The Good Girl Gone Blog

Blogher09: the Intern's Perspective July 29, 2009

Hey ladies and dad...oh and my other male reader, Nathan,

I'm so sorry for my lack of posts lately. To be quite honest with you, I've been exhausted ever since blogher started. Although I tried to write the below post on Sunday evening, I accidentally refreshed my browser and two hours of work went down the drain. I did not follow the cardinal rule of writing on a computer: save, save, save. So here's to constantly saving this post as a draft. Hopefully it'll be as good as the original :(

I know you've probably read about a gazillion blogher09 recap posts, but mine is different. Yes, I am a blogger...but I'm also an intern, so when my company, springpad, offered to bring me to Chicago, I was ecstatic. Not only was I embarking on my first business trip, traveling to one of my favorite cities and getting to attend a convention made just for bloggers like me...I got to do it for free!

Here are some highlights from an intern's journey to blogher:

• Bonding with new coworkers - although I've been working with Kboss for over 9 months, T-rexa joined the company just a few weeks ago. Though we chat in the office, I definitely got to know T-rexa a lot more on this trip. We bonded over boys, hair removal and fashion faux pas. We even dressed up in wigs and aprons at the Swiffer SocialLuxe party. Who knew she was such a girly girl!

She even let me take a picture of her...err t-shirt. Check out the creative button placement!

• Hanging out with old friends- though I was psyched to be continuing my internship at springpad this summer, I definitely miss my mentors from BML. Sara and Heather inspired me to start this blog, and I'm extremely grateful to have met them. Even though Sara spent most of the time embarrassing me in front of her old coworker (read: cute, Jewish, young, single), I enjoyed every minute of it.

Check out their FABULOUS shopping blog! If you look far enough in the archives, you'll find a post or two from yours truly :)

• Meeting springpad users- a huge part of my job involves emailing bloggers who I think will enjoy springpad. It's one thing to know bloggers from their blogs and springpad profiles, but it's another to actually meet them. I'm so glad I got to meet some of my favorite users, such as Sandie, Jennie, and new users (and fellow 20 somethings), Jennifer from Free and Flawed and Jenn from Eating Bender! I'm following all of them on springpad, and you should too!

With Jennifer Perillo of In Jennie's Kitchen

• Giving out swag people actually liked- everyone thought our mini notebooks were adorable; I think the blue ones were the most popular. I also loved watching everyone oogle the Coach bag that I picked out. Some people literally came over and stroked it, it was that beautiful.

• Getting treated like a queen- maybe traveling for business is always like this, but I've never had my own king bed, let alone an entire hotel room to myself. My stuff was strewn everywhere, I took a luxurious bath and watched TV at 6:15 am. I even got a bouquet of flowers delivered to my room, courtesy of ivillage. (Yes, I know all of the bloghers got flowers, but still- I was impressed!)

So what if Trexa got pretty orange roses. Mine were ok, and hey, at least they weren't carnations (ew)

• Chatting with the other sponsors- though I had very little down time to walk around and check out the other booths on Friday, Saturday was a lot more relaxed. As a result, I actually had some free time to collect cool swag and meet the other sponsors. I particularly enjoyed meeting the laundry fairies at the All booth: they were dressed entirely in pink and had wings. Plus, they practically adopted me when I told them that their product's tagline, small and mighty, is basically my motto. Their PR rep even filmed me discussing it so she could show her boss. Future All spokesperson? I think so. Oh, and the fairies referred to me as "Small and Mighty" for the entire weekend.

I was ECSTATIC when I found out our booth was next to Nikon. I definitely took advantage of the situation and asked Kristine about a million questions. She was extremely helpful :)

• Executing a successful PR campaign- we'd been planning our "Go-To Girl" campaign for a long time, so it was great to see that people actually got it. I now have over 400 followers on springpad, so they must have liked us (or at least our giveaway). Though I've worked on some pretty fun (and award winning!) campaigns in the past, this was the first campaign I actually got to see from start to finish.

The "go-to girl" buttons I helped dream up. They're super cute and represent the different 4 differnt categories: babies, travel, food and shopping. We still have a few left, so if you want some, just give me a holler!

