It’s time for some #SoFabCon pics {not-so} Wordless Wednesday
I know, I know, I’m late on getting my SoFabCon pictures up, but give a girl a break! I’ve been down with ANOTHER staph infection (actually 4 of them right now) but I’m on the mend. And besides, you all know me, I can’t do anything in a timely fashion. I’m just crazy like that! So…enough of the words on a Wordless Wednesday. Here’s my quick and dirty recap!
Oh, and by the way, excuse the quality of some of these, I’m still using a camera phone because I don’t have my dream camera yet. Enjoy!
Before leaving for SoFabCon, I had quite a bit of packing and some bleaching to do. I made this big mess the day before I left. You’ll see…
After dropping off Hubby at work, our boy at daycare, and grabbing a little caffeine for the road, I set out to drive to Arkansas. Seven hours doesn’t sounds so bad, now does it?
Yes, it’s a beautiful drive through Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, but seven hours in the rain, with stops (and maybe some shopping) turns into nine hours. But…I found some awesome #purplearmy nail polish and Walmart even tweeted with me about it!
Dog tired, but hyped up on caffeine and sugar, I headed to the first event – The SoFabCon Opening Cocktail Party! My roommate, Heather from Acting Balanced, and I posed for a picture in front of the Collective Bias/Social Fabric banner outside the party.
The next morning, we all woke to a shock of snow…in May…in Arkansas!
SoFabCon began with John Andrews and Amy Callahan welcoming us all and telling us about their dream that has become a reality. I met each of them separately throughout the weekend (a story for another day) and they are both so kind and generous.
Down to business, we started with a lesson in SEO from Dan R. Morris and learned how to create our cocoon (again, story for another day).
True story – I tweeted about wanting to take a pic with Ted Rubin and Courtney Velasquez, not necessarily at the same time (because I’m too shy to approach them, ugh) and they found me during a break for a pic!
I also met Courtney from My Crazy Savings who was my inspiration to finally take the plunge and start blogging after her post, Why I Blog. She is so sweet and lives close by. I was psyched that she was as excited to meet me as well!
The second night was all about Collective Bias’ 4th birthday. We had a party! I was in love with these huge balloons and really wanted to take one home to my boy. My roommate even brought one up to the room. But I just couldn’t figure out a way to fit it in the Jeep.
We couldn’t have a birthday party without cake and punch, and this punch was just what I needed to relax and enjoy the evening.
I even played a little peek-a-boo with Rachel from Bubble Nature Creations {the photography queen} at the table (because there was a huge balloon in the middle!).
What an amazing birthday party and what an unforgettable day!
The final day, we started with a keynote from Tiffany Romero from SITSgirls, who talked to us about Power(ing) Down. I needed this, but don’t we all? She is amazing and I would have loved to meet her and talk to her more.
A Collective Bias/Social Fabric event is never complete without a little awkward stretching. I was sitting with Brandi from The Creative Princess and Kristy from Mommy Hates Cooking during breakfast when this one happened.
Back to business – We learned a lot about making money blogging from these awesome women! Read more about them on the SoFabCon site, but I’ll be posting about the session later as well.
In between sessions, brands had booths set up for us to check out and I took a few minutes to freshen up my hair. With 5 minutes and a flat iron, #ConairDidMyHair!
The ladies of Collective Bias sat down with us during lunch and talked to us about being awesomesauce. They gave us tips on how to work with CB and Social Fabric and how to be authentic when we are creating content. These ladies ARE awesomesauce.
With all the sessions behind us, it was time for another party – 80’s style! I pulled out my hot pink Converse, the bleached pants, and few more neon pieces, while my roommate teased and hairsprayed my hair, and it was time for some 80’s night bowling!
My boy bought me that cute blue polka dot bow so I had to send him a pic to show him that I didn’t forget.
The party was rockin’ and everyone was so fun. I even won a $50 Sears gift card for my smiling socks!
Sunday morning, I was up bright and early and back on the road. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was amazing. It was another nine hour drive, but it seemed to go by faster without the rain.
And I totally had snacks from my swag bag to keep me moving (more on the swag bag coming soon!)
Back from Arkansas and I had to bring my boy home a Razorbacks snout. He loved it…almost as much as he loved hugging on me because he missed me so much!
It was such a fun trip – I definitely feel like I know and connect with so many other bloggers now!
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom recently posted..Baby Milestone: First Fitting with Huggies Slip-On Diapers #firstfit #ad
I know! It’s like a different type of connection now that we all know each other in person. I can’t wait for another chance to meet you and so many others!
Fun post! Love reading the recaps! =)
Beth Zimmerman (@BethZimmerman) recently posted..Justice and Mercy
What a fun post. Love seeing the event in pictures. So happy to finally meet you in real life. We need to do that again soon. We’re not that far away!
Christy recently posted..One Night…At SoFabCon…We Had a Cocktail Party!
Thanks Christy, I really want to come visit Galveston again. I miss the summer vacations with my family. We will have to meet again soon, even if it’s to take our kids to something fun or just go have some coffee together…or pedicures, yes, let’s have a girl’s day!
The conference was so fun! Glad I got to meet you! So sorry about your staph infections though… we’ve had our fair share of staph infections over the years and they are scary and pain. Take care!
Thanks Rachel! Luckily, they are small-ish infections that aren’t too scary, but are totally painful! They just happen to be on my stomach where my boy likes to cuddle his legs and wiggle his feet…ouch!
Great recap of the weekend! It was so fun and I am so glad we met IRL! You’re blog is awesome and you’ve done a great job with it!
Courtney Solstad recently posted..Taste of Addison (+ Giveaway!)
Thanks Courtney! I love the changes you are making on your blog as well!