A New Generation: From Breastfeeding at BlogHer to Blogging at BlogHer ’14

I’m always proud of our kids. Always. But I think that is typical of most parents.

I mean, we’re the type of people who jump up and down clapping when they pee in a toilet.

So imagine my pride when my son thought he might start a blog. I immediately began to give him ideas for posts, got him started on wordpress, asked him if he wanted to make a custom design… you know, the usual.

Flash forward about 24 hours and he was already bored with his blog.

It was then I heard ‘Hey Mom, can I start a blog?’

It was my daughter. The one who would rather not sit and read the hilarious blog post I had found just for her. The one who would rather get a shot at the pediatrician than write.

But flash forward another 24 hours and not only was she blogging, but she was loving every second of it.

Begging me to check and see if she had any new comments to approve while she was at school-  you know that darn school, always getting in the way of her blogging ‘No Mom, I don’t need any ideas for a post, I have like….a million’ she would say, typing furiously. ‘And can you make sure to tweet this to everyone, oh and show Facebook?’

I did my best to show her the basics, but she is a bit like her mother and rather determined to learn all on her very own.

During one of her lectures to me about how important it was she learn how to blog without my help, I remembered her on my hip at the BlogHer conference in 2006 in San Jose.

It seems like yesterday, but not.

Now she has her own blog. Now she has her ow ideas about what a nine-year old should talk about. And now she has her own pass to BlogHer.

Yes, Princess Peanut has a student pass for BlogHer ’14 in San Jose and her and I are going to have a girls weekend writing, learning about all the wonderful things and issues that come with being part of a community, and with me re-introducing her to all the women who met her so many years ago.

#AllHailHala indeed. See you all in San Jose.

BlogHer ’13: Why You Will Make the Most of it…for ME

It’s no secret I’m proud of BlogHer.

It is my community. It is my employer.

It is that safe space I retreat to online when I need my virtual fix of inspiration and motivation.

This will be only the second time I’ve had to miss the annual conference (in person…my virtual self WILL BE THERE VIA SKYPE!) and I’m doing my best to not be seething with jealousy or pangs in my belly whenever I see the tweets or posts or photos of what a great time everyone is having and the rock stars they are running into in the hallways.

But to be brutally honest after last year’s triumphant return to the annual conference I really thought by this time THIS year I’d be working again. I thought you would barely see me at BlogHer ’13 because I’d be knee-deep in some amazing project, wrangling politicians as they came to address our community, executive producing an on-the-spot campaign for one of our clients and somewhere in the midst of it all finding time to say hello and network.

Instead I found myself faced with a choice: speak, in person, at my HealthMinder panel on Thursday and stay to enjoy the majority of the conference and then (after having flown from LA to Chicago) fly from Chicago to North Carolina to meet up with family.

You see, back over the holidays we had to cancel our family trip to North Carolina because I was too ill to get on a plane. It was too dangerous.

But back to the choice(s). The other choice was to stay home, rest up, and fly with my family to North Carolina. And a third choice was to fly to Chicago and back and then let my husband take the kids to North Carolina while I stayed home.

I knew the third choice wasn’t an option. So really, what it came down to, was if my body could handle jet-setting like it used to. Hopping on a flight from LA to Chicago and making the rounds at BlogHer ’13, then hopping a flight to North Carolina to meet up with family and making the rounds there. Then, making it back to LA.

And who are we kidding. A stomach bug hospitalized me for the 4th of July. I really did not want to give up BlogHer ’13. I really wanted another hot dog in Chicago.

I really hate that I’m not yet well enough to be capable of doing ALL THE THINGS that make me happy.

Part of this journey I am on…this path lined with tacks that seem to all stick straight up into my feet…is learning I now have limits. I might not later. They may get worse before they get better (again) and they may even get better and possibly GO THE HELL AWAY. But for better or worse my body has limits.

If you could hear me say ‘limits’ in my head as I type it you’d laugh. It’s this high-pitched whine really. LiMiTs. I have LIMITS!!!!!!!.

Travel takes very careful planning. In order to go to DC we left several days early so I could rest and rest and rest before we had to be at the White House.

In fact, we visited the White House the day before we LEFT FOR HOME. So I knew I couldn’t just jump on a plane and jet my way over to the Windy City for BlogHer ’13 and then hop another to Fort Bragg and then hop another back home to LA…all in the span of less than a week. It was a recipe for another stay at hotel hospital. Or worse, I’d get stuck in a hospital in Chicago. Or North Carolina. Or even worse, I’d have to cancel on family for a second time and once again let down people I love.