• Finally getting a chance to truly enjoy a party- the blogher parties probably got more hype than even the conference itself. Though the parties were supposed to be fun, I found them extremely stressful. Because I was representing springpad, I had plaster a smile on my face even when I was exhausted. I definitely worked on my mingling skills, eventually getting over the initial embarrassment of approaching people I didn't know and starting up a conversation about springpad. Though the parties before and during blogher weren't super fun for me, I LOVED attending BowlHer. Because the conference was over, it was the first party I got to actually enjoy. Kboss, Trexa and I were a lot more relaxed. So much so, that we all got a little goofy and donned pink boas! (Clearly it was a much bigger deal for K & T, because who are we kidding, I was born to wear a pink boa!)

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Overall, blogher09 was a HUGE learning experience for me. I'm so glad I was able to attend, as both a blogger and an intern. Hopefully, I'll be able to attend next year's conference in NYC!

PS- I was also one of around 30 bloggers interviewed on Blog Talk Radio (!!). You should definitely check out my interview :)

Jen vs. Angelina: how did it come to this? June 29, 2009

Woah, I did not realize you all were so opinionated about my love life! You know I always appreciate your comments, but today, some of them made me a little sad. I'm not sure if my story came across the way I expected it to. I was in no way trying to vilify my roommate.

Yes, I was initially upset with her, but really, I was just upset with the situation. What made me most upset was that so many people were saying hurtful things about her. I thought it would only be fair to get her side of the story....so we're writing this one together:

When we first started Jdate, we both looked at it as an opportunity to try something new. We weren't super serious about the idea and thought it would be fun. When the cute Jewish boy started messaging both of us, we were flattered. We both chatted with him a bit, and found it slightly amusing that he spent so much time talking to each of us. He'd even text us at the same time...basically the same message.

It became sort of a game- what could one of us reply without giving away that we were roommates? Rach and I spend a lot of time together, so our answers to "what's up" were typically pretty similar. When he asked me out on a date, I was excited, but nervous. I felt like he could be a bit of a player, but that going out with him would be a step in the right direction.

When he didn't text me the day of our date, I got worried. Since he'd sent us both around 659 text messages the night before, I wondered if something was wrong, so...I texted him. And I had Rachel text him to make sure he wasn't just blowing me off.

That's when I jokingly said "Rach, you should text him during our date." We laughed about it and moved on. I forgot about it.

Rachel then helped me get ready and I nervously headed to my date. I texted her about a million times while I stood outside waiting for him. She may have responded to his texts, but she didn't innitiate anything. I'm sorry if that was unclear.

So here's what we learned from the situation:

1) Don't go for the same guy, even if your'e not serious about him. Clearly one person will end up being hurt, and it's just not worth it.

2) If you get a sketchy vibe from someone, they're probably sketchy.

3) Friends are more important than boys...especially if the boy is question is sort of lame.

I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression of my roommate. She's a very lovely person who's always here for me. She lets me cry whenever I want. She makes me toast when I'm sad. We go shopping together to forget about broken hearts. She's one of my best friends and I'm so lucky to have her. 

The whole situation was a bit of a misunderstanding, but I think it taught us a few lessons. Also know, I'm not the kind of person who can passively forget about a problem, so I confronted Rachel right away. We talked about it, decided we were both at fault, and got over it. I even showed her the blog post before making it live, and neither of us thought it would incite so much controversy.

In terms of the boy: I don't think I'll be seeing him again...he wants to do something this week, but I'd rather the whole drama be over with. Moving on.

Was it love? June 23, 2009

Let me first preface this post by saying I'm not an emotional wreck. I'm doing my best to deal with a tough situation. This is the summer of Alana...

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I had my heart broken recently, at least, I think I did. I fell for a guy who was practically perfect. He's charming and kind, funny and cute. Oh yeah, he's my best friend, or at least, he was. Everything was fine until we tried to turn our friendship into something more. The whole situation made me slightly uncomfortable. I was confused. I didn't want to ruin the friendship, but I felt myself falling for him. We both kept changing our minds- he wanted a relationship, I didn't. I wanted a relationship, he didn't. We were out of sync, and things got hard.

The details aren't important, but the fact is, things are over, he's with someone new and I can't bring myself to talk to him. I feel hurt and betrayed...and completely helpless. I also feel like an idiot. I opened myself up to someone, allowed myself to be completely vulnerable, only to get hurt. I've been struggling lately, trying to mend what seems like a broken heart. But the thing is, I've never been in love before...so how am I supposed to know what it feels like? I think about him a lot, but I'm not ready to pretend nothing happened, to simply go back to being "just friends."

