Imploding in the presence of an idol.

I met one of my bloggy idols at BlogHer this weekend. I yelled in her face, called her sarcastic, and all around made an ass of myself. True story.

Here’s how it went down. My friend Cindy and I were waiting for the BlogHer fashion show to start. There were people sitting next to us and then they left or moved or went to pee. I don’t know.

Three other people come over and ask to sit there. I stumble saying “No there are people sitting there. Maybe. I don’t know. They could’ve left.” (Time one I look like an idiot).

Then I notice that it’s Liz. LIZ!

No, no, sit down it’s cool. Sit. Sit. I feel like my italian grandmother (see how I tied that in there ;-) Sit. Eat. Sit. Have you eaten? Sit. Gah!

So they sit. She introduces herself. I do as well. I say I’m a fan. So nice to meet you. She is very gracious.

Now the music cranks up. Fashion show beigins. I lean over to her and open with “I’d love to be in advertising” Not only is Liz a businesswoman, a writer, and a blogger, she’s also tops in the advertising world. Sidebar: I feel like I have an uncanny ability to detect which ads will work and which will flop. I love critiquing ads and figuring out how they would work better. I have a background in video, specifically development videos. I have a Masters in Philanthropy and Media. I have skills people. SKILLS.

Of course I say none of this because it is SO LOUD and I am freaking out because she is sitting next to me. She asks me what I do. I launch into a completely ridiculous list of my entire work history. (Time two I look like an idiot) In my head I’m screaming at myself  “You idiot! Do you want to run and get your resume for her, you ASS? STOP IT! Just stop talking and ask about her. For godssake -shut it.”

I somehow get to the part about working in human services, which was like a lifetime ago. OMG.  And she says “Well it’s changing lives.” or something lovely like that and I think she’s still on advertising and why the heck I would want to do that. So I ask her if she’s being sarcastic and I see her physically flinch. OMFG, what did I just say? What is wrong with me? She was paying me a compliment and I basically just asked her if she was an asshole? (Aaaaand there’s time three I look like an idiot.) Sigh.

I mutter (yell) a few more things then I say “I’m a mom” and shrug my shoulders. Which is probably like nails on a chalkboard for her. If you read her blog then you know why she would likely be sad that I said that. At least I didn’t say JUST a mom. But I swear to God I almost did. I think I choked on the ‘just’ and it fell on the floor or something.

BlogHer12 CheeseburgHer party

This is not me, but rather how I wanted to walk around for the rest of the night. Oy.

At this point I just want to run away or vaporize. Vaporize would be better, maybe she would think I was super cool then. Then I would be in one of HER blog posts “So I met this woman at BlogHer and she vaporized right in front of me.” Cool, right? No. I did not stop.

Mercifully she turns away so I will STOP TALKING, I imagine.

A few minutes later I say something about a dog holding room – there were puppies in the fashion show. She seems like she’s listening, to be polite. Meanwhile I’m sure screaming in her own head LET ME WATCH MY FRIENDS IN THE FASHION SHOW.

Fashion show ends. She gets up and says it was really nice to meet you, very genuinely. I did not give her my card or even tell her my blog name, because I was too busy imploding and yelling and likely spitting on her.

So now I am basically outing myself as the dufus that sat next to Mom 101 at the BlogHer Fashion Show. I’m linking to her because who doesn’t love inbound links, amirite? We even have mutual friends, sorry guys. I’m sure she would say she doesn’t remember it this way because she’s just that lovely. Double sigh.

So there you have it. I met one of my bloggy idols and imploded. Awesome.

 

Someone please tell me they have a similar -I met someone I admire and said something stupid- story. Please?

 

 

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13 Comments

  1. OMG, Liz is my top blogging idol. I would be torn between tracking her every move so we could become besties and making a total fool out of myself at the same time. Actually, I wouldn’t be torn, I would definitely be a fool. :) So exciting that you got to meet her!