It’s true what they say about BlogHer’s annual conference, by the way; it’s totally what you make of it. It can be all parties and hugs and squees or it can be hardcore networking for that big gig you’ve been hoping for, or it can be your coming out party, of sorts. Where you decide to take that leap of faith and go meet those people you talk to daily through that screen on your lap. You know…the ones who make you laugh and cry and think.

The ones who’ve been there for you each and every time you mouthed off about breastfeeding or Pampered Chef parties or politics. They’ve been there from the moment you started to feel unwell, and were there for the first surgery. The second. The third. They sent cards and flowers and unicorn poop cookies. They sent hats and spoons. Some sent gnomes. Books. Silly postcards. Amazing jewelry. Inspirational works of art. Simple notes that made you cry like a child.

And last year they made you feel like a goddess when you were at your most vulnerable.

photo by @craftyb

You even listen to a certain voicemail on your phone, a full year later, when you are once again feeling down and stuck in treatment or a hospital bed or you simply can’t fit into a pair of pants that fit last week before they upped your steroids again.

They wrapped you in so much love that you can’t imagine life without the wonderful women and men on the other side of the screen.

I have come a long way in this battle. I still have a long way to go. Know that each of you have helped me in your own quirky way and I can’t thank you enough. I thought thanking you meant I HAD TO BE IN CHICAGO personally. But practicing what I preach, family must come first. Instead my family will be flying to North Carolina to make up for that trip Lupus canceled over the holidays.

Here is hoping during BlogHer ’14 I will wrap each of you in so much love that you can feel in the hug I give you just how important you are to me. That you can’t imagine life without the wonderful women and men on the other side of the screen. Or better yet, that I’m just a blur during the conference because I’m so busy working we barely had time to chat…but we did have that amazing but brief moment where we embraced and looked at each other knowingly, because we had made it.

Because dammit, I WILL make it.

NYC’s Toll

I’ve been home from New York for nearly a week now…and I’m still recovering. Emotionally. Physically.

It was a much needed trip to add some normalcy to our otherwise ‘school, work, doctor’ routine. It was a much needed trip to remind me that I am more than my illness and I am capable of greatness even with this illness.

But most importantly, it reminded me of how far we’ve come.

This carefree couple that haphazardly ended up together in the oddest of ways, never fully believing what we were doing until we were so far in we couldn’t imagine life any other way. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and everything in between. I was content to just have some time in a quiet hotel room with my best friend, spending more than a few minutes without being interrupted by the need for more chocolate milk or help with a video game.

And then returning home with a thud, as most vacations do, to absent chauffeurs and delayed flights and kids in need of extra attention and cars breaking down and doctors delivering treatment and news of what a simple flight across the country does to my body.

But we did it. And we had fun. And I managed to remind myself OF myself while there. The self he fell in love with that I am fighting to bring back through all this bullshit piled on us. Just being capable of doing it helped me reach an arm out and break through- grabbing him and holding tight.

He’s still here. I’m still here.

NYC, I thank you, even if you battered me a bit. As my doctor said…’these numbers are nothing compared to the smile I see on your face. Next time I’ll send you for longer!’

My man of steel @aaronvest is taking me to the natural history museum via wheelchair 'cause he's badass with potholes in NYC

BlogHer 2012: In New York, There’s Nothing You Can’t Do

I will admit it: I’m a blog snob.

Those silly fashion blogs? Pfffft. So long as they don’t take over the political news of the day, or the REAL news (as I stand tall and like to remark) then fine, they can have a headline or two. But they aren’t important and are fluff and as far as I’m concerned have no place getting higher ratings or more coverage than what I consider to be more important- real news.

So when the BlogHer team asked me to be a model in the first EVER BlogHer fashion show this year at BlogHer ’12 in New York, I had to laugh.

Hard.

Not only was I being asked to participate in a space I had very little respect for, but I was struggling with coming to terms with a body that is not my own. One I have written about time and time again since I began steroid treatment for Lupus. The dramatic shift from my 119lbs self to my now steroid induced 219lbs self has been life changing. Nearly as life changing as the disease trying to kill me.

The truth of the matter is I have not felt beautiful, or even comfortable, in a long time. 18 months, to be exact. I’ve learned to shop in the plus sized section, and cry when things even there didn’t fit.

