Highlights from #Blogher11, the #MomMob sponsors

Here are the highlights from the #MomMob sponsors for #Blogher11:

Toyota Sienna


Toyota/Lexus

I got to drive a brand new (well, it only had a few miles on it) Toyota Sienna Van with my partner in crime, Amy from Dealusional.com.
We packed this van FULL of Angies Kettle Corn for our Night Out (that you can read about here: http://www.supersavingsense.com/2011/08/angies-kettle-corn-at-blogher11-with.html )
I took a photo of the outside but it didn't come out right, which is why you see a much prettier factory photo!

My favorite features on this car:

• The ROOM! As you can see, we filled it up and we were thankful we had this van to fit it all. The Border Patrol even asked us if we were moving. It's not easy getting over 100 bags of kettle corn a few hundred miles ;) I loved that the seats folded down and gave us more room.
  
• Backup Cam. I'm going to be adamant my next vehicle has one.
• The comfort. I have chronic back pain and this seat was great, I got to adjust the lumbar throughout the 13 hours of driving we had to do. When my kids got in it before I left, they also loved how comfortable their seats were.
  
• The "extra" seat. We have 4 kids and when we go somewhere, and have to bring others we need all the room we can get. This is a 7 seat car but comes with an extra one easy to install in the middle, and easy to store in the back.
• It's an "easy rider". This car drove extremely smooth, which is a necessity when driving for any long period of time.

http://www.toyota.com/sem/sienna.html


Some of the #MomMob were able to park at the San Diego Airport
http://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoAirport?v=wall







http://cascadedesigns.com/platypus/water-bottles/category

Platypus Water Bottles donated some Water Bottles which I loved.

• They are BPA Free (which I feel is important in choosing a water bottle)
• They collapse which makes them very easy to store.
• The colors, what can I say I am a colorful girl who chose the pink and purple ones!
• Not only did I use them at Blogher, my family used them in our recent travels to Disneyland!!

We didn't receive any product but Zazzle also sponsored us.
I love Zazzle because you can pretty much create whatever you want to brand yourself.
www.zazzle.com

We received products for our road trip from:

Zone Bars gave us some delicious bars for our trip, I wish we had gotten to flavor more samples though!



Crystal Light sent us some packages of their Crystal Light Pure. Normally, I don't drink Crystal Light but I found out Pure is actually made with Truvia, a natural sweetener I already use in my coffee! The lemonade is delicious!

http://www.facebook.com/CrystalLightPure?sk=app_191519157529437


Chick-fil-A of Chandler Festival donated some coupons for delicious chicken sandwiches. I could eat here every day, no lie. However, I'm more of a Chick-fil-A nugget person ;)

http://www.facebook.com/CFAChandlerFestival




Chiquita gave us some of their new dried fruit snacks (which are not preserved at all, just dried. LOVE),
I wish I had a photo but I ate them all and now I can't find them online.

Of course we were also sponsored by Fry's and Angie's Kettle Corn, check out the posts on these sponsors here:



http://www.supersavingsense.com/2011/08/angies-kettle-corn-at-blogher11-with.html


http://www.supersavingsense.com/2011/08/frys-food-snackngo-blogher11-recap-and.html

The #MomMob received product and some monetary donations towards our #Blogher11 adventures. All opinions expressed in this post are only my own and no one else's.

Angies Kettle Corn at #Blogher11 with the #MomMob and #AngiesKettle Night Out

By far, one of my favorite tote bags!

While at Blogher, Amy @ Dealusional.com had the privilege of hosting a Bloggers Night Out before #Blogher11. Our sponsor was Angie's Kettle Corn at http://www.angieskettlecorn.com/ and our hosts who so graciously let us have the event was Vin De Syrah which is in the Gaslamp district of San Diego.

At the event, we had some delicious Angie's Kettle Corn served, we also gave out full size bags! Vin De Syrah served some delicious wine beverages and we loved getting to hang out with our new friends!

Here are a few photos from the event:

@ColoradoMom chatting with Valerie and Maria!

Strike a pose, with Angies!

The wine bar was a lot of fun, we loved the decor and the sneaky way to get in!

The #MomMob was also sponsored by Angie's Kettle corn! We were passing out goodie bags at the Swag Exchange

Aren't we adorable?


