Sunday

Blogger Meetup: Folks You'll Want to Follow


I was so excited and nervous about the New England Blogger meet up that I could hardly sleep the night before!  I kept dreaming about being at school and having to fill out forms.  I think the children were "helping" me.  They were done wrong so I had to do them over and over again.  It was such a restless sleep that I actually felt relieved when the alarm went off.  I felt like I was done with work and going to play!


It was lucky I set my alarm early, both to escape the dream and to catch the train.  I left with plenty of time, but because I was unable to go to the station I'm most familiar with, I forgot where to pay, and had to wander around for a while.  I also realized I looked at the weekday times instead of the weekend times.  Oops.  Nevermind, I still had ten minutes on the platform to finish my bagel.

When I arrived at North Station, I knew that Science Park was the stop I wanted, and that I could walk the distance for a single stop.  I just wasn't sure which direction to go.  Fortunately there was a man on the train holding a sign for the Museum of Science.  With an arrow.  So of course I followed him.

I am not making this up.

Once I could see the building, I took a little detour through the park on Nashua Street to take pictures and soak up some sun.  Gotta stock up on vitamin D before the winter!  ;)  It was also fun to see the Duck Tour boats on the Charles.  I saw the one my husband and I rode last year.

I arrived 15 minutes early and found the right entrance and the cafe on my first try (anyone who knows me well will never believe that I found the first station, museum, entrance, and cafe without incident but I am not making this up either.  Props to the man with the sign and the arrow). 

I wandered around the cafe a few times, counting myself lucky that it was too busy for the staff to be concerned why I was doing this and not getting food.  After asking one woman sitting in a corner on a laptop (sounds like a blogger to me) if she was meeting Jodi and getting a no (glad I didn't ask "Are you a blogger because I can see you have a laptop), I sat near-ish the windows and Emailed her to say I was there and wearing purple. 

And within 5 or 10 minutes, there she was!

She didn't ACT like a celebrity, even though I know I wasn't the only one who was a little bit in awe of her.  I think it helps that she and I are practically neighbors (turns up she even lived in the same town I grew up for a few years).  So she was just so easy to talk to about local stuff and teaching.

Soon Mrs. Mack arrived, and once again I was starstruck (although her daughter is the bigger Instagram star; half my feed is of her little cutie!)  It was so surreal seeing a stranger posting on IG "walking my dog" one minute, and within the hour sitting down to lunch with her and putting a voice with the updates!

More people arrived, Furnell and Vera.  I didn't know I knew Vera until later on in the lunch when we started swapping business cards (feels weird to call it that...I'm a teacher.  I guess I'm a business person thanks to Teachers Pay Teachers, but really, even on there I feel like I'm a teacher.  Can we call them teachers' cards?).  That's when it clicked!  Vera!  The Tutu Teacher!  I have seen her around!  And she was so lovely to talk to.  She had such a wonderful story about making the move from Texas and how the tutus came to be part of her teacher persona.

I prefer taking photos to being in them!

It was great talking to Furnell too, because she had certain work experiences that I could relate to and learned from.  Next came Susan, who is one of my readers, and got the ball rolling on getting everyone's blog address and a group photo.  And finally, a grade level partnership from Connecticut arrived!  Props to Sara and Emily for driving out (even this MA native took the train in). 

It was so amazing to meet the bloggers I knew before, and those who I didn't know have some super cute blogs to follow.  I'm linking up at the bottom of the post so you can go check them out too.  It was a very casual meeting; we talked more about our home towns and teaching than about blogging.  But only because Jodi forgot to bring along her slideshow (joking).

Once we left I was not ready to leave so I went back to the park to enjoy the sun, make some notes, then tinkered with my phone until I was able to make it find me some "local places of interest."

I would not have guessed that the closest spot was the Cambridgeside Galleria; I haven't been there in years!  So I shopped until my feet hurt.  I was so ready for some updates to my fall wardrobe (and so in need of some sneakers).

If you're a blogger reading and not sure if you want to go to a blogger meetup, DO IT.  Part of me was nervous to send Jodi a confirmation that I'd attend, because I'm quiet in person.  Blogging is a great outlet for me to share ideas, and I wondered if many other bloggers would be the same.  But no, there was lively conversation throughout.  I'll definitely pursue the next opportunity if the timing is right.  Having a four day weekend (with our school letting out for Rosh Hashana) made this the perfect time to do it.  So I hope to see you (and the bloggers I met today) there!

Here are the bloggers I met (by the way, the grade range is K-3):
Jodi @ http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/
Mrs. Mack @ http://thirdgradecupcakes.blogspot.com/
Furnell @ http://owlalwayslove2ndgrade.blogspot.com/
Vera @ http://thetututeacher.blogspot.com/
Susan @ http://pinkwatermelons.blogspot.com/
Emily @ http://munchkinsinc.blogspot.com/
Sara @ http://www.framptonsfundamentals.com/

I hope you find someone new to follow!
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1 comment :

  1. I'm so behind on blog reading, but this was so fun to read. I had a great time that day and really enjoyed meeting everyone in person. Thanks for making the trip. :) Jodi

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