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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Conference</title>
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		<title>BlogU Taught Me About Blogging and Powdered Alcohol</title>
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		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-blogging-and-powdered-alcohol/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 23:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doughnuts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Powdered Alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sleep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[This past weekend was one that I had basically been counting down to since it was over last year, Blog U was finally here. This time was made even better by the fact that one of my real life besties was joining me this go round. Nicole and I headed up on Thursday and made it despite the dreary and seemingly never ending rain that fell from Durham all the way to Baltimore. We relaxed a little bit before heading out to eat and met up with a group at a nearby restaurant after bumping into two of my favorites, Frugie and Kerry. A few squeals and hugs may have transpired in the tiny Radisson elevator. It first it felt like we had intruded on a tight knit group, but by the end we were laughing hysterically and were so glad we decided to join them for dinner, even if we waited forever and all the days for our food. Just meant more conversation. We headed back to our hotel and joined the pow wow that was happening in the lobby and met even more fantastic ladies. Lots of the BluntMom crew and to put it bluntly (hardy har har) these were some of my favorite ladies of the weekend. I hearted them almost immediately. The next day was National Donut Day and who in the hades would I be not to participate? Ergo, Nicole and I stopped by the Fractured Prune and oh. my. heavens. Delicious.  Don&#8217;t just trust me, Melissa and Susanne agree also. The rest of the day went by fast, getting to catch up with so many of my favorite people (Tabatha!!!) and also turning Facebook friends into actual friends. There was also plenty of time spent confusing the hell out of people by saying Amanda Madison is my Facebook but please call me &#8216;Maddie&#8221;  Confused yet? Good. This year started off with a bang and we went right into sessions. I learned so much from the first two and am already putting Anna&#8217;s and Lynn&#8217;s tips to good use. I am already seeing a spike from Pinterest and I think I am using SEO properly. Being around this group of women (and men!) seems to just ignite something inside of you and you just jump into bettering yourself and your blog. I also ascertained (via the back of a bathroom stall, we were on a college campus, after all) that there is such a thing as powdered alcohol.  Apparently you can&#8217;t snort it or eat it, therefore I can only assume you just pinch it in your butt cheeks like they used to do for fun with chewing tobacco. Or you know, mix it with liquid but&#8230; how boring. This is not a conference you want to attend if you need to sleep. It is pretty much go time from the moment you arrive. Sessions on Friday and then an awesome event that night. Saturday morning after breakfast, which really is just social hour with people half awake, you head to hear amazing keynote speakers before participating in a full day of more sessions, cupcakes and then, the Saturday night fun&#8230;this year the theme was Middle School Awkward and it didn&#8217;t disappoint. Nicole and I just kept mentioning how pretty much every single person was dancing! There was just one drawback, my awesome roomie, Amy, wasn&#8217;t there this year. My partner in tea loving crime. Next year, friend! And you were certainly missed. You were the absolute first thing Foxy and I talked about upon seeing each other. And neither was Megan because of last minute emergency. I will see you very soon in NYC though, my friend! For now though, here&#8217;s a photo overload for you all. You&#8217;re so welcome. We had the middle school awkward dance on Saturday and I need better pictures because my acid wash jeans were legit&#8230;legitimately ugly as all hell. &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; Blog U was once again held at the beautiful Notre Dame of Maryland Campus and Nick Mom hosted the Saturday night festivities, they did a fantastic job and it was just as awesome as last year! I cannot emphasize enough how much knowledge I gained from attending this conference. Stephanie, Meredith and the rest of the Blog U faculty completely rock this whole shebang. There is plenty of socializing to be had, but what I learned is by far the best reason to attend, well, besides these (right). &#160; &#160; *This WIRL was originally published on The Whimsy One.  &#160; &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Madison Rae is a Southern girl from the country that fell in love with a Boston boy. You can usually find her sippin&#8217; sweet tea or bourbon, and reading books or watching a sporting event. She loves to travel with her husband and is a complete history groupie. She blogs @ The Whimsy One and The ThankFull Tummy &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>Why Flying Home From BlogU Nearly Killed Me</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/why-flying-home-from-blogu-nearly-killed-me/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/why-flying-home-from-blogu-nearly-killed-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 22:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Missed Flight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sleep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Every year I try to attend at least one conference where I will hone my skill of writing, and network with others in the same genre. This year I attended an amazing conference called BlogU – short for University. It is held on the beautiful campus of the all girls college Notre Dame University in Baltimore, Maryland. The panels were made up ‘faculty’ who are all successful in their own areas, and are humor bloggers. Leaving the scope of this function to be perfectly aligned with my own interests, unlike other conferences I have attended. The conference itself was wonderful, the networking was awesome, and as always reuniting and meeting (and it feels so good – please tell me you know that song) with other bloggers I know and admire is a big part of what makes this a fantastic weekend away from my family (besides the obvious weekend away from my family). I attended sessions about Writing and Editing, Branding, Getting a Byline, Building Online Communities, Building My Book, and How to Make Money. All were informative and had many takeaways. Previous conferences I’ve attended always left me overwhelmed, annoyed, and unsatisfied. I would leave wondering why I spent the time and money to go, but BlogU was worth the low cost admission. I truly can’t recommend it enough except to say if you are a blogger, or are considering becoming one, THIS IS THE CONFERENCE TO GO TO. Yes I am screaming, but well it was that good. To make it even better I didn’t have a panic attack, nor did I make an ass of myself (that I know of), and most importantly I didn’t drink too much meaning I was functioning at all events and breakout sessions. YAY me. The issue came (you know there is always one) when I traveled home. My flight was Sunday at 1 pm out of BWI to Detroit. I had a 3 hour layover in Detroit before my flight to my final resting place, home. I was pushing it when I arrived  to the airport, for my 1 pm flight, 50 minutes prior to departure. My hubs woulda had a shit fit if he was traveling with me. He is a road warrior and likes to be at the airport at least an hour and a half prior to departure. I am more an hour before departure kinda gal so even for me this was cutting it close, but I made it (avoiding all shit I woulda got if I missed my flight…phew) thank god for no real lines in security. The flight into Detroit was fine, and I didn’t have to sit next to the shitter! YAY me again! The issue came in Detroit. I trolled around the airport trying to kill three hours. I bought a new small purple roller bag for my daughter’s upcoming trip, I spent a good twenty minutes in one eclectic home shop trying to find something cool and cheap – by the way those two things do not exist in an airport. I enjoyed a lovely meal at PF Changs and one 20 ounce beer before heading to my gate. I arrived with an hour and twenty minutes before take off. After using the restroom I settled in with my book to wait but then shit went south. I fell asleep, I shit you not A-SLEEP! This is insane since I can’t sleep sitting up anywhere. I never sleep in the car, on the couch, or on a plane. I can only sleep lying down in my bed. But apparently the Gods of Travel said Fuck YOU and sprinkled sleeping dust on me because boom! out like a light. I awoke at 5:55 to a boarding area devoid of people. It was one minute after the doors closed for my plane had closed and I couldn’t get on it. I missed the announcements, the boarding, the reminder announcements, everything. I was sitting where two gates use the same area so I suppose the counter people thought I was part of the other gate, or just a homeless person sleeping in a chair. I rushed to the counter flailing and shrieking, “Please, please, please open the doors up!” I have no idea why I thought they would, they NEVER do and they didn’t. I was screwed. I had to call my husband and tell him I had fallen asleep in the damn airport and missed my plane. Crickets could be heard, along with him running his hand through the front of his hair which he only does when he’s so annoyed he can’t stand it. Yup