I really wasn’t all that thrilled about turning 40 yesterday. I blame my lack of enthusiasm on my compression stockings. There is something about tight hose with a reinforced heel that makes you feel like you have one foot in the grave.

But, as it turned out, I had a pretty fabulous day.

There was the sun on my face, softball and baseball games, icy cold drinks made with blueberry vodka, lots of laughs and immense generosity of good friends who offered their home for a get-together.

There were more good friends who brought me food, flowers, gifts and their incredible company and a birthday card from my 12 year old that said, “Thank you for all you have given me. I’m really lucky to have you as my mom. P.S. Count your blessings, not your candles.”

I love that kid.

Hands down, though, my favorite thing was the cake my husband had made for me. This is my reaction when I saw it.

Which, ironically, is the same face that was looking back at me.

Of course, those good friends I was talking about took the liberty of sticking a toothpick in my teeth and though you can’t see it, someone added a green sprinkle that made it look like I had a booger.

The kids had fun eating my eyeballs and nostrils and my son even offered to put his own booger on the cake. He has a heart of gold, that one.

All I know is that I had as close to a perfect day that a girl can have. It fed my soul in every way and if it’s indicative of what to expect in my 40’s, then bring them on.

Reinforced heels and all.

If you want a chance to have the best day ever, don’t forget to enter to win a $100 gift card to Dick’s Sporting goods courtesy of BlogHer and Gatorade Moms!  Click here for details!

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1. You may begin your Memorial Day weekend with fond remembrance, thanks for our military and high hopes for three beautiful days with your family.

2. But, then you will pick up your kids after school on Friday, go to the grocery store and end up yelling at them in the middle of the frozen foods aisle because they are bickering over a shopping cart.

3. And, you’re only 10 minutes in to the weekend.

4. On Saturday, the weeks of rain may give way to sunshine and warmer weather. Sweltering, even.

5. Which leads the mosquitoes to say, “Mmm…LUNCH!”

6. Which is what your dog might say when she finds a dead rabbit in the park.

7. And a dead squirrel in the road.

8. Then your son might use his face to stop a skateboard.

9. But, gigantic S’mores make it all better.

10. Until the neighbor’s dog wags her huge tail right into your son’s marshmallow.

11.  To finish your weekend, you may attend a party at which you judge each others alcoholic drinks. Lots of alcoholic drinks.

12. Then you realize that you’re a schmuck when it comes to throwing parties because the hostess serves more hamburger toppings than you make for a whole meal.

13. And, the next day…after all of those drinks…seeing a picture of sauerkraut and sauteed mushrooms is enough to make you never want a burger again.

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A few years ago, I was reading a USA Today article about how anyone who was anyone online, had to be on Twitter.  My original thought was, thank goodness I’m a nobody!  I don’t have time for that nonsense!

The article mentioned that the best practice for web users was to, at the very least, secure a Twitter user name before someone else scooped it up.  I decided to join, but that was the only thing I was going to do…just obtain the name @MomoFali so it wouldn’t get taken.  I signed up the very same day I read that article.

That was 10,000 tweets ago.

I could go on and on about the benefits of Twitter.  Just ask my husband.  Most notably, Twitter got me a job.  Holla! It also got me a freezer full of meat, a mention in Ladies Home Journal, roommates at conferences, product recommendations from trusted professionals, blog traffic, great relationships with sponsors, invaluable friendships, help with 6th grade homework and, more than a few times, it has settled an argument in my house.

Do you want help brainstorming when you need a list of red-headed, literary characters for your daughter because the next day is dress-as-a-red-headed-literary-character-day at school?  Go ask Twitter.  She can help you.  Anne of Green Gables, anyone?

Any time of the day or night, I can log on to Twitter and find one of my friends there.  Friends from all over the world with whom I can have instant conversations.  With Twitter, I even helped to find a lost dog when someone in my neighborhood said he was missing.  Within minutes, word can spread just about anywhere you want it to.  Maybe even where you don’t.  Watch yourself, now.

Of course, there can also be a lot of nonsense on Twitter, as you can see from my Dilaudid tweets and some of these daily updates I sent:

Take THAT, all my friends at #mom2summit! We’re talking about NOUNS on Twitter tonight! Yeah, and sentence diagrams. Booyah!

I got a clove filling. Now I’m craving pumpkin pie.

These women on the #Oscars are beautiful, but I’m eating trail mix. With M&M’s. I win.

My husband just got my daughter to agree to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy by bribing her WITH A NACHO. As in, singular.

How old do I sound when I tell you I’m looking at a catalog of compression stockings?

Among the Christmas Ale, I found a Harvest Moon. This is the equivalent of time travel, no?

Conversation from the other room…Kid #1, “Did you fart?” Kid #2, “No, but my duck did.”

I am wearing the mommy and baby dolphin necklace my son bought me at Santa giftland. Because nothing says, “I love you” like Flipper.

