Okay – so check THIS out. I’m cruising through Borders minding my own business when I happen to pause at the garden section (most of you will actually read “garden” as “porn” – you know who you are). I’m telling myself that I absolutely will not purchase one more gardening book. Yes, the promise is made while my fingers are crossed behind my back, just in case.

Then I see it. It’s not a book, but a box and it’s sitting at an angle which could only be described as coy, wearing a come hither look. If there’s one thing I can’t resist (aside from books and mochas) it’s boxes. And this one’s a beauty.

She’s wearing an antique gray-green as a base and adorned with Victorian lettering and pictures of vegetables from yester-year. In old fashioned strokes, “Kitchen Garden Box” is printed across the top, with “Save and Sow Seeds” right smack in the middle. Be still my heart. The seeds from my garden deserve to be saved and displayed in something this lovely.

On the back of the box there’s some adorable advertising describing you what you can expect to find inside. I claimed that box so fast (after all there was only one) that I nearly forgot to get a mocha. Of course, I didn’t actually forget to get the mocha. I’m a box freak but not completely insane.

Inside are all these wonderful cards each written in a quaint scrawl. There are cards on seeds saving, growing seeds, recipes, tips…oh, God knows what else. When I came across the fantabulously decorated seed envelopes I damn-near swooned.

Who in world could have created such a magnificent box to sit on my own bookshelf? I see Mike McGrath’s name near the bottom of the seed treasure box and it all makes sense. No wonder the creator knew what I wanted – this is no gardener-come-lately. He’s one of the originals. Remember Mike from Organic Gardening Magazine some years back? By “some years”, I mean like 12. I think his last year there was 1997.

Hey, Mike…dude, you out-did yourself this time. I mean, you had me at the empty box.

*No one sent me this box or any money in exchange for a review. Yes, I seriously bought it myself. Yes, I seriously almost died over it.

You may have heard about the fabulous Type-A Mom conference (by Kelby Carr) that took place this last weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. You might also know about the many breakout sessions that not only consisted of some excellent speakers, but also addressed many concerns that we as bloggers have, but isn’t often voiced honestly (and we had some honesty). These sessions gave everyone a chance to ask important questions face-to-face with bloggers-in-the-know and make connections that may have otherwise stayed a mystery as we went about our busy lives.

You might have also heard rumors of the wonderful sponsors that supported the conference just as they do individual bloggers. Not to mention those that embedded themselves right there in the Town Hall Meeting to answer the questions of several hundred serious mommy bloggers.

Someone may have told you about the fashion show, the Walk Disney World reception, Boiron Mom Market, and the tee shirts we wore made of plastic water bottles by KikaPaprika. Creative Memories gave us an embellished slide show of the conference before the conference was even over. Oh, and the singing – did anyone tell you about the singin?!

In fact, Angela England wrote and performed Type-A Mom’s very own song with Sarah (@RealLifeSarah) accompanying her on guitar. If you did hear all of that, then you more than likely heard about the wonderful speaker dinners that gave us a chance to really get to know each other a delicious downtown dinner. There are dozens of other things an attending blogger could have told you about the Type-A Mom conference.

No one could have told you that many of us showed up with the concern that maybe we were frauds. We didn’t fit the definition of mommy blogger at all. We were political bloggers, weight control bloggers, gardening bloggers, business bloggers, fashion bloggers, writing bloggers, and news bloggers. Maybe we weren’t “mommy bloggers” because we didn’t blog about being a mommy or raising our families.

What you may not have heard about was how we laughed and joked and hugged… and ran through the rain to catch a bus. How we watched a fellow blogger be the last to climb the bus stairs because of the contractions in her baby belly. How we all smiled and appreciated the expectant moms who made it to the conference because we’ve all been there. Every last blogger at that conference was threaded together because of pregnant bellies.

What you may not have heard was how those of us questioning where we fit began to realize that being a mom colors everything we touch – including anything we blog about. Its what makes us passionate and compassionate. It allows us to be exuberant, furious, sad…and realistic.

What you may not have heard is that each one of us went to that conference under a single label and came back as an entire community.

I want to thank a most gracious woman, Margaret Roach, a garden writer after my own heart, and her own community at the The Sister Project for sponsoring me at this conference. Not only has The Sister Project opened my eyes to what I forgot I was, but also introduced me to sisters I had yet to meet, Mishelle Lane, Lisa Douglas, Sara Harmon, Amber Haines, Malia Carden, Corina Fiore, and Deb Rox. I’m honored to blog with the sisterhood.