Pictures of You (TxSCC)

Every time I try to sit down and recap the TXSCC, I get overwhelmed. I hope those of you that were not able to make it aren't totally irritated at those of us who were just yet. The sheer volume of tweets, posts and pictures of the event must give you at least an inkling of how amazing it was for us.

Since I'm having trouble finding the words, I'm going to let the pictures I have guide me. These are by no means an exhaustive set. I mean, I didn't even really remember to use my camera much until Sunday. But they will do...

Friday I was driven to Austin by the lovely Elissa (who did not drive us off an overpass to our deaths even ONCE) along with Suze. We ate cupcakes from my favorite Dallas bakery, Society Bakery in the car.


Elissa, Suze and I eating car cupcakes

Friday night was the swap hosted by The Swapaholics. I didn't get a single picture! I helped man the registration booth with Rachel. She was so calm, cool and professional I had NO IDEA she was only 15 and invited her to a bar. And she was kind enough not to laugh in my old lady face. Thank you, Rachel. A group of us went out after the swap and sang Karaoke at a nearby Chinese food place. And I sang (and rapped) in public. That? That was epic, my friends.

Saturday we grabbed a bite and went shopping with Katy, Kyla and Jessie. We took pedicabs over to Gueros. Kind of. Our driver said he would get us as far up the very steep, very long hill as he could, and he made it! But he had some assistance.




That biker in the helmet? He saw our driver giving it his best shot, grabbed the side of the basket and said "You can do this!" He then helped our driver make it the rest of the way up the hill. It was a hilarious and totally unforgettable ride. He dropped us off with only a few blocks left to walk in the sunshine and amazing temps, so it was no hardship on us!

Saturday night was the party at Bo Concept and I left my camera in the car. Maybe not the best move but I had a good time. Laurel finally decided to show up! Ha! I spent more time that I should have probably sitting around talking to just her and not networking, but I loved every minute. I bought an amazing fur collar/scarf combo from Lisa of Archives Vintage and an adorkable denim romper from Jessie's store, The Spice Rack. It was pretty amazing to not only score some really fun new things, but to support friends while doing so. I ran out of money before I got to Merl, but I plan to shop Clyde's Rebirth really soon, after talking to her about her upcoming plans for body harnesses!

Sunday I finally remembered my camera. Here is a small selection of the ones I took at brunch...


Top Row: Penny and I, Amy and I, Kyla and I, The adorable and amazing Eric and Kelsey, Reiko and I
Bottom Row: Heather and I, Elissa and I with the lovely Krista (coming soon to a blog near you!), Kelsey and I, Katy and I

After brunch we headed to the conference where amazing amazing things happened for me. More on that soon! Also, Elissa live tweeted the WHOLE thing, an amazing hidden talent I didn't know she had so please go check out her feed!


Top Row: Kendi, me and Bryan, LIFE CHANGER Betsy (more on that to come!) with me and Turi from Modcloth, The amazing Pamela and I (wearing a blouse from her shop, Market Publique I scored at the swap), my sweet girl Elissa and me, The Longevity panel with Kyla and Katy and Jennine, Jennine and I (she. was. amazing you guys. AMAZING.)

Sunday night was dinner and the Etsy party! I know there have been a lot of links so far, and I'm not saying you have to click them all, but I might be saying you SHOULD! (I've been writing for a couple hours now though, so if I already linked to a blog above, I'm going to skip it below.)



Top Row: The first picture is dinner with me, Erica, and Heather on the top row and the bottom row is Elissa, Laurel and Reiko. The second pic is Elissa, Laurel and I. MORE Elissa and I, what can I say? We love each other.
Bottom row: Jessie, Rachel, Indiana and me. Blogger topknots and geeky glasses on Jessie and me! Adam, me and Punky, Elissa, Laurel and me.

An amazing near-the-end group shot...



Indiana, Kendi, Jentine, Jessie, Rachel, Stephanie from Lulu's, and Punky
Jen, me, Emily.

And last but not least, when I was home and cleaning off my camera, I found a couple surprise shots left by Adam and Punky. THANK YOU, guys. It totally made me laugh and gave me the warm fuzzies to think of you guys taking them...



Every one, every single person I met was amazing. How often does that happen? Basically never, really. But it did last weekend, and I am forever grateful to Indiana and Grechen for organizing everything.

