I'm on a blogger conference high and I don't care who knows it

the requests have been POURING in for me to blog about The Hundred ...

"Grace! NO ONE HAS BLOGGED ABOUT IT!!!"

"Really!!"

:)

Whatever. No shame in my tardy game.

But ... I have to admit that trying to convey just how much the weekend exceeded any and all of my expectations is going to be difficult. Almost like typing out a birth story - minus the baby, plus the high heels.

But, I'll try.

When I first heard about blog conferences a few years ago I thought the concept seemed a little bit counterintuitive because bloggers gonna blog, not mingle in person at a large gathering - the horror! DEFINITELY not for me. But a lot of comments on some of my favorite blogs have turned into weekly emails and some even into daily texts and so it just sort of seems like the next natural step to meet in person. So! A blog conference was the perfect excuse and solution and I'm so happy I (with a big push from Simon) silenced my inner hermit and hit up The Hundred because it was a blast. Two blasts!! So fun.

with my wonderful wonderful co-hosts Lauren, Megan, and Bridget

I've met lots of fellow bloggers in one-on-one situations and have never been disappointed nor have the interactions been awkward so I knew that the weekend in Dallas would be great but I didn't know that it would be one of those weekends that I would return home and genuinely wish I could go back and relive over and over. Not unlike my feelings toward the entire Friday Night Lights series.

I'm not going to recap the entire weekend for you in crazy d'tail but I'll highlight many of my favorite moments in NO particular order. And I'm really sorry but the photos don't necessarily correlate with my droning because Phoebe is giving me the fun opportunity to type this with one hand while I hold her with the other. She is thinking about apologizing. Maybe.

Okay?

Good.

The FOOD. (I promise! No particular order!) Rather than stick around the Warwick Melrose (which was gorgeous!) for the entire weekend Lauren scouted out a handful of local spots (including a food truck and popsicle stand for Saturday night!) for the meals beyond Friday night. It was all so good. Too good. 

Breadwinners for Saturday breakfast, Cane Russo for Saturday lunch, Ruthie's Food truck + Steel City Pops for Saturday night's block party sponsored and hosted by Peacock Alley, and the Aldredge house for Sunday brunch.

so shabby.

The knowledge. I have a LOT to learn when it comes to blogging, social media, all of everything in life in general so it was so nice to listen to talks specifically tailored to bloggers. My one regret was not figuring out how to clone myself into multiple Graces so that I could listen to all of the sessions and not miss a word of the speakers' wisdom. There were panels on social media and brand perspective. There were talks on authentic branding, creative writing, and the nitty gritty things we don't realize about blogging (seo, facebook legalities, etc). And there were photography classes as well as a few styling sessions, and prop styling lessons (think Instagram knowledge! My weakest link!).

The sponsors!! We were so fortunate to work with so many generous sponsors so that all of the meals and festivities were included in the price of the ticket. Joules was our headlining sponsor and was such a pleasure to work with and everyone that attended the conference will be gifted a pair of wellies. What? Minnetonka, Lily Jade (who attended! so fun to meet them in person!), and Twine Interiors (also in attendence! what a cool company!) made the weekend so much fun. We can't thank them enough.

The people! Of course. The biggest perk and point of the weekend.

Sarah and Amber ... little did they know they would be suckered into talking Bachelor/ette gossip for eternal minutes. Sorry ladies!!

 One sip of champagne and my eyes default to mere slits.

Kate! Blythe! Katrina (and Conor)!

Blythe and I roomed together and stayed up WAY too late talking thyroid cancer (we are both thryvors! did you know? I'm jealous of her BARELY noticeable scar) and birth stories and how she used to be in a pop group (she better be blogging that!!). I even convinced her to walk on the wild side and dabble in the dangers of Secret deodorant (as opposed to her homemade concoction) .... she's totally going to ditch her Toms of Maine toothpaste for some Colgate any day now. Just WAIT.

Wedding/blogger brunch ... it's all the same. So much fancy!!! Spoiled Grace and co.

I also got to meet blog royalty. Kendi was funny, down to earth, and so humble! Her talk on "getting stuck in the middle" and moving out of a blog rut was so great. She deserves all of the fame (hello Redbook spread!) and blog love in the world.

EVERYone that I met in real life vs. having read their blog for months or even years was even more wonderful than I'd imagined they'd be in person. I'm always afraid I'll be a big fat disappointment if someone happens to read my blog before we have a chance to meet (and maybe I am!) but that was not the case on my end of meeting all the bloggers I e-knew prior to chatting this past weekend.

Indiana, Olivia, Katrina, Emily, Britt, Blythe, Kate, Nell, Amber, and Sarah and so many more (blame Phoebe!!) were all in attendance and I know I made some true friends for life.

The VAST majority of the photos above were not actually taken by me (gasp) but by the wildly talented Paige, Jenni, and Shay!! Thank you ladies!!

And if you were in attendance this past weekend and would like to link your post below ... the other hosts and I would LOVE that. Thanks in advance!!!

An InLinkz Link-up