I sobbed uncontrollably when all I wanted to hear from those I love was “you are beautiful no matter what” – which was said early on but after so long that sort of talk seems frivolous. Ok so I haven’t heard it in 15 months, to be exact. Not because they don’t love me, but because it seems unimportant in the sea of things going on. Treatment, medication, plans of action. My appearance should be the least of anyone’s worries and it would be insulting to even bring it up. Vain maybe. And down right stupid.

But as it turns out, you notice and remember things when you don’t recognize the person looking back at you in the mirror. You crave to know you are still beautiful to those who love you, if not in words, than in a kiss on the forehead or an arm around the waist. But that waist is now double in size. The forehead round and moon shaped from the drugs, and I certainly wasn’t feeling worthy of a kiss.

That’s not the Erin I know. But I was cutting her some slack, considering the hell we were going through.

Everyone treats you differently as a big girl too. Everyone. My kids love “squishy” Mommy. In fact they want to make sure I don’t lose ALL the weight I have gained as I diet because they insist some squish remain for cuddle time.

Then I realized how the outside world treats larger people. They aren’t nearly as nice to me as they used to be. At first I was angry, I wanted to wear a big sign that said “I AM ON A STEROID THAT SAVED MY LIFE THIS IS WHY I AM FAT.” And then I got even more angry, realizing that no one deserves to be treated differently simply based on looks and size. From those of us here involuntarily to those beautiful women born with curves to people who just are who they are.

So I said yes to being a model. Because my self-esteem needed a boost, I knew I had to learn about other blog communities, and most importantly, I wanted to show the world every size, shape, and sass of a woman is beautiful.

But could I really do it? Could I walk a runway in front of hundreds in New York knowing full well I’d be in tears and hating the body I’m supposed to show off and love? Would it be a big lie?

No. No. I could do it. I just had to believe. I had to believe, I had to get comfortable in this body of mine, and I had to own who I am now. OWN IT.

So with that thought in my mind, and some nudging from some people reminding me that others like me might be inspired and get that “you are beautiful” comment they too have been waiting for…I said yes.

Flash forward to rehearsals, fittings, hair, make up, shape wear discussions, stretch mark discussions, bra discussions, heels or flats, order of models,  how to walk, how many beats to count before posing…and on and on and on.

And at every point I wanted to bail. To run out of this thing that put butterflies in my stomach. Would the community think this was lame? Would anyone believe I was beautiful and model worthy? Would they see all the hard work and diversity of women of every stripe and say “that is awesome” or would they say “where are the supermodels?”

And I stood on the steps off the stage, music blaring, and knew there was no turning back. I was told that if I could do it, maybe next year another woman afraid to show her cancer scars might say yes too. Maybe, just maybe, a blogger who feels like the ugly duckling due to a birth defect will volunteer and say “ME NEXT!”

And I closed my eyes, and I counted my beats, and I believed, for the first time in so long, that I truly was beautiful. I believed what I had always written and told my daughter- it’s not what is outside, it’s what is inside that makes you pretty. My inside has sass, and silly, and attitude, and  power. POWER enough to be winning against a disease that kills. Power enough to be humbled by the “fluff” bloggers who I realize not only work hard, but work super hard to show every woman is beautiful, fighting the stereotype that you need to be a tall, skinny, white, blonde female to be the ideal.

They taught me everyone is the ideal woman, and I most certainly was welcome in their ranks. Not everything needs news and politics, but everything DOES need beauty.

So for every woman who isn’t society’s usual cover girl… I stepped on stage, walked to my mark, and soaked in what I KNEW was already there: family and friends who love me for me. And who all taught me EVERYONE in this community and beyond has an equally important voice. Because that voice gave me the confidence to return to who I really am.

photo by @craftyb

And I am beautiful.

 

 

 

 

*With special thanks to 6pm, Elizabeth Arden, Paul Mitchell, Monif C , and Marc Jacobs. And the wonderful team at Zappos.com. Fashion show guru Kathryn Finney and her amazing team. Photo caught by Kelly Cheatle. See more at Blogher.com.

Forward

The kids cried last night as my husband and I put them to bed. Cried because they were tired. Cried because they are kids. But cried mostly because we were leaving, while they slept, for New York.

This will be our longest trip ever away from the children. And our first since everything in our home has changed. Life operates differently with Mom not working, and undergoing treatment for Lupus. Cuddles are a nighttime ritual. Therapy for worries, a new childhood experience.

I explained to the children how important this trip was for me, and for our family. It means that I am getting better. And this trip is a big step in testing to see what my body can handle…and what it can not.

While I am very excited to speaking at BlogHer ’12, to be staying longer in New York than planned so that I may be a guest on the new Katie Couric show, and to travel on a plane-cross country no less- I’m also very much feeling what my children were feeling last night…

Fear.

