Blogger Bash

Two weeks ago, I attended Blogger Bash in NYC. I don't even know where to begin. I have never been to a conference before. I was so full of anxiety just thinking about it. Luckily, I connected with some awesome NJ blogger mamas to meet up with before heading over. Waiting in line the first day, I quickly realized this was going to be something amazing and fun. If you follow me on twitter or instagram, I'm sorry. I was posting everything! I even held back a little just because I wasn't having time to post all the awesomeness I was seeing.

Dave and Elinor tagged along to hang out while I was at the conference. We actually found a hotel with free wifi, $10 parking and a pool! Too bad the pool had terrible hours and they only got to go in once for about a hour. The hotel was walking distance from Blogger Bash. It made me miss living somewhere with so many places within walking distance!

Day 1 started off with Sweet Suite. Tons of brands, toys for us to play and connect with and sweets! Lots of candy and treats. I started off with my group, still a little nervous to venture off alone. Once we started making our rounds to the tables and checking everything out, I slowly lost everyone but it was ok, everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I met so many amazing people and played with super fun toys.

GoldieBlox are awesome. I remember seeing their commercial with girls being able to do anything. What a great company, motivating girls to build. Tiggly is a really cool app that has separate with interactive shapes for toddlers to use with the app. We received some with our swag box that I will write about soon. Elinor is loving them. One of my favorite parts of Blogger bash was meeting the people that are behind Rooibee Tea and also having an endless supply of tea the whole time! Before we came to the conference, I had tried Rooibee Red Tea and really liked it. My favorite after trying all of them was cranberry pomegranate. They even have smaller plastic bottles for kids. Elinor loves the mango one.

 These adorable little guys. My favorite is the owl. Elinor really likes playing with dollhouses now and I think she would really like this little tree house. Boogie Boards are an electric paper alternative. Any writing instrument even your finger will work while writing on this. It seems like a cool concept and would be nice not to waste so much paper. I know there has been a TMNT show on again but seeing these cute preschool friendly figures made me so happy. I love Ninja Turtles! Bananagrams is for a little older kids. It's basically words with friends but IRL. What's better than playing a game with a real life friend?! I have plans to work on letter recognition with Elinor using Bananagrams and even start simple words. 

 LeapTV is a a video game system but geared towards the younger kids 3-8. An easy to handle controller that adjusts different ways and some games can be played just by motion sensor.The games all look very interactive and actually TEACH your child! The LeapBand is for 4-7 year olds. It basically is like the old tamagotchi pets but it also challenges your child to get moving. They also learn healthy habits with taking care of their pets. I had to get a full break down on how SkyLanders works. I can't believe I'm old enough now to not understand how some technology works. It's for older kids probably 7(or older) and up. You can play it with just about any system but the cool part if you can use your physical game piece on any system too. VTech had so many toys to check out. I wish I took more pictures! This cute interactive zoo comes with little animals, ramps and sounds.

We played dress up at the Just Pretend Kids booth. How cute is Julia and Karen?? Just Pretend Kids do sell these adult size wings and tutus. I think Elinor would lose her mind if I dressed up with her. We would both be stuck wearing out everywhere. Just Pretend Kids dresses are beautiful and the tulle is so soft. Elinor's princess dresses are usually falling apart a day after wear and the tulle is so stuff it leaves red marks. It seems like these dresses would really hold up. I think we may need to get a new dress, Maybe this Elsa one???

I ran over to Wicked Cool Toys to check out this ride along suitcase. Vrum  comes in other options like princess and superheroes. It can be used as a child's carryon or a toy box. This would really come in handy now that Elinor wants to walk herself through the airport. My Little Pony is back too! I loved them and Elinor has started liking the figures she sees around. I've seen the Disney Infinity figures at stores and never realized they were for a video game! You use your figure, place it on the base and it comes to life in your game. There are so many awesome Disney characters too! 

 I was so happy to find Vita organic foods there with their chocolate. I tried every kind which were all amazing but the cashew sea salt were the best! I really liked these magnetic building kit. The pieces are big enough for toddler to play with. Elinor loves playing with a magnetic kit from her grandpas house but the pieces are tiny. I would get nervous her playing with it. I never heard of Palace Pets. I guess each princess has there own pets. Each pet is really cute. There is even a remote control Palace Pet puppy. 

