1. My family. Everyone says it, but I am very thankful for two beautiful, healthy and intelligent children. I am also thankful for my husband who not only puts up with my moodiness, but my passion for this alternative career path that I’m on. On top of that, I’ve got an amazing extended family who support us in a variety of different ways. I really am very lucky on that front.

2. Me. It may sound silly, but I’m thankful for all of the things that make me who I am. I am thankful to be reasonably healthy and to have been given all the tools I need for a successful and happy life.

3. Barbara Sher. Author Barbara Sher literally changed my life. It is very rare that any sort of self-help, self-improvement, find your passion books do much more than give me something to think about. Reading Barbara’s book Refuse to Choose! was a completely validating experience. I am not someone who thrives in a traditional work environment where you slowly trudge your way up the corporate ladder and spend your entirely life finding your way to the top.

4. Work. I love working. I love what I’m doing, and I love the people who have come into my life. I don’t deal with levels of bureaucracy and I am free to say yes – or no – to the projects that interest me. I’m happy to be recognized for my skill and expertise and, even better, to be paid to do the things I enjoy. Yeah, I’m not rolling in money (yet), but I’m doing pretty well.

5. Pitfalls. I’m so thankful for all of the professional setbacks I came up against this year because they led me to the fantastic place I am today.

6. Positive energy. If you know me, you may not think I’m a positive person. I’m overly practical at times and can tend towards complaining rather than celebrating. For some reason I’m inclined towards bonding over the negative things I have in common with people. Anyway, that’s something I’m working on. The truth is that I don’t internally dwell on the negative as much as it may seem. I am very focused on the positive things in my life and, although I am always prepared for a worse-case scenario, I try to move forward with the best-case scenario in mind. You can see the results of this in my life. I envision the things I want, work toward them and usually obtain them. So, I’m thankful for my inner attitude that helps me define and achieve my goals.

My life isn’t a perfect one, but this has been a really wonderful year overall. Better still, it’s just the beginning.

Happy Thanksgiving to my readers and especially my friends and family.

Related posts:

1. A Party, a Dress, Tapas and a Goddess Giving Birth
2. Thanksgiving, Quirky Style
3. Clickit!togiftit! – eGift Cards for Last Minute Gift-Giving

My BlogHer Experience - Kelby, Katherine & Catherine from About.com

Despite my some basic anxiety over attending such a large conference and a slightly rocky start (standing in a massive lobby by myself while trying to find just one familiar face!), I had a fantastic time at BlogHer. I was exhausted, people’d out and drowning in swag and was still on an incredible high. I had such an amazing experience that I was downright shocked upon my return to see so many negative posts. I can’t quite reconcile the experience I had with those of the bloggers who felt compelled to write something negative as their first BlogHer recaps.

To clarify, I saw a lot of the things other people complained about, but I just choose not to make those a part of my own personal experience. I firmly believe that events like this are what you make of them and my goals were to connect with other blogging friends and leaders in the field. I more than met any expectations I had in that area.

A Few Highlights

1. Working with an awesome sponsor who I also consider to be a friend. (Thanks to Honey Hamilton at Pogo.com!)

2. Meeting the most fantastic, intelligent and kind women from all over the world. After reading past reports from people who felt left out by other bloggers, I can honestly say that I didn’t experience that. There was only one blogger who blew me off (on several occasions), but she was a definite exception.

3. Hosting/Co-hosting not one, but two fun parties and meeting even more great ladies. (Thanks to the folks at RIDEMAKERZ, 360 Public Relations, and Eli’s Cheesecake!)

4. Meeting my hilarious, high-maintenance, but incredibly thoughtful roommate, Kathrin (@kathrinoutloud)

5. The Marketing to Moms of Color session. Wowza, ladies, you are all amazing!

6. The super-kind people at O’Hare airport who helped me through a really trying morning.

7.  Hanging out with fellow About.com Guides.

8. Winning two different giveaways from the vendor expo.

9. Making out with blow-up Scott Monty in the CheeseburgHer Suite shower.

Blow-Up Scott Monty and I at CheeseburgHer

10. Hugs.

Weird, but Cool

1. Becoming a “Twitter celebrity” because people could recognize me from my Twitter avatar! All weekend long, people kept pointing at me and saying, “I KNOW YOU!” and then not introducing themselves.

2. Being the only person in a room of about 1000 people to give a shout out to the new Air Protect car seats during opening session on Friday.

Water Off My Back

1. Greedy, grabby swagsters. And my apologies to @AnissaMayhew for being weirdly obnoxious on Thursday evening. I blame the strong drinks from the open bar at the reception!

2. Missing out on one private party in particular for a brand which I would be a huge advocate for, and whose PR people know I’ve shown a lot of interest in. Boo to you.

3. Being charged $10 to receive a package at the Sheraton. Seriously?

4. Weak Internet access at the Sheraton.

Take Away

Trying to describe the essence of Quirky Fusion and realizing that the site hasn’t yet moved in the direction I want it to go… I’m going to really take some time to think and get back on track, so that was really useful.

If you haven’t already, you can read about The Danger of Too Much Swag and BlogHer and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.

Yeah, we're dorky. So what?

Isn't she fabulous?

Related posts:

1. Life Lessons from BlogHer
2. The Danger of Too Much Swag: A BlogHer Tale of Caution
3. BlogHer 10 Recap – The Good, the Bad and the Swagly