Mixing and meeting up

It was a warm summer evening in Sacramento. Bloggers gathered along the river at a fancy hotel. It was the first time I’d been to Le Rivage. I’d heard about it, but never had the opportunity (or excuse) to visit their grounds. Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to attend the Sacramento Blogger Meetup and Mixer event there. If you haven’t heard of this group (Sacramento Bloggers) and you are a blogger or thinking about becoming a blogger, I encourage you to check out their website and join up.

Margaret, Nichole and Stephanie are eager to get the blogging community in Sacramento to be more tightly knit and I truly appreciate their efforts.  I know there are tons of people out there who blog in the area and putting on events like this are such a good idea.  Le Rivage did a great job of hosting it.  There was even a special drink for the night called a Writer’s Block.

The hotel is lovely. The staff is very friendly. We were given a sneak peek of the Presidential Suite and regaled with tales of celebrities who stayed in it. Look at the fancy tub! Personally, I’m not a fan of the separate shower/tub thing. The stall like shower isn’t conducive to shaving one’s legs very well. There’s nothing on which to rest your foot. But, soaking in that tub looked like it might be fun.

I can see why many people have events there. The grounds are just gorgeous. You are right next to the Sacramento River. Also, if you are thinking you can be sly and get a look at the celebrities who stay at the hotel just by driving by, think again. The place is set back from the street and up a hill. Also, parking is a bit challenging, so you will probably have to valet.

It’s funny. Since I’ve been living in Sacramento, my blog and social media have helped me make friends and acquaintances in real life. I still go to mixers and tweet ups to meet people, but I’ve found that I tend to just hang out with the people I already know. There’s nothing wrong with this since I don’t get to see these people every day, even if we do interact on a regular basis on Twitter & Facebook, but I really need to get back into that frame of mind wherein I make myself talk to at least one person I don’t know at said function. I don’t like it when I get into the “freak out I’m amongst strangers and not trying to mix” feeling in my brain.

I did talk to a few strangers. Bloggers are funny people. Some are writers like me. Some are people who are interested in a topic, but don’t consider themselves writers. They don’t care about grammar, wordplay or literary devices. They care about gardening, shopping, or their kids. They are the lucky ones when someone asks what their blog is about, while I stammer. What is my blog about? Well…frustration is probably the best way to sum it up. When you don’t have a niche, you don’t know what to say. I’m a writer, so I write about what the voices in my head won’t shut up about, like ending sentences with prepositions.