Happy Mother’s Day To & From Blank Stare, Blink

To many of my friends, this Sunday means Mother’s Day. For me, this Sunday is a reminder that I don’t have a mom nor am I one.

Sundays have always been rough days for me, and holidays where I’m sidelined make them even worse.

Sure, I am a mom of two cats, which is well documented on my Instagram account. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t taking me to Mother’s Day brunch or making me a card.

Me, snapping me and Jslow in the window in line at the IFB Blogger’s Conference in New York: Shoes by Fendi (Jslow) and Vivienne Westwood (me).

Instead, I’ll be attending the Blogcademy here in San Francisco, where I’ll learn a lot about how to make Blank Stare, Blink more valuable to our loyal readers, and attract new readers just like you. Jslow and I have been working behind the scenes on design and layout so it will be easier to navigate and find posts you’re interested in, and that it works whether you read it on your laptop, tablet or phone. This all continues to be a learning process for us, as we stumble around in WordPress and our own brains, figuring things out day by day. I guess we are moms to our blog, and we want to make sure we give it the effort and education and love it deserves to grow and thrive.

Anyway, I’m not going to lie. These conference things make me anxious.

The line outside of the IFB Conference in New York, circa 2012.

When Jslow and I went to our first bloggers (The Independent Fashion Bloggers, or IFB) conference a few years back in New York, we approached the long line of ladies with amusement and terror, feeling old and out of place, having both spent hours choosing outfits that tried really hard to not look like we tried really hard. I’ll never forget how I stupidly set my alarm for PM, not AM, horrified to wake up 15 minutes before Jslow was due to pick me, giving me no time to primp and corral my hair. This only added to my nervousness and insecurities, as my wrinkles went uncovered and my hair was a hot mess in the heat of that hot humid day.

After the initial awkward phase, we both grew more comfortable and settled in, learning loads, meeting new people and ultimately having a great time. This time, I’m on my own, as Jslow is a proper mom and will feted as such down in LA. So I’m on my own, a single mom to BSB for one weekend.

So to all of you moms out there, hope you have a great Mother’s Day. And if you have suggestions on how we can be a better mom to our blog, please let us know. As Hillary Clinton famously said, it takes a village. And maybe I’ll get lucky and the cats will send me to the spa.