What happens in Vegas........

After a whirlwind of travel I am home for an extended period of time. I think. Okay, we'll see. Anyhow, at the very least I know I will be home this week and I have an opportunity to reflect. I am in the midst of recovering from living it up in Las Vegas. My version entailed speaking at two blog conferences - Blog World Expo and SITScation, meeting new and wonderful people, one night of dancing, meeting Guy Kawasaki, and seeing Cirque du Soleil. All this and not one dollar was lost gambling because being a tightwad has it's perks!

While traveling can be exhausting and time away from my family can be difficult, it reminds me of the most important aspect of blogging for me. Community. This weekend I met friends old and new and spent true quality time with individuals that I believe will be my lifelong friends. Two of these new friends are Rachel of Single Mom Seeking and Lindsey of Rock and Roll Mama. I've long admired Lindsey from afar and we met in July at BlogHer and spoke briefly at Type-A Mom but in Vegas we were able to break bread together and enjoy quality time together. Lindsey is an advocate for women advocating for themselves and I am truly glad to have her friendship and to knowing her is a constant reminder to value my worth as a woman and a mother. Rachel is a brand new friend. She is the author of the book Single Mom Seeking and I don't think that I have ever met a kinder or gentler spirit. The three of us dished and dined together after all speaking on the Niche Blogging Panel for the Mind of Moms track at Blog World Expo. These two women are intelligent, funny and witty. I look forward to spending more time with them in the future.

The third friend I met was Dale. She was an attendee at SITScation (The Secret is in The Sauce blog conference) and like Rachael has a wonderful spirit. As a matter of fact, Rachel introduced us and we walked Dale to her room after the SITS opening night party, I knew I wanted to spend more time with this lovely lady. Her blog, A Stroke of Living chronicles her life and story of overcoming a stroke at an early age. I admire her positive attitude in the midst of adversity and for anyone that says "I can't" you should be ashamed because Dale has proven we can accomplish anything we put our mind to. Dale and I attended Cirque Du Soleil's Mystere together and had a wonderful time.

Despite a long day at the conference, neither of us could contain our joy at the physical feats that seemed to defy possibility that we witnessed on stage. Although this is my third Cirque du Soleil show, as usual I was enthralled by the performance. Mystere is full of tumbling, high flying trapeze work and comedy. Things that I have come to love about their shows. One of the things that really impressed me was the original music and the ability to see the musicians sing and play instruments above the stage. This is something that is unique to Cirque shows and truly adds to the experience. I have to give a big thank you to Cirque to Soleil for providing the tickets to the show. I am a long time fan and Dale and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Vegas is a beautiful memory - although there were some sights there that had my eyeballs burning (especially some of the women "working" the casino) it was a great experience. I am still recovering and most of yesterday I spent napping and hanging out with my sweet boy. When he and Daddy picked me up at the airport, Mekhi said "I am so glad you are home Mommy!" My heart just about melted. All day yesterday we lounged around the house watching movies and enjoying each others company. It was priceless. I am looking forward to getting back in a groove here on the blog and look forward to giving you updates on all of the wonderful things that I have been up to!