I am not going to buy a book for which the TV ad says it is, “Un-put-down-able.” No offense, but I like real words.

Took the kale chips out of the oven, covered the baking sheet with parchment paper and now am baking cookies. I am an oxymoron.

The best thing about Twitter is that social people, like me, don’t have to stop being social.  Ever.  This is great for me and for my husband, because sometimes I want to talk about gladiator sandals and he just wants to watch SportsCenter.

My BFF once told me that the definition of an introvert or extrovert isn’t how outgoing you are, but whether you seek people or quiet time inside yourself when you want to recharge.  I’m definitely an extrovert.

Sure, downtime is great sometimes, but being able to talk about philosophy, dill pickles or the latest hairstyle, anytime you want, is pretty awesome too.

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This post needs to start with a few disclaimers:

1.  I like parties.  My husband often says that I “don’t know when the party should end.”  This is a true statement and is why I usually have black circles under my eyes.

2.  I work for BlogHer as Social Media Manager.  The opinions I am about to share are opinions I have held since last summer, when I attended BlogHer’10 in NYC, before I worked for them.  This is also a true statement.  You can ask my friends, because they listen to me when I want to vent about said opinions and I shared these a long time ago.

3.  No one asked me to write this.  I should have written it in August, but didn’t want to insult anyone.  I am hoping, by writing it now, others will learn from my naiveté.

4.  If you’re not a blogger, you can stop reading now.  Unless, in your industry, you’re a frequent conference attendee.

(To my computerless mother, for whom I will have to print this blog post:  BlogHer is the largest community of women who blog with more than 55 million unique visitors a month. That means, BlogHer is a pretty big deal and they know their stuff.  Get it?  I didn’t think so.)

In less than five months, I will be attending my third BlogHer conference in San Diego.  A couple of days ago, I got the first of what will be many invitations for events and product giveaways from companies who are, in no way, affiliated with BlogHer.

When I went to my first BlogHer conference in Chicago, in 2009, there were suites throughout the hotel where I was sent to get free stuff.  I won’t lie, it was pretty nice.  I got a cute, buttery-soft t-shirt, a free pair of jeans (I loved them so much, I went to the store and bought more) and an awfully nice backpack.  At the time, I didn’t realize that the companies involved were not sponsoring the conference.

Conference sponsors at BlogHer are valuable to the attendees who buy a ticket at at the Blogger Rate of $298 (for the record, there was early-bird pricing of $198 through the end of February).  This Blogger Rate ticket is subsidized by the companies who are there to share their brand and products.  If it wasn’t for them, there would also be no Expo Hall where you can meet companies on your own time and there would be no food (and I, for one, really like food).

If you do not want your ticket to be subsidized (for instance, if you take issue with the policies or products of a sponsor), you are free to pay the Self-Sponsored Blogger Rate of $598.  I know, exactly, one person who has bought a ticket at that price.

Everyone I know bought early-bird tickets at $198, or $99 a day.  That price gets them fed, lets them choose from more tracks than any other blog conference, admits them to all cocktail parties and to the Expo Hall.  All of those things are part of the conference because of official sponsors.

This is why BlogHer made the decision to have non-sponsored events barred from the conference in NYC.  You can not question this move.  If it weren’t for legitimate sponsors, most people could not afford to attend and it isn’t fair to the companies who subsidize our tickets to have our attention focused elsewhere.  Mom, are you with me?

Non-sponsors curtailed this in NYC by inviting bloggers to off-site parties.  Attendees were sent all over Manhattan for everything from soap to manicures.  I chose not to attend these events, not because I’m high-and-mighty, but because I wanted to spend the time with fellow bloggers.  I take that back; I attended one, and that was only because someone else wrangled an invitation for me.  I spent over an hour being schmoozed, watching a presentation AND NOT TALKING TO MY FRIENDS.  All for a bottle of lotion.

Don’t get me wrong, I would not begrudge someone the life-experience of being taken via limousine to a private party held by a company they really believe in.  If a brand is giving away free vacuum cleaners, or those aforementioned jeans, then I say, “Go for it!” Also, get me some!  Just consider the time you’re investing before you do it.

If you had asked me in Chicago if I wanted to pay for a cab and spend a couple of hours away from invaluable socializing and conversations with intelligent and insightful women so that I could get a free backpack, I would have said no.  And, for real, it’s a super nice backpack.

If you know anything about blogging, you have heard of ROI (Return on Investment).  Personally, I get the best ROI by engaging with people who inspire me. For me, BlogHer is about igniting creativity, about sharing ideas, about connecting with friends and making new ones.

And, you can’t do any of that if you’re across town getting schmoozed with free lotion.

* This post was updated on June 12, 2013 to reflect my current position with BlogHer and the reach of the BlogHer Publishing Network

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