If you were sitting with me right now, and happened to ask me,
“So, How was the conference?” I would say…’INCREDIBLE!”
……..and then, if you were to ask for details…you might find yourself here tomorrow, still listening to my deconstructed tour through one amazing week.
Fully aware of my propensity for going off on tangents…I am going to go all “Dragnet” on you (Google it)…and stick with
“JUST THE FACTS”
I have reduced the Conference to Pearls of Wisdom, allowing myself ONE TAKEAWAY point and ONE “FIRST” IMPRESSION DESCRIPTION OF EACH SPEAKER AND a quote (or paraphrased quote)…THAT Had an impact on me.
Before the official festivities began…I fell in love with these two California hotties!!!

OKAY…First thing Monday…they were out of the gate and the hits just kept coming, I apologize ahead of time for the abundance that I will leave out…there was just so much…to take in, and to enjoy…
Clockwise from the left:
ADAM JAPKO—SHARP…”You can have a blog without a website, but you can no longer have a website…without a blog.”
WINDSOR SMITH —BALANCE “Make sure you get in there to say goodnight.”
BARBARA BARRY—SUNBEAM…”Beautiful process equals beautiful product”

CHARLOTTE MOSS—SOLID… “Exercise courtesy, remember that your point of view is a privilege, and is a voice heard world-wide.”
SUSANNA SALK—CLEAR…”If you are not enthusiastic and blogging frequently, then forget about it.”
NEWELL TURNER—DASHING…”Just imagine if you could…..!”

There were so many Pearls of Wisdom…words strung together …just so and in such a way as to make me have to take a deep breath…glistening sentences.. that try as I might I could not commit to memory but have become a part of my inner psyche…already guiding me to my next step.
…there were snippets, moments, like snapshots that made me chuckle…people, many names I forgot as soon as they were said…many I remember, Pebbles, Jennifer, Priscilla, Laura, Jeanne, Carolyn, Richard, Stephanie, Amy, Kim, Keith, Amy, Kelly, Jeffery and Geoffey and Ted and Christopher and Catherine, Felicia, Sheila, all the many many Leslies, Jelly girl and her Hockey Hubs, Boston Wine Guy and Finger Lakes wine guy and two people who have cousins in the band “Parachute. Many delightful conversations buying my morning Chai…I remember most because of their smiles or the way they laughed, mostly because of their dogs…I saw so many wonderful dogs…
…and Holly (the English Room) and her Multi media work station…
….she is the consummate multi-tasker and all with an abundance of style and charm…and most importantly…a brilliant sense of humor.
Lisa Mende…who makes me feel slow…and those who know me…know that ain’t easy!
It was Lisa who gave me that last “You can do it!” that got me on the plane and ultimately helped me…HELP ME!
…………………………
I was at the Kravet showroom at the Pacific design Center…and I looked up from charging my phone, and nearly tripped over my purse when I noticed JENNY, and before I could remind myself that she IS JENNY, I saw her round little basketball tummy and just went over… and like I would with any friend who has been through a lot and came out on the silver linings end of thing, and I gave her a HUGE hug and with tears in my eyes, I said “I am so happy for you! Now don’t forget to Breathe!!!”
Lets face it…Life is supposed to be lived, in the moment, and that is indeed what I did out there in Los Angeles…while a foot of snow fell on my Virginia farmhouse… and before I clicked my heels three times and came home, I was in the middle of a whirl wind of living that breathed new life into ME.
The irony to end all ironies is that most bloggers I meet are great -PEOPLE “People” and yet we live out much of our time, face to face with a screen, WITH a connection to sometimes dozens …sometimes thousands of “friends”…but is there really anyone there???
It can mess with a person. I was SO VERY grateful for the face to face, the warm hugs and the winks, and the laughs, the so many wonderful long overdue laughs.
I will keep the rest of my trip inside of me, feeding me and keeping me afloat…
I will be back Monday and we will get back to this mess of a house…there are whole ceilings missing, loads of things going on…
I can’t wait!!!!
Great recap! Beautifully written and so glad you came!!! You were an asset to the conference! You found “your people”!
As one of the many *leslies* you met, I can say that I enjoyed meeting you just as much! You’re charming and real and kind — and it was great to spend a bit of time with you that first afternoon before the conference started & at dinner the night I was dead tired and to find out that you’ve made a name for yourself {and enough money to REALLY remodel your beautiful old country home} painting dog portraits. Who knew? I’m glad you changed your Twitter username from @leslide to @leslidevito, too! During the whole conference, I never associated your original Twitter name with you, Lesli, because I didn’t know your last name! I was trying to figure out-who is @leslide-every time I saw it in the Twitter stream! LOL!
Have fun remodeling the rest of your home, Lesli, give your kids a hello and thank you for making my conference time a little brighter with your cute green striped shirt you wore to the House Beautiful event at Kravet. I loved that!
Have a great weekend !
@tkpleslie
Hi Lesli , I just found you again! Whew. I follow you through Google Reader and am not sure how I missed the post about your moving…this morning I thought “gosh, Lesli hasn’t posted in a while” and then I found the post about moving. What a relief that I didn’t lose you! Now i am happily drinking my hot tea and catching up on your busy life!
Hi Lori, I am so very happy to have you back!!!
You are not the first to say the same and I am trying to figure out how to get everyone back. I have lost hundreds of followers with the move. Hopefully, the rest will stumble upon me like you did, but if you have any suggestions pass them on!
Had so much fun at DBC2013 with you. Lokking forward to Blogfest in May. Hopefully I will lead a few devices at home so we can really enjoy!
xoxo
Holly