I Lost A Gold Shoe at Disney World And This Is What Happened

What happens when you lose your footing at Disney? This. 

Here with my family after a long week and a half of work travel, I was a little stressed to fit in all the things I wanted Nate to experience. Not having had the chance to study the apps and touring plans and formation of the stars, we rolled up this morning on a wing and a prayer. And with gold shoes, of course.

Trying to be practical I went for the Okabashi. Not fancy strappy sandals, but practical, and gold. All was going great (zoom through Haunted Mansion! Pirates of the Carribean! Splash Mountain!) until, during a walk through Tomorrowland. Thwap. One sandal fell completely apart, the strap snapping. So much for being golden. (See: hair.)

I tried to figure out my best Girl Scout fix. But there was nothing. So I hobbled into Merchant of Venus and explained my situation. "Where can I buy some flip flops?" I asked. Several of the people working at the gift shop  (aka "castmembers") pointed me toward Mickey's Star Traders.

After dragging my leg toward the shop, I realized someone was behind me. It was one of the cast members. "I'm going to make sure that you find your shoes." I thought it was very kind he walked to make sure that I could find the rack. 

I pulled off a pair in my size and brought them to the register. He pulled out a book.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing," he said.

"Seriously?" I replied.

"Yes, this is on Mickey. We want to you to have a great experience here. Thank him." 

Here I am with Charlie. Disney Magic indeed. 

Lean In: To A Small World

One of the best parts of social media -- one of the most important -- is when social becomes actually that. In real life, people having conversations, piecing together the world.

A few weeks ago I was reminded of how small this world, linked by ping backs and status updates, can be. 

It started when I posted something to Facebook about Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In." Specifically, I wrote that I wanted to start a discussion group, to which a number of friends -- some I know in real life, some strictly through the computer -- responded. Among the responders was David Griner.

David and I have been in similar orbits for a long time. We both have journalism backgrounds and are digital and social media folks. We're both based in Birmingham and engaged in work that takes us around the country -- he in advertising, me in magazines. We're both writers (check out his excellent piece "Why Aren't Video Game Actors Treated Like Stars?")

I've always admired David and his work, but we never had a real conversation.

It was only when he commented on a Facebook thread I started about Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" that we decided to meet.

***

We met for lunch, and were driving down Columbiana Road when David showed me a photo. It was me, on a horse, in 1998. Me on a horse. From 15 years ago. What?

Turns out that summer we were both interns at The Arizona Republic. We didn't spend much time together because we worked in different offices, except for this trip and a handful of lectures. 

So how would we have put it all together? We didn't for many years. Until a few weeks ago. When relaying the story to one person, I heard, "That shows social media's shortcomings."

Maybe.

Or maybe not. We decided to meet (after exchanging Facebook messages). Then David looked at my LinkedIn profile, where he picked up on the internship. Yes, it took some old fashioned sleuthing for him to identify that ball cap, acid-wearing jeans girl in the photo (hey, it was the 90s). But social helped piece things together. Pretty cool. 

We had a great time getting to know one another after all those years. Journalism, digital, social. 

What's the takeaway? Well, obviously, always be nice to people you meet every step along the way. Because you just should. 

• But you also might be sitting next to them in 15 years in a setting you can't even imagine at the time. 
• Be open to surprises. That morning I was coming from giving a talk, and a little tired. I had no idea of the joy of making this connection. 
• The most important part of social media is the "social" part. 

Oh, and my new/old friend David and I are going to host a "Lean In" discussion group -- soon. Let me know if you're interested in attending. You don't even have to wear acid washed jeans. 

Mother's Day: Heavy Metal Drumming and Swiss Chard Dancin'

Tonight I was sitting at the dining room table with Nate making art for my mom. What started out as a straightforward markers and poster board event ... 

Turned into a spontanous homage to Wilco. Nate is currently obsessed with becoming a drummer. "Should I put on 'Heavy Meatal Drummer?'" I asked. "Um, it's my theme song, isn't it?  

Then it turned into a dance party in which both of us were asking for Shane to video the episode. The apple does not fall far.  

I never intentionally thought about becoming a mom, and that was not high on my list of priorities. Till about August 2005. Surprise!

And here's that little lima bean dancing in the Swiss Chard during our field trip to Jones Valley Teaching Farm on Friday.

  

Tomorrow, on Mother's Day, I will celebrate the amazing women who paved the way for me to become a mom. My mom, Rosemary, who taught us about unconditional love:

And my grandmother Catherine (my Dad's Mom). She was so encouraging of my career and all my dreams, even before I knew I had them:

And my grandmother Emily, who married my grandfather despite her parents' wishes. (He was Catholic; they were Protestant. And the rest is history.)

Tomorrow I'll be thinking of all the great moms of my friends, those who are with us and those who aren't. Of all the ladies who are moms or act like moms. Here's to them. 

Southern C Summit

Just back from the inaugural Southern C Summit. I had the honor of being a speaker at this incredible event on beautiful Jekyll Island, Georgia. Walking around the property of the Jekyll Island Club, I had to pinch myself just thinking how lucky I was to be part of such a cool event in a beautiful place:

I spoke about SL's digital evolution. I get real joy sharing best practices on blogging, social media, and storytelling in general. And I learned just as much from the business owners, bloggers, artists, and creatives who swapped stories over barbecue and Goo Goo clusters. Seriously, we had a Goo Goo Cluster pie break. How great is that? And yes, after all the delicious snacks they served, I'm wearing my stretchy pants.

Major kudos to the founders of the Southern Coterie, Whitney Long and Cheri Leavy. They founded the Southern Coterie as a place for women to connect and share their love of all things Southern, and the summit as a counterpart. There's a magic when people have a chance to connect online and then forge relationships in real life (stay tuned for another blog post about that coming shortly).

Whitney, Cheri, and their team made that possible for a whole bunch of creative business women and doers. (And are going to do it again at two upcoming gatherings -- one in Athens and one in Nashville.)

Bonus: Whitney hosted the Summit wearing what? A different pair of gold shoes every day. (Her foot above). I knew I'd like her! 

MadMen Costume Designer Validates My Vintage Obsession (Thank You, Janie Bryant!)

My husband and I are very, very different: the chemist and the writer, the conservative and the liberal. Left brain, right brain ... you get the point. We are brought together with a deep and abiding love of books, family, and pop culture touchstones (not in that order). 

Among those touchstones is Mad Men, which of course premiers tonight in its sixth season. So imagine my delight when @scstreet shared this Tweet with me. He has a minor  major crush on Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant (who it should be noted is a fellow Southerner). I have nothing but the deepest of respect for Ms. Bryant as well. 

She's been pivotal in bringing 60s style to perfect life in Mad Men, with much-documented attention to detail, from undergarmets to broaches. 

I've collected vintage clothing and accessories long before I knew what "vintage" was (scouring neighborhood garage sales for box purses and pillbox hats, which was ripe for the taking in Central Florida). When I'm traveling for work, I always make it a point to stop into vintage shops to bring back treasures (see: 5 Vintage Clothing Finds and Chattanooga: House Frock and Accordion Necklace.) 

Usually I'm smuggling house frocks and go-go boots back in my suitcase. But not anymore. Behold, the Twitter conversation between my husband, Janie Bryant and one vintage-loving lady who has now been totally validated. Janie, from the depths of my heart I say: thank you!

I shall wear vintage tomorrow in your honor.

(And I can't wait to see what you've done for Season Six ...)