a weekend in PDX with some special peeps

I love that The World Domination Summit is held in Portland. For one weekend a year, a whole bunch (thousands) of good people descend upon the city. There are blogger meetups, dinners, lunches - many online people meeting one another for the first time, a bubbling of frenetic energy. It's FUN, exhausting, sometimes even confusing (i.e. social anxiety), but mostly just a whole lot of love and possibility fueled connections happening in seconds upon seconds.

My friends Ali + Andrea + Mati all stayed at my house for a girlie weekend of lounging and fun. I love these girls. They're family to me.

(here we are in the studio)



We did a ton of lounging around, catching up, eating good food, coffee...



John and True spent the weekend at my parents house, giving us full reign of our house. I am so lucky to have this kind of flexibility....



John snuck away one morning took us all paddle boarding. Love! Major workout.



Mati extended her stay a couple of days and we made it to the photo booth before heading out for a cocktail, followed by a trip to the movies (Magic Mike - super fun movie for girlie fun).



The highlight of the entire weekend was our meeting up with Brene + Hula - a mini Lovebomb reunion.



We gathered in our backyard all afternoon and evening. John made us a delicious meal (seriously, I adore my husband).







We stayed in this very spot late into the night, talking about everything. I am incredibly thankful for these friendships. I just really, really am. They ground me and lift me all at once.



At the start of the weekend, Andrea and Ali and I decided to invite a few peeps to my studio for a quick gathering:


It was so fun, so rewarding, so sweet for all of these AMAZING women to come to my studio for a gathering. As awesome as it is to host a bunch of friends in one place, here's what I'm learning about myself: I want to be social, and have good conversations and connect, but I find myself having a hard time doing those things when hosting. I'm too worrisome about the collection of hearts: Is everyone ok? Are they having a good time? Is she feeling excluded? Is she nervous? What can i do to make her not nervous? 


I suppose I feel responsible for all those hearts. I know how scary it can be to walk into a room and feel alone. And since becoming a mom, my I-must-be-sure-that-everyone-is-ok radar is on overdrive. It happened at this event, and it's happening in my life. It's exhausting! And totally my own doing. Crazy making, right?



Meanwhile, all of these lovely ladies are IN MY STUDIO. I want to talk to each of them, sit down with each of them, connect with each of them, have fun with each of them.












In the end, I met a couple of my girl crushes, had a really good time, and felt really good about connecting some special people to one another. I'm learning that one of my superpowers is to connect people both online and offline. I don't have much to do with the magic that happens when the gathering unfolds but I have a knack for putting just the right people in a room together. Someone told recently that I was a Connectress. A connectress! I am grateful for that role. I really am.

XO,
Kelly Rae