So THAT happened

Last Friday I got a thing that’s kinda a big deal to me, and I hesitated blogging about it because I don’t want to come off braggy, but… wait.

Nah.

I’m gonna brag.

Thanks to Annie for the photo!

I won Personal Blog Of The Year in the 3rd Annual Iris Awards, an award ceremony for influencers in the parenting sphere, put on by the Mom2 Summit community, and voted on by my peers… my colleagues.

Previous year’s winners were Kristen Howerton’s Rage Against The Minivan in 2014, and Gabrielle Blair’s Design Mom in 2015. So, um, yeah. That’s incredible company, and the recognition and inclusion feels unreal.

Jenny Ingram from Jenny On The Spot won Breakout Of The Year, Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress won Social Campaign Of The Year, then there’s Alfonso, then Morgan Shanahan of Buzzfeed Parents, then me

But there are pictures to prove I met Alfonso Ribiero (our emcee for the evening- you may know him as Carlton), and there is video to prove I made it onstage and made a mostly coherent acceptance speech that started with mention of a lot of bodily fluids, including cervical mucus. I didn’t write a speech. I didn’t plan for that. My brain and my mouth just do these things to me.

Thanks to Charlie for capturing this.

I’ve transcribed the speech below if you’re interested. Mostly because I truly hope it’s a message that inspires anyone who finds themselves doing something others can’t understand… following a passion, making their own path.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been dismissed by others who think what I do is a joke of a career, not because I’ve run out of fingers and toes, but because I don’t care enough to keep track. I refuse to give them space in my head, and I hope you deny them as much.

“I really think I’m going to puke and pass out right now, so if that happens, make sure Rent The Runway gets my dress, please.

I’ve been doing this for 9 years, and I started it because I thought my career was over.  I thought I was going to become someone who just became a mom, and all my work in journalism school was going to be for nothing because I didn’t make it to TV.

I started blogging anonymously about cervical mucus, and then my mom and dad started reading it so there was no point in being anonymous anymore.

You guys, this is so much more than about me. I am so incredibly humbled and grateful to be surrounded by everybody in this room, and everybody that we call colleagues. Because this is an industry, and I have a career. I didn’t give up a career, I got a new one that I didn’t even know existed when I went to the University of Missouri, the number one journalism school in the nation, to be the next Katie Couric.

I don’t even want to be Katie Couric anymore! I want to be all of you. Every single one of you inspires me, and pushes me.

You guys, this is so cheesy, but I’m so inspired by that song by Rachel Platten… ‘I may only have one match, but I can start an explosion.’ That is literally the epitome of every single one of us. You can have a Tumblr, an Instagram, a Snapchat, and all it takes is that little spark to ignite, and to move people to action, and I am so encouraged by all of us who wrap ourselves around these words, and these images, and these videos, and these stories. We are story tellers, and we move people to action.

So thank YOU. Thank you so much for being co-workers, and coming to my water cooler every day, and talking to me on Facebook and Twitter, and I hope that I can continue to encourage everybody as much as you have encouraged me.

Thank you to my family and to all of my very awesome friends. I love you.”

And yes, that is me eating breakfast tacos with my award the next day. Because why not?

---

50 Things to Do Before You Deliver: The First Time Moms Pregnancy Guide
Available now: Amazon | Barnes & Noble