I’m pushing many of the what if’s out of my head because I know that my body is ready. My doctor is confident and he wouldn’t have let me travel if he weren’t. This doesn’t mean I can handle this often yet, or even that I will be anywhere near full strength soon. But this is a step. A big step. And one I had hoped would make the children feel more secure, make me feel more confident.

Instead this morning my hands shook as I tried to take my pills with a glass of water, and I nearly called off the entire thing before we walked out the door. And nearly called it off again as we drove to the airport.

Yet here I sit, on the plane, blogging from the sky and trying to muster the old Erin that usually emerges right about now.

I’m just so determined to beat this, so determined to NOT go backwards, so determined to never cause the kids or my husband another thought of fear or pain that even taking this trip has me rethinking everything I do. Everything I am. Everything I WANT to be.

I’ve been doing my best to take those baby steps at home, from home, that feel comfortable and natural and don’t disrupt the worries of the household. I’m so proud to have been asked to blog for the President’s re-election.

Screen Shot 2012-07-28 at 12.49.26 PM

And I’m proud to be doing more around the house, slowly, steadily, and with great care.

I just wish I could shake this weight in my chest over this trip and all it’s implications. So many fantastic opportunities, so many chances to relapse.

So if you see me in New York, and I’m not entirely myself, please don’t take any offense. I currently have a one track mind that includes keeping my voice and hands steady, my head held high, and a fierce determination to turn around and go home if my body says it’s time-regardless of what opportunities I miss.

The crying children I left behind, and the man who accompanies me and has stood by my side through this hell deserve that much. In fact, they deserve much more.

I’m in control, even through my tears, and I will NOT go backwards.

FORWARD.

Start Spreading the News

Something I’d like to tell you!

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Grace

I’ve realized that heading to the hospital for ANYTHING causes a trigger reaction in me.

I’m headed there now for a very normal, very routine colonoscopy and I’m terrified. I’m terrified they are going to admit me and make me stay. I’m terrified they will find out that Lupus is doing something ELSE to screw with my life. I am terrified the kids are scared, that my husband is scared, and that everyone has to deal with me in the hospital, at the hospital, or anywhere NEAR the damn hospital.

I have not been admitted since my TIA this past summer and that set us all back mentally around here for a good long while. In fact, I’m still not sure we’ve recovered. It’s too scary. it’s too hard. And it reminds everyone in this house of just how many organs I have lost, how many surgeries and procedures I have had, and how horrible this entire Lupus journey has been.

I want this to be over. And while I realize there is no cure for Lupus, I also know some people have a handle on their disease and live a very normal life. I want that to be me. I want that for my family so badly that I’m up at 5am crying and trying to pull myself together for their sake.

It makes me sick to my stomach what I put them through. Sick.

I know what you all are going to say so please, it’s ok. I would do all of this in a heartbeat for them. I wouldn’t even THINK about doing it and I’d be right there next to Aaron if it were him and of course next to either of the kids, advocating on their behalf and holding their hands. But I don’t want anyone to HAVE to do this for me. That’s just how I am. Believe me, I’ve tried to change over the course of all of this…and while I have gotten better at accepting it all, I SITLL HATE IT.

I’m the Mom. I’m supposed to take care of them. That is my job. And yes, Aaron takes care of me like any loving husband who kicks ass would…but he’s been doing it for SO LONG and the kids have had to deal with this for SO LONG. Too long. Way too long. It’s NOT FAIR to them. It’s just not.

I’ve had trouble putting into words this week’s passing of my friend Susan, otherwise known in the blogging world as WhyMommy. She was an inspiration for one of my first BlogHer projects way back in the day: BlogHer in Second Life. She, well…her avatar, came to the virtual conference because she was undergoing chemo at the time and could not attend the real thing. And I can’t take my mind off her husband and two boys and how hard and awful this all is for them. No one should have to lose their wife, their mother, their friend.

And I think about all the years that have passed where Susan fought so hard and even worked (she was an astrophysicist how awesome is that?) and kept up with life while cancer was attacking. She was a wonderwoman. And my bitching about some small procedure seems so insignificant in light of recent events.

But she would talk to me about understanding how I felt. She was one of the few people with whom I would commiserate about being ‘sick’ while trying to raise a family and live a normal life. Just a few weeks ago she reminded me that I was strong, and brave, and that my children and my husband love me unconditionally -even if that meant I was stuck in bed and even if that meant I couldn’t do it all. As she put it ‘they are happy to just have you THERE, Erin. They love you.’

