Blog it Forward

So last night I went to the Blog it Forward organized by Chef's Widow over at the Greenhouse Tavern on W 4th. I have to admit that I was really nervous about going. I’ve never met bloggers in real life before that weren’t knit bloggers. With knitters it was never a big deal because no matter what you at least have something in common. One thing you can talk about. And there’s always the “so whatcha working on” icebreaker.

Not so much in this situation.

And worse because to be even more honest I hadn’t even heard of most of these bloggers (even the really big ones) until this week. The only ones that I had ever read before were Throwing Quarters, Cleveland’s a Plum, and Domestic Extraordinaire. So I wouldn’t even have that to talk about.

Throw in a few cocktails and potential to make an ass out of myself was extremely high.

But I “know” Anissa and I wanted to help out in some way. This seemed like a much, much nicer way to show support for her family than a random donation through their paypal account.

So I put on my big girl pants, grabbed my camera, and went.

I’m so, so glad that I did.

Everyone was very nice and welcoming. And I never felt as out of place as I expected to. Although this conversation between me and one of the Very Nice Cleveland Bloggers happened more than once:

Me: “I’m Life in Cleveland”
VNCB: “Never heard of you”
Me: “Yeah probably not. I’m a knit blog.”
VNCB: Blink.
Me: “Knitting? Like with yarn?” flails hands wildly in knitting motions
VNCB: Blink. Blink. (slowly backing away from the crazy)
Me: “I’m going to go find some more wine.”

I am a terrible life blogger, though, b/c my nervousness won out and I took exactly 3 pictures.

This one:

terrible.

This one of the best chicken wings I’ve ever had in my life:

I tried to eat them daintily and in an appropriate fashion for meeting new people but I pretty much wanted to dive in head first bones flying. They were that good.

And this one:

Of me and Michelle who were the “Last Bloggers Standing” By that point the wine had loosened my inhibitions enough that I was ok with taking pictures of people I had never met.

So yeah. Not a very good recap of what was an amazing event for an amazing cause.

Very Nice Cleveland Bloggers/Twitterers that I met: Chef's Widow, Throwing Quarters, Cleveland’s a Plum, All Lacquered Up, Domestic Extraordinaire, Snipermom, OHMommy, Rimarama, Kasey Crabtree, chefpallardy, KaKaty, Phil Dennison, My Managed Chaos,  Tony Ramos, Shawnee's Girl, West of Cleveland! (If I missed you I'm so sorry!  Please let me know and I"ll add your link!)