BlogHer

BlogHer ’12 | Conclusion and Giveaway

SATURDAY | Last Conference Day

Ahhh…last day of the conference has arrived. Although technically BlogHer was only two days, it felt like I had been there a week!

So I have to begin by saying that the previous day’s sessions were pretty much a wash. I didn’t learn much and overall was kinda, sorta…bored. Not so on the second day, that’s for sure! My first session of the day was “Advanced SEO for Bloggers”. Wow, was this sesh a wealth of information. Some of it over my head, I admit, but overall lots of goodies for my brain. I had to sit on the floor in the corner, but let me tell ya, it was worth it!

Next up? “Avoid Analytics Overload: Google Analytics Tips”. Thankfully it was in the same room as the last one, so I was able to snag a front row seat with desk space AND ding, ding, ding, a power outlet! Struck gold I tell ya! Anyways, this was easily my favorite session of the whole conference. So much great information on navigating the abyss of stats that is Google Analytics. Here’s one of my favorite slides:

After the morning sessions it was time for lunch! I was dreading walking to the lunch area thinking it was going to be a repeat performance of the day before’s “Martha Madness”. But the Hilton staff seemed to have ironed out their kinks 😉 and it was much, much more smooth this time. I even managed to get a front spot for the lunch keynote. Well, that was mostly due to Bianca, who wasn’t enjoying her 2nd session and ducked out early to save me and Tamara (Blitz and Glam) a prime spot for….wait for it…

LUNCH KEYNOTE | Katie Couric
Katie Couric came next. Boy, a bigger smile I-never-did see. She sure is a little sparkplug. She’s coming out with a new daytime talk show in Sept., called (fittingly) ‘Katie’. She’s planning on saving audience seats for bloggers for each show. Way to win me over Katie! Not only did she flex her guns for us, (intimidating btw!) but she even threw out advice for what to do with the “haters” out there: “block his ass!”. HA!

AFTERNOON KEYNOTE | Soledad O’Brien, Christy Turlington-Burns & Malaak Compton Rock

After lunch came three gorgeous ladies. Soledad, a broadcast journalist; Christy, a former supermodel turned philathropist/stay at home Mom and Malaak, another Mom Philanthropist (wife to Chris Rock). They each talked about their non-profits and I have to say that Soledad and Christy made a great pair – so eloquent and interesting. Malaak? Not so much. She had major brain freeze moments the second anyone directed a question at her. It’s too bad really, because it ruined the discussion for me.

We ended up sneaking out early and trying to crash a Geek Bar session. Success! I managed to finagle a seat in the “How to create a Media Kit” group and much to my surprise found it very interesting! Happy face!

After the Geek Bar, Bianca and I hit up the Expo Hall once again and I managed to squeeze in the last free manicure of the night at the Logitech booth. Score!

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting patiently for, the BlogHer giveaway!

After Martha’s keynote on Friday, she graciously left “gifts” on all of the tables for us. A free one-year digital subscription to Martha Stewart Living, Everyday Food, Whole Living and and Martha Stewart Weddings Magazines. How completely AWESOME is that? This was, by FAR, my favorite swag of the whole conference. Well I just so happen to have an extra one lying around that could have your name on it! Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter! Oh and very important, this is for iPad users only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BlogHer ’12 | The Aftermath Part II

FRIDAY | 1st Conference Day

I slept in yet again and missed the newbie breakfast. Whoops. Sleeping in is just such a luxury, it’s hard not to give in to it!

I had a couple of sessions today, nothing too jaw dropping though. Lunch time came and somehow all 5,000 attendees tried to make a line on the 2nd floor for Martha’s visit. Scary. The line wrapped from one end of the room to the other, then back again then started to zig zag. It got to the point that I almost didn’t know which way was up and down, let alone left or right. I was worried there was going to be a stampede into the lunch room!

I somehow managed to find a decent seat and a plate a food in front of me without hurting myself (or others!). Finally it was time for our little chat with Martha. I’ve briefly met Martha once before and she just blows my mind. She’s just so inspiring in every way. She’s creative, strong, dryly funny, yet gracious and womanly all combined. What would I give to work with her someday! I remember taping her show every morning growing up, so I could watch it after school. In fact, I broke the VCR with all of my recording…ahh, the good ole’ days before DVR.

After lunch there were more sessions and then Bianca, Tamara & I decided to visit the Expo hall. I actually headed over to the Leggett and Platt booth to meet up with one of my favorite HGTVers, Emily Henderson. I watched her season of Design Star and I’ve been a fan of her ever since. Not only does she have such a great eye for design (obvs), but she’s exactly the same person in person as she is on TV. Which is a mix of friendly, funny, sweet, welcoming and yes, a teensy-bit goofy. But seriously folks, she’s got some major talent. Have you seen her show, Secrets from a Stylist? Only she could make ‘Tiki meets vintage Japanese cowboy meets atomic kitsch‘ look good.

Next up, we ran into this pretty lady at the Windows/My Habit booth.

Jeannie Mai is super, super nice folks. I couldn’t believe how sweet she was! And what a beautiful smile. I joked around saying that maybe she could help me with my hair. It had a mind of its own this trip. I left it to air dry one day expecting it to go curly since it was so humid. Yeah, not so much. Sigh.

Bianca and I ran out for dinner at Centro Vinoteca and I had the most delicious gnocchi! My, oh my…they were like little pillows of velvety goodness. Seriously. So good. We also polished off a bottle of wine between the two of us.

