I've got a secret.

And my secret is this: I wear a retainer each night when I sleep!

Aren't you happy you know that?

Anyway... my real secret is this:

the BLEET-UP is in two weeks!! 

I was going to wait until the poster art was finished, but I'm so excited I can't hold it in any longer.

See, I have to admit something to you all. (This post is very confessional, non?)

Ever since the last Bleet-Up, I have steadily become less tech-addicted.

I am an average Tweeter. I don't have Twitter lists or anything. I'm a little too lazy to create a Facebook page for this blog. I've been going through this phase, or personal paradigm shift, or something, where I'm all about setting boundaries to my social media usage. Is that not strange, for a blogger to fear these tools? (Even texting! I'm considering disabling my phone's text messaging capabilities, just to see what it's like. Teach myself how to talk on the phone again.)

But leading up to that, things were different. For most of last year, I was all, TWITTER! Gimme!!

I - like many of you - jumped in, and in the process, discovered some awesome local blogs. Which I gobbled up by the handful.

So when we had the first Bleet-Up, I realized that my MOST favorite part about social media was meeting fellow bloggers in real life! Even more than stalking them online. During that first one, I met Seth Mazow, Year of the Pizza blogger. I met the man who ran that delightfully bizarre horror blog, the girl who turns beer and chocolate into cupcakes, and the woman who writes one of my favorite politics blogs, a blog I never had the guts to leave a comment on. (I still haven't. And I still love your blog, Betsy).

I got to talk to all of these people whose sites I read constantly, and that to me was a treat.

Some of you are really good at translating your social media connections into real-life connections. Me? I am so-so. The more time I spend with social media, the more I just end up feeling like I am better friends with my computer. But the Bleet-Up helps me meet you guys face-to-face, and you all are so funny / quirky / obsessive about very specific things! Like ME!

Last year, my friend/role model Rose Reyes said: "I've been to a lot of parties before, but the people here were so interesting. I just wanted to listen to everyone, for hours."

That's exactly how I feel. Bloggers are a special breed, because we ruminate over personal passions in a public forum. Sometimes, we wade around in our blogs for a long time before we figure just what exactly our passion IS. This trial-and-error process requires a lot of mental mining, which is why I typically find bloggers to be quite good conversationalists. We have a lot to say.

SO! Soapbox over, here are the details about our party:

the bleet-up

thursday, july 22

6:00-8:00pm

trio / four seasons

selected appetizers

happy hour wines by the glass

goodie bags for first 50 arrivals

Also, after that big long emotional post, would you believe what I have to tell you next? It's LIMIT 150 PEOPLE! NO! But yes. 150 is Trio's limit and we are respecting that, because they are wonderful in every way to us.

So know that you MUST RSVP to attend, and as soon as the RSVP site it up, I will post a link to it. I also have a couple other fun party details that I'll tell you about soon.

Note also that this is one of two Bleet-Up's that happen each year, and this summertime one is very much bloggers-among-bloggers. Low-key. The second one, the BIG one, happens right before Fun Fun Fun Fest, in November, with bands / drinks / food / ridiculousness / etc.

Because this blogger love-fest ain't a one-time deal, y'all.

PS: If you are new to this blog and have been wondering, "excuse me, what is a 'Bleet-Up?'" Here is the etymology:
Bloggers + meet-up = Bleet-Up
Click on the Austin Bleet-Up tag below to see our history.