Maybe I fell in love with a concept, the idea that my boyfriend should be...my best friend. Was I in love, or was I just comfortable? How will I ever know?

Advice? Words of wisdom? Come on ladies, you have to be better at this than I am...

The only fish I'll eat are Swedish June 17, 2009

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* Alternatively titled: Why you should always listen to your mother

If you'll recall, I recently mentioned that I discovered I actually liked eating fish, much to the chagrin of my mother. Well, last night I came home from a long day at work to a home cooked meal of broccoli, rice and salmon. Let me tell you, it was delicious! I don't know how she cooked it, but the salmon was perfectly textured so that it almost melted in my mouth.

I was enjoying my dinner, when suddenly, it hit me: my throat was beginning to itch, my lips felt like they were swelling, and my tongue was not happy.

Alana: Hey guys, do people have fish allergies?

Geoff: Yeah, but I think it's usually to shellfish. Why?

Alana: Ok, don't freak out, I'm not going to die or anything, but I think I'm allergic to salmon. I just need to take some Benadryl and I'll be fine.

I then did a little research on the internet and found this via about.com:

"Pollock, salmon, cod, tuna, snapper, eel, and tilapia are among the fish that commonly trigger fish allergies. Fish allergies are similar to shellfish allergies in that they are more likely than many food allergies to start during adulthood and less likely than other allergies to be outgrown. While fish is easier than many other allergens to avoid, fish allergies are often quite severe."

Yup, that would be me. Hi, my name is Alana, and I have a new allergy.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Benadryl makes this tiny girl very loopy. So much so, that I couldn't get up to go to work today. Literally, I almost fell asleep standing up in the shower. Oy vey.

Check out the stuff I've compiled about food allergies and feel free to add your own content- I particularly like the video from Hitch...it makes me feel better about myself.

Playing Hooky May 24, 2009

Per Kboss' orders, I stayed home from work Friday to rest. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only sick kid- my 9 year old was home with a sore throat, so I took her to the doctor. Lucky for both of us, her strep test came out negative. Plus, I had the nurse practitioner check out my throat too. The diagnosis? Everything is fine, I just have a little cough.

After our visit to the doctor's office, my 9 year old and I headed to starbucks for some cold drinks and then back to her house to watch Twilight. I'm a little embarrassed to say I got sucked in to the movie's somewhat overdramatic plot. I will say that I'm not the hugest fan of Edward- he's so pale, his hair's a mess and his mouth looks like that of a kid who's just finished a cherry popsicle. And he broods. A lot. He's not really my type...though I now more than ever want to find a guy who makes it his mission to take care of me. I'm not sure if it's scary or absolutely wonderful. Go figure.

We also ventured to the Copley farmers' market where I bought 2 basil plants and a rhubarb stalk to make this. Only problem? The recipe calls for 10 stalks of rhubarb. I probably should have looked at it beforehand. Well, at least I'll know for next time!

An apartment update May 20, 2009

Hey guys,

I really, desperately want to post pictures of the new place and all the fabulous decorating I've done, but to be honest, I haven't even finished unpacking yet! My tiny room is a mess- all of the extra storage containers I used in my dorm room are unnecessary in the new apartment, because it has built in storage. Everywhere. Who would have thought?

Also, I haven't found the memory card reader I use to post photos, so I couldn't show you pictures even if I wanted to.

In other news, Rach, Arielle and I made our first apartment dinner last night: vegetarian chicken parm on whole wheat spaghetti with a side of broccoli. It was delicious and only took about 30 minutes. Rachel attempted to take some photos, but the lighting in our kitchen is horrendous. We're going to have to work on that because I would love to start food blogging.... we'll see.

Oh, and somehow I managed to burn three of my fingers last night, without even touching anything. I was minding my own business, taking a break from cooking and watching the broccoli spin around in the microwave. All of a sudden, the saran wrap covering the broccoli bowl started bubbling up (someone, I won't mention names....wrapped it around too tightly, which is one of the reasons I prefer to use wax paper...), so I, being the spontaneous person who wants to fix everything, promptly opened the microwave and attempted to remove the saran wrap.

Suddenly, hot steam enveloped my fingers and I screamed. Yup, I managed to burn myself without even touching anything. FML.

