Happy Labor Day!
I hope you’re having a nice, relaxing day! For many, today marks the end of summer. For me, it’s a reminder that Christmas is pretty much next week. (Time drives above speed limit year-long, but it seems it hops on the expressway on Labor Day and just goes nuts.) So, whatever you are doing today – ENJOY! Make the best of it.

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When I ‘hosted’ my annual Block Party last year, I mentioned that I might consider doing a virtual meet-up the following year. Having read the paragraph above, you might already know what happened – I blinked, and it was the following year. Here and now. For a moment, I panicked. How would that even work? Would anyone join? What would we even do? But after that initial reaction, I decided to embrace my spontaneous side and ‘just do it.’
On Saturday, I successfully hosted a virtual Block Party and was joined by people from both coasts of the USA, Canada, Denmark, and Zimbabwe! With a 9h time zone difference, we had people who had just woken up and others that were getting ready for bed. I breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw people’s names appear on my screen, waiting to be admitted into the meeting.

Having people join was goal number one. Goal number two, however, was to have this be more than just 15 minutes of uncomfortable silence.
About an hour before the meeting, I started getting really anxious. So, to calm my shaky hands, I went and got myself coffee (with a donut, otherwise, I would have made the coffee at home). Why coffee? When consumed quickly, it has the ability to make me jittery. I wanted to fight fire with fire. Shaky hands (-) times shaky hands (-) equals plus. It’s sound logic. Don’t question it.
What followed surpassed my expectations – the conversation just flowed. Even though we all admitted to being introverts, we just fed off each other’s energy, finding SO much in common with one another, sharing our experiences and perspectives, and nodding and laughing a whole bunch. Thank you all for coming and making this an unforgettable Block Party! Here’s to a ‘cruise’ next year 😉 Sky’s the limit!

If you are looking to connect with some fabulous people and discover new blogs, consider taking a journey through the links below. They contain a variety of content and are rarely niche specific. Like humans – they are not one-dimensional, which I enjoy. Some of the authors of these blogs are (thinking about) starting to tackle some new topics. Will you be there to support them on that new journey? I know I will!
- https://becomingthemuse.net/
- https://darnellcureton.com/ (Darnell just recently started hosting a live voice broadcast.)
- https://edoodless.wordpress.com/ (Andrea is looking for story/poetry submissions for her colaborative project.)
- https://fromfaminetofeast-eatingdisordersandrecovery.com/
- https://hopelesslyheather.com/
- https://writerinretrospect.wordpress.com/
P.S. Authors of the blogs above: Please let me know if you would like me to highlight your specific initiative like I did for Darnell and Andrea, and I will update this post accordingly.
Stay golden,

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The virtual block party was such fun—thank you for stepping outside your comfort zone and hosting!!
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*Bows* Pleasure was all mine!
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Absolutely loved the block party 🥂 we should totally do this again.. In the next eye blink.
Funny thing work and posted it was 111 days to Christmas 🎄
~B
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I know! I saw your Tweet and I almost fell out of my chair.
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You might be a trendsetter with one Goldie!
I would definitely join another.
Also thank you for referring to my project. For those who want to publish but are not quite ready for it, it might be a good opportunity since your name will be amongst many other writers. The story doesn’t necessarily have to be for children, as long as it is child friendly 😄
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I think this is a great project. Volume 1 brought me a lot of smiles and I want to make sure that volume 2 is as best as it can be!
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Dammit – I missed the block pary…. I woulf love to have joined in 🙂
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Maybe next year 😉
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I’ll try and keep an eye out! 🙂
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So glad the party went well! Sorry I slept through it…haha!
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If we have enough people next year, maybe we could do two different sessions to accommodate all sorts of different time zones. We shall see!
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Oooh, congratulations on the success of your virtual block party! It’s heartwarming to see such hard work and effort pay off. ^_^
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Yes, it really was. Maybe you’ll be able to join if we do this next year?
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I’d definitely do my best to participate, especially if I had a date and time to set down on my calendar. ^_^
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It’s usually during Labor Day weekend. However, I might move it to the weekend before or after if people won’t be able to attend due to holiday plans. It wasn’t a problem this year, though.
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Oooh, I’ll definitely try to see if I can participate next time. ^_^
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That’d be great!
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^_^
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Hah! I like your fire with fire approach — might have to try that. 😆
I’m really glad you went with it. I was quite a bit nervous myself; but I actually rather enjoyed it.
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Sometimes you just need to overpower your fears.
Glad to know the social gathering has your stamp of approval!
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Ooh, I’m so jealous 😉! I would have loved to have joined in, but I was out celebrating my birthday 🎉. I’m so glad your block party went so well. It really sounds like it was great fun – so pleased for you and well done on hosting it and thinking of the idea. I’ll definitely be there for the next one, and if you decide to have one before next year, you can count me in. It must have been an amazing experience talking to fellow bloggers from all around the world. Well done, Sam. Xx 🦢😘
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I hope you had a great Birthday!
Yes, it really was very enriching. Thank you!
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Well done Goldie. We all had a great time.
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Thanks, Darnell! Glad to have had you.
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I like the double negative logic. I find that there’s some sound reasoning behind it. And I love how, even if everyone considered themselves introverts, the whole thing turned out so successful! Good job on organizing it all! 😀
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Glad to hear you approve of my scientific methods 😛
Yes, indeed. I was worried no one would want to speak but we couldn’t stop talking! I was very pleased with the outcome.
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