#CBC10, day 1

This past weekend was the first Casual Blogger Conference.

Waaaaaaaait a minute. Stop right there.

If you're a Casual Blogger, WHY are you going to a conference, right?

I'm gonna go with: 'Casual' refers to the dress code. Yes, I wore the same pants all three days.

Moving on, I was thrilled to be asked, a few months ago, to speak at this conference, being assigned to The Depression Panel. (More on this later.) Also thrilling for me is the fact that this conference was held in a southern suburb of Salt Lake City, so within driving distance for me, making my attendance absolutely do-able.

Wednesday night I got m'hair did, and following Thursday afternoon's pedicure I drove to Sandy to attend the dinner for the presenters and speakers. What a great time, really a fantastic kick-off to what turned out to be a very cool weekend. Dinner was provided by Shirley J, with desserts from The Chocolate, delightful on both accounts. Company was second to none. I was thrilled to get to know some girls from my panel as well as others I had only admired from afar. Even so, upon meeting face-to-face, we simply validated our already-existent (if only online) friendship.

Feeling this way, experiencing these meetings solidified what I've been thinking for quite some time, and not because I feel that I need to justify it to myself (I don't), but because it's so misunderstood for many:

Blogging is community. It is the beginning, continuation, and growth of friendships, of relationships, and it establishes a forum that combines our need to connect with the speed at which the digital is taking place in our lives. It is not The New Scrapbooking. Well, for some it might be, but not for me, and not for the crowd with whom I was hanging out this weekend.

After the dinner I checked into my room at the Hilton and took a peek into my SwagBag (Swag: a word I detest, yet its definition/content is something I mainly adore.) to find some awesome treats and surprises, not the least of which is a necklace from lisa leonard designs with an E on the charm. I need to say that this meant a lot to me -- not only that this fine sponsor would go to the trouble to personalize what was in the gift bags, but it also served as a reminder of all the work that Elisa, Caroline, and Julie (and many others) went to in preparation for our enjoyable weekend, ensuring that each guest received the correct bag with their own personalized necklace inside. Awesome.

The Girls Night Out party was held in the hotel, and I'm going to lay it out for you: I don't like the idea of anything called GNO. I enjoy getting together with friends of the female variety, but I just reject it being called GNO. Can we do away with GNO? That being said, I walked in the doors and was handed a gift of a travel pillow (a nice one, I might add), and saw that women were lined up to get manicures, hand massages, facial waxings (I know!), and massages. Others were in line to create a fabric rosette or a scrapbook page, or sitting at a table to blend their own custom lip gloss. I mainly mingled, met women from all over the country, and just tried to relax. I left after an hour or so to head back up to my room, unpack and get my room set up (I must do this when staying in a hotel, I just must) and order room service. I know I already ate dinner, but I was still hungry (no lunch? I don't know, who ever knows), and I blame my Not Sleeping Very Well on the AWESOME and TOTALLY WORTH IT bonus dinner I had. And the creme brulee with fresh berries.