Speaking of fashion, I arrived in New York tonight for Rumpled to Runway and I am currently enjoying a lovely hotel room all to myself while my husband is unpacking from camping and tackling laundry.
On Thursday I headed out to the largest women's blogging conference, BlogHer, which was held in NYC.
"You'll be overwhelmed," they said. "Wear comfortable shoes," they said. "Its insane," they said. "Wear comfortable shoes," they said. "You'll be totally, completely exhausted," they said. "Wear comfortable shoes," they said.
But did I listen? No. Were they right? Heck yeah.
It was a terrific, whirlwind of a weekend. With lots of walking around in heels, making conversation and getting very little sleep. And I feel like I have been hit by a truck. Or at least a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, which I am proud to say I DROVE in Manhattan! THROUGH TIMES SQUARE! (Thank you. Why, yes, I am quite proud of myself.) And my feet hurt. Because of course I didn't wear comfortable shoes.
I met some amazing people that I can't wait to tell you about. Made some new friends, reconnected with old ones. Had some "Ohmygoodness, I can't believe it!" moments. Reflected on what I want my blog to be. Gotten inspired with some new ideas. And - above all - been thankful that I have this opportunity, that I have this community, that I have this space to share with you.
More to come soon. After sleep, laundry, cuddles with my babies and lots more coffee.
Last week, I met some of my favorite local bloggers at the new Seasons 52 restaurant in King of Prussia hosted by Best Buy.
I've been wanting to try Seasons 52 since it opened, but haven't had the chance. The restaurant was gorgeous and the staff was wonderful. I was blown away by the food: The entire menu changes weekly, based on what is fresh and in season. They don't use butter (only olive oil) and there isn't a deep fryer in the restaurant. Talk about refreshing! They even
promise that nothing on their menus is more than 475 calories.
My FAVORITE was dessert. I can never decide what dessert to get (because I love dessert) so I think they invented their Mini Indulgences just for me! There's a variety of desserts served in
very small portions so you can enjoy a few things without going overboard. Here's the picture from the website:
YUM, right? I think I have a new favorite restaurant. I can't wait to go back for girls night out or a date night!
The event was sponsored by Best Buy,
and they shared with us a little bit about their company and their work
in the community. I have to say, I was very impressed. Yes, Best Buy is a for-profit company, but they go above and beyond the average in their commitment to give back and to take care of their employees. For example, when Hurricane Katrina hit and wiped
out several Best Buy
stores, Best Buy paid every single one of their employees until the stores reopened and they
were able to go back to work. I find that pretty amazing.
They specifically wanted us to know about their desire to support
young teens. They currently have two philanthropy projects — a program about giving a
voice to teens called @15, and a tech training program for teens girls called Geek Squad Summer Academy. I loved hearing from a female store manager about her passion for mentoring women in her store!
Personally, I love seeing a company that clearly cares about making a difference in the world, takes care of its employees and - in turn - has employees who are passionate about what they do. That's a better advertisement than the one in the newspaper! I'm much more inclined to give a company I trust my business. I love how knowledgeable the employees are - I'm computer shopping, so I was in heaven asking all sorts of questions about what I should get!
I once again brought my camera and was so busy chatting to my PSMM gals and the fabulous Best Buy folks, so I'm stealing a picture from Jo-Lynne's camera phone. Here's me and Jennie and Sarah indulging in some Mini Indulgences.
Early Saturday morning, a group of Philly mom bloggers gathered to hop a bus to NYC for Hebrew National’s Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic
Kickoff event. After an adventurous trip* involving a lost driver, carsickness and a broken down bus (but we broke down at a Wawa, so it wasn't too terrible!) we made it to Randall's Island in NYC just two hours later than planned.
*This might have been my fault, since I just boasted about my unadventurous trip to the last blogging event I went to. Sorry, guys! But we arrived and after enthusiastic greetings from Emily and our NYC-based co-hosts, we hurried over to snag one of the hundreds of hot dogs that were cooked and served in this enormous airstream bus. And after that crazy trip, some good food is just what the doctor ordered. (And here's photographic proof that even Jo-Lynne enjoys her Hebrew National hot dogs!)
