Above: Stephanie (right, photo credit) and I with The Lorax!
I posted part one of my BlogHer 12 adventure last week. I need to post the rest of it now before I forget all the little details. They are already getting hazy!
After sight seeing for a day and a half, the parties started. On Thursday night I went to a Stonyfield Yogurt cocktail party at Rouge Tomate (near Central Park).
Afterwards I went to what turned out to be the highlight of my trip, a screening of the movie Toxic Baby which was created by my talented bloggy friend, Penelope Jagessar Chaffer. The movie was amazing and life changing. It really set the right mood for the conference and left me with the feeling that I could do more in my life to be an activist for change. If you get the chance to see this movie in your area, please do! After the screening I went back to the Hilton and attended one of the official BlogHer parties which turned out to be quite lame so I ended up going to bed earlier than planned. Yay for sleep!
Below is a photo from the Q&A after Toxic Baby:
On Friday I did BlogHer speed dating, met the Lorax, and walked the Expo Hall. I also skipped the Martha Stewart interview lunch because I was invited to a more intimate lunch by Verizon. It turned out to be a very good move on my part. The lunch was enjoyable… a great speaker, I FINALLY met Sommer at Green & Clean Mom who I have known virtually for years… AND I won an Android tablet!!! Woot! Thanks Verizon!!
The Expo Hall was lots of fun too and I met some great brands. Many were not of interest to me but finding the few that were, was great fun. At the Boiron booth I got full sized boxes of Arnica Gel and Oscillococcinum (homeopathic medicine). I got coupons for So Delicious Ice cream and they were giving out ice cream as well. Other brands/companies I connected with were Eden Fantasies (got some adult toys), Moms Clean Air Force (met Dominique and Ronnie finally!) Manilla.com, Mulu, Maty’s, SaveAntibiotics.org, and Tria. I will be doing some product reviews for some of these companies soon. Oh and I stopped by the AboutOne booth and chatted them up only to win a Windows phone the next day. Awesome!! The phone and the tablet basically paid me back for the money I spent to get there.
On Friday night I went to the Hasbro party at the Edison Ballroom and Sparklecorn at the hotel. I drank a wee bit too much and danced lots but it was oh so fun.
Saturday I actually attended a session! Woohoo! Two of the bloggers on the panel were completely unknown to me but I did know Gina of Feminist Breeder and Charlie of How to be a Dad. Their panel was lots of fun and very informative.
After the panel I walked next door to the Warwick Hotel for the Getting Gorgeous party. It was quite a lot of fun. I got my hair done, I met up with anther great brand (Zarbees), I earned $60 dollars in Box Tops for my daughter’s school via Hanes, and I scored a free copy of Plants Versus Zombies from PopCap Games (my kids and I ADORE this game). Also got a free pair of jeans from ColdWater Creek.
Saturday night I met up with a bunch of green bloggers and went out to dinner at Piccola Positano in the East Village. Lots of fun…even if Janice did totally steal my dream guy (we all had to choose a free pass). I also learned more about these amazing women and was amazed even further. I love my green bloggy friends!
Lindsay, Lori, Julia, Heather, Sommer, Beth, Me, Stephanie, Anna, Micaela, Katy,
and Janice (photo credit).
Other lovely ladies I got to meet, most of whom I have known for years online:
Lisa, Condo Blues. Crazy that I met her in New York when she lives about 10 minutes away from me.
Paige, Spit That Out
Harriet, Climate Mama
Brenna, Almost All the Truth
Leigh, Green 4 You
Sarah, Made in the USA Challenge
Sarah, Mindfully Frugal Mom
Calley, The Eco Chic
Amanda, Eco Friendly Family
Jenny, The Crunchy Wife
Kimberly, Dirty Diaper Laundry
Anita Jackson, MomsRising
I probably forgot some people. In fact I know I did. I see faces in my mind and I am drawing a blank on names. :(
Late Saturday I went to the CheeseburgHer party and said my goodbyes. Sunday I hung out with my brother again. We had a WMD for breakfast… a waffle of mass deliciousness, straight off the food truck.
We walked around aimlessly until lunch and did a bit of shopping. I had Eggs Benedict for lunch and like, four Mimosas with the Prix Fixe lunch special at Steak Frites. Booyah!
After picking up our luggage, which was being held at the Hilton….we headed to The Port Authority and boarded the torture bus once again. I got home about 14 hours later… and that is my trip. I could have said more about some of the negatives, like bloggers behaving badly but what is the point? Overall, I had a great experience and I “may” attend next year’s conference in Chicago though at this point I am thinking I would rather do a different one, like Blissdom. I have some time to decide. I will say though that I felt very inspired to be a better blogger and get more active with causes I care about.
I love that picture of us with the Lorax!! I had so much fun and can’t wait until we see each other next time! :)
I know! I wonder when that will be!!
2 peas in a pod! You are pretty cool, too! :) :)
I don’t think I ever saw you too apart. That was incredible vibe. )
I hope lost of bloggers came away with inspiration and experiences like those. I know I do, did, but always wish more for!
Yeah, Stef and I were like twins. It made my first BlogHer soooo much easier than it would have been otherwise. Plus she’s just the coolest too. ;)
Oh my goodness that waffle looks AMAZING! It was fun to meet you briefly several times, wish I could have gone to dinner with you all on Saturday – hope to see you next year!
Fun to meet you to. BlogHer13 is looking good since it is so close to me.
Awesome to have met you at BlogHer! Glad you made the best of the experience. I know a lot of people have been writing about negatives, but it’s all about your perspective and what you chose to take away from the experience.
Great to have met you too!
I need to be a better blogger so I can feel like it’s okay for me to attend a conference! Course with my husband’s schedule, I never know if I’ll have anyone to watch my kids. Plus I can’t plan that far in advance (next year) because of his schedule. I did buy a ticket for the Sewing Summit but haven’t yet bought my plane ticket. That ticket is transferable (which I suppose the other conference tickets are too) and the conference isn’t really a conference but a gathering of people who love to sew. LOL
tsoniki, over 50% of the bloggers at BlogHer this year were newbies or something like that. A sewing conference sounds cool too though!
Looks like you had a blast! I can’t wait to go to my first conference in Sept (fitbloggin)! The food looks delish.
Fitbloggin is on my list of conferences I want to go to someday. Have fun!