7 Stolen moments.

None of these people knew I was drawing them, as I was drawing them.

A man sitting across from me in the waiting room of the doctor's office.

A young woman passing the time on her laptop in the airport departure lounge.

Betsy's hat flirted with me during a BlogHer session.

A girl answers her celphone on the streets of Chicago, probably on her lunch hour.

Megan's hair is thick and rich and I can't do it justice.

All our flights were delayed coming home from Chicago. This guy stared at his Blackberry for two hours, the sun streaming in behind him as it dropped lower in the sky.

This child caught my eye. When you are two, holding still is impossible (unless you are asleep). I had to be quick.

Who do these moments belong to?

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Tanya.

Tanya Svoboda is the woman behind Mom O Matic - probably the blog I visited most frequently and regularly when I first got going. There was something about the depth of sensitivity behind even her funniest posts that spoke to me. She's eerily perceptive. 

When she put her blog on the shelf in early 2011, Tanya reached out to me by email and we had long conversations. It was important to me to put time and energy into building on this connection. Tanya maneuvers in online conversation beautifully, expertly navigating through delicate terrain and reading the lay of the land as she does so. She can tell exactly what I mean and how I feel not only by what I say, but what I do not say. We opened our hearts to each other.

Friendship ensued.

We finally met in The Realzies in Chicago. Tanya came to pick me up at the Sheraton and we stared at each other like "I can't believe you're standing right in front of me."

Off we went over to Greek Isles restaurant in Greek Town. It was great to finally catch up on our lives in person. And of course, toonswag!

The plan was to have "saganaki". I've had many adventures in my life including living in a cave in Greece, but I've never had this flaming cheese Tanya was dribbling about (third baby on the way, heads up). On the approach to your table, the waitroid would apparently set the dish of cheese alight, and shout, "OPAAAA!!" super loudly.

We were deep in conversation when it happened.

Now I know that in reality it was this:

But because I'm an animator for whom life exists in frames per second, I saw this:

Tanya says they 'extinguish' the cheesy flames with the juice of a lemon.

Yummy!

Mom O Matic is on the shelf while Tanya's been exploring other creative outlets. She launched a sweet jewelry business called Gracie Mack using vintage glass beads.

I wonder if she'll ever go back to her blog... I guess for all your sakes I hope she eventually does, cuz you're missing out. But I do get my dose of Tanya either way.

When it comes to cheese, we are trailblazers.

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#BlogHer13 - Instagram & TOONswag Adventures...day 2

I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I had the whole day ahead of me to relax in Chicago before the official BlogHer conference kickoff.

Do you know Neil Kramer? He's the award-winning blogger behind Citizen of the Month.Neil is hugely popular on Instagram. He's known for his photographs people in sweeping city-scape tableaux, as they're hurriedly jaywalking, or texting while leaning against a building. Many are engaged in deep thought, mostly unaware they're being captured. The resulting images are evocative, like single moments plucked from the rush of life. He does it very well.

I thought it would be interesting to follow Neil around and Instagram him in the act of Instagramming. He agreed. All these pairs of shots were taken around the same moment, his and then mine.

Downtown Chicago gives good architecture.



We Bean-scaped.

 I like this pair because He caught my crazy face and I caught his.

We wandered into the Chicago Cultural Center and discovered The Happy Show by Stefan Sagmeister on the top floor. Thought-provoking messages and ponderings, the exhibits challenged you to really think about your own state of happiness. If you're in Chicago, go see it.

But don't get locked out of the fire exit like this guy did.


I laughed cuz he was still taking pictures through the glass.


I thought I was supposed to be following Neil around. I never imagined I'd end up being his subject. But on this one, I knew he was sneaking this shot...


...so I decided to trick him with the reverse cam.


Just look at all the likes Neil has on his Instagrams. He's tapping into something with his eye. Do not look at all the likes I do not have. Look instead at my drawings.

We meandered over to Millenium Park for lunch and I toonswagged that dude.

Neil has a very specific way of holding his iPhone; his fingers splay outwards as he zeroes in on whatever he's capturing. He's like a ninja.

Back at the hotel SOME PEOPLE bought me glasses of wine and I got the drunkies. I'll show you those drawings in my next post, so stay tooned...