TXSCC

Oh, hey. Remember me? I used to blog. Thought I'd say hi...

In all seriousness, I can't believe it's been a week! I am still totally exhausted, but I have managed to make it in to work, unpack and buy groceries. Laundry on the other hand...we'll see.

So, TxSCC. I'm sure you've read tons of updates, and if you haven't please feel free to drop me a line and I'll find you a good one. I'll just say a few things.

1. I love Elissa even more. We are meant for each other.
2. I learned so, so much and if you have a blog I can't stress enough how worth it it was.
3. Style bloggers. As nice in person as they are on the screen. This was the least competitive, most amazing, friendly, supportive group of girls and guys I have ever met.
4. Style bloggers men folk? AMAZING guys. Amazing, amazing guys. Every last one of them.

I ended up with two outfit shots. One from Saturday afternoon and one from Sunday.



That pink watch is courtesy of TIKKR, one of the major sponsors of TxSCC and all around great company (by which I mean great guy, who we got to hang out with Friday night. Karaoke. Oh yeah. That happened.)



The gorgeous amazing blouse I'm wearing on Sunday was courtesy of Market Publique, who was a seed sponsor for the swap Friday night. I was lucky enough to score this amazing piece from them and I am so, so grateful. It is crazy beautiful and I love it.

I'm putting together some super cheesy poorly edited collages for you (oh I know! I make it sound so appealing!) and I'll get those up in the next couple of nights. My day off is Saturday and I plan to spend basically the whole day catching up, adding people to my blog roll and twitter and saying hi to as many of you as I can.

Until then, I leave you with this super unprofessional, super cheesy myspace style pic I asked Bryan to take Sunday night. It's poorly lit, and super silly, and one of my favorite pictures of all time.



From left to right:
Me, Bryan, Elissa, Kendi and Laurel, livin' it up, kids. Livin' it up.

TL:DR Involving lots of CAPSLOCK

(You know how I hate a post without a pic so sometimes I just post a random one? This is one of those times. Please enjoy the dog.)

Recently, I decided to Get Involved. Getting involved is not in my nature. I am not participatory. I fear, above all things (except maybe needles), rejection and failure. If I don’t try, I can’t fail, right? (Wrong!) WHAT IF? What if I put myself out there and no one responds? What if no one likes me? What if the other girls never ask me to swap? Or do a guest post? What if she never comments on my blog? What if I am making a huge fool out of myself and they are having Twitter Parties where they just make fun of how desperate I seem (ahahaha, OK, I never really thought that one. I’m not quite that vain. But it’s funny, so I’m leaving it.)

I also struggle LIKE WHOA with jealousy. WHY? Why does she have more followers than me? Why does she get so many more comments than me? Why is she so popular, how can I be more like her?

WAAAAH WAAAAH WAAHHHH!

It’s not pretty and it’s not helpful and it’s…SILLY. I love these girls, I’m PROUD of these girls, these girls deserve their success and I am happy to contribute to that success in any way I can. These are wonderful people.

Seriously, Self, I said, GET OVER IT*. I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and regardless of whether or not other people like me (and they do, they REALLY, REALLY DO!) I’m worthy of being liked, LOVED, by me. It’s OK for me to be happy with where and what I am. In my blog and in my life.

Plus, I’m doing this whole blog thing to have a good time. If I hold back, it will never be the blessing to me (and to others) that it has the capacity to be. I’m only cheating myself.

So I put on my Big Girl Panties and I put myself out there.

I got to Twittering.

I got to commenting. Even if the post had 14 bajillion comments already and I had nothing new to add. If I wanted to comment, I commented.

I joined FBFF

I stepped up to the plate and signed on for challenges (30X30) and community projects (EBEW).

I started emailing people and speaking up when I had something to say.

I signed up for a conference (TxSCC) and made a new friend to travel with (Hi Elissa, Love you!)

And guess what? Not only have I made TONS of wonderful new friends, but I’ve also been happier. SO MUCH HAPPIER. And able to experience JOY for my friends at their triumphs and successes. I feel light, and happy and free, but most of all, I’ve experienced the warmth and comfort one only finds in COMMUNITY. Because that’s what this is. A community. And a great one. Full of wonderful people.

So if you haven't yet, get involved. Don’t let fear or uncertainty stop you.


*I love you, Mama <3