I wish she were here now to tell me those words again. Because I need my friend this morning. It’s so selfish of me, but I need her. She understood. And I would tell her she is so much more brave than I am (she was) and she is so much more graceful in her fight (she was) and that I wish I had her attitude. And she would tell me she has bad days too and then she would send me something awesome to show the kids that usually involved space or the planets and we’d laugh and just…do what friends do.

Her absence this morning is like a kick in the gut. 

In honor of Susan I’m going to attempt grace today. I say attempt, because Susan is smiling down on me laughing, knowing I will end up telling Lupus to #suckit rather ungracefully. But for her, I will try.

Grace is something I need more of anyway, so it can’t hurt. And when I think of Susan, I think of grace personified.

I’m also going to concentrate on these photos, because they make me smile HUGE:

Soul healing

Future President Jackson Vest

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…and this one, which will forever remind me of Susan and how even VIRTUALLY she could rock bald in a ball gown like no other.

BlogHer 07: WhyMommy Babii

Grace.

Taking Inspiration From Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

I can’t imagine what a violent act, such as suffered by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, feels like. To have your life nearly taken, to battle back from against the odds, and then to work hard to try and ‘do’ your job.

I can imagine what it feels like to want to do your job, and be unable- because you have to focus on your health. To want to make a difference, change lives, and show people how politics can, in fact, work and give every citizen a voice.

Of all the work and hats I would wear at BlogHer, there was nothing I loved more than connecting women and elected officials. To put them on phone calls with the Speaker of the House and to introduce them to high-level White House advisors who would then invite them straight into the West Wing. Nothing made me feel like I was doing my job better, or working harder.

I have seen how powerful the connection can be between constituent and legislator and how it can bring about change. It can be civil. It can take away the nasty rhetoric and get us talking like a united country and it can empower average voters and humble powerful leaders.

I could have never of guessed my own recovery from Lupus would ever take this long. I wish Congresswoman Giffords patience as she focuses on her recovery, and speed. May she kick ass in getting healthy, because she inspires me to do the same.

I want to push myself harder so that when she returns to public office, I can return to connecting her with the millions of women with millions of ideas to change our country for the better…together.

I have watched, like much of the country, as her husband and family and friends have shown her so much love and support. We are two lucky women to have such great people surrounding us and cheering us on. More than once during my own dark, pain-filled times I have found myself thinking ‘What would Gabby Giffords do?’ Silly maybe, as we’ve never met…but she is someone I admire.

And as I wrestle with having to think ‘long term’ for my recovery, being out of work and focusing solely on getting healthy, I take a sort of solice knowing Congresswoman must focus on the same.

People tell me over and over and over again that I can’t take care of my children, change the world through my work, make a difference, unless I take care of myself first. It is an unnatural thing to do, at least for me. And even when I accept that this this truth, I have a hard time waiting for it all to happen. I do everything I am supposed to do, yet we have such a long way to go until I’m able to exercise let alone work. Small setbacks that feel like punches in the gut. Small strides forward I think I over exaggerate in order to feel better about just how long this process takes.

I know the feeling of gratefulness that comes with just being alive. When you realize what *could* have been and how lucky you feel to have those around you STILL around you. It changes you forever, violent act or devistating illness. Eventually you begin to put the fear aside and come crawling out of your new shell. More aware of what you have, more aware of what you could have lost, more aware of the little things in the once dull everyday that bring such joy that it’s almost too sugary, too mushy, too…too.

So it is with great respect I watch and listen and learn as Congresswoman Giffords resigns in order to recover. Perhpas, in a way, I feel validated in putting my health above my work and what I feel is a higher necessity to help our country in this time where pundits consist of who can be the most shocking, out of left field, lying, or downright evil.

But I get it. I get that tug of wanting to uphold responsiblities and take care of business. It may very well cause my Lupus to explode because I have to watch from the sidelines during Election 2012. Right now I want to be planning, laying my usual groundwork by ramping up apperences on news shows and speaking engagements. Making sure so many things are in place. I have no doubt coverage will be amazing but it won’t be how *I* would do it. Actually I have learned that nothing is how *I* would do it, from when I watch someone else cook dinner for my family to how I would get the kids out the door for school in the morning as I watch from the couch, too sick to participate.

Congresswoman Giffords I wish you much luck and love as you recover. I also hope that when you return to politics…when WE return to politics…the space isn’t as nasty, isn’t as volatile, and is ready for our way of creating change.