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#BlogHer13 - TOONswag Adventures...day 1

I am Canadian (sorry). You guys know the last time I tried to go to the States I was turned away at the border for not having a work permit? That's right folks: you need a work permit to do public speaking in the USA, if you're getting paid. Who knew? I sure as hell didn't (it was my first paid gig) and most certainly neither did the company that hired me. Surprize.

Quite apart from all the speaker-prep work I wasn't going to get paid for, I'm very sensitive and easily intimidated by people in uniforms fingerprinting me, so to say I was traumatized is an understatement. I was crushed.

And therefore extremely apprehensive about getting to BlogHer. I was about to cancel and sell my ticket. And then I found out that I won the VOTY Award. But more about that later.

As it happens, I got on the plane to Chicago with no trouble whatsoever. As soon as the nice man with the American flag on his pocket gave me back my passport, the anxiety I'd been carrying since May melted away. I felt a great weight lift from my soul...

Closure is a wonderful thing, if you can get it.

This year I booked an extra day at the head of the BlogHer 2013 conference (I am smart). It was worth the extra hotel fees just to be relaxed and rested. Tracy Beckerman, syndicated humor columnist, author, friend and wielder of gold lamé thongs had invited some friends to dinner to celebrate the support she felt for her very funny book Lost In Suburbia. Gracious lady! Terrific way to kick off the conference with friends, most of whom I'd already met.

I wasted no time in toonswagging the very first person who whispered the secret password in my ear:

"I have blue-footed boobies!"

It was none other than Anne Parris, the blogger behind Not a Supermom and founding member of Generation Fabulous. She scooted into the booth across from me and I whipped out my iPad and began scribbling.

FYI Anne was on a panel at BlogHer discussing MidLife Bloggers. Did you know that women over 45 are reppin' the fastest growing slice of blogdom? I'm in there somewhere. I KNOW YOU'RE SURPRIZED, RIGHT?

Finished the toon just in time for my sushi. They had uni! Very few restaurants have it cuz it's got to be fresh.

What's uni? It's raw sea urchin and it's my favourite.

Back at the Sheraton's Chi Bar, I had to draw Nicole Morgan, blogger at Sisters From Another Mister. She and I have been innerwebbing for three years and finally met.

Man, she's gorgeous! Also she's got some great beauty tips which I'm hoping she'll vlog. Her voice and accent are silky. Hint...clunk.

Dear friends from conferences past hugged me tight. Then I hit the pillow. Hard.

Way more toonswag coming soon...maybe even tomorrow.

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BlogHer 13 - reppin' with #toonswag!

Packed? Check.

Tickets and registration printed out? Check.

Butterflies in tummy? Check.

Tomorrow I will (fingers crossed for a good airport experience) hop on a plane and head for Chicago to join my friends in the blogging world at BlogHer 13. My plan while I'm there is to eat, drink, be merry...and toonswag of course.

What the heck is "toonswag"? It's when I live-draw people that inspire me, usually at a conference or social media event. The drawing is a gift to them, and it fits neatly into their luggage cuz it's digital. I've drawn celebs, speakers, panelists, and regular bloggers like me.

I started toonswagging last year at BlogHer; some 6 events and 49 social media personalities later I've got quite the collection. Although I'm super shy, I have been known to surprize foks by marching right up to them and asking if they'll pose for me. However if you want to be toonswagged you should let me know by fluttering your eyelashes and uttering the secret password:

"I have blue footed boobies."

I am serious.

Which brings me to this:

#BloggerCOOL is something we can all tap into. It's a wildly inclusive thing started on the fly by Abbie Gale All That Makes You on FaceBook. The group quickly snowballed into several hundred women connecting on several hilarious topics, one of which was boobies. Before I knew it KissyFace had drafted me into drafting the mascot.

The blue footed booby is a noble critter. There will be stickers floating around BlogHer 13, cuz Elizabeth Lee jumped in and printed hundreds of boobies.

Photo-creds to Elizabeth Lee!

I'm JUST SAYING in case you see them stuck on people's lanyards and stuff. There's even a twitter account → @bloggercool.

I wonder if anyone will draw me at BlogHer...

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