BlogHer11: Yep, it’s that simple.

I spent last week in San Diego at BlogHer which is simply put a conference for women bloggers, but for me was more like a spiritual retreat.

I had four days to not only think and learn, but I also got to be surrounded by women who do incredible things and aren’t afraid to share with me how they do it. I got to meet women I have greatly admired and I’m thrilled to say they lived up to all my expectations. I spent time picking brains of women whose stories sounded familiar to me and they shared unselfishly for longer than I’m sure they had time for. I even had my brain picked at one point (about personal finance no less!) which is great for a girl’s ego sometimes.

Brene Brown, on whom I have a giant Girl-Crush, Trying to contain my giddiness in this picture.

I drank cocktails at fancy places I’d never venture into in my regular life. I chatted with PR reps and published authors. (Heck, I even shared my bed with  someone there to promote an awesome book!) Best of all,  I shared precious time with women I am proud to call friends. (I hope they don’t mind that I do.)

I ran a 5K one morning and went to a yoga session with a “celebrity trainer“the next. (He was fabulous by the way-celebrity trainer or not, I loved his class.)  I exercised every morning overlooking the water and the best part was no one looked at me like I didn’t belong there. That’s the part I love about the conference that BlogHer so masterfully puts on: everyone belongs. There are thousands of women who all fit in-no matter how different we all are.

I’m sure there were plenty of complaints and whiners and nay sayers. I’m sure there were plenty of flaws with BlogHer, but I went in with a plan-to take from it whatever I could and not worry about the rest. What I got was far more than I ever expected and one thing I know is that next year, I will be there again for sure.

*Yes, I have way more pictures of both BH and San Diego. But currently I’m on vacation and am without the connector cord for my DSLR so I have no way to get pics to my computer. I promise I’ll share more next week.