After our wine we were pretty good to hit up the SparkleCorn partaay! We threw our wedges on and headed on over. This is a must-do if you’re at BlogHer. It’s quite the scene. Tons of women rockin’ their socks off dressed in glitter and glow sticks. And of course the required unicorn cake. We didn’t stay long actually, because I started to feel a little claustrophobic, that place was PACKED.

Stay tuned for more from BlogHer!

BlogHer ’12 | The Aftermath Part I

I’m sure most of you know by now that I was at BlogHer ’12 last week. In fact, I just got home yesterday after being gone for 5 days, that’s right FIVE days. That’s 4 days longer than I’ve ever been gone before…post-Arden, that is. I missed my lil’ bug so much! Although it was definitely a great trip.

I’d never been to BlogHer before. In fact, I’ve never been to a blogger-focused conference before either. I definitely chose the mother of all conferences to go to! Before I left, I read that there were going to be around 3,500 women there. Once I arrived that number was increased to 5,000! Picture 5,000 woman taking over the Hilton NYC, as you can imagine it was quite the scene.

I’d like to start this post with a huge, big, whopping THANK YOU to the Foundary, who made it possible for me to attend BlogHer this year! Thanks to their sponsorship I was able to fly across the country to learn and meet so many wonderful, talented and gorgeous lady bloggers. It was such a privilege, not only to attend, but to also represent a company that I can whole-heartedly endorse.

WEDNESDAY | Travel Day
Flight out: Virgin America leaving SFO at 2pm.
JFK scheduled time of arrival? 11:00pm. Actual arrival? 12:30am.
Time I finally checked into the hotel? 1:45am. ZZzzzzzzzzzz
Luckily I was prepared with a Living Social voucher for a nice town car pick-up.

High point of the day? My beloved plant burger from The Plant Cafe (near my boarding gate) and a vegan chocolate cupcake. Delish!

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Check out these adorable, grey mini chairs for the kiddos to enjoy while waiting to board the plane. Arden has a hot pink one at home that she loves. They had adult sized versions too, that I took full advantage of – so comfy.

THURSDAY | PreConference

After sleeping in until…NOON. Bianca and I were ready to take on New York (right!). We had the day free, so we decided to do a little bargain hunting. We hit up the Chelsea Housing Works. Where I proceeded to drool over furniture that I couldn’t buy (shipping costs – gah!). Here are some of the amazing deals we saw.

A $50 lacquered nightstand anyone?

How about this cute vignette? Chair $40 and desk $250

Gorgeous side table $75

Someone beat us to it, so I don’t know the price, but how fab is this campaign tall boy?

A grand pair of vintage smoky lucite chairs for $175.

Then we had lunch nearby at the Cafeteria. I started off with a peachy, champagne cocktail and finished off with truffle mac & cheese with a side of truffle, parm fries. My stomach is growling just thinking of it!

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Further down 17th street we got some tea and biscuits from Haven’s Kitchen. This place is super adorable and super tasty.

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Then we wandered into West Elm and Canvas.

Lusting after this woven console from West Elm

After that it was back to the hotel to pick up our badges and listen to the opening speeches.

We had some amazing keynote speakers, you already saw my picture of Obama during his opening speech. The speech itself was definitely a little election-centric, to be expected during an election year, I guess. Whether you be a Obama fan or not, it was a huge honor. The fact that a women blogger conference can book the current President of the United States for their opening keynote, well, that just tells you how much INFLUENCE we, as bloggers, have. Mind blowing really.

After Mr. President’s talk, Bianca and I headed over to a fun little party hosted by Kitty and Busy Bee. I met a bunch of fun (and stylish) ladies there; Blitz and Glam, Melissa Dell and Teaching in Heels to name a few.

Me and Tamara from Blitz and Glam at the CaliDreams Party

Back with more deets soon!

BlogHer ’12 Here I come

Guess what folks? A week from now Copy Cat Chic will be in NYC! I will be attending BlogHer’12 for the very first time 🙂 Actually, both Bianca & I are taking part in the conference and we can’t wait!

The BlogHer conference is the world’s biggest women’s only blogging event. This year there will be around 4,500 woman invading New York to attend. Pure craziness AND one of this year’s keynote speakers is my longtime idol, Martha Stewart! Ecstatic 😀

And I want to introduce you to Copy Cat Chic’s BlogHer ’12 sponsor:

I’m so excited to partner with the Foundary because they are a company that I can truly recommend and one that I personally buy from (a lot!). The Foundary is an exclusive, members-only daily sales site that offers items for the home at prices up to 70% off retail. I’ve posted about them before and have been a member since their beta stages and it’s been so great to watch them grow and become a major resource for me, my blog and for most of you as well.

My Biz Cards for BlogHer ’12

So August will be “the Foundary” month here at Copy Cat Chic. We’re going to be celebrating them and their generous support of the blog at BlogHer ’12. You’ll notice a new ad at the top of the page as well as a new post footer featuring them. There will be a couple of posts featuring their sale products in the next couple of months as well. I’m really excited about it actually, because you all know how I love to share a good deal. Well it’s obvious that Copy Cat Chic & the Foundary make a good team 😉

My new iPhone & iPad decoration 😉 c/o the Foundary

I want to extend a huge thank you to the Foundary for making my trip to BlogHer ’12 a reality. Copy Cat Chic is my passion and I love any opportunity to make it the best blog and home design resource it can be. I can’t wait to go, learn and represent not only my blog, but the Foundary as well!