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Monday, May 20, 2013

Utah Bloggers Meetup

I've been wanting to get moving on this blog again but for some reason I've just been lacking in motivation. I have no idea what my problem is, but I get all kinds of ideas late at night. Then the next morning I stare at a blank page until I finally give up and head over to Pinterest.

Saturday I got a brilliant shot of inspiration!

I met a few of the coolest ladies in this state. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Utah Bloggers Meetup hosted by my dear friend Mikki. I felt like a total impostor since my blog has a grand total of 6 followers and I hadn't updated in more than a month (we won't do the math to see how long it'd been before that.)

I went because I wanted to get some tips and tricks to hopefully get my blog to be more successful. Life had other plans. I didn't get a single tip.

Something much better happened.

I made new friends!

Photo courtesy of Mikaela Platter.

Every one of the bloggers was amazing, and completely sweet. They accepted my pathetic handmade "business" card and handed me their adorable ones. They let me hold their babies (I'm looking at you Victoria!) and chatted with me all afternoon. As much as I can use the help with this blog, the friendships that are starting to sprout will be much more valuable.

If you look close you'll see the little lip just starting to pout. Poor little cutie just wanted to eat and there I was stealing cuddles. Photo courtesy of Kristin Brandt.

Mikki planned this whole thing, and she did an amazing job. Seriously, I don't know how she does it! Everything she touches just turns amazing!

We met at Grounds for Coffee at 25th Street. It was the perfect place! I didn't know it, but they have a second story area with more tables and quite a bit of privacy. The best thing about this particular Grounds for Coffee is their baker, Jenny. She makes delicious gluten free desserts! I'm drooling just remembering the astounding chocolate mousse cake I had. They didn't have my favorite, the cheesecake, but the mousse cake quickly made me forget my disappointment. I washed it down with a fresh raspberry lemonade. Yes, you can go to Grounds for Coffee and never even have coffee!

Now, I have a confession. I am a sucker for swag. It's sick. Mikki, with her magic, arranged for us to get some pretty awesome gift bags. They were filled with great stuff! Sweet Pop'n Cafe gave us kettle corn, amazing kettle popped corn with just the right amount of sweet and salt. Mmmmm, I'm hungry again just thinking of it. Green the Earth added samples, I got some face firming lotion which I'm looking forward to trying. Silver Firs Farm gave us the most lush lip balm I've ever tried. I tried thinking of other descriptive words but "lush" is the one that keeps coming to mind.  Grounds for Coffee Riverdale, Rovali's Ristorante Italiano, Timeless Yoga, and Treehouse Museum all contributed valuable coupons for free stuff. By far the best swag came from Indie Ogden: stickers, a drink kooszie, and a super soft t-shirt! Oh yeah, and a fuzzy, stick-on moustache, because.... Well, of course a fuzzy, stick-on moustache!

There was one other thing in these bulging gift bags. A t-shirt from FamilyShare.com. Now the thing about this t-shirt is that it's part of a contest. I'm supposed to refashion it, blog about it, and then possibly win a prize. My head is already bubbling with ideas, so stay tuned to see what I make of it.

The Bloggers Meetup was a raging success and I am thrilled that I was a part of it. I look forward to picking up skills from the new friends I made and hopefully making this blog a much better place!

If you're curious about the bloggers I met then head over to the Indie Ogden review of the meetup. Mikki compiled a whole list of the blogs who's writers came. Hours of good reading all listed out for you!

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