The Story of Us

(BlogHer: it's all over but the Flickring.)

I met so many amazing women this weekend. I met my idols, my readers, some friends and some strangers. I was hugged and petted and praised and intimidated and ignored and glared at. I talked too loud and too long and couldn't sleep at night. I stumbled out of bed, towards an imaginary crying baby, and walked right into the wall. I missed Noah so much I cried. I cursed at the crappy Internet access and got locked out of my room and read a post about how stupid we mommybloggers acted all the time. I had an absolutely fantastic, mind-blowingly amazing time.

Mostly because I realized that I'm not being lame when I call other bloggers -- bloggers I've never met in real life -- my "friends." They are my friends. They are even more than that.

I've "known" Zoot for ages. We bonded one day after Zoot had yet another miscarriage and I was timidly trying to map out the next step in my own battle with infertility. We emailed a lot and made each other laugh. I didn't know that I was actually a few precious days pregnant with Noah. She didn't know she'd conceive Nikki in just a few weeks.

We emailed every day of our pregnancies. We told each other the stuff we wouldn't tell anyone else. She made me a beautiful pregnancy scrapbook using all my blog entries and photos that remains one of my most prized posessions. Noah and Nikki were born almost exactly a month apart, both via emergency c-sections.

I know her real name, yet she's programmed into my cell phone as "Zoot." I live in Washington, DC; she's in Alabama. She works full-time; I stay home. I gave up on breastfeeding; she's still going strong. She co-sleeps; my life revolves around getting Noah to stay in his crib. I like Sephora; she likes Target.

When I met her in person for the very first time on Friday morning, I nearly almost cried. When I saw that she wrote that hugging me was like hugging a sister she hadn't seen in years, I DID cry.

I've read a lot of blog entries about BlogHer, including ones that question why in the world anyone would want to attend a conference on blogging. They assume we're going to network or to get our egos stroked. They think we think we're important and famous and want to sit around and talk about how great we are all weekend.

So I'm telling this story to tell you why I went. I went to meet my best friends. I went to meet my sisters.

Comments

[Nina]

okay, going right over to read misszoot. that made me teary-eyed.

[Stacy]

I've read both you and Zoot for, well, 2 years now? And I always liked the friendship you guys had. I don't personally have a blog yet, I hope to - it's blogs like yours and Zoots that inspire me - anyways, I DO have a point! And it's I think it's great you girls were able to meet and bond as "sisters" There is so much tragedy and sadness in the world, that we all need support, and by god we all need sisters. No matter where they are.

I'm glad Blogher 06 was a success. Maybe next year I can be the one who won't stop talking, and blabbers and gushes. :-)

[callistawolf]

Amen. :) While I didn't have anyone that I was near as close to, I went to meet people and find new friends and I think I did that.

Wish I could have talked to you more and YES, Zoot is a total doll. I lurve her to pieces.

[Zoot]

I've pretty much been crying non-stop since I left BlogHer. It was all so overwhelming. I had finally stopped crying at the thought of it all and then you had to go and write this and make me choke up again. My boss thinks I'm a freak and my husband who just got a call that sounded like, "waaaahhhhh...I miss Amy...!!" thinks I'm insane.

Love you. I meant every word.

[HollowSquirrel]

ah snap you made me tear up. That's why I told my husband that I wanted to go to BlogHer next year, or at least meet up with a few bloggers in Vegas. I don't think he gets the connections we make, but I'm working on him.

[Sneadwoman]

Amy -- I have a friend Brenda who I met about 10 years ago at an older site about parenting. We both were hired there, worked there, and fell deeply in friendship love there. I didn't meet her face-to-face until about three years after we started though we IM'd all frappin day. The day I met her, in the office of that site, the whole place stopped and cried. It was magic. You and Zoot shared a moment like that. Cherish it!

[Tara]

*sob* I love you & Zoot both, through your blogs, and I think it's awesome that you got the chance to finally meet. I totally get the "long lost sister" feeling--every time I go to tell someone about something I read on one of my favorite blogs, my instinct is to say, "One of my friends said. . ."

Glad you had so much fun at BlogHer. Thanks for sharing, both here & at your other site.

