BlogHer14: My Whole Experience Shoved in One Post

If you’re curious about what I ALMOST named this post and how it went wrong (so, so wrong), check out my Facebook post. Also, while you’re over there… click “like” on my page because every time I get a new fan I do a weird little dance. And maybe I’ll make a video for you, because one thing I learned at BlogHer14 is that I need to start making videos…

I tried to avoid giving you a play-by-play of everything that happened in the 5 days I was in San Jose for the most amazing blogging conference in all the land. Mostly, I just included a daily overview and all the photos that make me smile (most of the photos are also on my Instagram page if you want to see them larger). If there is anything I don’t cover that you want to know about, just leave me a question in the comments and I promise to answer them all!

For those of you who think that attending a blogging conference is like the Hunger Games – we all hate each other because there can only be ONE awesome blogger – yup, that’s totally true.

Want proof? Check out Holly from My Years of Fabulous…

See the bloodlust!?!

Just kidding. It’s truly like a love-fest. See, now Holly and I look all cute again.

My Crew
Speaking of awesome people, my main crew of cool chicks was: Holly, Chrissy from Quirky Chrissy, Lily from It’s a Dome Life, Jen from Me, Myself & Jen, Jenny Kelly from MarketingWerks, and Hege and Cotille from Stitch Fix. I also had the wonderful experience of hanging out with Sara and Dave, when they took me out to dinner at Blowfish. YUM!

I’d also like to give shout-outs to the following lovely ladies:
Nora Miller from AMP Anderson Miller PR – thank you for letting me talk your ear off at lunch and I totally LOVED every minute of it. Marcella Campbell from 24 Volumes – so glad we ran into each other again, 2 years after our first meeting! Stephanie Precourt from Listen to Your Mother – you may have ACTUALLY convinced me to try out next year… Kristin Swenson – thanks for hanging out with me at the BlogHer baby shower and talking fashion! I also have a stack of business cards to go through of people I hung out with, so I can’t wait to start shooting off some emails.

Now on to the pictures!

First off, the MOST important… what I wore. And yes, I say that with a teensy bit of sarcasm and a little {wink, wink}:

Look, I even took pictures each day in front of the snazzy hotel curtains! And yes, I thought about trying to convince the Fairmont to gift me the curtains as swag, but I digress. You can see a bit of a theme — bangs back and lots of Stitch Fix. Day 1: Loft t-shirt, Kensie jeans (Stitch Fix), etsy necklace. Day 2: Daniel Rainn shirt (by way of Nordstrom Rack), Steampunk Garage necklace (bought on day one), same jeans. Day 3: Pomelo dress (Stitch Fix). Day 4: Banana Republic Marimekko collection dress. I’m wearing the same Sam Edelman spiked sandals in each picture. I also threw this Soho hat from Ashbury Hats on for some of the evening events.

Wednesday
I left my house super-dooper early and flew for almost 8 hours. Luckily, the time change worked with me and it was only noon when I got to California. I spent the day walking around, shopping and also had dinner with the adorable Sara and her husband. I’m not sure why I didn’t get a picture with Sara and Dave, I can only assume we were too full of sushi, sake and beer to think about taking one.

Thursday
By far my busiest day! I stated off at the Speck Products #RESPECKED Suite and learned all about their snazzy new cellphone and electronics cases. While there, I also checked out the new line at Stella & Dot and had my head shot taken by a local photographer. From there, I met with Kristin and Hannah from Ashbury Hats (I LOVE THEM)… full blog post and GIVEAWAY coming soon. After that giggle-filled meeting, I stopped by the Astroblast Smoothie Social and met Nina from “The Good Night Show” on Sprout (she’s super sweet). From there, I ran off to the 2014 BlogHer Baby Shower (and chatted with so many cool mommas) and then hoofed it to the Eppa Sangria Sundown Sioree. Tired yet? Well, I kept going… and ran around the Evening at the Expo with Lily until they kicked us out! At that point, I was exhausted and ordered some room service.

Oh and to every single person who stopped me in the Expo Hall and at random times during the weekend to tell me that they KNOW me… THANK YOU. You guys made me feel like a total rockstar and sloppy KISSES to you all!

Friday
Bring on the learning! I was in BlogHer keynotes and sessions all day long and even squeezed in a couple brand meetings in between activities. I also had the chance to see The Hundred-Foot Journey, which I LOVED SO MUCH. See, I’m even quoted saying how much I love it on That Was Something. After the movie was over and I was walking on a cloud of loooooove, I met up with my friends at Killer Karaoke and did free shots of Twisted Shots until I ended up on stage in a group number. And yes, Cotille and I are just a little tipsy in that picture…

Saturday
MORE LEARNING! I also finally met up with my girl, Holly, and we basically talked all day long. I wish she lived closer to me, because she is my kinda people. In addition to attending the BEST session in the conference – “New Rules for New Tools” – I was also excited to have an appointment in the Flawed but Authentic suite. It started with an amazing hand massage with special oils and ended with an uplifting photo session and I loved every moment of it. After doing an emergency trip to Ross to pick up an extra suitcase, I grabbed Cotille off the street and we ended up having one of the best meals I’ve had in a LONG TIME. I’m not even kidding when I say that the first bite of mushroom risotto almost knocked me off my chair. So. Freaking. Good. Almost as good as the conversation… LOVE her. From dinner I made my very last stop… the Closing Party Sunset Bash. It was sponsored by McDonalds (HAPPY MEALS FOR EVERYONE) and our entertainment was Rev Run from RunDMC.

Which brings us to this story: At the closing party I danced like a fool and munched on a ton of French fries. Yes, I know I had just inhaled a whole dinner… but FRESH McDonald’s French fries are not to be denied.

Inevitably I had to use the restroom and started waiting in line for the fancy porti-pots. Well, the line was long and I started doing the pee pee dance. Apparently a guy across the way noticed, because he suggested that I use the porti-pots in the next parking lot over, behind a row of bushes. So, I leap through the bushes, jump into a porti-pot and immediately regret it. The ones I was waiting in line for were the NICE ones with lights and toilet paper. These… were not. They were your run-of-the-mill Ren Fest porti-pots with a dark, stinky inside and OF COURSE no toilet paper. So, I quickly use the bathroom and then stumble out as soon as humanly possible. As I’m stumbling out (mumbling how GROSS it was) and making my way back to the party – drip drying all the way – I nearly body-check Rev Run and his security team. Because, of course I did.

Hmm… that turned out a lot longer than I anticipated. I guess I could have just summed it up in one sentence: I had an awesome time at BlogHer. I missed seeing a few people that I was hoping to meet up with, but all-in-all had an excellent adventure (wheehew Wyld Stallyns!)

I’ll be sharing some new brands with you all over the next few months that I’m really super excited about. I also have a few fun giveaways coming up, including a sassy hat from Ashbury Hats, some super cool iPad cases from Speck Products, and a gift card to Chuck E Cheese!

Do you have any questions about BlogHer that I didn’t cover? Have you had a near run-in with a celebrity? Do you kind of want to go and watch Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure now?