    BTW, when do I get to meet you? :)

    • ViolaCay /

      It’s funny because I was looking for her on and off assuming she’d be there. And then all of a sudden she’s sitting next to me. I think I had a stroke maybe.
      Yeah that’s what happened ;-)

      We should get together! I finally met Carla at the lake a couple of weeks ago.

  2. Okay I was sitting next to you and had NO IDEA this whole thing went down. I don’t think it was NEARLY as awful as you describe. You are awesome, and if you came of as anything less than awesome it was because the music was too loud. And Liz will forgive that.

    • ViolaCay /

      Like I said, it was an implosion. If I had exploded you definitely would have seen it :-)
      I am sure it’s not even a blip on her radar. But me, I was freaking out!

  3. Oh yes, I’ve been in your shoes before, smacking my forehead for all the things I wished I had said. I’m sure it wasn’t as awful as it seemed. You are very smart, charming and funny – even if you did have a paper bag over your head.

  4. You are too funny. Liz is quite lovely, as you’ve experienced, so you probably shouldn’t be so hard on yourself? But you got a fabulous post out of it, so yay? :)

    And to answer your question, yes, I have made myself an idiot in front of plenty of my blogging idols. It’s kind of my signature move.

  5. Liz is incredibly nice and I’m sure it’s not nearly as bad as you’d think. Next time you’re dying to meet someone, though, ask your friends for an intro. One of us will happily connect you. =} What I love most about this post is that you always come off (to me) as very cool and together.

  6. Alysia /

    I love this :) I met my blogging idol too. Or more appropriately, I went near her, clammed up and turned and ran. So I give you huge props for talking :)

  7. Saturday night at Blogher, Version B:

    I was completely exhausted and stressed and dealing with some family issues and ready to go home. I was about to head to my room and blow off all the parties or maybe just grab a quiet dinner with a friend. But then at the last minute, my friends Isabel and Doug said there was no way we could miss the fashion show. Especially since we knew a few of the people walking and they really needed some moral support. They were right.

    We showed up only moments before it started, thinking we’re such boneheads, there’s no way we’ll get seats. It was so rude of us to walk in at the last minute and expect to sit down.

    We were about to give up when suddenly–there are these three chairs. Together! And the two nicest women in the world sitting next to them who were so considerate, they made sure to point out that there might be someone returning to those seats. They were sweet enough to suggest we sit there, unless the other people returned which seemed like a very fair compromise.

    Fortunately, no one came back for our chairs.

    We struck up a conversation and these women seemed absolutely so cool and fun. Especially the one who’s doing something far more valuable for the world than writing ads (even if she’d be really really good at it). I wish I could have heard more but it was so loud that I think I was hearing every other word. I worry that I look rude if I’m not responding properly to something she said but you know…deejay.

    Just as we started to get to know each other a little bit, the loud crazy booming music kicked in even more, the show started, and we jumped up and down like crazy people screaming for the models and wondering if we were completely bothering the people next to us. “Oh man, those two women probably think I’m the most annoying person in the world,” I thought. “They could have had this whole row to themselves. But they’re so nice, they haven’t even told me to shut up and stop screaming in their ears.”

    It was a bummer that I couldn’t remember their names because they seemed like people I’d have a lot in common with. I thought eh…hopefully I’ll see them later at the party.

    Instead I went to my room, as originally planned, watched the Olympics for a bit, and passed right out.

    /version B

    [and it was nice meeting you too!]

  8. I LOVE this! I just KNEW she must be as cool in person as she is online. While I’m always wishing to meet people I admire, I’m always afraid I’ll act like a complete dork. A friend of mine got to meet one of her favorite authors this summer and she said she almost had a complete out of body experience where she saw herself making a complete idiot of herself during the book signing. She said she couldn’t seem to make her mouth and her brain cooperate. Still, aren’t you glad you said something rather than saying nothing?

  9. You are so adorable, I can’t imagine you came off as anything but that!

    I met Jenny Lawson at her book signing in Brookline. I stumbled over my words but managed to get out my blog name and how she’s inspired me to write about depression. I think I must have looked like a total doofus. But she was kind. :-)

  10. you’re awesome Sharon. What a great post.

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