 Carebears! I loved them and can't believe I haven't gotten one for Elinor yet. Just Play was there with so many of Elinor's favorite Mickey Mouse and Doc Mcstuffins! Creativity for kids makes these creative cans. They are full of everything you will need to make a fun craft. What a great idea since moms like me don't always have random crafting supplies around the house. How cool is the Frozen table from Delta? There is even a cool storage space in the middle.

 Delta also had this adorable Minnie Mouse inflatable chair. I want to say it retails for just under $30. The cutest Joker ever made by Lego. I like the preschool sized ones. We actually don't have any legos around our house. Elinor is afraid of the dark. Uncle Milton makes super kid friendly night lights like these frozen themed ones. Some of them even have remotes.

That night, the after party was hosted by Angry Birds Stella. NYC themed foods, signature stella cocktails, and a chance to check the new game. There wasn't anything for me to eat and I don't drink. I had fun chatting with the ladies and getting Charmsies in my hair. They just stick to your hair with a little heat from a flat iron. I ended up not sticking around the party too long since Elinor and Dave were back at the hotel. 

Day 2 was packed!!
Breakfast with Batman starting at 8am. Well, not actually Batman although that would have been really cool. We got to find out about and play the new LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham game. Awesome looking game even though I'm not into video games. I know Dave would have really liked checking it out.

Hanging out in the Rooibee Red Tea. Velodyne headphones that have tons of different designed skins that go right over your headphones. Joey Fortman interviewing a media panel including Samantha Meiler of NickMom. Back in the Rooibee Tea room with Larisha from We're Parents. In the background you can see Miranda and her sweet little guy from Princess Among Superheroes and Reesa from Momma Lew.

During Baby Palooza, I got to see so many amazing baby/toddler brands. I loved learning more about the Britax car seat travel cart and the Joovy Bicycoo balance bike. I even got to meet an instagram friend IRL, Nancy from The Mama Maven! Here is where I grouped a picture in that doesn't belong. The amazing talented lady drawing Godzilla with KETCHUP! is from Johnny Rockets lunch party. Back to Baby Palooza, I finally got to try out Jamberry nails. I've seen them all over the internet and was so excited to check them out. The ladies were all so nice. They talked me through putting on one nail and then I stayed around finishing up the rest of my nails. They stayed strong for over a week. I'm sure if I wasn't traveling and cleaning our house like crazy, they would have lasted a lot longer. They also have little kid size wraps! 

During Baby Palooza, Joey interviewed Anne Geddes. I remember loving Anne Geddes when I was little. I loved babies so of course I had her pictures on my wall (is that creepy). The interview made me love her all over again. What an amazing woman. One of my favorite things she said was "you don't stuff, you need experiences" Plus her husband and daughter are adorable. She ended up giving everyone a copy of her book Little Blessings and taking the time to sign each copy.

Again a couple of jumbled photos. The top ones from day one. The Beatrix Girls are an all girl band meant to be role models and empower young girls. Elinor sees a lot of bands but rarely sees a girl playing music. I love this idea for dolls. We already big fans of Green Toys in our house. I'm loving that train set. This little pink Angry Bird is Stella. The host from the party the night before. Girlz n Dollz make these cute and super soft dolls. I'm all for all the empowering and age appropriate dolls.

Last part of the night was KidzVuz back to school event. The event was open for kids over 7 so Elinor wasn't old enough. Luckily Project Playdate and Urban Sitter teamed up to throw their own event for the little kids. Dave met me at the venue and we checked Elinor into her room. She ran away from us right away and starting talking to the caregivers. Who is this kid?? I can't believe with everything else going on around us and the fact that we were walking out, she could care less to even say bye. Dave and I went on to the next room for the KidzVuz event. We both were excited to met Natalya from WWE and Total Divas. She was so sweet and signed a picture for Elinor and Dave. There were a ton of brands there too. We walked around a little and snacked but it was more geared towards the kids. I didn't want to get in the way of the adorable kids that were all having the time of the lives. We laid low and checked on Elinor a couple of times. She was having a blast so we would make another rounds. Finally we came in to get her and had to bribe her to leave. They sent her away with a gift bag with a toy in it. She held on to the little bumblebee the whole ride home. 

Thank you everyone from Blogger Bash! I had an amazing time. I met so many bloggers and brands and I'm still connecting with people that also attended today. Though, I did need a major low key day the following day!