BlogPodium re-cap!

I'm not entirely sure where to begin. My journey with BlogPodium started on a winter morning, sitting at my former desk (which I then and will always refer to as the cubicle of hell), when my friend Adriane texted me asking if I had read about BlogPodium, and if not, that I needed to go buy a ticket ASAP because she just bought one.  At the time, May 26th seemed like the farthest possible day away (maybe because there was still snow on the ground).  As I'm in the middle of starting up a new handmade line of goodies, I signed up for BlogPodium with the hopes to gain a bit more insight on the business end of blogging.  The two really do go hand in hand.

(You should also check out the following re-cap posts: Adriane, Julie, Carly, Holly, Jen, Lindsay, Lauren & Brian)

BlogPodium was organized by two miracle women, Jen and Lindsay.  How they manage to blog full time, be moms, and pull off an event like this is beyond me.  Seriously, BP appeared to be pulled off effortlessly, I think that everyone would agree with me on that one.

The day started when Adriane and I met for breakfast (typically what we do in Toronto when we see each other), and headed to the event together.  (Adriane, I don't know about you, but I thought it was kind of funny that the event was held at Queen and Bay, and that has been our TO meeting spot for all these years?)  

After arriving early, Adriane and I scoped out a table right in the centre just one table back and started organizing ourselves.  We got to chat with Nicole from Making it Lovely before the event started, which made my heart so happy to see Adriane meet one of her all time favourite design bloggers.

The event started with Nicole doing a presentation on monetizing your blog. It was really informative and I feel like I learned a lot about advertising in a way that I wasn't taught when I took branding and marketing classes in college. Adriane and I took TONS of notes, and I think she really captured what we were both scribbling down here (seriously, could not have written it better). 

The second part of the event was a Q&A panel discussion with Cheryl, Laura, Lindsay, and Christine, moderated by the well-spoken Leigh-Ann.  I loved the different views and opinions these women had.  It was really interesting to gain different perspectives from each of them. 

Next we visited the sponsor booths.  We met a lot of fun vendors and chatted to some lovely people about where their businesses are heading.  But my all time favourite was the Homesense Smilebooth.  This was my favourite photo, there were some pretty horrid candids, thanks to the sneaky guy who was running it!

There was some delicious appetizers and drinks being served, catered by the always amazing Oliver & Bonacini! 

A few of us left the event and headed to one of my Queen Street favourites, Everest for dinner, followed by drinks and a bit of bar hopping with Julie, Carly, Erin, and Holly.

All in all, it was an AMAZING day, and I'm so glad we went!  It's fun leaving with a happy heart and being filled with inspiration to take home and create with.

I'm so happy I got to go with Adriane, see "real life" friends Julie, & Jen, meet my online friends Carly, Lauren & Erin, and meet some lovely new friends like Brian, Holly, Meagan, Laura, Lindsay, Elycia, Chantilly, Kait, Mel, & Ang.

I think my favourite part was that I've never been in a room full of people who have such similar interests! Best day ever? Yes.

Photos taken with my iPhone, Nikon, and courtest of BlogPodium and Mango Studios 1 & 2

BlogPodium

image from blogpodium

Today is the day! I bought my ticket MONTHS ago, and I remember it feeling so far away. It's been a lot of fun leading up to today.

Goooooood morning! I'm up early having a coffee (it's not even 8 am and it's so beautiful outside!) and preparing myself for the long day ahead!  Earlier this week, my friend Adriane posted about what she was going to bring to the event.  GREAT idea.  I thought I'd share a few of my staples.

- giant purse/tote to carry everything in, a must!
- WATER (yesterday in the city it was 35 degrees and I felt like I was going to melt.  This heat also poses the difficult question of "WHAT THE HELL DO I WEAR?!")
- DSLR
- iPhone (+ charger.  Good thinking, Age)
- multiple notebooks
- multiple pens to go with the multiple notebooks.  you know, just incase
- business cards (FYI I am NOT happy with how my turned out. And this is my warning to everyone I will be giving one too, but I guess I'm at fault for waiting to make them one day before the event)
- glasses (I have no idea how far I will be sitting from the presenters)
- little makeup bag (obviously touching up my lipstick is a "staple")
- list of questions/topics I want to cover

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there! There will be people I've known forever, Adriane, Julie, and Jen (who is co-founder of BlogPodium and my ex-coworkers wife - radom right?), and new friends who I know from the blog/twitter/facebook/instagram world that I feel like I've known forever! The internet is funny that way, isn't it?  I'm also really excited to learn about the brands that are sponsoring the event, and everything inbetween.

See you there, friends! <3

weekly best//05.25

photo from freckled nest

♥ Leigh-Ann at Freckled Nest posted this DIY hanging jar lantern tutorial. 100% making these for our next summer fiesta!
♥ Adriane shares her must-bring list for BlogPodium tomorrow...it's a great list, I'll be posting one of my own as well. I love that her and I bond over list-making.
♥ The Etsy blog brought me to this article that really made me miss doing ceramics when I studied at OCAD.  So much that I had a dream the other night about it.  Maybe I should look into some studio space this summer...
♥ I'm a sucker for markets of any kind, and have sort of an obsession about the southern US.  I love this post on Houston's Urban Market from the Mucho Mucho Bueno Bueno gals.
♥ After a while of feeling slightly defeated, this article on time management inspired me to get my business back into full swing.