this was an epic fuckup. There are not a lot of flights into our town so missing a flight is kinda a major issue. I stood at the counter crying while the lovely ladies got me on the next and last flight – two hours later. This required a supervisor’s assistance who had little compassion for me when I explained I had just fallen asleep after waiting three hours. Thanks buddy, you’re a doll. My two new besties kept me calm explaining  “things happen for a reason”, “God works in mysterious ways”, “not to overthink it”, “all would work out”, “relax it’s fine”, and every other calming phrase as I cried. After finagling the system they got me on the 8 pm out of Detroit as a standby passenger. You can be damn sure I would bolt myself to the fucking door if necessary, I was not missing this flight no matter what. Good thing I was well rested now. I did make the flight and arrived home just a mere 10 hours after my airport journey day started vs. the 7 it should have been but well what could I do? The only option is to laugh and wait to hear about it for the rest of my life because my husband will beat this horse so much it will rival American Pharoah’s triple crown performance. All I can say is I truly can’t make this shit up even if I tried. Oh and go to BlogU next year! I am but I’m bringing No Doz for the flight home. &#160; *This WIRL was originally posted on The Shitastrophy  Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Originally from NJ, Alyson Herzig lives in the Midwest but has kept her sarcastic cynical Jersey attitude. She has been described as the Andy Rooney of Stay-at-Home Moms. You can find her blogging about the many disasters and observations of her life at TheShitastrophy.com. She is the co-creator of the anthology Surviving Mental Illness Through Humor that will be released in April 2015. Alyson is also a contributor to the anthology My Other Ex: Women’s True Stories of Leaving and Losing Friends and the sequel I Still Just Want to Pee Alone. She has had works featured at Scary Mommy, Huffington Post, Mamapedia, and others. You can find Alyson on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +. &#160; &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>The Story of My Good, Bad, and Ridiculous Weekend: BlogU15</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-story-of-my-good-bad-and-ridiculous-weekend-blogu15/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-story-of-my-good-bad-and-ridiculous-weekend-blogu15/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 09:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Good]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ridiculous]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6950</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A while back, I wrote a post about doing something for yourself. I mentioned that after a pretty shitty year, I had decided to do something fun for myself and had signed up for the Blog U Conference. I knew absolutely no one who was going and knew basically nothing about it, but the website had pictures of ladies wearing really ugly prom dresses, and that looked sort of like something I’d enjoy, so I was all in. Fast forward to a few months later, AKA this past weekend, and it was time for the conference. I felt like a complete train wreck. I felt unprepared. I felt like what the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this?? Little old me with my teeny weeny brand new blog was trying to run with the big dogs. BUT I AM SO GLAD THAT I WENT. There was a little Bad, a lot of Good, and actually more Ridiculous than you can even imagine, but my God, the ridiculous was the best part. &#160; SECTION 1: THE BAD Let’s get this section out of the way first. Part A: THE FOOD. I can really describe the food without even using a whole lot of adjectives. Actually, I can describe it in one word. Not even a word, an interjection, if you will: EW. I don’t even know what was happening here or what I expected. We were on a college campus, and it was cafeteria food, but I really don’t remember my college’s cafeteria being that gross. It was actually sort of good. I’m pretty positive these people have never heard of butter. Or seasonings. Of any kind. It was rough. This may not be important to most people, but food is a very large part of my life. Also, I am pregnant. The best thing I ate was a peanut butter cup cupcake, and I got the very last one, so everybody else was pretty much screwed. That’s all I have to say about that. Part B: THE DORMS. The dorms were not horrific. They were dorms. They were sort of old, a little run down, but it was fine. The problem I had with the dorms was the fact that my blankets had some sort of orange stain substance all over them. And I’m pretty sure the walls had boogers on them. Luckily I brought my own blankets, and the boogers were high up so I didn’t have to look at them unless I tried really hard (I’m assuming the culprit lived in the top bunk). The showers and bathrooms were okay, I guess. It could’ve been worse; it could’ve been better. Part C: THE PREGNANCY. WHOA. