At the beginning of the month I went to a little conference called BlogHer10, held in beautiful New York city. Twenty four hundred attendees isn’t quite “little,” but that’s beside the point. Naturally, I anticipated learning a lot about blogging. I was going to see what the conference was all about and what I had been missing as I read other’s recap their experiences year after year.

The agenda had several tracks so there were tons of sessions from which to choose. I was still making my decision for the first session during the opening breakfast for new people. The photo above is from the newbie breakfast. Yes, these are just the new people. I was late and stood in the back, balancing my plate of fruit, buttery croissant and orange juice while listening to wise wisdom being imparted from those who knew more than me.

I surprised myself by choosing a session under the “Change Agents” track. I had no idea why I was there. It was about my agenda. My mission. I kept wondering why was I sitting in a session about building community around my cause? I didn’t know, but it was the first of many sessions that taught me more than I ever thought possible from a blogging conference.

There were sessions about SEO, monetizing your blog, taking better pictures, copyright laws … all the things that bloggers need and want to know. I thought I might go to a few of these sessions, but session after session I kept leaning toward the ones that focused on making your blog your passion and actively deciding and engaging your community to make positive change. Deep, I know. Not what I thought I was going for, but everything for which I needed to go.

I learned so many things that you can’t be taught from reading a book or listening to a podcast. It’s the one off conversations, the lunch time chit chat where you really learn. I learned so much that seemingly has nothing to do with blogging. That I have an important voice. Being a mom is some of the hardest work I’ll ever do, but will also be the most rewarding. Storytelling is powerful. Women are powerful. I am powerful.

There was some fun stuff too.

I got to see this cute kid sing his version of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.” He is just as amazing in person as he was on his original You Tube video from his school recital. He sang two original songs off his new album too. Yes, I said album. This cutie pie signed with Ellen DeGeneres — they’re both going to be uber rich. Wait, Ellen is already uber rich. I guess this will solidify her uber richness for life.

Everyone was taking photos of him. He’s going to be famous one day. Really.

He signed autographs after his set. It’ll probably be worth a fortune in a few years.

You probably think I’m going to talk about this martini. It’s the official BlogHer Berry Cosmo with Absolut Berri Accai, cranberry juice, triple sec and lime juice. Every bit as luscious as it looks. But it’s not what I focused the lens on in this image. It’s about the chips. These amazing, lime flavored chips the hotel bar serves with their adult beverages. I had to order a second drink because I plowed through the first serving of chips too fast. If you go to the Hilton New York on Sixth, between 52nd and 53rd, you absolutely must get these chips. Pair it with a martini and you will be set for the life.

This conference was amazing, exhausting and enlightening. It’s not about blogging, it’s about having a mission, sticking to it, believing in what you do and taking the time to have a chip or two.

Related:

• Didn’t go? You can read all the liveblogs and even download podcasts of every session. How’s that for awesome?
• If you think blogging isn’t about writing, read these “Voices of the Year” posts.
• See all my photos of Grayson Chance on my flickr page.
• Watch Grayson’s “Paparazzi” YouTube video that made him famous.

My friend Bridget sent me this photo of the lunch she made for her daughter’s first day of kindergarten. So, super, cute. And, what I love is that it’s made by a real mom. Someone I know actually made this!

Adorable!

Here’s the story behind the lunch: “the theme was pink, red’s, purple’s and all about LOVE for the first day of school! The pb&j was heart-shaped and on top were flowers with jeweled picks. Rice cakes, grapes, blueberries, carrots and a chocolate kiss from mommy! Of course that received RAVED reviews when I picked her up today!”

About the supplies: 

• The little Hello Kitty is a bento sauce cup.
• The pink container is a Sassy box, found at Target in the baby section. They come in pink or blue and have 3 smaller containers with lids inside.
• Silicone baking cups can be used as food separators.
• The ”jeweled picks” you can find online (search bento picks or bento toothpicks) through a variety of Web sites, including online auctions. Bridget got hers at a local Asian grocery store. Just asked for bento picks/toothpicks.
• Sauce cups are from ebay.

She sent me a link to one of the places where she gets her inspiration, Anotherlunch.com. I went there today for a minute, scrolled through a few photos and could hardly stand it. Really. I had to click away or I’d have been there all day. Total cuteness over there.

Photo courtesy Bridget Knowlton. 

