BlogHer '10: The Parties and Swag

Ok. Before I begin, let's me preface this post with I KNOW. It's not about the swag. Believe me, I know.  That's why the post about the people, the proverbial wind beneath my BlogHer wings, was first.  But when I can get a few nice things for my son?  Swag can be pretty sweet.  Also, when you're currently a one-income family?  Free food coupons are also rather nice. Plus, I like shiny things and candy, so there ya go.

Here's my suitcase, containing most of what I brought home. You won't see the coupons because they are already in my coupon organizer. Two of them have already been redeemed.

I left at least this much stuff in NYC with Kitty.  Some of the toys were too old for Dean, so Kitty can give them to her nephew.  I also left her all the craft supplies I got at the Martha party because I? Am not crafty.  I also got 5 shirts, which are currently in the washer, 8 tote bags, most of which I took to the Swag Exchange with some other stuff I didn't need, and this:

That's Dean in mismatched PJ's with his new BFF: MR. POTATOHEAD!  (The Toy Story 3 edition)  He played with it for 7 hours yesterday and 2 this morning.  Best. Swag. Ever.

Ok, enough of that, let's talk about PARTIES!!!!!!!!  The lovely Shannan invited me to be her guest to the Braces.org Shine and Smile fashion show on Thursday.  You've already seen my picture with our host, Jennie Garth.  They had a super-fun photo booth where you could take pictures with giant toothbrushes. I took my pictures with Michelle, but they are somewhere in the middle of 9000 other pieces of paper right now, so you'll have to wait until I find them and scan them.  In the meantime, here's Shannan and Amy rockin' the fake smiles. (Be sure to look at Amy's eyes!)

  Fun times.  After the show, I headed to the Martha Stewart Bloggers Night Out.  I had the good fortune of meeting Alissa and Jen in the taxi line, so we shared a cab downtown.  The party was originally supposed to be on the roof, but the weather looked threatening, so we moved inside to Martha's offices.  It was CROWDED.  The displays and stations were nice, but it was almost overwhelming with all the people and chaos. (Oddly, situations like that are usually where I thrive, but this one just gave me a headache.)  I did have the most refreshing beverage of my life there, a nice creation involving honeydew and raspberries. And you couldn't beat the view.

I wanted to dive into these face-first, but Martha's classier than that, so I just ate 14 one instead.

Thursday evening was the People's Party, which was very low-key and informal.  I had a big plate of food, a big Diet Pepsi and some nice conversation with Safire. (Isn't that the coolest name? She's a cool lady, too.)  I called it a night fairly early so I'd have energy for Friday.

After the sessions and such ended on Friday, I met up with Jennie for a quick hello, then headed to the Voices of the Year Gala.  Unfortunately, none of my pictures turned out.  I would have had a better time at the Gala if I'd been there with a big group, but I was tired and not really feeling like a party, so I did a drive-by, then headed out.

Saturday was the best day for social events.  Shannan, Kelby, Mel and I headed downtown for a lovely dinner with Tavern Direct.  You'll be hearing lots more about this dinner later, as this company and their cause is very near and dear to my heart. Also, the food was insanely good. We all whipped out our cameras each time a new course was served.

You know you're with bloggers when they take pictures of their dessert before eating it. 

Saturday evening held lots of good times for us, as the official BlogHer parties closed out the conference with big fun.  Kudos to the good folks of BlogHer for opening these parties up to everyone since the spaces were big enough to accommodate all of us.  First was Blogalicious.  Let me tell you, these ladies know how to shake it.  We danced our tails off to some fantastic music.

Next was Sparklecorn, the best party EVER.  It was amazing. MamaPop sure knows how to throw a bash.  There was this beauty, made by Charm City Cakes:

There was the giant BlogHer sign we all passed around the dance floor:

There was fantastic music, awesome dancing and amazing conversation.  It was the best time I've had in a while.   

After Sparklecorn was CheeseburgHer:

So as you can see, it was a pretty rockin' weekend.

Stay tuned...posts are still to come on the breakout sessions, the expo hall and all the stuff I did in NYC outside of BlogHer! 

Comments

[eva]

Wow look at you, party animal!

We are muy jealous of the swag. Especially all that play-do and Potato Head!

Did you feel excluded from a clique or any of the other stuff I've always read about from bloggers at their first Blogher? Looks like you did just fine, but I'm curious.

[Alissa]

We weren't lucky enough to snag a Mr.Potato Head, but I did but in a good effort in the Swag Exchange room.

I too loved the Honeydew drink at Martha's, but was underwhelmed by the party as a whole.

Did you do the photo booth at CheeseburgHer?

[Geekbabe]

You are such a lovely, warm, funny woman, wasn't the meal with @taverndirect amazing?

[Julie]

I am still waiting for my swag to arrive via UPS. Next year I am bringing an extra suitcase. I think it would be cheaper to pay to check an extra suitcase on the plane than to ship two boxes by UPS. Ah well, we live and we learn.

[AJU5's Mom]

That swag - COOL!