I think there's a life lesson here:

If something is in the microwave, it is most likely hot and you shouldn't touch it. Ever. Your fingers will thank you.

Bringing back a retro favorite, Hi-C style April 04, 2009

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Last night I caught up with my friend Lindsey, who I haven't seen since last semester. She introduced me to two of her friends, and then the four of us headed out to the Kells, an Irish pub with a good sized dance floor.

Once there, Lindsey introduced me to my new favorite drink: the Midori Sour. It's a bright green, deliciously sweet melon concoction that you should definitely try. Plus, apparently it looks a lot like an Ecto Cooler, because multiple guys came over to us and asked if we were drinking the 1980s favorite.

Although I never actually drank Ecto Cooler as a child, Boppin Berry, another Hi-C juicebox, was one of my favorites. My grandma always kept the fridge stocked with it.

In other news, I met an Israeli guy last night, which is always exciting. Unfortunately, his Hebrew SUCKED. He tried to compliment me on my eyes, but ended up using a male possessive pronoun. I was embarrassed for him.

Apparently, foreign guys aren't very good at picking up American girls. Remember the guy who tried to tell me that American girls don't know how to dance? What an idiot. These guys totally need help in the female department...

Why can't I just lie? March 29, 2009

Last night I met a really nice guy at a bar. He's tall, funny, sweet and a skiier. Though the conversation flowed (relatively) easily, something was missing: attraction. He wasn't bad looking, but something just wasn't right. Maybe it's because he wasn't the guy I wanted to be with last night, the guy who hasn't called me in over a week and who I'm pretty sure has removed himself from my life. Or maybe it's that he reminded me a lot of a guy from school who I'm pretty sure is gay.

Yeah, that's probably it. Everytime I looked at him, I thought- this guy is gay! I know that wasn't really fair, but I couldn't get it out of my head. Why was I wasting my time with a guy interested in...other guys?

When the night ended and he asked for my number, I was stuck. How could I not give this guy my number without seeming like a jerk? Should I have mentioned a pretend boyfriend? A fake illness? Should I have given him a fake number?

Well, I didn't do any of those things. Before we parted ways, he pulled out his phone. I grabbed it, hastily typed in my number and said I had to leave. What was I supposed to do?

Ughhh. He's really nice, but I just don't see this going anywhere. Can we just be friends? Please?

Things can only get better February 17, 2009

On Sunday, my dad texted me and asked if I'd checked my mail. I said no, and he told me I should do it ASAP. I answered that the mail room wouldn't be open until Tuesday because of the long weekend.

I received this response: dead flowers.

When I went to collect my mail this morning, I knew what to expect. My flowers had been sitting there, unattended, for almost four days. Only a miracle would have kept them alive.

Well, there was no miracle. I received a large "pro flowers" box branded with the motto "the freshest flowers just for you." It was like the box was taunting me, telling me I should have checked the mail on Saturday, should have assumed that someone was thinking of me on Valentine's Day. But how was I to know? Maybe these flowers had been fresh at one point, but when I opened the box, they were crushed and pale.

What used to be beautiful red tulips and bright purple irises was now a crushed, moldy bouquet of...death. I rarely get flowers, so when I do, I'm always extremely excited. But then this happened.

And Dad, in answer to the question in the card, yes, I will be your valentine. I'm extremely flattered that you thought of me. Sorry the mail room SUCKS and didn't call like they usually do.

Romance through the eyes of a 9-year-old February 09, 2009

I definitely had a fun filled afternoon at babysitting. I watched as my 9-year-old and her friend giggled at two passing boys. I wanted to be in on the joke, so I grilled them.

Apparently, these 9-year-olds both have boyfriends. Yes, boyfriends. Did I mention that they are 9? I don't even have a boyfriend, and I'm 21! And what exactly do 9 year olds do in a relationship? Here's a brief overview:

Q: Do your parents know?
A: No.

Q: Do you hold hands?
A: No.

Q: Do you go on dates?
A: No.

Q: So what do you do?
A: Well, at family fun night, Sarah danced with her boyfriend.

Q: Was it a slow dance?
A: Yes.

Q: So are you going to make your boyfriend a Valentines day card?
A: Ewwwww no! Are you going to give skater boy (aka "A") a card?

In other 9-year-old news, one of the girls told me that Don't Mess with the Zohan is her favorite movie...after Twilight and Mama Mia. I found that highly disturbing.