{"id":399,"date":"2013-11-11T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/momentsdontcollectdust.com\/?p=399"},"modified":"2014-07-09T20:01:34","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T03:01:34","slug":"pnw-blogger-holiday-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momentsdontcollectdust.com\/?p=399","title":{"rendered":"PNW Blogger Holiday Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kayla and Holly here! \u00a0We are very excited to finally be sharing our experiences from the Pacific Northwest Blogger Holiday Party! \u00a0It was so much fun, and we met a lot of great people.<\/p>\n

It was a first experience for both of us, and it hopefully will not be a last experience. \u00a0The party was held Sunday November 3rd in Portland, Oregon, so we made a trip out of it. \u00a0We drove on Saturday, met up with a good friend, did a little exploring of Portland, had dinner, and then spent the night at a friend’s house who lives in the area. \u00a0Read all about the highlights of the trip here<\/a>! \u00a0Sunday morning we headed to the venue, Union\/Pine. \u00a0It was pretty awesome. \u00a0Industrial and open. \u00a0The party was a brunch, so it started at 10 a.m. and went until 1 p.m. \u00a0(Crazy how fast three hours can go when you’re in a room full of awesome bloggers.)<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6618c\"<\/a>The ticket to attend was $30 which was a really good price! \u00a0Here’s a rundown of what it got us: \u00a0two crafts, adorable name tags, brunch, drinks, a photo booth, swag bag, and five tickets to enter to win various raffle prizes. \u00a0We also got to meet with Lauren from The 7th Chamber<\/a> who had flown in from New York to meet us bloggers and talk to us about how to make some money from our blogs.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6611cc\"<\/a>We absolutely\u00a0<\/span>loved\u00a0<\/em>the name tags they had for us! \u00a0We both ended up choosing the Corgis, although there were other options available. \u00a0How cute though, seriously! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the party was a brunch, the food was simple and delicious. \u00a0There were multiple bagel options, various toppings of meats, cheeses and veggies to make bagel sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, fresh fruits, and Greek yogurt. \u00a0There was also an adorable dessert table complete with cookies, doughnuts and juices. \u00a0To drink there was coffee, mimosas, and bloody Marys. \u00a0(Whew, the drinks were strong! \u00a0So, we made sure to have just one.)<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6610cc\" <\/a>\"IMG_6616c\"<\/a>\"IMG_6613c\"<\/a>\"IMG_6648\"<\/a>And how cute are all these paper goods from <\/span>Pinhole Press<\/a>? \u00a0The “treat yourself” packaging on the cookies… love!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Our eggs were quite complimentary. \u00a0{It’s all in the details!}<\/p>\n

There were two crafts available to make, but we only had time to do one. \u00a0Even with the three hour time-frame, we did not get to meet everyone there (sad!) or do both crafts. \u00a0(Reason to plan on attending the next blogger event!) \u00a0The craft we did do was a paper rose. \u00a0This craft station coordinator was Lia Griffith from liagriffith.com<\/a>. \u00a0She was super helpful, and answered all our questions and assisted with all our rose-making problems. \u00a0She provided us with paper that had the shapes we needed to cut, curl, and glue for the rose. \u00a0Here’s what we were aiming to make:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6621c\"<\/a>Holly’s rose:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_6622C\"<\/a>I forged a new path accidentally by making a few mistakes and created a carnation more than a rose. \u00a0Amazingly the flower still turned out awesome and I received a golf clap from Lia. \u00a0More power to the idea that anyone can craft!<\/em><\/p>\n

Kayla’s rose:<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Luckily, we ended up sitting by two fellow bloggers who claimed to be “not crafty” as well. \u00a0(I try to be sometimes but I’m definitely just a wannabe!) \u00a0I feel like, when you think “blogger” you think “crafty.” \u00a0I suppose it’s because bloggers are creative in their own sense, whatever it may be. \u00a0That’s what I loved about this holiday party– it brought together bloggers of all kinds. \u00a0Food, photography, lifestyle, you name it. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The photo booth area was a real hit. \u00a0This is a genius idea for any event, because it allows you to get pictures of the guests without having to make a point to walk around and photograph them all. \u00a0There were miscellaneous props to choose from, a Yoked<\/a> backdrop and a camera set up. \u00a0Talk about an easy and fun addition to any event! We sure had fun with it…<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>\"IMG_6623\"<\/a>A favorite detail? \u00a0The swag bags! \u00a0These were awesome!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6625c\"<\/a>In these fabulous bags were\u00a0many coupons and offers, an entire roll of wall paper, rose earrings, a candy wrapper craft kit, a small can of paint, awesome sunnies, a bag of delicious bagels , a free sound track, an absolutely adorable dainty ring, and a few other miscellaneous items. \u00a0Score! \u00a0We had so much fun going through the contents of the bag on the \u00a0drive home. \u00a0Here’s a breakdown picture of one of our bags:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6654<\/a>\"IMG_6658<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_6656<\/a>Towards the end of the party, they drew for the raffle prizes. \u00a0The grand prize was a tablet! \u00a0Though neither of us won the grand prize, one of us did win this awesome gift card to GelaSkins! \u00a0So excited to check them out!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6649\"<\/a>\"IMG_6660\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Okay, so there is a rundown of all the fun details of the blogger holiday party. \u00a0What was the\u00a0best part\u00a0<\/em> you ask? \u00a0Meeting lovely bloggers of course!<\/p>\n