“Month of Me” is a little ol’ wild and crazy concept: In October, the month I celebrate my 40th birthday, I will do a whole slew of things that I love. Just because. You can read the kick-off post here.
Okay, so I’m back in Toronto. Again. For a blogging conference. Again.
I know … to most of you, this just sounds coo-coo! And I certainly don’t blame you for thinking that. But hey, it’s my month and I do love me some bloggers and some blogging fun. So I am here to partake in the bliss that is Blissdom Canada, a major conference that focuses on social media, blogging, marketing, and public relations. Plus, lots of connecting with women from all walks of life, with so many diverse talents.
I was already very keen to come to Blissdom Canada, and then I received an invite to participate at the event as a Tribe Leader for Travel, so it was a no-brainer — I was not going to miss it!
All of the Blissdom attendees were treated to an opening night reception at CBC’s home. To get from our conference hotel to the CBC building, we were chauffeured in Chevrolet Orlandos (a car that has flip-up seats that give you the space of a mini-van, but still drives like a car). We got all doll’d up and felt pretty special.
That’s my buddy Andrea and I. She’s pretty much a celebrity now (Which she can’t stand me saying. But, if you click here, you’ll see what I mean. Plus you can probably even see the pores on her face the photo of her is so large! I think she’ll love that I said that too.) It is actually quite difficult to bask in her starlight since she’s the modest type, but I still do my best.
Speaking of trying to get a little star dust …. here are some of my fun photos from the CBC Live party! Above is a terrible photo, but it gives me a lovely memory kick-back to the little “squee!” feeling I had when arriving to this stunning building, only to find a red carpet laid out for us and photographers waiting inside.
Ann Douglas has been my personal hero since finding myself increasing depressed (and distressed!) when I was first pregnant in 2002 and reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I was so relieved to find Ann’s book The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, with its warm, calm and intelligent tone. Since then, I pretty much try to read everything she writes. She is quite active on twitter and we chat every now and then, and last night, I got to meet her in person for the first time. She gave me such a big warm hug! Meeting her made me very happy. The rest of the conference was just going to be icing now.
On the far left of this picture is Nora Young, who is host of CBC’s show Spark. Most of us in the Ottawa bloggy community (standing beside Nora is Dani, Shannon, Karen, and Andrea on the end) are a little ga-ga over CBC Radio in general, but to meet Nora Young? Well, everyone was trying to act cool and not totally star struck!
And last but not least, I tried to get a photo with Casey. You know — Casey, from Mr. Dressup! Remember Casey?
But no dice. I knocked on his door, but it must have been past his bedtime or something.
CBC Live also covered the event and posted a great video with live footage. If you’re interested, you can check it out here.
