I am back and I am blessed. Not only did I get to spend time with my sister this weekend in Nashville, but I was given many beautiful and unexpected gifts in the form of conversations with women who blog.
These are my blurry roommates. They aren’t blurry in real life. In real life, they are all kinds of beautiful. My sister, The Nester is to the right of me with her hair and her beads and her unassuming ways. She is fabulous, but you already knew that. Next to her is Sandy of 4 Reluctant Entertainers who I want to be when I grow up. Finally on the far right is Melissa of The Inspired Room. She and The Nester shared the story of their blogs in the final session of the day. Listening to them was both encouraging and inspiring. All three of these women write about living simply and embracing a balanced, imperfect life.
There was a lot of this happening, as you can imagine. From the left, this is Melissa, Tsh of Simple Mom, Nester and Jen of Balancing Beauty and Bedlam who is not only a friend in real life, but also kept Nester and I company on the long drive to and from Nashville.
And then there is Amber of The Run a Muck. Two words: kindred spirit. Meeting her was one of those “Hello. I love you. Won’t you tell me your name?” moments. I connected with her instantly, and when I checked out her blog one sleepless night in Nashville, I knew why. This lovely soul was created to write. Read her. You will be blessed. A gift indeed.
There was lots of eating, as seen here by Kim of Endless Possibilities.
There were some crazy great panel talks, like this one with Megan, Mrs. FussyPants and Arianne.
There were also some really great shoes. I took lots of photos of people’s shoes this weekend. Actually, I took lots of photos period. If you would like to have more of a peek into the weekend and see more fantastically talented people, feel free to check out my flickr stream, which I am still adding to so check back.
I’m so glad I went and so pleased to have met so many of you. If you are interested in seeing more posts about BlissDom ’09, visit Musings of Housewife, a hub for all the action.
Man, those are some hot shoes. And how beautiful is Amber? Man! Are you allowed to have friends this much better looking than me? I am glad you had fun. I am glad you did not become a country music star. I still like your new site. The end.
holy cow, am i really the first to comment? you captured the weekend so beautifully w/your photos! (btw, my hubs uses Cannon D70, is that what you use?) but more importantly than the pix was beautiful friendships made. i really hope melissa and i can come to she speaks – more girl fun! you are sweet and inspiring yourself. kindred spirit! love you em!
girl, you made me laugh so hard. My stomach and it’s muscles thank you.
I’m still laughing at Robin and her goose.
heart you!
Dang, those shoes are cute! Kat bought some reeeeeeally cute shoes at the mall for $4! That stuff never happens to me.
You and your sister are so cute and, in spite of not being at the conference, made me feel like you would have liked to get to know me as much as I wanted to get to know you. Thank you for your sweetness!
Nice picture of Kim! I think I have one of Emily that I might post! She will love it – I’m sure! And was that a blurry picture from me?? I thought I took a much better picture for you guys?? I’m sooo sorry!
keep in mind that kim still looks fabulous in the photo of kim eating the salad. Kim was not making faces. kim is beautiful. emily, on the other hand, does not photograph well under most circumstances. just keep that in mind. amen.
Loved seeing you again! It looks like you guys had a blast. What a group of gorgeous girls! Kim is going to die when she sees that picture.
Big hugs from TN…
OH ..what wonderful pictures!!! All those bloggers would be so FUN to meet….love the shoes…how fun are you!
-sandy toe
Oh my word, I want those shoes! I have no idea what I’d wear them with, but I want them!
I wish there would’ve been more time for us to sit down for a long chat–I’m feeling sad today about all the people I didn’t get to have nice, long conversations with. There just aren’t enough hours in a weekend!
It was so terrific – fabulous – fun – great – and all the other words to meet you! I even got to talk to you more than “Can we swap cards?” That was my first comment to just about everybody there. It kept me from saying, “Wow! I can’t believe it’s really you!”
Thanks for being so nice.
glad you’re back, friend. i knew it would be wonderfully, soul restoring, fun for you, and so glad it was!
I am so glad to hear you had such a fabulous time! I can’t wait until I get to experience a gathering of bloggers. It seems like such a blast!
Hi Emily! It was a blessing to meet you. You and that sis of yours are pretty special. And seeing you together is just downright sweet. I love your blog design and look forward to reading you and meeting you again. What a delicious head full of memories I have!
Everything you just said in regard to me, I promise I just said it to my husband about you.
I L O V E You. And that’s all.
So very wonderful to see you again, my dear. That laptop photo cracks me up and I’m also glad to see so many photos of shoes. (Be still my heart.)