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. Didn’t mean to mislead you there. Blog U did NOT cause my pregnancy, nor did they have anything to do with it. Was totally pregnant before I got there. But being pregnant was kind of lame because I was super tired and pretty nauseous most of the time. I actually had to miss the last class because I wasn’t feeling so hot, which I was really bummed about. All the reason to return next year though, right? &#160; SECTION 2: THE GOOD Part A: THE INSTRUCTORS. The conference was super intimate, and so all of these people who are like celebrities in the blogging world were just walking around acting like normal civilians. When I walked in to registration, Lynn Morrison, who is an editor for Blunt Moms and writes at Nomad Mom Diary introduced herself to me. I almost keeled over. I think I was a little star struck. I ate breakfast with Rebecca Gallagher of Frugalista Blog. These were the people teaching the classes. They were so nice and personable and funny and normal. Part B: THE PEOPLE. Everybody was just really nice, even when I was being socially awkward. And even when I was all, “OH MY GOD I LOVE YOUR BLOG IT’S SOOOOOO FUNNY.” And even when they had never heard of me (mostly)! I met some really awesome people who answered questions I had and who I could just chat with about blog stuff, none of which my husband understands. It was great. Part C: THE LEARNING. Literally in the first twenty minutes of being there, I thought to myself I could leave now if I wanted to because I’ve already learned SO much (with many thanks to Jen Kehl from Beyond Blog Design). But of course I didn’t want to leave, and there was much more to be taught. I have pages and pages of notes and could probably work on things for a month without even doing any writing (but I’ll save that for when my kids go to bed). I feel like I’m a LOT less clueless about all of this blog stuff now (except still pretty clueless, because there is so much to learn). Part D: THE SWAG. Holy smokes. I left that place with two giant packs of diapers, Ajax, a headband, a selfie stick, a MyCharge Power charger, snacks, magnets, pens, notepads, coupons, a gift card…and that doesn’t even begin to cover it all. It all probably cost more than I paid for my ticket to go to the conference. It was wonderful. There’s just something about free stuff that makes my heart smile. I really, really love it. Part E: THE PARTY (Get it? Because PART-E sounds like PARTY? HAHAHAHA). The Middle School to the Max party sponsored by Nickelodeon was literally like a dream come true for me. Not only did we get to dress up in costumes (as our middle school selves), but there were tons of cool details. The decorations were AMAZING, there was a photo booth, a sweets snack bar, an amazing DJ, and a contest for best outfit and most awkward middle school picture. I am a party girl at heart, and a party planned down to every little detail is something that totally sells me. Plus all of the people there were dancing like fools, so it was a great atmosphere. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had that much fun. &#160; Section 3: THE RIDICULOUS Imagine emcee Nicole Leigh Shaw of nicoleleighshaw.com breaking into a rendition of “On Top of Spaghetti” and all of the audience members happily joining in to sing along. Imagine Kim Bongiorno of Let Me Start By Saying in the center of a circle participating in a dance-off, dressed as Urkel. Pretty ridiculous, and pretty awesome, am I right? (If you answered “no,” you are zero fun and I want nothing to do with you.) &#160; Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I definitely plan on going back next year as long as I keep this little blog afloat. There were so many cool opportunities presented to us this weekend that I can’t imagine not going back. Expect lots of changes around here in the coming weeks (you may have already noticed some), and hopefully big things in the future! &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Morgan Starr is the mom of two rough-and-tumble toddler boys, born only 18 months apart. She&#8217;s crazy enough to add just one more to the mix, and a new baby will be joining the bunch in January. She&#8217;s a high school English teacher with a passion for reading and writing, and she uses her blog as her number one writing outlet, which can be found at www.rookiemommyraisingboys.com . She writes about the craziness of parenthood with a humorous spin but sometimes focuses on the serious side of life. She may be a little obsessed with social media too and loves to tweet about her busy but fun life @rookie_mommy and share stories and pictures on Facebook.]]></description>
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