Whimsical September

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Final Day of BlogHer Recap

BlogHer Conference Recaps: Travel Day | Day One | Day Two
I got a really good night’s sleep on Friday night leading into Saturday; I needed it after such a wild Friday. I headed down to the conference about 9 a.m. to grab some breakfast (all meals were provided) and attended the morning keynote, which was excellent. 
After the morning keynote I attended a brief Amazon party on the 44th floor of the hotel (great view of the city!) to learn more about different areas of the company and their offerings. 

After that quick party I headed down to the expo for about an hour to follow up with a few of my favorite brands from the previous days. I also made sure to enter a few giveaways that I’d missed, such as this giveaway for a Shark vacuum (you know you’re “old” when you get excited about the chance to win a vacuum!). I really enjoyed my time spent at the expo each day. I also really enjoyed wearing an outfit all day that felt like pajamas. Excellent call for day three!

At noon I headed to a private party for a company called Good Health Snacks. Lunch was provided and we were given the opportunity to do a Q&A with a leading nutritionist with an incredible resume. She looked just Kelly Ripa to me. So bizarre!
After the Good Health party I headed back to the Expo to volunteer over at the TODAY Parenting Team’s booth to speak with other bloggers about my experience writing for TODAY. 

I was totally in my element in this role and felt similar happy feelings that I felt when I worked for Rachel’s Challenge. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what the correlation between the two experiences is, and I think I’m just my happiest (career-wise) when I’m in a speaking role pouring into the lives of others. Though teaching gave me the opportunity to do this to some extent, these other opportunities were more “me”. I loved meeting and speaking with the women who came by the booth, and I’m so thankful that TODAY invited me to join them to fulfill this volunteer opportunity. Thank you, Rebecca!
I skipped out on the closing keynote to rest a bit before the closing party. McDonalds sponsored and threw the whole shindig, and it was the best party I’ve ever been to in my life! We were charted to Pier 84 where we were served food and drinks (spiked McDonalds strawberry lemonade! Ha!) in the most beautiful setting. 

It was a gorgeous, breezy night, and I couldn’t have been happier! Boys II Men performed four songs, and I sang at the top of my lungs like I was back in middle school!

 

I “met” my roommate Annie from Rocky Mountain Bliss on Twitter, and I seriously lucked out with scoring her as a new friend! She was such wonderful company on this trip.

Nick Cannon came on stage later to continue DJing the party. At 10 p.m. my roommate and I hopped back on a bus to head back to our room to pack!

By midnight I was out cold, but my 3:30 a.m. alarm rang loud and clear what felt like one second after I fell asleep. I caught a 6 a.m. flight back to Kansas and was in my husband’s and daughter’s arms by 2 p.m. Hearing Hadley say “mama!” and run to me made me tear up. After an overwhelming, incredible, exhausting four days away, I was so happy to be home. It’s so good to go away for a refresh sometimes, but there’s no place like home!
My husband even surprised me with some welcome home goodies (notice the B&J is a New York flavor – ha!). He’s very good to me, and I can’t thank him enough for making this trip happen financially while supporting me and my big crazy dreams every step of the way. 

If you’ve made it this far through my conference recaps, thanks for sticking around and letting me document four incredible days and share them with you. Bloggers, if you’re considering investing in attending a blogging conference, I have a few pieces of advice to share with you next week. 

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