This week, I had one of the coolest experiences I've had to date with this whole blogging thing - I got to meet Lori IN REAL LIFE!
While you'd think as PARTNERS, we'd probably have been long-time friends, or we'd probably at least MET each other through some other means, the coolest and probably weirdest thing, is that nope - we'd never even talked on the PHONE.
We're simply just two people who stumbled on each other's blogs, found things IN those blogs we both related to in EACH OTHER, and started some email chatter here and there. And then, just at the MOMENT I'd been thinking about adding a review blog to my long list of things to do, that crazy woman emailed me inviting me to JOIN her in starting a review blog SHE was setting up!
But the thing with meeting someone IN REAL LIFE who you've been emailing, msn'ing, and collaborating with for TWO YEARS, is you really have NO IDEA how it'll really go. Sure, we SEEM to get along great over email, and yea, we SEEM to share similar philosophies in writing and money and work ethic, but what happens when you put us together? Face to face? At a table? Over an HOUR-LONG lunch?
What happens if you two actually have NOTHING ELSE in common? What happens if religion or politics or child-rearing opinions TAINT how we feel about each other? What if it's just plain AWKWARD and one or both of you is actually NOTHING like what you expected, because somehow over email, ONE or BOTH of you becomes something you're not [in real life]?
And while I wasn't FREAKING that it'd be this way, I was a little worried it MIGHT be this way, because really, how a person writes is not necessarily who they are - it's who they want to PUT OUT THERE. But maybe who they PUT OUT THERE in their writing, isn't really who they are in person.
Thankfully for me, Lori is everything you read in her blog, AND MORE. She's sincere, she's thoughtful, and she's TOTALLY into having a mojito at 11am... which yes, WAS my favorite thing about her... a girl after my own heart.
She was also TOTALLY easy to hang with, which was both good AND bad. It was GOOD in that we were like two old friends catching up on ALL the miniscule details of our lives we don't normally spend the time to type out over email. It was GOOD in that we were like two new friends hanging out getting to know all these OTHER things we'd never gotten the opportunity to ask about.
It was only BAD in that I still have a job I'm obligated to be at and be attentive to, so I couldn't get all the Lori-time in I'd hoped.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Like I said on Lori's post, it just warms my heart to think of you two getting to hang out after all this time. It really is amazing that you are so close but had never talked on the phone!
So glad the connection translated into real life - for both of you.
I am happy that you were able to meet IRL and have a great connection. That is AwESOME!
My husband and I spent our first 6 months of our relationship communicating via email and Instant Messaging while he was stationed in Iraq.
Getting to know each other over the Internet (for us) opened a clear line of communication and allowed us to get to know each other very well. When he returned home, we got married.
Having known Lori my entire life, she is as lovely in person as on her blog. She is one of the most beautiful people I know, and if I sound a bit biased, you must know that I am lucky enough to be her sister :)
Chicklet, I'm glad you got to meet her and experience it for yourself. She thought just as highly of you. I can't wait to meet you in person some day!
Dang it! I've got tears in one eye from laughing about the 11 am mojitos and tears in the other eye from remembering how sweet our time together was and not knowing when we'll have it again.
Meeting you was amazing. I love that our bond became so strong based on our true selves, our writing selves, and that we confirmed our affection in person.
XOXO. Til next time, my friend.
(Sheri, ILY, my lifelong cheerleader!)
I am so happy y'all got to meet and hang out.
That's awesome! I sure thought you guys had met before. I don't know why I thought that though, because I knew you lived far apart.
So, SO thrilled that you 2 had this opportunity!
I read about this over at Loris blog first. You guys looked awesome and it is so very cool you finally met. Yeah I would have thought you guys were like freinds or at least met, see how awesome technology is. You are such a cute pregnant mommy....
Having met Lori a handful of times, I know you speak the truth, Chicklet. I'm just jealous that she got to meet you!
That's just awesome! I love it when that happens.
Post a Comment