All Our Fun Could Make You Jealous

Yesterday marked the very first in-real-life conference. Around the blogging world, this was known as (in)RL. It was an opportunity for women to be inspired by other women without hopping a plane or paying hundreds of dollars in conference fees. (in)RL encouraged women to go beyond comment box relationships and gather in-real-life.

Do you remember each fall when you returned from summer vacation and your teacher made you write a "What I learned on summer vacation” paper?

Well, today’s that day. Only it’s not the end of summer. Oh, and we aren’t in elementary school, and I won’t embellish details in my paper like I did in second grade (Come on, people, Tommy T. went to Disney World and my parents got divorced. It was kind of like being forced to lie).

Here we go. What I learned by hosting an (in)RL party:

• Donkeys keep coyotes away.
• People hunger for offline connections and are willing to drive hours for new community.
• Guests don’t complain about tiny in-home theatres (translation: sitting on the floor hovered around a tiny computer screen).
• Bloggers have mad dreams.
• Some engineers are very funny, look like Barbies, and drive cute jeeps. This is surprising since well, I know a handful of engineers, and this wouldn’t exactly describe them.
• Homegrown, hand-dipped strawberries travel well and taste like heaven.
• On-line personalities tend to match in-real-life personalities. Some are sassy (in a good way). Some are sweet.
• Husbands everywhere were very confused about the whole idea of an in-real-life conference.
• However, husbands support our goals. They drive young children around a city they don’t know for three hours so their wife can rack-up some girl time, and other husbands rope their best friend into spreading red mulch because wives deem it necessary. Yes, that was me with a small request for red mulch before guests arrived.
• Neon orange is in. If you need further confirmation, please peek at the picture. I know you think the girl in the cute shorts is a model and probably writes a fashion blog. You are incorrect. Instead, she is a food blogger.
• Dawna Allison from PA has read my blog, and I think that's pretty fab.
• When you tell party-goers not to bring anything, a twenty dollar bill and an anonymous thank you note may end up in your guest bathroom. 
• God uses every situation in our life as a way to glorify Him, even pain, especially pain (link to my new friend, Corina, coming soon. She's on the verge of tossing her wisdom on the online world).

Good lessons. Yes, indeedy.

How about you? Do you personally know any of the authors behind the blogs you read? Who? Tell us how you met. Leave their link so we can love them too.

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