"What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” 
― C.S. Lewis

When I started blogging a couple years ago, I knew that I would run into some pretty awesome individuals, but never in my wildest dreams, did I think that I was going to make so many incredible friends. If you have the opportunity to meet some of your friends from the blogosphere, I highly recommend it. Relationships that are made online, can be real and authentic, especially if you invest into it, and connect offline. I've been fortunate enough to meet several of my online friends, offline...

Carlina from Allergic to Vanilla, was my very first friend! Through the years we have been commenting back and forth on each other's blog's. I remember when Twitter out, we started following each other, tweeting, and got to learn more about one another! And  recently, with the explosion of Instagram, I feel as though we are more in the loop of our day to day lives. And two months ago, we finally met up in Los Angeles, at the Latina Lifestyle Bloggers Conference. Now I'm usually not the squeeling type when I see my girl friend's, but this moment was special, hahahaha...it was so cool to finally meet my home girl from SanFran! 

Carlina and I

Sophia, also known as My-Philosophie, or So as I like to call her, is another friend who I met through blogging! When I realized that she lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, I thought it would be a great experience to meet up when I visit Mexico. In 2011, I invited her to my wedding, that was going to take place in Guadalajara, on November 11...and that night at the reception we met! She looked amazing, just like her photos! I hope to meet up with her again, this year :)

Last year, I joined a blogger collective, called Latina Lifestyle Bloggers, a curated group of creative, independent and determined Latinas that blog about lifestyle; fashion, cooking, movies, travel, make-up, etc. And this year, I attended the second annual conference in Los Angeles, which was an experience like no other, so many bloggers under one roof! The building was a buzz with so much positive energy!

At the conference, I met "old" friends, like Carlina, Sophia from La Sophia. Met  many friends that I had met recently online, like Illse from Full Figured Potential, Ana from Cabeza de Coco, to name a few! I also made new friends, like Vero from Veronica Glam, and sister's Isabel and Soledad from At Home in Pleasanton,CA. 

If you have the opportunity to join a group, you should do it! :) It's a great learning experience, and a ton of fun to be part of an engaging group that you can identify with and learn from another! The advice and support that you may give/receive is priceless. 

It's pretty crazy, this internet thing. Meeting people from different parts of the world; some very similar to you, and some on polar opposites, but somehow we all connect...

Have you met any of your online friends offline?
Do you participate in any blogger groups/collectives?