If you have school-aged children you’ve probably already been thinking about school lunches and what you’ll do this year. I’m going to concentrate on no-trash lunches where there isn’t anything that needs to be thrown away after the meal. Meaning, no pre-packages foods. Last year, on Earth Day, my sons school asked that each parent send a no-trash lunch as they weren’t going to throw anything away. It was a great exercise and one that I want to try to make a full-time habit. It’s hard though — so many items that I want to include in a lunchbox come pre-packaged.

I know that it will be very difficult to avoid ALL pre-packaged items and I’m not going to beat myself up over including something like that if I think it’s worth the nutritional content, but there are several things that I can easily do that will drastically reduce the amount of trash in his lunch this year. One is to always use a thermos or big sippy cup instead of sending a juice box. Another is to buy reusable sandwich and snack bags. Here’s a great video that showcases several products to help making a waste-free lunch possible this year:

Healthy Options
Foodmomiac has some great ideas on how to make healthy lunches. She buys premade pizza dough from her local grocery store, cuts them up to make several mini pizza crusts. Then, she packs them in the lunch box with toppings for her kids to make at school. Brilliant! See her tips on this video:

Creative Ideas
One of my favorite ideas is to use pretzels to secure meat or other foods instead of a toothpick. Parents.com shows how to make a pretzel kabob. And, here are some super cute, mini sandwiches from Steamy Kitchen.

I’m going to try to vary the types of bread I use to make sandwiches: whole wheat bread, pitas, mini bagels, sandwich rounds. Anything that will add variety to the regular PB&J. What are you going to do differently this year?

Related:

• Reusit.com’s “5 Steps to a Waste-Free Lunch“
• FoodMomiac’s post, “Time to start thinking about school lunches!“
• Balancing Motherhood’s first attempt at a no-trash lunch
• BlogHer’s “Lunch Box Ideas for Back to School“

“When you have an emergency fund, you tend to stop having emergencies,” says Dave Ramsey, as part of his Financial Peace University (FPU) course. He’s probably right.

Emergencies happen all the time: roofs leak, cars break down, the A/C breaks when it’s 95 degrees outside. Unplanned expenses can throw a family in crisis and add unnecessary stress. It’s exactly the reason that families need to get their finances in order. Now.

My husband and I are taking Ramsey’s FPU course this fall in order to better understand each other and how we deal with finances. We’ve been through a financial planning course before, and really benefited from it, so we’re hopeful this new course will deepen our understanding and desire to be debt free for life. Who doesn’t want that?

Ramsey tells people to start with getting $1,000 in the bank for emergencies. Once you have that, you can move toward other steps that will eventually, over time, get you to be at peace with your finances. He teaches that you need to “learn to manage your money instead of it managing you.” Amen.

It was a hard decision: Take a nap or go to a movie. I had wanted to do both, but time was not on my side this Sunday afternoon. I had to make a choice. If I chose a nap, I could sleep in peace and quiet, alone in my bed for a few hours. If I chose a movie, I would head to the local theater and watch “Eat, Pray, Love.”

Nap? Movie?

Nap?

Movie?

Gotta see the movie.

I missed seeing “Sex and the City 2″ in the theater and am still waiting for it to come out on DVD. I didn’t want to miss “Eat, Pray, Love” and didn’t want to hear too much about it before I got a chance to see it. So, this afternoon, I set out to see the movie while it was hot in the theater.

Having read the book, I knew it was about one woman’s journey to reclaim herself and figure out what she wanted. I knew it would give me a shot of inspiration that I needed.

I decide to go all-in for my book-turned-movie date. While Elizabeth Gilbert, the main character, is in Italy she eats, and eats, and eats. So, it was with that same spirit that I stood tall when ordering Raisinets, popcorn - with butter, and an ice cold Coke Zero. Dining without shame is the “eat,” in “Eat, Pray, Love,” after all.

Just as Gilbert navigated her journey alone, it was fitting for me to see this movie alone. I like going to the movies by myself, so this wasn’t new, but it felt perfect as I sat waiting for the movie to start. I enjoyed every ounce of that buttery popcorn and all of the chocolate covered raisins — not having to share them with anyone. I marveled at the scenery of the three locations: Italy, India and Bali. (Bali is going to get pounded with tourism after this movie.)

So, was the movie as good as the book? Is it worth skipping a much deserved nap? Certainly, is what I say. Any time you can be by yourself and feel like you’ve journeyed through three countries with beautiful scenery while being inspired to be a better person, is worth it.

Tomorrow, however, (like in the movie) I’m taking myself on a date to buy new jeans.