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Blissdom 2012

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blissdom 2012

(Patty, Tammy Wynette , and Ruth)

Going to your fourth Blissdom is like having your fourth child. With the first one, you do everything right and fret and worry over every last detail. With the fourth one, you realize that all those things you fret about don’t matter that much.  The first Blissdom I took oodles and oodles of pictures.    This time it  I was there 36 hours before I took the first photo.  That poor fourth baby.

I had decided not to go this year since I’m speaking at The Pearl Event in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!  {the event is sold out and I’m literally shaking in my boots}

The night before Blissdom began, my friend Ruth at Living Well Spending Less—who wrote the sweetest post about how we met at Blissdom last year—-told me she had an extra ticket and would love to give it to me.   I was so amazed at her generosity and was ecstatic at the opportunity to see my friends and be inspired by the most amazing women on the planet.  My dear sweet Stevie encouraged me to go and my sister agreed to love on my girls for the weekend.  I threw some things in a bag and headed down the road.  My wonderful friend Patty  and my new friend Emily were so kind to take me as their roommate.  It was such a blessing to spend the weekend with them.

I texted Stevie during the first session and said,  “I was SO meant to be here.  I love you and am so thankful that you get this.”

I came back full to the brim with inspiration and ideas and a serious line-dancing, lack-of-sleep hangover.   The re-entry is the worst!

The sessions were great but by far my favorite part was learning at the Blogging School of Ruth.   She is the woman.   She is hard core blogger mom, ultra-organized and motivated and when we asked her how she gets it all done, she told us she gets up at 3:30 and works until 7:30 every morning so that she can still be a full-time mom.   She runs four blogs and has become a successful momtrepeneur and is somehow able to balance it all, despite the fact that she’s been blogging only  a little over a year.   Her spread sheets scared the heebeejeebees out of me and when she asked about my ‘editorial calendar’,  I looked at her like I had seen a ghost.

After a lot of pondering and hemming and hawing and after my server crashed and I was faced with upgrading my hosting capabilities, I’ve decided to accept a few ads on my blog.  Ruth was so helpful and gave the best advice of anything I’ve read or heard at any conference.   She is a conference unto herself.  She couldn’t believe that I’ve been paying all this out of pocket for all these years without ever monetizing.  I’m kind of a purist and have resisted the trend to monetize but I’ve come to realize that if I’m going to continue doing this, I need to be able to earn enough to pay the hosting and design fees etc.

I hope you won’t mind the changes in the sidebar but I promise you that the writing will continue to be the best quality original content that I can produce.

So many of my faithful Blissdom friends couldn’t make it like Melissa and Emily and Nester and Ruthanne.   I missed you so much:)

But I made some wonderful new friends and had this been my first conference, I’m sure I’d have ample decent photos to show you.   Since this was number 4, their names and blogs will have to suffice.

I absolutely loved meeting Angela,  Heather, Jaima, Mary Lauren, Jenni, and  Sarah.  I even took Angela, Heather, Jenni and Ruth out into Nashville for a little Anthropologie eye candy.   I played Stand by Your Man for them and sang it real loud.  They may or may not be traumatized.   Which reminds me of my  favorite tweet of the weekend:

 

This is what I wearing at the time, for those of you who asked!  Maybe I’ve missed my calling although the girls in the car with me this weekend who had to endure my karaoke  would beg to differ.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Sally says

    Sounds like you had a great time! You ALWAYS rock the boots Edie – that’s why they thought you were a country singer. “Star” they should’ve said. Obviously they didn’t know WHO they were talkin’ to! LOL I love your blog and your sweet spirit. And oh yes – your decorating style. (Be still my heart)

    Reply

  5. Ruth says

    Edie-More tgan anything I would have loved to be there and meet you. Maybe one day it will be possible to meet the country singibg, boit wearing, blog wonder that is you. I would totally love to expand my blog but don’t even know where to begin.
    Love your blog and all that you share. You are an amazing inspiration to so many.
    Ruth

    Reply

  7. melissa stover says

    that outfit is so darn cute. i want one just like it!
    i wish we could go shopping together. i need some eyeshadow and cute tops. i know you could help me find it.

    missed you so much this year.

    Reply

  8. Southern Gal says

    One day…

    That’s the cutest outfit! I need your skills at putting together a wardrobe. Seriously.

    Now let’s see if I dream tonight with “Stand by Your Man” as the background music. I did some serious cleaning today. 😉

    Reply

  10. rebecca d says

    Every year you write about Blissdom and I think, “I can’t wait until I’m a real blogger like Edie so I can do things like that.” I now realize maybe the key to being a “real blogger” is going to things like Blissdom… Funny how that works…
    I definitely think you should monetize, but be careful not to over do it. There are blogs I used to love that have become so about the money they stopped being fun to read… All ads and reviews.
    PS. I baked your Chocolate Chip cookies this morning and my daughter took one bite and said “Hello Big Boy, Where have you been all my life?!?” I think she likes them!

    Reply

  13. Ashley Johns says

    Oh Edie! This post just makes me even more antsy to meet you, and hoping I get the chance to do just that in less than 2 WEEKS! Woohoo! Hoping to hear some crazy country singing too! 🙂

    Reply

  14. tara says

    love the outfit.
    love that you can channel your inner Tammy Wynette.

    love that you are going to advertise. wanna pop me an email about your pricing? We haven’t put our sign business on anyone’s sidebar, but I’d be honored to be on yours!!

    Reply

  15. Gretchen says

    I’ve been meaning to say this for ages: I love love love the header photo with the four of you walking. Steve needs some funky socks or something to fit in, though. 🙂

    Reply

  16. Angela Youngblood says

    This post was perfect, after attending Blissdom I was wrestling with how to stay authentic and monetize without going monetize crazy. Anyway, I was going to email you for advice, but this post just nailed it for me. And by the way, I was the silly fool that was so nervous to meet you that my friend had to drag me over to you at the Rascal Flatts concert. Thanks again for being so gracious and sweet to me. I am afraid I came across a little nuts.

    Reply

  17. Alisha says

    My sick babies (and hubby!) meant I had to miss Blissdom…but it makes my heart happy that my loss was your gain. I was thrilled when Ruth told me that you were able to use my ticket…I hope to have the chance to meet you in person one day!

    Reply

  19. Nan Tedesco says

    Edie…I am SO looking forward to The Pearl Event and fellowshipping with
    You and all the precious women! Cannot wait to meet you !!

    Blessings !!!!!!

    Reply

  20. Melanie Wilson says

    Absolutely love your dress, too. As a psychologist, I have to say that working from 3:30-7:30 a.m. and then being a mom is a recipe for burnout. I won’t aspire to that and I hope no one else does either, sincere as I’m sure Ruth was.

    Reply

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    Thanks for all the inspirations.

    Reply

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