I didn’t technically get to meet you this weekend, but I seemed to be in your general vicinity a lot. It was nice to put a face with the blog and maybe I’ll actually, you know, SPEAK next year.
I’m loving the photo of everyone on the bed with their laptops. That pretty much sums up the atmosphere at Blissdom:-) It was so nice talking with you. Wish I could have caught up with you Saturday night. Can’t wait to see your Flickr pics!!
Oh… I want to tell EVERYONE just how much you crack me up live. You made me smile everytime I talked with you:-)
I am just saying that this comment section is AWESOME!! I love that the comments are in the same little shape as the post – just saying.
That one of us on the bed is hilarious!! So glad we had the drive down and back…so glad you’re such a great driver…so glad now to be home reading this. 
ok – now must add the hilarious observation that my 11 year old son just made about the bed photo this very second….”look Mom, they all have awesome Macs, and you have your little Dell.”
Hmm….it is the three cool girls on one side, and then the one who never got picked for Prom Court, isn’t it…hee heee.
OH, how I wish I could’ve been there. But are northerners allowed?
First of all… this has got to be one of my favorite blog designs ever. So creative and fun and different! LOVE IT!
Second… great pics of Blissdom. I wanted to marry those shoes as well and engaged in a very long conversation during which I learned they only cost $9.99 at which point I nearly ran off to a TJ Maxx to find an exact pair for myself. I guess this pic will have to due
!
I think it’s funny, in the picture with all those ladies and their laptops, they all have Macs, definitely smart people then
Oh I’m so jealous!!! In a good way, though. It looked like you had soooo much fun and everyone is so beautiful. Look at how accessorized everyone was. You can’t ever say bloggers aren’t sassy. We are so sassy!
I plopped down at your table and had lunch with you on Saturday. Just wanted to say hi and I enjoyed our chat!
So glad you had fun, honey!
It was so great to share a room with you lovely ladies. I love that we laughed our heads off but also shared personal dreams and parts of our hearts. You are such a sweet girl and I am so excited to see where life takes you.
blessings,
melissa
I must agree the picture of Kim is hilarious! You are right she STILL looks good though. hee hee It was great to have breakfast Sunday and see you guys again. Hope you had a good trip back.
Looks like ya’ll could do an Apple marketing campaign.
I lurve the blog layout. I found you because someone twittered about your blog design. I *heart* it!!!!
Emily, someone stopped by my blog today to tell me that you “bragged and bragged” on me to her! Thank you so much! It’s good to see you posting again!
Oh, it looks like such a . . . well . . . blissful time! I’m smiling through my jealousy.
Somehow, someway, Amber followed me on Twitter this weekend and I followed her over to her blog and WOW. I had that “kindred spirit” feeling upon my first read over there. I bet she is really sumpthin’ in real life.
Enjoying your Flickr sharing. Thanks for posting!
i have seen the nester brushing her teeth while meditating. my life is complete.
blissdom looked so fun–mainly because the food looked good and it did not require any cooking.
I think you summed Amber up perfectly! she is a doll and those were some awesome women you were rooming with!
It was a pleasure meeting you!!
Okay, we all want those shoes! You should give them a way as blog candy. Seriously, they are quite nice. You have a lovely blog.
I know those shoes…. Glad you had fun!
wish i could have been there.
Oh the shoes!!! I knew I was missing out!
What an awesome recap! I love your photography and can’t wait to keep in touch with you. You rock and are just lovely!
I am so envious of your photographs! I really want to learn to use my camera to its fullest. Or maybe even use 1/10th of its potential. that is probably more realistic.
You recapped the weekend beautifully. I can not WAIT to spend more time with you at She Speaks!
so sorry to have been late to check in on all this fabulousness! now I need to go check out all my other bloggy friend’s blogs wo hit blissdom and see what they saw!
yeah yeah yeah… yall had fun… Who WOULDN’T have fun when in the presence of shoes like that! De-lish!
Emily, I forgot to update my blogroll, so I haven’t been over here in days! Must. update. today.
Can I tell you how much I love those shoes? YOu must tell me who they belong to so I can track her down and either a) find out where she got them and go get myself a pair or b) grab them and run away squealing. I know option ‘a’ is the way to go, but I’m not above option ‘b’ Just sayin. Bloggy love and kisses.
Dude, Stunning design. LOVE.
That picture of me? OY VEY! {blushes}
You are adorable. I need to do another blissdom just to have more time w you!
xoxo, alli
It was so fun seeing you and your sis again, I hope you won’t be offended if I start stalking you (no point in saying no, I’m doing it anyway).
You inspire me, and that is SO needed right now woman. For many of us. Thank you.