Blissdom Recap

You always want to develop and hone your craft.  And I got to do that this weekend by going to Blissdom, a blogging conference.

I love how going to conferences charges you up and rejuvenates your passion...and that's what happened to me.  I've got ideas swirling around in my head and trying to harness them into something manageable is going to be the challenge.

Here are some of my top moments of Blissdom:

Flashmob!

Please tell me you've heard of this...where people jump up in the middle of a crowd of people and break out in choreographed dance.  Have you ever heard of anything more glorious?  I got to be a part of that!  There were about 600 people at the conference and about 90 or so of us in this flashmob.  You can't really see me in the video, but trust me...I was there. The video quality isn't the greatest and in some parts the dancing doesn't match with the words. Oh well...it was fun!

 Watson!

 How cute is this little guy (and the little girl isn't bad either!)?  What's even better is that he is interactive.  I won him from Hallmark.  As you read the story, he responds to your voice and comments on the story.  Well, let me just say that we had some fun times with Winston at about 12:30 at night.  It's amazing how much fun grown women can have with a toy raccoon.

Roadtrip

I love me a good roadtrip with friends.  And believe me, my friends and I know how to rock a roadtrip with some old school road trip games.  Once again the Can O' Bliss made an appearance.  In the can were all different games.  Each girl pulled one out and we'd play it.  One of those was a mad libs.  It was a mad libs of the 12 Days of Christmas (Hey, I got it on the clearance rack at Target after Christmas).  

Fun surprises!

Some of my really sweet bloggy friends surprised me with treats!  All bloggy related of course!

Business card holder from Mary (made by Half Pint House)

Bag Tag from Hillary

Necklace from The Rusted Chain

Meeting & Connecting with Bloggy Friends

One of the best parts of Blissdom is meeting face to face the people you've been tweeting with or reading their blogs.  They are actually people!

I feel like I've known Mary (far left) for years.  In the middle is my real life long friend Amanda.

As sweet as honey, pretty as a magnolia, and as southern as high hair and hoop dresses!  Hillary is a gem.  She's also super funny (I just couldn't think of a southern way to explain it!)

Probably one of the only people at the whole conference who knows what it feels like to NOT fit into the "mommy blogger" category.  My single friend Leigh!  We've been reading each other's blogs for a while now and she was one of the first people I wanted to find at Blissdom.

I didn't get a picture with her, but meeting Lori Mahon was a complete surprise!  But turns out we have a lot in common.  Probably one of the best things we had in common was that we were both in the Sandi Patty Friendship Company pen pals club!!  Any other fellow members?

Some other new friends that I didn't get pictures with were Sarah from A Wife Loved Like the Church and Alicia from Alicia's Homemaking. Such sweet and fun girls!!  I really enjoyed spending time with them!

Famous People

If my friends know one thing about me, it's that I'm a huge fan of celebrities.  It borders on stalker-ish...in a healthy way of course.  

First up was Mat Kearney. (Well, there was actually someone else, but do they really count as a celebrity if you've NEVER heard of them?  Yeah,  I didn't think so).

Crystal Bowersox

And a blurry, backside picture of George Duran.

So maybe not A-listers, but celebrities in their own right (ahem).

My SISTERCHICKS!

Words cannot express my love for these girls!  They are friends through and through.

Fancified

Each night we got dolled up for cocktail parties.  I don't get to dress up that much anymore, so when I get a chance to wear heels, I'll take it!  I also like being the Official Jewelry Provider of room 4377.

Speakers

Only a few speakers (ok, well a couple) stood out to me.  Ryan Marshall from Pacing the Panic Room was one.  I always love hearing dads talk about their love for their family.  He was really interesting.

Scott Stratten from Unmarketing was the other. (Hmmmm....is it weird that both of them are men?!).  He was so engaging and practical.  One of those guys that make you sick, he's SO creative.

(What did I miss?)

Those of you that went, please fill in with your favorite part.  (Can you tell I'm one short and too tired to think of something?) 

This post is linked to the fabulous Oh Amanda.