Thursday: the alarm clock buzzed at its usual time, and I popped out of bed ready and excited for my first trip to BlogHer. This year, it took place in the windy city—Chicago—home of the Cubs, Sears Tower, Deep Dish Pizza, and 1,400 rambunctious bloggers. I was Chicago-bound—or so I thought.

I arrived at Philly International with plenty of time and all seemed well, until my flight was mysteriously canceled because of ‘low ceilings’—at least that was the official statement. I bolted for the customer service counter, and after much hand-wringing and pleasantries, I was put on a two-prop plane to D.C. in order to catch a connection to Chicago and still be there by 3:00pm. That was only two hours later than originally planned. Not so bad, all things considered.

So when the plan touched down at O’Hare in a torrential downpour seven hours later, I was a bit peeved.  Then came the unparalleled joys of Chicago rush hour. President Obama was in town as well (coincidence? I think not.); and as a result, I ended up spending far more time in a Lysol-drenched taxicab than I’d ever anticipated. An hour and twenty minutes later, I arrived at the hotel wet, tired and I am ready to get my blog on.

I quickly washed up and changed clothes before heading off to host our first ever party at BlogHer, with the help of the fabulous ladies from Room 704. I was only eight hours late. They didn’t seem to take it personally. The lobby was an onslaught of salutations, hugs, smiles, laughs, high-pitched squeals, and the sexiest talk of all—search-engine optimization. What can I say—I was giddy. It was really great to finally meet face-to-face with so many of the bloggers who I’ve been reading and admiring for some time now.

And then there were the after-parties: the Crocs party; the Peoples Party (hosted by the one and only Bloggess); and of course the Room 704 party, sponsored by none other than EdenFantasys with special help from Leslie at Rock Chick. It was the last event of the night and everyone was ready to cut loose a little. It was thrilling, exhilarating, exhausting and so much fun. The swag flew off the tables, the drinks flowed and cameras flashed. Then before I  knew it the night was over.  Luckily I had left enough time for  a nightcap with some great ladies like Miss Blondie, Mommy Goggles, Mommy Mandy and Kadi Prescott before I returned to my room for some much needed sleep to get myself ready for the actual start of the conference.

More on Friday and Saturday’s fun tomorrow!