fell in love instantly. One of my very, very favorite moments from the weekend will always be the Saturday morning spent with The Monkey. I was rushing around getting ready, she was still in her bed. Her hair was darting from her head at crazy angles all over her pillow as she treated the occasion like Open Mike Night, granting me renditions of a destitute ground squirrel (with Cockney accent) begging for Welfare handouts and her Monty Python inspired US Scareways Air Hostess serving warm bilge water fresh from the Thames. Even if she had not provided the free, hilarious entertainment, she will forever be etched on my heart for the fact that she not only watched my crabby, anxious, tired, teething baby so that I could attend Saturday night's cocktail party sans progeny, but that she got her boyfriend in on the act. And then later, said boyfriend picked up delicious curries from Shalimar for us (including Average Jane). He even brought a 6 pack of Kingfisher in the bargain. Monkey, my dahling. You should most certainly keep the boy toy who not only babysits but also comes bearing curries and beer. Trust me on this.
• On Sunday, I had so much fun meandering through the TenderNob area (South of Nob Hill, North of Tenderloin) with Brit and her husband. The TenderNob is fairly gritty and the characters are interesting. Plus, it gave me another opportunity to eat at Shalimar. For serious. I ate there for Saturday dinner and for Sunday lunch. With no hesitation. (specfic recommendations? I think hands down, my favorite dishes there are the chicken jalfrezi, the haleem, and the chicken karahi.) Also, a special shout-out to the worldy husband of Brit who taught me the finer points of what a "tea room" is. Gee, thanks! Really.
  

I have more to write about BlogHer - I would like to write about some of the products I received, I want to write more about the Sleep is for the Weak book, and I would like to write about some of the folks I met. I have a stack of cards that I am eager to get through - my goal is to do that over the next two weeks, so eventually, I will have a post devoted simply to that.

My intent for these BlogHer posts is NOT to make folks feel left out. My hope is that folks will start saving their nickels and dimes now for BlogHer 09. If you love blogging - reading and/or writing - BlogHer is most certainly worth every penny. People, make it happen.

More BlogHer 08 photos are on the Flickrage.....

Buy the Book, Pretty Please.


Fallen Angel

Not my purple suitcase. Not my heels. Not my underwear. Definitely my baby.

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond

I was a sweaty mess the entire weekend, leading me to panic and think I was going through The Change at the tender age of 37. Jeepers, Trixie!

Cagey, Running Stitch and Slackermama

The rare moment where we all three were TOGETHER.

Libations Grease the Social Wheels

I Came Home Bearing Gifts - Tarantula Droppings and a Hat