Photo Credit: MomEndeavors.com

and if you were lucky enough to see tweets from us like this one:

you got to grab a sample bag! We received a lot of compliments about this Kettle Corn. If you didn't get to try any, don't fret you can find it in your area here http://www.angieskettlecorn.com/map.html! In AZ, you can find it at Target!

OR

Enter to win some from MomEndeavors.com! http://www.momendeavors.com/2011/08/angies-kettle-corn-blogher11-sponsor-giveaway.html
Hurry, ends soon!

I, along with the #MomMob received a sponsorship from Angie's, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Fry's Food #SnackNGo #Blogher11 Recap and a Giftcard Giveaway!!

While I was at Blogher11, I had the pleasure of co-hosting the Fry's Food #SnackNGo party with the MomMob. Fry's had given us a sponsorship to BlogHer and we wanted to do something fun to show our support because we love Fry's.

We put together a snacking party that BlogHer participants could come enjoy some goodies and get to take some goodies with them for the remainder of the conference. I'm not going to lie, there was a time inbetween events I scarfed down those peanut butter and pretzel snacks! The gum, candy and mints came in handy when I needed a quick recharge and that coffee? Gone before the conference even started!

We had our #SnackNGo party as a picnic on the Embarcadero by Seaport Village, isn't it beautiful?!

Picnic goers enjoying some goodies from Fry's and good company!

In the goodie bags that our guest received, we had some delicious goodies from Fry's:
Pretzels
Jif to Go peanut butter
Seattle's Best Coffee
Chips
Granola Bars
Trail Mix
Raisins
In the Blogher Survival Kit we had ibuprofen, gum, candy, mints, tea (hot and cold), bandaids, hand wipes and a pen.

You can read more about our SnacknGo party with Amy @ Dealusional.com
http://www.dealusional.com/?p=7137

Giveaway:
Fry's has generously donated a $25 giftcard for me to giveaway on my blog! All you need to do is tell me why you love shopping at Fry's in a comment below! Good Luck!

Legal Goodies: Fry's did provide a stipend of giftcards for our sponsorship, all opinions and ideas expressed in this blog post are my own with the help of the mommob! Giveaway ends on 8/23, winner will be chosen by random.org. Open to U.S. Residents only, giftcard is good at any Kroger branded store.

Thrifty Thursday ~ Dresses for less than $16!

I know, you are probably tired of hearing about Blogher but I promise this post can relate to any ladies that fancy a pretty dress for less than $16. However, if you are attending Blogher and you have not grown tired of the fashion topic yet, you get the pleasure of previewing my dresses that I will be wearing at Blogher.

Goodwill ~ $1

Here is my Wendsday evening cocktail dress. I was extremely excited to find this comfy dress which flares out (perfect for my mommy belly) for only $1 at Goodwill. It even had the new tag from Macys which had a price tag of $69.00! Initially I was faced with the dilemma of how I would fit in 2 cocktail style dresses in my Blogher schedule (see second one below). Well I knew exactly where I would wear this when I found out I am co-hosting the Angie's Kettle Corn Meet and Greet pre-Blogher event (you should come btw: http://angieskettlecornmeetgreet.eventbrite.com/)

Ross ~ $12.99

This is my Thursday evening dress, I love the fit. The pleats in the middle again hide my mommy belly and it is extremely comfortable (and breathable) since it looks like my Thursday evening is packed!

Kohls ~ $6.80

This is my Friday Cheap Sally Dance Party dress. When I set out to get a dress for Friday I knew that i would obviously be dancing and I didn't want to go with a strapless dress in fear of flashing the world. This dress is comfortable, flashy and practicial for dancing. Also, anything with rosette flowers are a win for me.

Kohls ~ $9.80

Here is my Saturday evening dress. I bought this two years ago and I can't give it up, it fits nicely and I love the pattern. It's comfy yet dressy which is perfect for my Saturday evening!

Let's talk comfy day time dresses:

Ross ~ $15.99

This dress I bought specifically to wear at Blogher during the day. It's cute, comfy and I love the paisley art work. Perfect for San Diego.

Kohls ~ $12.98

I got this dress last year before a cruise to Mexico. It wouldn't be right if I didn't wear at least one Beach attire dress while in beautiful San Diego. I typically don't like "Maxi" dresses because I feel like when the wind blows under them it makes my body shape look funky but this one is doable.


