BlogHer 2012, Part I: The calm before the storm

I officially bought my ticket for BlogHer 2012 in June or July, I believe, but I had booked my hotel back in February to get the conference rate, at the Hilton New York. I took a little mini vacation to Rhode Island before the conference to visit family there, and it was very relaxing - which was good because I rarely had time to rest during BlogHer!

On August 1, I took Amtrak from Providence to Penn Station, where I met Suzanne from Bebehblog once she got on the train at the Mystic, CT stop. She and I were both in one of the Facebook groups comprised of people going to the conference, and we had planned to meet up on the train beforehand. I had brought my Kindle Fire and a book to read but I didn't even take them out of my purse, because we talked for the whole 3 hours or so about BlogHer - this was her second or third time going - and about blogging and New York.

Me, Kailee, Jenn. Thanks to Kailee for the photo.

We finally arrived to Penn Station, and waited in the cab line - in the drizzling rain, though both of us had the foresight to bring umbrellas. Soon we arrived at the Hilton, where one of my roommates, Kailee (Loose Screws and Terrible Twos, as well as Precious Cargo Bakery) had already checked in. I had been talking with Kailee and my other roommate, Jenn (Also Known As ... The Wife), on Facebook and Twitter since February, and once on Skype, and I felt like I knew them both even though we had never met in-person before today. Kailee had texted me the room number and I went and met her there, and then once Jenn arrived on the train from NJ we went out for a drink at Old Castle Pub, pretty much next door to the Hilton.

Kailee and I had plans to see Harvey, a Broadway play with Jim Parsons in it (aka Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory), and after the show we went to the stage door to try and get some autographs. Although I wasn't able to get Jim's autograph, it was still fun to see the stars up close.

The next day, Thursday, was also pretty relaxing. Jackie (Free Is My Life) had invited me and Laura (Laura in the Motor City) to be her +2s to a private event by Hallmark, across the street at the London Hotel, and the views from Hallmark's suite were breathtaking; you could see Central Park and the city skyline. I love Hallmark's cards but I didn't know much about their other products, and it was interesting to see what else they sell.

View from the boat

I was also chosen to ride the #payitforwardexpress, and later that day Hanan (Lilac City Momma) and I embarked on a boat ride on the Hudson River. I'll be doing a separate post about this but I will say meanwhile that although the temps were pretty hot that day - 90+ - when the boat eventually took off we got a nice breeze throughout, and the views were nice as well.

That night I was off to the California Dreams party, sponsored by Single Edition Media, and after that I attended the kickoff events for the actual conference, including Evening at the Expo, where I was able to pick up my Moo biz cards for my book blog, and the People's Party.

The next day I had to wake up at 7am for the Newbie Breakfast; I usually wake up around 8am for work. 7am is EARLY especially when I'm on "vacation" ... I like to sleep in when I can.

Was I able to wake up in time to get a seat at the breakfast? Stay tuned for Part II: Bloggers Everywhere!