Last week, I gave you a basic recap of BlogHer; then I whined; and then I whined some more. But I like to leave things on a high note, so this week is all about the joys of BlogHer and the parties and the people and the sponsors. Because shit, you guys, I really did have a great time.

My first party was before the conference. A little “Welcome to Chicago” gathering of bloggy lady friends.

Bloggy lady friends that I knew NONE of.

I left work ridic early to get to this shindiggity at Water Tower Place (a mere couple of miles from the job). I got there and realized, that I knew no one…and was kind of…on my own.

I started completing some fashion missions, because missions and competitions are fun. And so is free shit! AND PRIZES.

I ran into some ladies and we briefly exchanged names…and this girl recognized me (from Twitter, y’all…not that blog famous yet). She was SUPER nice, and then her group was on their merry way.

It was about time for The Australian BeeGees to perform and I thought I’d wander around aimlessly figuring out what I should do, while I worried that leaving work early was kind of silly…when out of the blue like grey clouds parting, Stacy Jill was all “hey! Come over here!” (She was the sweetie I had previously met). She noted my lost puppy look and adopted me. BOY! Was I glad she did!

From then on, I had a tribe. A tribe of ridiculously sweet lady blogger friends. For the rest of the week, I ran into Stacy EVERYWHERE…She’s the best. If you don’t know her, you should.

We skipped the fashion show for snacks. We at ridiculous amounts of ice cream from M Burger. We raced around the mall looking for candy. We dined at Food Life. We drank wine. We laughed. We talked. We shared. Everyone gave me their gluten free snackies. (This is a trend. It’s kind of entertaining. All of my bloggy friends gave me gluten free snacks that they didn’t want.) It was exactly what I needed to ease my BlogHer anxiety. And from there I was excited. I was more than excited. I couldn’t wait!

Thanks so much to Water Tower Place, the shops, and of course, Chicagonistas MJ Tam and Beth Rosen for an AMAZING time.

By far, this was my favorite BlogHer party (official or unofficial).