My First Swag!

The goods.

There are times in my life when I look back and wonder would it just have been better if I wore a sticker that said "excuse me, I've lost my mind" so that all the people who I attempted to have semi-intelligent conversations with would give me a free pass.

True, the Seattle Mom Blogs hostesses, the blogging super stars, were incredibly nice, and real, and smart and whoa, did I mention nice? And gorgeous? And all of the other writers were so, so, so incredibly cool and interesting and funny and fun and gorgeous. And the Method gals did an awesome job of keeping us entertained, hydrated and fed while making us laugh and sharing the benefits of using cleaning products that will not create a new species of 5-eyed salmon or 3-headed babies.

And even though I felt like a complete dork (I think that this has to be a valid "first timers" response to meeting fellow bloggers in real, REAL, life) I was so amazed at how together we all seemed, despite all of our differences.

Glancing around the room full of "mommy bloggers" I could see that we came from all different walks of life. Our ages were different. Our bodies were different. Our blogs and the number of children we had were different. Our politics were different. Our views were different. Our hairstyles were different, as were our clothes. Our voices were different. Our families were different. Our jobs were different and so was our lack thereof for us stay-at-homers. Our laughs were different. Our goals were different. But all those differences didn't divide us, not at all.

Here we were, all of us sharing in this incredibly exciting exchange of ideas, learning about each other, sharing this similar thread that I hope will tie us together for a long time to come. In fact, even if someone didn't necessarily share all the same views as someone else, there was no point being made of it. We were all there for the same reason. We were all there to support each other. We were all there to learn more about this seemingly anonymous world in which we share some of our most private thoughts about motherhood and everything else that life throws our way.

And looking around the room, looking around the party full of beautiful, intelligent and fascinating women, I found myself in awe of this place, in awe of them, all of them. Each, in her own little way contributing to something good, something worthwhile, something that matters. Because blogging isn't just a hobby, or a way of keeping a diary (at least not for me). It has become part of me. And for the first time, I shared the real me (even if I was nervous) with the me on paper, the me that my friends and family know already.

And it felt good. Really, really good.

So, to all you SMB out there, this one's for you:

A room full of beauty and talent - that's Jenny in the middle!

And this one:

See, I'm so nervous, I can't even keep my eyes open! Maybe my cucumber-lime-mint mojito will help! And if not, I can always guzzle my champagne cocktail . . .

And this one:

Linda, of course!

And this one:

This is blogging superstar Kathryn, isn't she awesome?

Oh, and let's not forget this one too:

Because nothing, nothing cleans like a mother!