Chilihead–enjoy the Etsy shop.

I’m now very sad that I won’t be at BlogHer this year. I’d love to see the dress in person and I didn’t realize Tim Gunn and Carson would be there. Damn.

I like to tell people you need to wear what makes you feel like a million bucks. Typically that will be something that’s appropriate for the occasion, but it’s still you. I think it’s great you’re doing that.

I phrased that wrong. I think I phrased it better this morning when I replied on your blog. I am not the “work me” when I go to this conference. I am the “retro-food blog” me.

If my day job company had me on a panel or had me attending as a representative of their company–then of course, I would present myself differently.

I have err four pairs of shoes right now. My daughter’s wedding this spring and the fact we moved somewhere where I had to have boots all winter doubled my shoe collection this year, more than doubled.

The content and connections will be front and center. The agenda speaks for itself.

The sponsors are always a hot topic and how they interact with the audience also hot. Let us not forget the furor over the very small babydoll tank tops (Trojan?) and pasties (oh, I don’t remember who handed them out off the top of my head, but I believe they are still in the cubby in the room my mom sleeps in) in San Jose or the (horror!) Butterball Potholders (loved-but many were insulted) the year after in Chicago.

I think swag recycling last year took some of the complaints out of the actual swag…but then there were those who thought there was too much stuff for parents of preschoolers. Sort of agreed but um, that little flip cube from PBS, such a great fidget toy in this house that each died and was mourned even though we have no preschool children anymore.

I am mixed on sponsors in some ways. Yay! Sponsors….allow me to attend a world class conference for far less money outlay on my part as an attendee than if there were no sponsors. (Those who complain about the cost of BlogHer tix…have you seen the prices of other national conferences? eek) Sponsors provide as I said, much of my yearly wardrobe. The Topix power bars from last year can be found in every suitcase in this house as well as many outlets. Sesame Street mousepad keeps coffee stains off my desk. Flash drives from sponsors keep our lives sane in so many ways. But, many companies have gotten a human face for me at Blogher. (I have an affection for T-Mobile that won’t quit after several conversations with them last year, even though we are an iPhone family).

I tend to think of sponsors at BlogHer like I think of my drugstore or supermarket. They have products advertised that I wouldn’t in a million years buy and may object to strongly. I won’t stop going to the local pharmacy just because they sell Axe body products to men. I just don’t buy.

Thanks Rochelle. I am sure I will upload video, so you can see a bit of me.

He knows that I am NOT JUST the mom who wears jeans and a Melissa T-shirt or swag shirt. He knows I am the woman who can rock a dress. He knows that I am a woman who can be confident and self-assured or quiet and withdrawn. I am “mommy” who cuddles. I am Mom who makes horrible meals sometimes. I am a mixture of old-fashioned and yet hip in ways that other mothers are not. He has sorted out that clothing can “look like me” without being something he has ever seen me wear or looking like the me the girls see.

TW, can I be you when I grow up?

As I said in my post, I’m wearing what I wear pretty much every day. I haven’t planned what I’m wearing to the conference. It will depend on my mood and what’s still clean in my suitcase. Maybe it will be an ac/dc tshirt. Maybe it will be a pencil skirt. Both are equally me and in my regular wardrobe rotation.

Actually that’s not true. I think it’s important to be concerned about appearance. I think it’s important to look our best. I think first impressions are very important …and I enjoy dressing for various occasions. I have dozens f shoes and sometimes buy the shoes before I have an outfit to match. I love dressing up.

This isn’t about fashion at all, however.

Apparently my post gave many people the impression that I think women should attend conferences all slovenly with disregard for ther personal appearance, and that wasn’t the intent at all.

My point is that conferences are more than fashion – and the content and the connections should be front and center – not what everyone’s wearing.

Can’t wait to see you in your community keynote retro-food-representing dress fabulousness.