The weekend of the Hot Blogger Calendar shoot has come and gone, and I must say, not only was a great time had by all, I'm thrilled to announce that there are actually faces and bodies (in some cases, hot faces and bodies) attached to all those handles and avatars. Not that I was ever worried. Well, maybe a little.
It all started with a crazy idea. An idea then snowballed into 359 nominations, over 25,000 votes, and millions of visitors to the site. It culminated in a weekend in NYC, with one Mexican dinner (thanks to Peter Shankman for covering dinner), one early 9am photo shoot, half a bagel with cream cheese, many hot blogger jokes, and hundreds of pictures. Jane and Sarah (the rainmaker's in this particular instance) are so cool. Though Jane and I are old friends (by online standards), I hadn't met Sarah until now. Take it from me, she's enthusiastic and cute, and cool.
As for the photo shoot, it took place at Some Studio and the space was great. Not too big, nor too small, but more importantly, there was plenty of place to park! Unfortunately, most of my pics were taken before the make-up person arrived, rendering me perhaps too pale and sleepy-eyed for my (or the camera's) liking, but hopefully the few that were snapped by super-photographer-heroes Bill Waldman and Meg Wachter post air-brushing, came out well.
But really, the beauty of the weekend was meeting the other bloggers. I admit, I didn't get a chance to hang out with everyone (or even meet everyone at a dinner that felt more like a crowded bar-scene than an intimate soiree), but I did get to chill with some awesome people. Peter, the only person more prompt than I (if that's at all possible), was seated at the dinner table when I arrived on Saturday night. We chatted about HARO and The Daily Grind, a bit about Alex Casey Baby and then gossiped about common Twitter friends. It's not often I meet someone I feel I can learn from (especially in a loud Mexican joint), but Peter is one smart and interesting guy. Shout-out to you Shankman!
I also hung out with Backpacking Dad and his lovely wife, who actually traveled cross-country for this little gig. Chic Shopper Chick is as cute in real life as she is in pictures, and of course, my old friend Katja from Skimbaco helped me put away a chocolate souffle a la mode (looked WAY better on her, btw). I briefly met Amy from Permission to Peruse but I did see some of her pics and that girl can rock a camera. For moral support, nobody could beat Sharon and Barry (who is a Dustin Hoffman look-alike, might I add), Jane's 'rents. Thanks for the snacks and coffee!
As for everyone else, catch you at HBC shoot 2010.
Lest I forget, shouts to the Bangladeshi cab driver who gave me his card and told me to call him when I got done Sunday night. Guess I forgot.
Great to at least meet you this weekend even though we didn't get to hang out much. That stinks about the makeup artist for you!
Posted by: Amy | October 07, 2008 at 02:49 PM
I am glad you had such a great time. I totally regret my last minute decision not to go. :(
BTW, you looked amazing in your pictures!!!
Posted by: Blessings From Above | October 08, 2008 at 10:50 AM