Our DC-area pfblog gathering

On Thursday evening I had the pleasure of meeting some of the finest personal finance bloggers in the DC area, and I almost didn't go. I'd already RSVP'd a "maybe," since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to leave work early enough, and although it turned out that I was all clear to make it in time, I started getting nervous and thinking about backing out. "All these big names are going to be there and they will all know each other," I thought. "And then I'll say 'Hi, I'm from Money and Values' and they'll say, 'Who? Where?' and I'll want to disappear..."

And then, fittingly enough, a recent post from Get Rich Slowly came to mind. I remembered being struck by how J.D.'s descriptions of himself sounded like me, how he had struggled to push himself outside of his comfort zone. But then, after reading a powerful book and some self-reflection, "I made a resolution. I decided that instead of saying “no” to things because I was afraid of them, I would “just say yes”."

So I took a deep breath, and I told myself, "This will be fun; there are lots of good reasons to do it and no good ones not to, so just say yes." Off I went, and I'm glad I did.

Thankfully, Mapgirl from Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge was friendly and talkative, and made me feel welcome from the moment I arrived. She was at my end of the table and we had no end of interesting conversation with HC from One Big Mortar Board, JerichoHill, moderator of the Get Rich Slowly Forums, and Mike from Clever Dude Personal Finance. Also in attendance were Nick from Punny Money, James from DINKs Finance (Dual Income No Kids), Nick's wife Tegan, and yupitsean, pfblog reader and commenter-- I wasn't able to talk to and get to know these folks as much as I would've liked, but that's what next time is for, right?

So if you are a personal finance blogger or reader, and you live in the DC area, you should keep an eye out for the next meet-up, which will probably be in August-- we'd love to see you there!