Elevate Blog Conference {Recap}

Have you ever been to a blog conference? If you have, then you know why I'm so excited to share about Elevate!! It is the best Orange County conference a girl could ask for! And if you have never been to a blog conference -- I highly recommend Elevate! {After you check out all these pics, you'll see why!}

{All photos credit to Lora Knight Photography except the ones marked "Shaped by Grace."}

What I love about the Elevate Blog Conference:

1. They keep it small. They only sell a limited number of tickets so that there is plenty of time to meet and speak with everyone. (And it works!) The conference felt so intimate - I loved being at different tables and in different groups to meet and make new friends!

 

 

2. They have AMAZING speakers! Seriously! Last year I got to meet Holly at 504 Main and Ashley from Little Blue Boo and this year --- they did not disappoint! This years speakers included Sarah from Penelope Lane Boutique, Kimmie from Sugar and Dot, Erin from Living in Yellow and Ashley from Little Miss Momma. {I KNOW!! I'm getting star struck just writing this out again!}

 

{Ashley from Little Miss Momma -- and ME!! Squeal!} 

 

Do you ever wonder if a blogger is like their blog posts or a lot different? Well, these ladies are just who they are - on and off the blog. And just as wonderful. They all had a unified message -- BE YOURSELF on your blog. Find your voice and share YOUR STORY.

 

 

3. We get to have craft time! Every year (okay, there has only been 2 so far) they provide a craft for us to create. This year it was nail art where we got to hammer nails into distressed wood and create a design. I chose the outline to California and added the heart (Thanks to guidance by Nichole from Yeung Mother Hubbard) where Southern CA is because that's where I'm from. I loved the end result:

 

 

 

This sign is hanging up proudly by my front door and I know it will be part of my home for a long time. :o)

 

4. We are part of a service project. I love that each year Elevate has a service project. This year's project was for us to cut out patterns for an organization called Sole Hope that makes shoes for children in need. It's a great cause and I encourage you guys to look it up and throw your own shoe making party! It was also great chance to meet and bond with more ladies at the conference!

 

 

 

5. They have awesome food and decorations!! I will let you take in all the eye candy that was this conference. I tell you, the people I met were the best part of the day, but it's fun to meet and greet around delicious food and tons of cute decor!

 

 







 

 

6. Friendships!! I get to reunite with friends and meet new blog friends in person!! I was so excited to meet Megan from Absolute Mommy, Kristine from The Foley Fam {Unedited} pictured below

 

 

 

and hang with one of my bloggy BFF's Renee from Coffee-n-Ink -- she is always smiling and full of love and connecting people! I'm so happy every time I get to hang with her!!

 

 

 

7. We get to play games!!! (If you know me -- you know I like games!!) It's more bonding time and TONS of fun to do all the tasks!

 

 

I loved sharing in the day with each one of these beautiful ladies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of all, I have to thank these three ladies for all their hard work, dedication and time to put together this entire conference for us! We are blessed by your time and talents! Thank you!!

 

 

{From left: Jen from Delightful Deets, Summer from Made by Munchies Mama and Nichole from Yeung Mother Hubbard.}

 

If the pictures weren't enough - here is a video that Lora Knight put together that captures the essence of the event. Enjoy!!

 

Would you like to go to a blog confernece? I highly recommend Elevate! It's every year in May!! See you there! ;o)

Elevate Blog Conference Recap

Wow, where do I start? The Elevate Blog Conference was AMAZING. The word doesn’t even encompass all the beautiful women and details that when into this creative day. I wish I had taken a thousand pictures – instead I think I only took one or two hundred. hee hee
This conference was organized by the lovely Summer from Made By Munchies Mama, Jen from Delightful Deets and Nichole from Yeung Mother Hubbard. These ladies had lunch for us, snacks, drinks in cute mason jars with daisy cut lids, striped paper straws, milk bottle centerpieces a mexican dinner {my favorite food!} AND

this amazing dessert display:


The time and effort put into this event was evident in all the details of the day:




Yes, there was  even a cotton candy making machine there!!

After lunch was craft time! Woot! Woot! Stencils + wood = cool new art project!
There’s no turning back now…



Yay! It worked!



After the craft we had the opportunity to listen and learn from a few inspiring ladies around blog land. Next time, I am not going to be shy and ask to get my picture with them all!
First up, Nina from Momma Go Round! She is just as bubbly in person as she is on her blog! I could totally ‘hear’ her voice – and that’s what she spoke to us about! How to find our voice and focus our blog. I really absorbed and learned a lot from her discussion!



Next we heard from Becki from Whippy Cake!!! She was so cute and fun! I love her headbands and it was cool to hear how she got started and branded her site!!




Another inspiring woman was Ashley from Little Blue Boo. This was the only picture I got of her speaking. Actually, here, she is listening intently to another blogger share. I was so moved from her entire discussion. To hear her talk about her story, her words of encouragement through life’s trials, I knew if her story was the only thing I learned that day, then my time was well spent.



