SoCal Social 2013

I haven't been to any of the huge blogging conferences, BlogHer, Blissdom, etc. but I have been able to go to several smaller more local blogger events, including the SoCal Social I went to this weekend.

I only knew a few people that were going to be there and there were several familiar faces but when I got there I ended up joining up with a group of complete strangers (both on-line and in person), by the end of the night I knew I had made some new friends that I am excited to meet up with again.

The first part of the day was filled with visiting all of the quaint shops of Downtown Orange.

There are so many cute antique and specialty shops including Vintiques Home Decor.  The owner was so nice and even had his social media guy there ready to take a picture of us bloggers as we came in and was sharing the pictures on social media (smart man who understands bloggers!)  This is the picture they took of the group of ladies I was with.


From left to Right: Amanda of Kaleidoscope of Colors; Alma of Created by Soul, Tori Lil' Mrs. Tori, Me!, Melody of Meldoy M. Nunez, Kristi of Courtsey of Kristi

Oh and I really am not that short, I was just between the two tallest women in the group!

We took a nice long break at Provisions where I drooled over the cheese.   The jalapeno deviled eggs they gave us to sample were quite interesting with quite the kick.
Then we continued on our way visiting cute shop after shop and getting so much fun swag from some awesome vendors and sponsors!  As we were walking we heard some random person say, we need to go join them they are getting all this free stuff. One of my personal favorite shops is Country Road Antiques; the store is huge and they are a supplier of Annie Sloan paint (I've got a big painting project coming up!!) Everything from antiques, to seasonal decor- Halloween and Christmas!  We did laugh a bit at the spelling of "beautiful". We even got a nice cool treat from Front Porch Pops The night ended as we all were entertained and inspired by Eva LaRue (formerly on CSI Miami) and Mark Montano (formerly on TLC).  They spoke about going after your dreams and getting rid of that ceiling and fear that holds you back.   Mark was even so generous as usual and is giving all the attendees an e-copy of his newest book coming out soon.  I also had to get a picture with Jamie of Polka Dots on Parade as she and I are instragram buddies! She is so much fun and so full of life!  Dinner was so yummy, there was fun giveaways, which I won a beautiful apron that Amanda made (need to take a picture still!) and we just sat and talked and had so much fun!  We were one of the last tables to leave for the night, only about 4 other people remained. While we talked we learned that life is good as long we keep Amanda fed and that she is the queen of chalk paint and sewing (she made her vintage-style dress!).  I got so many great tips from her for my upcoming painting project.  We learned that Melody just recently published a book (can get it here- I just bought it!), that Tori has two adorable little boys and moves around a lot (something I could relate too), that Alma wasn't even on Instagram until the day before the conference and we were having to teach her how to use it, but we still love her;  oh and they figured out the mystery of why I wasn't drinking the sample of beer and coffee during the day (I'm a Mormon).  It was such a wonderful day and Viv and Bev did an awesome job making the whole day come together beautifully once again.     It really is so fun having a day with people who just get you as they understand this whole crazy blogging thing.
Have you been to a blogging conference?   P.S.  One week from today will be 10 Things to Smile About this Month!  You know this Friday is my birthday month and as is tradition I always ask for lots of you to link up as  birthday present to me and October is by the month with the most links, so let's keep the tradition going!