Happy weekend, friends! Tomorrow I am off to BlogPodium, a conference on the business of blogging.  It will be fun to meet so many different (and local!) bloggers that are all there to learn a thing or two.  Luckily, I'll have one of my favourites with me, Adriane!  We love this kind of stuff and have literally spent HOURS talking about business and blogs over numerous amounts of tea and iced coffee, that it is just so fitting for us to be doing this together.  Can't wait to report on the day! <3



weekly best//05.11

photo from bubbly life

♥ Super easy...but I love these colour coated keys. I was reading the comments and someone mentioned the troubles of remembering which colour belongs to what. Ha ha so true.
♥ My lovely friend Tanya posted this eggplant recipe.  Sounds like a delicious app! I rarely cook with eggplant (usually just in pasta dishes), so I may have to try this ASAP!
♥ I am eyebrow obsessed.  Keiko's brow tutorial says it all.  Listen to her - she has amazing eyebrows. (Side note: her blog was one of the very first I really got into... She is too cute for words.)
♥ Great tips for new blogs! I've dabbled a lot in the blog world but finally have found a bit of a niche.  (For now anyway...)
♥ I love this post for false lashes.  A lot of girls have a hard time putting them on.  These steps are pretty much fool proof.  Anyone remember when I used to wear them DAILY? Ohhh 2005. Those were the days.

Happy weekend everyone!  I am escaping the city to visit my mama for Mother's Day.  Can't wait to drink wine and cook for her!

recipe//no-bake oreo cheesecake

photo by the talented Morgan Binek

What you need:
- 2 boxes of Oreo cookies (2 "rows" for the crust, 1 for the cheesecake and the rest for eating while you make it the garnish)
- 2 packages of 250g cream cheese (I used Philly light)
- 1.5 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 5 tbsp of melted butter
- little champagne cups

For the crust:
Crush 2 rows of Oreo cookies (I crushed mine in our Magic Bullet, it made the cookies nice and fine), and place into a bowl with 3/4 cups of sugar and 5 tbsp of melted butter.  Stir until they are well mixed. I placed 1 tbsp of the crust mixture into each little cup (there were 20) and then I set aside to make the cheesecake.

For the cake:
Mix the 2 packages of cream cheese with 2 cups of heavy cream and 3/4 cups of sugar until well mixed and thick.  Add in 1 row of roughly chopped Oreo cookies and mix through.  Distribute the cheesecake mixture among the cups.  Add remaining chopped cookies to garnish the mini cheesecakes. Refrigerate for a few hours.*

I made these little gems for Mr. Benjamin's 1st birthday party.  They were a hit!  I've never really made a "no-bake" recipe before, but I was so happy with how EASY and amazing these were.

ENJOY!

*best made the night before you want to serve them.  I stuck them in the fridge overnight and they were perfect the next day.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Benjamin

On Sunday, this little guy I call a nephew (because Adriane is basically like a sister) turned 1!  I took a little trip down memory lane (through the history of my Instagram photos) and picked out my favourites of Mr. Benjamin.  This year has been a lot of fun watching Ben grow up into a little man.  I'll never forget the moment when I met Benjamin for the first time.  He was 5 days old, and I did a mad dash to Hamilton early that morning before I was heading to New York later that day.  Ben was sleeping when I arrived, and Adriane and Billy were home relaxing and recovering from this whirlwind.  Adriane took me to their room where Benjamin was sleeping and said "Are you read for this?" Which is funny because we both laughed, but it was true.  I was as ready as I'll ever be.  This might not seem like a big deal to some, and while I already have 2 "real" neices and nephews, Adriane was my first friend to have a baby.   Anyway, it was obviously love at first sight.  Ben is such a sweet little boy and hilarious to be around.  Watching kids grow is such a fun experience (coming from the girl who doesn't want any, ha). 

Adriane and Billy threw Ben such a fun little party in their beautiful backyard. We were so lucky to have such gorgeous weather! You can see pictures from it on Adriane's blog, as well as the photographer that she hired, Morgan Binek's blog. 

weekly best//05.04

photo from a and b stories

♥ My extremely talented friend Adriane posted this DIY string pendant over on her blog.  It turned out beautifully and I seriously don't know if I could ever have the patience to make something like this. Kudos to her.
♥ This adorable tank top DIY makes me want to make some for my nieces...in tons of different colour combinations!
♥ Kendi's outfit post has convinced me that I need a denim vest.  Not want....need.
♥ I love the neon yellow accessories in Chelsea's "Neon Crush" post. Makes me want to do a post on all of my favourite things yellow.
♥ I'm loving the look of this Rachel Zoe crochet dress.  Buuuuttt pretty sure that'd be a shirt on me.

Happy weekend everyone! <3