In case you were wondering if I was planning to leave Ralph Macchio up forever…know that I considered it….but decided that it was possible that it wasn’t as amusing for others as it is for me.

Which, if I’m wrong, just let me know so I can post my 450-photo montage of Ralph from the Tiger Beat years.  Just kidding, I don’t really have one.  Yes, I TOTALLY do. NO, really, I would never make one. I think we all know I would. Because that would be C.R.A.Z.Y. *ahem*

Moving on.

TRIPS!!!!

I got back bright and early Saturday from the Aiming Low Boston/NYC parties…tired, happy and ready to see my family….

…..and promptly have come down with the death.  Also known as the flu.  Hoping it’s not going to drag on forever (also hoping Peter does not come down with it as he is less than pleasant when he’s sick)(or the kids really because I can only deal with so much puke)(not that I have a limit or anything, it’s more a guideline than a rule)(and now I’m sort of having an anxiety attack thinking of how much potential puke is in my future).

Again, moving on.

Boston and NYC were incredible, our parties were a hit and the time spent with friends were unforgettable.

There will be more details when I stop having to get up from the computer to go visit the Porcelain God.

So, now? I leave you with lots and lots of pictures.  LOTS of them.

Parties used to be fun because all it took was a keg, a few bags of chips and the right people to have a good time.

The beer may be better quality and we may have traded in the chips for real food, but it’s still about having the right people to have a good time.

Well, Boston and NYC had better watch out because the right people are headed their way to have a REALLY good time.

The Aiming Low team is taking our show on the road…which is less of a show and more of a group of really funny ladies showing up and opening the doors to party.  We have this incredible opportunity to share our trademark brand of imperfection with the world and we are ON IT!

And just for fun? We’re bringing HP along for the ride.

Whaaaa? HP? They don’t aim low, you might say to yourself.

Nope. They sure don’t.  BUT? They make it a heck of a lot easier for the rest of us to do so.

They are what we in the Aiming Low industry like to call “Enablers”.

They enable us to make things look pretty when we are FAR too lazy to drag ourselves to craft stores to buy things like glue guns…which I think we all know are an unholy instrument of terror meant only to be used by professionals.

They enable us to look professional when we’re really sitting on the couch in our pajamas and no one has to know that we just lost three jelly beans in our bra shirt robe.

They enable us to get more accomplished in less amount of time and make it look like we worked HARD to do it.

Yup. We loooove us some enablers. YES, we do.

So, yeah…we’re hitting New York City and Boston and inviting each and every last one of you to come hang out with us!

We have food (we’re not cooking), booze (we’re not driving), some amazing HP products we’re giving away (we’re not EVEN kidding) and swag (that we’re more than happy to keep to ourselves) and all you have to do? SHOW UP!

Well….telling us we’re pretty might not hurt. Just saying.

Here are the details:

Boston
October 26th, 7-11pm
Sheraton Boston
RSVP Here for Boston

NYC
October 28th, 7-11pm
Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers
RSVP Here for New York

Just in case you’re wondering, we are inviting EVERYONE!  You DO NOT have to be a chick to come, you don’t have to be a blogger…pretty much all you need is a heartbeat and a way to get home!! Invite your friends, come and party with us….BUT, you MUST RSVP because space is limited.

Also? If you come, we highly encourage you to bring some photos or your business logo or fun graphics on a flash drive, Iphone, or laptop because we’ll  be giving away one of these at each party….

If you can? Try to be there!  Don’t make us come find you.

If you’re planning on coming, grab a button for your blog!

Just highlight the code below, copy and paste into your sidebar

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Back in the day I used to blog on what could be considered a semi-regular basis.

It’s not that I don’t have things to tell you, it’s that I am WICKED loaded down with stuff I have to do.

Like?

Figure out why my dryer suddenly decided to stop heating up.

Convince my kittehs to stop trying to kill each other…or least to do it in an area where the cleanup will be minimal…KEEP IT ON THE TILE!

Unpack from my trip to California last week to see these incredible ladies…which I will totally write about when my computer comes back from the Apple Genius Bar {IN 10 days *weeeeeeeps*} and I can download the pictures from my camera because my laptop apparently HATES Phoenix…so that I can repack for my trip THIS week.

Did you  get that? TRIP THIS WEEK. I’m heading to the Type-A Mom Conference in North Carolina…where they’re letting me…hold on to yourself…SPEAK. To people. About stuff. ON PURPOSE. Yeah.

And? Planning two big upcoming events for Aiming Low….big events…things that take more concentration and organization than I possess, so thankfully I have an awesome team of people who are full of smart and sweat Google docs. I can’t wait to make the announcement but for now I’m just teasing taunting alluding to future awesomeness.

Did I mention that my mother and my niece both had knee surgery this week? I worry about them.  Plus, it makes me a little glad to be adopted, I don’t have the bad knees genes.