Her talk was extremely emotional and touching. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I felt uplifted just being in the same room with her. And while we got to see this heartfelt side of Ashley, we also got to see her fun loving free spirit!! {Scroll down to the game pictures below!!} Whatever love I had for these ladies was amplified x10 during the games!! lol


We also got a photography lesson from Kristine at Lucky Lime Photography! It was so helpful! I know I’m not using my camera to it’s maximum potential and rely on PicMonkey to fix most of my errors. It was really cool to hear from a seasoned photographer the little changes and things we can do to make our photos look more professional!



The final speaker I heard that day was Holly from 504 Main. I love, love, LOVE the DIY yourself club {Hello, do you see that charm on my right side bar?} I am a total member of the club! Booyah! And here I was, sitting only a few feet away from her as she shared how she organizes her blog and her time. It really put into perspective the amount of time I put into my blog and reminded me to prioritize my life. Thanks Holly!




I am still start struck that I was in the same room as these ladies! After the workshops we enjoyed dinner and then it was GAME TIME! If you know me, you know I love games! My first thought was, ‘I sure hope I don’t lose any blog friends from all my competitiveness!!’ Ha! Little did I know I was in a room full of ladies ready to WIN IT! A Minute to Win It to be exact! I had to bring my ‘A’ game!
One task was wrapping party streamers around your arms. I’m glad I didn’t get this task! It looked so hard!! But – these ladies also made it look like tons of fun! {That’s Ashley from Little Blue Boo again!} She was hilarious!



Next up was stacking Ding Dongs on your head! Nay from Cover to Cover and Everything in Between had us almost the whole way! Then Nina {Momma Go Round}, on my team, came from behind and won!!! You go girl!!



You’re not having fun unless you have a Ding Dong stuck to your face! I love Nay’s expression here too! LOL


Fun can also be defined as having Vaseline stuck to your nose! My job was to move 5 cotton balls into the bowl. Owned it! Like my game winning stance??



Alissa from Rags to Stiches was also on our team and she and another teammate helped us to victory by pulling tissues out of a tissue box. Their efforts helped us win the entire game!!!! Woo hoo!! Here’s what winning looks like folks:



It was the perfect ending to a fun, awesome, totally fantabulous day!! WELL, the PERFECT ending was actually the raffle at the end – because I won an Elevate swag bag!!! Check out all this swag!!! {This was in addition to the swag bag that everyone got when we walked in!} One more time – can everyone say: AWESOME!?!



Here is a link to Elevate’s blog where you can get a list of ALL the sponsors of the day, including the swag bag above! They are all totally worth checking out!!! Elevate Conference Sponsors
Thank you again to Summer, Jen and Nichole for all your help in making us all feel so special! You girls rock!





If any of you have ever considered going to a blog conference – you should!!! It was so nice to meet and connect with so many local bloggers and enjoy a day of being uplifted, encouraged and ELEVATED!! Do I hear Elevate 2013???

What I Wore to Elevate

Saturday I had the privilege of attending the Elevate blog conference in Fountain Valley, CA. It was so awesome to be surrounded by such motivating and talented women!! There is so much to say about this amazing conference -- I’m warning you now, it won’t fit in one post. I thought I’d get the juices flowing with What I Wore to the conference and go into details when I really have time to write this weekend. SO here we go…

I wore this Anthropologie {of course!} strapless top. It’s only available online, for now, but I love that it ties around the waist. The top is partly covered by this adorable craft they had ready for us! Everyone got to choose one of three quotes. I chose “Choose Joy” because it represents my life and attitude and last summer I had the honor of dancing in a church workshop and the theme was, you guessed it - “Choose Joy!” I also wore this smile on my face the ENTIRE day of the conference because everyone was SO nice and the day was so smooth and fun!!




Here is another picture of my outfit  – although it is definitely outshined by my star studded arm candy! Do you recognize Summer from Made by Munchies Mama,  Nichole from Yeung Mother Hubbard and Jen from Delightful Deets? Holla!

Top: Anthropologie

Jeans: Express 

Shoes: Yellow ballet flats not shown

Here is another picture – but who am I looking at? I don’t know. lol And, I didn’t realize what a giant I am! I’m sure glad I wore my flats!




I would personally like to invite you to the next Elevate conference because these girls know how to throw a party!! Here are just a few sneak peek photos of the event!

I hope you come back to visit soon to read the entire recap!! Because, I didn’t even touch on the inspiring speakers that we heard and the games! {And, boy, were there games. Let me just say, you don’t get Vaseline and cotton balls all over your nose unless some good fun is being had.}



This is the blurry teaser picture. Oh, there is so much evidence of the madness and FUN to come!

See you soon!

What's a party without friends? Linking up at: The Pleated Poppy