That tonight's gonna be a good night...

To fully share about the last day of Blissdom, it's going to take a couple posts. Since I'm working backwards, find a comfy spot, take a deep breath,

and let me begin to tell you about Saturday night.

Photo by Heather of Domestic Extraordinaire

After the closing keynote, a group of us girls went to dinner [in the hotel] for sushi (my first time!).

It was a peaceful, quiet chance to connect and reflect on the conference with some of my favorite people: Christine of Boston Mamas & Pop Discourse, Darcie of Such The Spot, Nicole of The Pixel Boutique, Sarah of Sarah Viola, & Esther of FaintStarLite.

It was so good to sit still and laugh and brainstorm and chase Ivy around the restaurant. Well maybe not that last part.

I remember thinking this is good. If this is it and we don't do anything else before we leave, it was perfect, and enough.

There was a Blissdom pajama party/movie/karaoke night later on that I thought, yeah, I guess we'll stop by. At least to say our goodbyes.

We went back to our room and put on jammies- even Ivy- and headed down to the ballroom where there were snacks and couches and bean bag chairs and everyone in their pajamas. We got comfy on the floor, chilled with new friends and old friends and just let go.

Felt like we were at home. Because, in that moment, in a sense, we were.

Photo by Heather of Domestic Extraordinaire

Ivy puts in her Karaoke request with sippy cup abandon.

I truly hadn't planned on us staying any longer than sneaking a piece of pizza and saying quick final goodbyes before retreating back to our room to pack and maybe hit the hay early.

Photo by Rachel of A Southern Fairytale.

We ended up staying- Ivy busting a move!- until they closed the place down.

And did we close the place D-O-W-N.

Photo by Mishelle of Secret Agent Mama.

(Ivy fast asleep in the mei tai dancing.)

For the last handful of us that remained, clock well near 1 am, we took our party up to a private suite.

Photo by Mishelle of Secret Agent Mama.

There, we filled the room and sat in chairs, couches, and the floor, in a circle. This is where it's going to be really hard for me to explain what happened, and as anticlimactic as it may sound,

you really had to be there.

Photo by Mishelle of Secret Agent Mama.

We all went one-by-one and said what our favorite part of all of Blissdom was. It was spectacular what each answer would spark in the next person, or someone across from them.

Several people in that room I hadn't even met yet, but we shared something special that night. A constant thread of the sense of belonging was woven through the entire conference, but it really came to completion at this moment.

We all had different goals for our lives, blogs, that weekend, but we all made sense, in our own way.

And isn't it awesome when you have some pretty cool people, people that know your language, validating that you make sense?

Photo by Heather of Domestic Extraordinaire

Ivy woke up at one point and I nursed her back to sleep. Liz Strauss was on my right and it was so precious, she placed her hand on Ivy's head,

it just felt like what we were doing in that room was revolutionary... and supernatural.

Photo by Mishelle of Secret Agent Mama.

Times a thousand. As Ivy sprawled in my arms, my girl- what might she do when she gets her turn at this legacy?

Or whatever this is for her, someday.


More of my Blissdom '10 recaps so far:
There's a story.
This is it.
Blissdom Robots
Blissdom, backwards. With a baby on my back.
(and more to come.)

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