[Michele]

Wow- that was such a heartwarming post!
I would love to meet a lot of the mommy bloggers I read & have come to know as well..I think blogging has truly become such a great support system for all women!
I'm glad you all had a blast at Blogher!
Take care :)

[Crissy]

I'm always telling people about my "friends" online. Today, I talked to a man from Provo, Utah. I've never been there but thanks to blogs I have friends that I "talk" to more than most of the other people in my life.

[heels]

I'm so jealous that I could cry. In fact? Yup. Am crying.

I wish I could have been there, but thanks for sharing your experiences, because I couldn't be.

[bon]

*snif*...

that's the coolest. I have a bloggy-crush girlfriend from Canada that I hope to meet like that someday. Dreams really DO come true, this gives me hope.

[cagey]

Yeah, BlogHer was one big HugFest. :-) I was very sad that I didn't get to meet my Blog Crush.

You hit the nail on the head that BlogHer isn't about having your ego stroked. It's much more.

[Jem]

I love Zoot too. And I can't believe she talks about losing weight, she's tiny. Gah.

[Mother]

This is THE post.

The post that says it all about Blogher.

I was weepy the entire weekend - no thanks to hormones - however, you and your colleagues of much esteem - were so approachable and lovely. It makes you even more wonderful to read.

I felt like I met my sisters too.

And damn they have nice boobies.

[Mom101]

This is beautiful. And so are you. And I mean that not quite in a girl crush way (although a little) but as someone who spent a bit of time over the weekend noticing how graciously and easily you moved through the crowd from admirer to admirer. You are nice, Amy. And that's saying something.

Also? Glad to know I'm not the only one who got locked out of my room in the middle of the night.

[Dawn]

I said "These are all the women I wish that I had gone to high school and college with....."

It was wonderful!

[mrspooley]

[tearing up]
You hit the nail on the head as they say. That's exactly why I wanted to go. Why I'll be reserving my space AS SOON AS THEY LET ME for next years, cause I'm not missing it again.

[Leah]

Amy,

Aside from being at once a spaz and a beauty queen, you were also the most gracious person I met all weekend. Thanks for pretending like you knew who the hell I was and for sitting down to chat for a spell instead of weasling away to safer ground. I always knew you were funny, but I never dreamed you would be so nice.

[Mary Tsao]

*sniff* *sniff*

And I though I was done with the crying!

What a beautiful way to pay tribute to your close friend. When I met Miss Z, I almost immediately wanted to start talking in a soft drawl. She's beautiful inside and out. And hey, so are you! No wonder you are such good friends.

[Margaret]

Good for you! It sounds like it was a great experience.

The relationships we form through blogs is amazing, isn't it? I've made friends that I hesitate to call "friends" because I've never actually met them. Yet they're so important to me. We have shared experiences and carried each other through rough times. It's a very unique friendship and it's a blessing.

[Lisa B]

Although I would have LOVED to meet you and Miss Zoot (I've been lurking on your sites for quite sometime) I at least did get to meet two blogging buds in my neck of the woods this weekend. And it was like talking to a friend you've known for many years. We had so much fun! People who read my blog know more about me than my own family. So the women I met up with are more like sisters to me in many respects...

I'm hoping that you and Zoot and a million other of my favorites will come to Chicago next year!!!!

And people who aren't moms and don't blog have NO IDEA why we do what we do. They just don't get it. So next time Noah has a stomache virus and has nasty green stuff coming out of various orifices, please find some of those mean-spirited clueless ones, aim and tell Noah to fire away!

[Mommy off the Record]

This was the best post I've read so far about the conference.

I hope to have a Zoot in my life one day. So happy you two were able to finally meet.

[Stace]

Awe man! I forgot Zoot warned me this one was going to get me all teary-eyed. That's twice today.

Precious. Girlfriends are the best!

[Katie Kat]

You guys even look like you could be sisters! There is nothing greater in the world than true women friends, and it's more powerful than any other thing I can think of.

I'm HAPPY for you and all the other bloggers that got to bond and have such a great time meeting, greeting and bonding!

[Fraulein N]

That very nearly made me cry. See, that is why I wish I had been there. That's so great that you two finally got the chance to meet.