A few nights ago, I had a dream that I hopped on a plane back to New York. I had my kids in tow and after our arrival in the city, we ended up in a cavernous ballroom with an ornamental ceiling and chandeliers above our heads. The room was empty, with one exception.

On the floor was a long piece of paper, plain white, roughly the width of a roll of wrapping paper. It extended about 10 feet and at the foot of it was a set of brushes and a painter’s palette. Someone, a faceless someone, told us to begin painting.

At first, my kids and I stared at one another and shrugged our shoulders because we had no idea what to put on our blank canvas. When we finally began to paint, we crafted our art separately from one another. A swoosh here, a dab there, we mixed colors and techniques, blending into each other effortlessly, yet creating our own unique pieces.

We were there for quite a while and though we had worked as three individuals, we stood to find that, together, we had painted a beautiful picture. A picture that looked just like the one I’m standing next to here…

This is the artwork that was inspired by my post for the BlogHer Voices of the Year Art Gala and Auction. My friend, Melisa, snapped the above picture before I got dressed up for the evening (because, right now my friend Jill is all, “She wore jeans?”) and just seconds prior to me crying so hard that my nose turned bright red.

I cried because the photo-art was, by complete chance assignment, by my friend Mishi. I cried because my post title was “Into the Light” and she beautifully captured its essence. I cried because she incorporated things that make me feel joy, things that feed my spirit, and things that mean something to me (you can see the fact that I love the sun and trees by looking at my header, which was created by the talented Courtney from Judith Shakes Designs).

I love that creativity can inspire others to be creative. I love that, together, Mishi, Courtney and I have fed off of each other. The reason that I began blogging is because I was searching for an outlet to unleash my own creativity.

The fact that it has led to fueling my dreams is simply a bonus.

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With my trip to New York wrapped up, I have had a full day to reflect on the events of BlogHer’10.

The experience, for me, was not about the venue or the sponsors. It’s not about the parties either (though I’m not going to lie, Mama Pop knows how to throw one down).

BlogHer conferences are about learning from each other, about our work, our craft and about our overall awesomeness as a community. We. Are. Awesome.

Of course, some of us are more awesome than others. There are true artists in our midst. People who ooze creativity and whose presence in a room makes the air vibrate and increases our collective intelligence because they actually make us think. And, feel. And, live.

One of those artists is Karen Walrond. She is a genius. She exudes brilliance and I feel like I am more aware of everything since I met her. Not to mention that what she said here, made me cry in all kinds of good ways.

I was so fortunate to get my own personal photo shoot on the streets of New York with Karen behind the lens. I had been in the city for almost two days before we met and had been dealing with a massive headache that would not go away. I was tense, nervous and the stress of the previous two weeks was inside my brain trying to pound its way out.

After spending time with Karen, though? My headache went away, the tension was gone and I finally breathed. She was, quite literally, the cure for what ailed me.

Thank you, Karen, for more than just this photograph. Thank you for making me feel joyous and alive. Thank you for the gift of knowing you.

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I am a self-admitted social media junkie. I enjoy connecting with people and having discussions about all kinds of topics. One day it may be a conversation about hair color (because some of us were stripped of natural highlights when we bore children…love you kids!) and the next day it could be about LOST (Kate should be with Jack, period).

So, guess what fell into my lap? A place where parents can talk about all things…well, parenty. Books, toys, gadgets, and open conversations about spit-up, bed wetting or even how to get rid of the cranberry juice that stains my son’s face. No really, if you know how to rid him of it please tell me. My husband calls it his “permanent undersmile”.

Back to that parenty place! I have even started my own group where you (yes, you) and I can connect outside of here. Just look over at the right sidebar for the box titled “Gettin’ Savvy With It”. If you don’t know where the right sidebar is, just follow my map…
I have already started a discussion and would love to hear your thoughts. Come on over and take a look around. Let’s connect and share! The only thing off limits are electric breast pumps, because some of us, who shall remain nameless (*cough* me *cough*) have some post-traumatic stress. And, sagginess.

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