As the name suggests, this event was so much more than just a gathering to eat hot dogs! The event supported the Food Bank for New York City and the Magic School Lunch Box program. Did you know that only $36 will provide lunch all summer long for a child who would otherwise go without? What a fantastic cause. Here are two fellow Philly moms, Sherry and Valerie, helping their daughters decorate lunch bags
for the Magic School Lunch Program.
And, of course, we had a fabulous time hanging out with our bloggity friends. With these girls, even a broken down bus can be fun!
A huge thanks to Emily and Cooper of The Motherhood
for organizing this fantastic event and - of course - to the good folks at Hebrew National for feeding goodness knows how many people on Saturday. (Seriously -we're pretty sure that word of the picnic was put out on the NYPD police radio, based on the number of police officers that were in line.)
This past Thursday, I joined some of my favorite Philly bloggers - and a few new friends from Mom Central - at Morimotos in Philly.
For once, Sarah, Jo-Lynne and I arrived early with no drama. We tend to have unplanned adventures when we travel together, which generally end with us arriving late for things ;-) So the evening was off to a good start! We even had time to snap a picture outside Morimotos:
We walked up to the cozy, upstairs lounge and first up was to try some Aquafina FlavorSplash! There were six flavors: Lemon, Grape, Mixed Berry, Strawberry Kiwi, Peach Mango, and Raspberry. I wasn't a fan of the grape (I don't like grape drinks) or the lemon, but I loved the Peach Mango and the Berry. YUMMY! I confess both to not drinking enough water and not really liking plain water very much, so I enjoyed trying this new (calorie-free!) alternative! And look how cute the tasting display was: How fun is that?!! Then came the food.
Oh. My. Word! I'm not a huge sushi connoisseur, but this was amazing. The lobster appetizer was out of this world and so were the dumplings. And then I hit the sushi hard!! It was hands out the best sushi I've ever had. We all had a great time eating the fantastic food, hanging out and catching up face to face.
Then we made an important discovery: the Lychee Cosmopolitan. I would like to make a motion to make that the official cocktail of the Philly Social Media Moms. Oh, does Mom Central and Aquafina FlavorSplash know moms. Giving us a Mom's Night Out what the doctor ordered!! Thanks so much for the party, Ladies!!
disclosure: I
wrote this post after attending an event sponsored by Aquafina
FlavorSplash and Mom Central. I received FlavorSplash goodies and a
gift card as a thank you for posting.
Forget the whole "miracle of flight" thing, it is a miracle that airlines have survived as a business at all. While I do not have an MBA, but even I can see how completely RIDICULOUS the airline ticket pricing is. We spent last night researching airline tickets for my husband to get to my sister's wedding the summer and we were ready to tear our hair out. Can someone please explain why it cost $80 to fly from Philly to Columbus, but it costs over $200 to fly to Cleveland? And you have to make THREE stops to get there? Really? And last week when my husband was booking flights for a business trip, look what he found: Yes. That is the EXACT SAME FLIGHT. With a $952 price difference.
Honestly, Airline People. Get it together.
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I'm very disappointed with the gymnastics class that we signed Gracie up for. She has had a different teacher each week, yesterday the teacher was late, and she appears to be sitting for the majority of the class. We will be looking elsewhere!! Gracie, of course, loves it and now wants to be in the Olympics. At least we found a sport she enjoys! Anything involving a ball was out - she spent last soccer season staying as far away from the ball as possible and if, by chance, she did make contact with the ball, it was entirely accidental! Clearly, she got this from me!!
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This Saturday, I'm heading up to NYC again! Last year Philly mom bloggers hosted one of Hebrew National’s Picnic with a Purpose.
They were such a great success that they're doing them again this year! I was
asked to be a co-host of the NYC Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic kickoff
party, and I'm so excited! They’re sending a bus to King of Prussia to take us to the event and there we'll get to meet up
with a bunch of bloggity friend.
It should be so much fun. If you’re in or near NYC, you are welcome to
join us. Visit theMotherhood’s Picnic with a Purpose page for more details or email me to RSVP. (If you’re in Philly, you are welcome to join us on the bus as well. There are 25 seats
left!!)
Thursday morning, all of us moms were up bright and early to catch the bus to Epcot for breakfast. I met some fabulous 'Disney moms': JL, Jennifer, Jackie, and more delightful ladies than I can remember! While we were enjoying a yummy breakfast, we listened to a fabulous presentation by Guy Kawasaki. He was so real and funny as he gave us tons of tips on how to harness the power of Twitter
for our sites... such great information that was especially appreciated by us
busy moms who are always trying to make the most of our time!