Also? Taking on blogging on behalf of the Afflac Cancer Center at Children’s Hospital of ATL, which is our new hospital.  That’s both awesome and amazing for me to be given this chance to give back.

Oh, BTW? Mary got her laptop on Friday.  She’s a tremendous young lady and my fave ladies and I are working to help her get her new blog up off the ground.

I also know I have a LOT of friends who are wine drinkers. I won’t point you out by name *cough*SUSAN*cough* but I hope that everyone is buying some ONEHOPE Wine in honor of Childhood Cancer Month.  Use Code CCA and you get 10% off your purchase and 20% goes to Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Wine.

For charity.

I’m making this as easy as I can here, people!

{Also, I have no way of knowing who is actually buying the wine, so please drop me a comment if you do, I want to THANK YOU!!!}

So, you’ll have to bear with me through this incredible busy time….and be patient, I promise to get back to actual writing some day.

Soon.

Soon-eque.

Because I’m totally a follower, I’m going to do what my beloved friend Janet did and NOT post links to every single thing because a) I don’t want to leave anyone out b) I’m stupid and lame and can’t remember every person’s name {even with the help of business cards} c) if you THINK I’m talking about you? I am.

Well, BlogHer.

I went!

I ditched a bunch of parties I had planned to go to.  I didn’t get the swag bags that caused unfortunate amounts of whining…dude, I even gave one of mine away to someone whose plane landed late and she wasn’t there in time.  I ate cheeseburgers for too many of my meals. My grooming went downhill the more conference fatigue set in….sorry for all of you about the lack of bouncy in my hair on Saturday, I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. All that convincing of the husband about how I was going to come back a smarter, savvier blogger because of my time there? YEAH. I went to two panels the whole weekend and I was speaking at one of them.

However, these are the things I learned about conferences.

1.  Tweeting/facebooking/emailing about how I can’t wait to meet you was not sufficient….apparently I needed to be more specific and say “I’d really LOVE to have more than three minutes to spend with you and really get to know the person I’ve talked to so much online.”  I know there are definitely people I have sadface about not getting to spend enough time with, so if for any reason I am one of those people for you, I too wish there’d been more hours in the day.

2.  Shoes suck.  I am wearing flip flops or going barefoot the next time.  I woke up with a wicked headache this morning and I have a sneaking suspicion one of my feet finally got fed up and kicked me in the face.

3.  ALWAYS wear a bra…because the one time you don’t because the straps show under your shirt (planning FAIL on my part) a drunken friend WILL bite you on the boob. OUCH! but forgiven.

4.  Swag.  Holy product mafia!  I wanted certain bags because they had great toys that I could give to my kids, but not enough to smack a baby in the head….STEAL them off tables….or pitch a fit for the rest of the weekend because I didn’t get one.  Can we please remember that the majority of us are there to meet people and reconnect with friends and learn from each other?  Not to pay for flights, rooms and registrations so we can score a sample sized bottle of shampoo. I could have bought a crapload of laundry detergent for how much this conference cost.

5. Cameras…I brought my big mack daddy camera and it never left the room. I snuck my kid’s little point and shoot and took fun pictures and didn’t feel totally weighed down with the hugeness.  So glad I made that choice.

6.  Talk to everyone.  Even if you don’t know them, didn’t plan to know them or even have any idea who they are.  I met some of the most stunning people in the down moments…sharing a lobby couch…waiting for a plane…elevators (I now totally understand why SO much of Grey’s Anatomy takes place on the elevator)…and the *gasp* smoking section.

7.  It’s ok to skip the BIG events to spend quieter quality time with just a few people with whom you’ve just cemented friendships that will last.

8.  It’s totally awesome when a listener at your speaking panel steals the show with a story that breaks your heart and makes you realize WHY you do this in the first place.

9.  Parties.  Oh the parties. The Partaaaays!  Dance like no one’s going to take incriminating photos of you and post them on Flickr.

10.  Pick good roommates.  Roomates that don’t mind if you snore and let you snuggle anyways…the kind of roommates that can pump breastmilk and it doesn’t even bother you. The kind of roommates that will TELL YOU when something does, in fact, make you look fat. The kind of roommate that will leave the room unoccupied because you cannot “make a potty” if you think someone might come in.  I love you, ladies!

And a few final notes.

Dear Readers, whether you read Hope4Peyton, FreeAnissa or Aiming Low you left a thrill in my heart every time one of you were able to mention a site by name. When there are so many awesome writers in the blogosphere, thank you for letting me be a part of your days.  Means the world to me.

Dear Sheraton, THANK YOU for making sure I couldn’t use my computer 80% of the time and my phone practically at ALL…because REALLY? WHY would a thousand bloggers want an internet connection that works…just keep those hamsters running in the wheel, I’m sure it’ll be good enough for the next conference group.

Dear Chicago, your city rocked my socks.

Dear BlogHer, I’m totally drained and exhausted and HOLY CRAP did my laundry load totally quadruple, but you were so worth it.