On Wednesday, I met with Donna Cutting, author of The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service at Maggianos, one of my favorite restaurants. It was the first time for Donna to dine at Maggianos and I think I successfully converted her into a Maggianos junkie. 
Last night, I headed out to Lake Shore Drive for the Girls Night Out event sponsored by Wendy Piersall from Sparkplugging; Epson and One2One Network. I wasn’t sure if an interpreter was going to show up as the agency never received my email request and then struggled at the last minute to try and find someone. As it turned out, there was no interpreter, but I managed to make it through the evening firing up the lipreading skills. Everyone was friendly and most were easy to understand. Liz Strauss and I had a moment where I couldn’t lipread a thing she said and she resorted to some creative fingerspelling to help me out. I chatted with Barbara Rozgonyi and convinced Deb DiSandro of the benefits of Twitter. As I moved around the room, I discovered that several of the writers from the Chicago Moms Blog and Fifty-Something Moms Blog were scattered here and there. We all gathered together for a picture:
It was a nice evening connecting to all these cool gals and being able to talk about blogging and the business of writing. I left with some great swag–now I no longer envy those who went to BlogHer.
(left to right: Wendy Piersall, Liz Strauss, Moi, Barbara Rozgonyi)
Last, but not least, today’s a special day. My middle kiddo is now a bona-fide, certified teenager. Happy Birthday, Lauren!
Comments
10 responses to “A Week of Networking, and a Birthday”
[…] in Chicago – and am so happy we’ve stayed in touch! In this picture, Karen Putz, who writes Deaf Mom joins us, it’s always so good to see […]
Great seeing you on Lake Shore Drive, Karen! What a party – looking forward to seeing you at another event again soon. Thanks for sharing Lauren’s baby picture – such a cutie.
@wiredprworks
Barbara Rozgonyis last blog post..Social Media PR Podcast | Baby Boomers Master Social Networking
Sounds and looks like a fun time. I’m just slightly jealous.
Beamer
Beamers last blog post..I wish
She has the same birthday as my daughter!
Happy Birthday to your TEENAGER!
traceys last blog post..My Own Personal "Cake Wrecks"
Looks like fun. Happy birthday Lauren 🙂
Amy Derbys last blog post..Fiction Friday: The Presence of Absence, and other stories (plus markets)
Would you consider mentioning my newly-published memoir on your blog? I would be happy to exchange blog feeds as well.
Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio was recently released by The University of Iowa Press.
The memoir is a history — an American tale — of my fifty year wheelchair journey after being struck by both bulbar and lumbar poliomyelitis after a vaccine accident in 1959. The Press says Seven Wheelchairs gives “readers the unromantic truth about life in a wheelchair, he escapes stereotypes about people with disabilities and moves toward a place where every individual is irreplaceable.”
Other reviewers have called Seven Wheelchairs “sardonic and blunt,” “a compelling account,” and “powerful and poetic.”
I hope you can mention Seven Wheelchairs on your blog. We all live different disability stories, I know, but perhaps if you find the memoir worthwhile, you might want to recommend the book to others who are curious about what polio or disability in general.
Of course, the book is also available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
—
Gary Presley http://www.garypresley.com
SEVEN WHEELCHAIRS: A Life beyond Polio
Fall 2008 University of Iowa Press
Gary Presleys last blog post..Bookplates
Karen, what a wonderful week! It was fun for me reading about it and looking at the pictures of many of the ladies I’ve come to know through cyberspace. You are definitely the social butterfly! 🙂 Happy Birthday Lauren!
Karen Swims last blog post..Write a Novel in Six Months … or Thirty Days
[…] the Sparkplugging/One2OneNetwork event last week, one of the items in the swag bag was a gift certificate for iTunes. I was really […]
What a fun time you must have had Karen! And you got to meet LiZ!!! She was so kind to me in my hour of need recently…I really :heart: her!
Kim from What’s That Smell?> was braggin’ on ya and after reading your blog, I can totally see why! Nice to ‘meet’ ya!
Alyson, the 3 P’s Mamas last blog post..WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Some Real Swingers
You’re certainly becoming a master networker, aren’t you? COOL! I hope you make connections that lead you to where you want to go – you never know!