Then came one of the highlights: Disney’s involvement in the conference was to share about Disney’s Give A Day, Get a Day program. Already, 600,000 volunteers have signed up and completed the program to date - but Disney's
goal is to get to one million volunteers. The entire day's events
focused on honoring those who have volunteered, spotlighting volunteer
opportunities and encouraging people to continue to give. It was
inspiring!
And, boy, was the audience surprised when Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition made an appearance and had the audience to shout with him “move those balloons!” to
reveal the world’s largest canned food
sculpture–more than 115,000 cans. (Later that day there was a
volunteer event to pack all the canned food
into boxes for distribution to food shelters.) Can you believe I forgot my camera for this morning? Of all mornings! Like I'm going to run into Ty Pennington again someday. UGH!!
After the presentation, my family and I headed over to the Princess Storybook Dining at Norway's Akershus. We've never been to any character meal at Disney and it was everything I'd heard! This was the highlight of the trip for Gracie, so for me it was worth every penny. We met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, Belle and Cinderella:
I was worried the kids wouldn't really enjoy Epcot after our day at Magic Kingdom, but they had a blast. Disney has done a great job of providing fun activities throughout the park. They loved walking through World Showcase (where we saw tons of characters: Aladdin, Jasmine, Mulan, and Mary Poppins to name just a few). The girls were crazy about Test Track and rode it twice. But the highlight for the entire family was when Colin got to see Nemo! The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride is totally amazing... I was blown away. SUCH a cool ride! We rode it three times, I think. I wish it had been around when Ellie was 2 and totally obsessed with all things Nemo. Colin was squealing with excitement the entire time. I'll never forget it!
Later that evening, we were treated to yet another surprise: an amazing dinner prepared by Chef Robert Irvine and his crew from Food Network's Dinner Impossible. Thursday night’s event was held outside and it
was cold, but Disney staff was handing out hand warmers and had outdoor heaters to help kept us warm. We parked ourselves next to a heater at a table with Mandy's adorable family and enjoyed the food that was inspired by the Disney Princesses! I loved the seafood shepherd’s pie while Gracie and Colin inhaled the chicken lo mein: I can’t wait to see the show when it airs on Food Network in the spring! After dinner we were treated to a concert by
a new band, Allstar Weekend (winners of Disney’s Next Big Thing contest), then Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato took the stage. The night ended with a fabulous fireworks display. This was my girls first concert experience and they were totally into it! They were waving their glow sticks and dancing around with their arms in the air... they were so cute they even got up on the big screen :-) It was a fantastic night and a terrific party. I love how Disney pulled out all the stops to honor the volunteers!
Disclaimer: I paid a fee to attend this conference, but as an attendee I
received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting
benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Walt Disney World.
Wednesday morning we were woken up bright and early at the Embassy Suites Orlando Airport by three extremely excited little people! We headed downstairs for breakfast, where we ran into Janine and her adorable twin girls who were so sweet. What a great way to start our Disney Mom experience! We hopped on the shuttle and transferred to the Magical Express at the airport and were on our way to the Walt Disney World Resort.
We were dropped off at the Polynesian Resort, checked in (and met Christy - such a sweetie!) and went to pick up my conference packet (and a sweet bag of goodies!) and immediately headed out to the Magic Kingdom! We spent a fabulous day at the Magic Kingdom, taking full advantage of the media fast pass that was in our packet! It would be hard to pick a single highlight, but a few included:
Colin's face when he saw Pooh for the first time. He was jumping up and down in pure joy, giggling and pointing yelling "POOOOHH!!" Disney Magic at its best.
The rides. Its a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo... I can't describe how fun it is to see my kids loving the rides I loved as a kid!
Ellie and Gracie are finally old enough to do some big rides! Their favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Ellie even braved Pirates of the Caribbean!
Meeting Ariel. We never got to meet her on our last trip to Disneyland, so Gracie was in heaven!
