Time to fill you in on my absolute favorite event of the year! What an incredible honor it is to be named a Stylemaker again by Better Homes & Gardens this year! What does that even mean? Well, ever year, BHG chooses their “favorite” bloggers from different categories… home design, fashion, culinary, garden, etc… and invites them to a seriously fabulous one day event in NYC. It’s amazing, you guys. What dreams are made of! This was my third time attending and it does not (and will never) get old! Things like this I will never take for granted. I’m so excited and grateful any time something like this pops in my inbox. If you’re interested, click here to read about BHG Stylemaker 2017 and BHG Stylemaker 2018.
So, the professional photos from David Keith have been shared with us, and I want to share them with YOU (along with some from my phone) and tell you all about what the day/evening entailed!
I flew in early Wednesday morning, and met up with Chelsea from Two Twenty One, Charlotte from At Charlotte’s House, and Jessica from Organized Mamas. The event is on Thursday, and we always like to spend Wednesday roaming the city. So much fun to spend time with online friends in real life!
That night, I met up with more fab blogger friends for dinner at ABC Kitchen. Have you been to the ABC Home store in NYC? It’s a treat for the eyes, I tell ya! The restaurant we went to is attached. Here’s a quick photo of those I ubered back with, although our group was bigger!
Thursday morning, the event started bright and early! Here’s the welcome table where we grabbed our nametags and materials for the day…
Patty Morrissey, a KonMari consultant, started the day talking us through wonderful strategies for clearing our physical and mental spaces.
Then we heard from the incomparable Marian McEvoy, former Editor in Chief of House Beautiful and Elle Décor. Holy cow! What a dream to listen to this woman speak! She was so smart and witty, and we all hung off every word she said. Lots of rich history with good stories to tell! I’m trying my best to emulate her “don’t care about anyone’s opinions but your own” attitude. She’s a force! Also, she told me she loved my blouse, so there’s that:)
Next we heard from experts in the field of podcasts and launching audio platforms. It was interesting!
Lunch was at the Public hotel restaurant. Delicious!
We were able to squeeze in some time with sponsors and visiting friends in between sessions…
And to end the day of sessions, Bobby Berk!!! He’s the designer on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and I’m loving his new line of furniture for A.R.T Home Furnishings. You may recall, that’s where I found my new tv credenza. I’ve been waiting to see Bobby’s line finally released- and it just came out this month!
It was so nice to actually meet him and take a photo with him at the cocktail party in the evening. You guys, it’s just as fabulous as it sounds. Rooftop in NYC! Here’s some pix…
And we left the event leaving with this swag bag…
The following day, I had a 5pm flight, so there was time to do some last minute running around. SO glad I was able to hit the Color Factory with Charlotte and Chelsea! It was so fun! I’d love to bring my kids here some day!
We walked together for a bit, then I split to make a run to ABC Home and my favorite book store at the Plaza Hotel!
I left, as always, fully inspired. Traveling solo fuels me. It may scare some, but it empowers me a bit. Makes me take a tiny imaginary break from “mom” and feel like I’m living some sort of creative life alone in a big city. Granted, one thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older (because I struggled a bit when I first started having kids and was home raising them with a restless passion for art)… is that you don’t have to be in a majorly cool, big city to live a creative life. You don’t have to live in a majorly cool, big city to dress the part. You don’t have to live in a majorly cool, big city to fulfill your dreams. So when I travel for this career I’ve created, I gain inspo from where I go and bring it back with me so I can be the best version of myself, exactly where I am: proud wife and mom in Michigan. “Bloom where you’re planted” as they say!
Thank you for visiting and reading about this experience! For anyone interested, here’s what I packed…
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Cheers,
