NYC In A Nutshell

Highlights from our 3 day NYC trip:

*The night before we left, K fell off her horse and we spent 3 hours in the ER learning that she broke her tailbone.

*Taking the bus was a great idea. The only scary part was when the bus driver pulled over on the highway and yelled at people for having their music too loud (in their headphones).

*The phrase "we are not on Cape Cod any more" went thru my head once an hour.

*I succeeded in leading my tribe on a subway from point A to point B.

*I highly recommend the Stardust Cafe as a fun place to eat. Figure the prices are a little high because you are paying for the entertainment, too. The waitstaff are all trying to get into Broadway shows and they sing Broadway songs throughout the night.

*The NBC tour is also very cool!

*My feet may never be the same. Elmo's might not ever be the same either.

*When they say it is going to be in the mid 40's in NYC, they must be talking about the tops of the buildings where the sun actually reaches.

*I could live with Blue in M&M world.

*The Statue of Liberty is not too heavy, actually.

*Dinosaurs were really, really big!

*Kids are never too old to play.

*It was totally worth getting up early to go see the Today Show! Of course only B and I were raring to go at 6:30AM.

*We had the most gracious hosts! Thank you David and Judith! And don't worry, once my feet and hip joints heal, we will be back!

NYC or Bust

I know it is rather soon to be mentioning this with the loss of the Super Bowl fresh in our minds (and Gisele's stupid comments making headlines), but I am going to NYC for a few days over February vacation week. My girls have been there all of once about 5 years ago. I have had the pleasure of attending Blogher 2 years ago in the big Apple and was lead all over the place by my 2 trusty tour guides.

They look like they know what they are doing, right?

The last time the girls were there, it was for B's 8th birthday. She wore this hat all day long around the entire city.

We were in the American Girl store so long that Uncle David and I had to sit down and rest. Who knew it took so long to get a doll's hair done?!

Grandma tried to steal a woolly mammoth to bring home....

All in all, we had a great time, thanks to our host and hostess dragging us all over Times Square and Grandma taking us to the Rockettes.

We are lucky to be staying in Uncle David's appt near Times Square. We want to show P around NYC and a friend and her daughter are coming with us, too. Now's the time for your input....
what should we see and do? Think budget in your answer because there is nothing I would like better than to take them all to a Broadway show, but that is not going to happen until I win the lottery (perhaps I should actually start playing?).

I may also be subway challenged. We don't have subways (or really any taxis) in my little hamlet.

When Opportunity Knocks, Answer the Door!

I was fortunate enough to go to Blogher for the past 2 years. Both years were amazing, but you might be surprised why.

Blogher to me is not about swag.

It's a nice perk, and I don't refuse it, but the event is more than that.

It is about opportunities that I do not have on an every day basis. I was able to hang out with a bunch of women who are "tuned in". It was not weird that we were on our crackberries or iphones constantly. It was not weird that we were all depending on wireless connection in the hotel so we could use our laptops whenever the mood struck. It was not weird that while one of my roomates was in the bathroom, 2 of us were in bed on our laptops and one of us was on her crackberry. (Well, ok, it was a little funny.) It was not weird that my roommate, 2 years running, took some time to catch me up on a few computer/blog oddities that I had not figured out. Typical life on Cape Cod is a little less dependent on blogs or twitter.

Before last week, I had been to NYC for 2 days. Those 2 days were all about my girls, so I saw all the toy stores in the area and the Rockerfeller Christmas tree. This trip, I literally walked my ass off. I saw so many sites, tasted so many great foods, and took so many pictures. I would never have made the time in my daily life to take a 5 day trip to NYC with a bunch of friends, which is why I am grateful for Blogher. I attended sessions, hung with old friends, met new friends and talked to representatives for many fantastic businesses.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to 3 special events during the weekend. These events will get their due deserve of a full post soon. In my quiet life on Cape Cod, I do not get these opportunities every day. I was able to enjoy a day on Ellis Island with Liberty Mutual, I was able to attend a Penthouse Christmas party with Hallmark and I was able to go to the Scholastic Head Quarters to hear about their new initiatives and new books that are launching this year. Did I get invited to ALL the special events were offered around Blogher? No. I am OK with that. What I got invited to was incredible, special and these are memories that I will have forever. Hopefully they are contacts that I will have forever, too, since these companies are ones that I have always supported.

Will I be at Blogher11 in San Diego next August? Yes, because I love my bloggy friends and couldn't imagine missing a year learning, growing and experiencing life outside my backyard.