We returned to our hotel around 4:30 get ready for night's festivities! At 5:00 we caught the bus to ESPN Wide World of Sports. The kids and families were whisked away for some hot chocolate and sports-themed fun while the bloggers were treated to a short briefing and presentation by Meg Crofton, President of the Walt Disney World Resort. We listened as she and several others spoke to us about what's next for Disney. And there are some amazing things on the horizon:
Fantasy Land Expansion - For me, the mom of two little princesses, this was the most exciting news of the night. Guests will be able to have even more magical encounters with Disney princesses, like hanging out with Cinderella and attending Princess Aurora's 16th birthday party - complete with helping the three good fairies with preparation! Each princess will have her own themed village within Fantasyland Forest. My girls will think they've died and gone to princess heaven!! Even Dumbo is getting a makeover, doubling the ride's capacity and riders can play carnival games while they wait in line. (And if you have kids, you KNOW how long the line for Dumbo usually is!)
Summer Nighttastic - The Mainstreet Electrical Parade we grew up with is coming back this summer!! Oh, what I would give to see this again! It was always my favorite parade growing up and I'd love to share it with this kidlets!
Disney Cruise Line - Not only is Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, getting a huge makeover, but there will be two new ships in the Disney fleet. Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy are scheduled to set sail in 2011 and 2012. Disney Cruise Line will also be sailing beyond the Bahamas - ships will be sailing both to Alaska and Europe. It has been my dream for years to take an Alaskan cruise - totally on my 'bucket list'. And now I know what cruise line I want to go on!
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex - Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex has joined forces with ESPN to create a truly amazing sporting experience for athletes of all ages and levels. Every athletes will feel like professionals as they see themselves featured on ESPN and get the Disney touch on their sporting events.
After the presentations, we met up with our families and were treated to an amazing night of Disneyentertainment – yummy food, dancing for the kids, characters
visiting our
tables, and schmoozing with other bloggers. This night was by far my kids
favorite. Who knew my girls had inherited their Mama's love of dancing
the night away? We practically had to drag them off the stage. It was a fabulous party and just a small taste of the amazing week that was to come!
Disclaimer: I paid a fee to attend this conference, but as an attendee I
received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting
benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Walt Disney World.
Yesterday we returned from 5 fun-filled days at the Walt Disney World Resort, where I had the privilege of attending the Disney Social Media Moms Conference (#DisneySMMoms).
I've been to many a bloggy event and I must say, this was the event
to end all events. It was not only tons of fun, but it was also
intimate, very well-organized, offered inspiring and informative
speakers and it included my whole family. There is no way to
cut down all that we did into a post that is less than 5 pages long, so
here are just a few quick highlights...
the Disney touch: When I say this conference was well-organized, I am
not kidding. They thought of everything. Events started and ended right
on schedule, buses were waiting to take us directly back and forth to
the hotel and they were handing out umbrellas when it rained. Even
little details, like the media fast pass or the activities for the kids
during meals or serving the kiddos hot chocolate at a chilly outdoor
event or handing out hand warmers at the evening concert... Disney does
it right and this conference was no different!
the speakers: I don't know who was in charge of lining up speakers for this conference, but who ever you are, you did a fantastic job. Maxine Clark, the founder and CEO of Build-A-Bear was inspired us to chase our dreams, Tony award winner Marissa Winokur encouraged us to find humor in balancing work and motherhood, Kathy Ireland challenged us to never give up and find our passion. Guy Kawasaki gave us tips on how to harness the power of Twitter for our sites while Chris Brogan
gave us some common sense advice on marketing -- both were terrific for
busy moms who are always trying to make the most of our time!
the people: I got to see many old friends and meet some fabulous new bloggers! I could not even list alltheterrificpeopleImetevenifItried. I loved hanging out with Colleen from Classy Mommy and Whitney from Mommies with Style (my Philly girls!) It was great to see Audrey from Mom Generations again and Danielle from Extraordinary Mommy
was so lovely. It was a diverse group of moms (with a few dads thrown
in :-) and they were such a great bunch. People were so friendly and
genuine - it really made the conference for me!
my family: This was the first conference that I've seen that
included my entire family. Like most other
moms, my main struggle in attending conferences and events is arranging
childcare. So to be able to bring them along was perfect. It was such
an amazing event and being able to share the magic with my husband and
children was priceless. Plus, it was great to meet everyone else's
kids! As Mommy bloggers, so many of us write about our kids every day,
so it was fun to meet the stars of all the blogs I read :-)
There's so much more to share... but it will take a while it get it all down! I'll be posting more soon!