$5 ~ Goodwill

I really like this dress and it fits nice however, I need to jazz it up. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! I am thinking maybe a half cardigan in a white or creamy color.

Easy DIY Camera-Purse-Tote

My ideal tote, found at Marshall's.

If you can sew a pillow, you can turn your favorite purse into a camera tote. I'm attending Blogher next week and I wanted to have a tote where I could fit:

• DSLR
• Flip Cam
  
• Extra Lens
• Business Cards
• Phone
• Notebook/Pens
  
• Netbook

It's hard to stuff all of that in a computer bag, even harder to stuff it in a purse. I love JoTotes and Epiphany bags but there is no way this cheap mama could fork out that kind of cash. So I set out to make my own camera-purse-tote. First you should know, I am not very good at tutorials. My first thought was I can't wait to share a how to post and show everyone how to do this. It turned out I am not good with sewing and measurements either so I am going to just share how I did it!

Supplies:

• Your ideal bag (make sure it's big enough for what you want to hold and it's comfortable while on and full of items)
  
• 1-2 yards of favorite fabric (the fabric above is from Hobby Lobby)
• Sewing Machine
• Foam ( I used Airtex 1 inch foam from Joann's http://bit.ly/qtZwpC)
• Hot Glue (hey, don't judge! I like things easy)
• Measuring Tape
• Velcro

Here is my easy peasy not so detailed tutorial:

• Take the measuring tape and measure out the inside of the bag where your foam inserts will be.
• Cut foam according to your measurements.
  
• Take the fabric and fold it over the foam, leaving 1/2 inch for slack to sew.
• Cut fabric to desired size.
• Flip inside out and sew like a pillow case (3 sides)
• The foam should fit snug in the cases, then you have two options.
• You can hand sew it shut or do the "Cheater" method of using a hot glue gun.
• I just folded the remaining end like a present and carefully hot glued the ends.
• 

• Repeat this for all the inserts you desire.
• Then take no-sew velcro and measure how two strips by width of your two largest foam pieces.

• Then take your "inside" inserts and place velcro lengthwise. This makes it easy to reposition just remember if you hot glue them instead of sewing them, they are vulnerable to come off.
• Done! It's really simple, and you can do this with any bag in less than 2 hours.

My Blogher Checklist: How to Survive The Experience!

Two weeks from today, I will be in San Diego getting ready to attend Blogher11! Last year, I went to Blogher in NYC and I will say, it was extremely overwhelming! I thought I would pass on some good blogger karma and give my best tips to surviving your first Blogher experience!

The What:

• Have a buddy! I've said it before and I will say it again, the most important thing you will need is to have someone you can have as your wingman, or wingwoman. Last year I did some venturing off on my own but was glad I had a few numbers in my phone of people I could text because I felt I didn't know anyone at Blogher and I was overwhelmed.
• Do your research: If you have been following our #Print4Blogher sessions, we've talked about doing research before you get to Blogher. Find out what brands you want to meet with that will be there and find out what sessions you want to attend.

• Create a calendar: Even better if you have a smart phone use something like Cozi.com or Google Calendar to keep track of everything. Input your parties, favored sessions, meetups etc in your calendar.
• Follow the #Blogher11 hashtag: A lot will be happening from now until the end of Blogher. Be sure you are following that hashtag on Twitter.

The Where:

• Expo Hall Experience: The Expo hall was carazy last year! So many vendors, so little time! Luckily, the expo hall will be open a little later this year. Grab an expo map when you get there and map out what brands you want to see first!
• Sessions: As I said above, do your research and find out what sessions you want to attend. Have more than one you want to attend? Last year the sessions were available online after. Also, I did do a session hop last year because there were 2 sessions I really wanted to attend at one time. I actually found that one wasn't really for me so I went to the second session.
  
• The Swag Exchange Suite: One of my biggest complaint last year is that I ended up with WAY too much swag to possibly ship home. We left a large pile for our maid with a note that said thank you, this is yours (we had to do this so the management knew we left it on purpose). Luckily, this year the Swag Exchange is open on Sunday! What it is: A large room where you can drop off the swag you don't want, pick up some that you do want!
• Parties, Parties and MORE Parties: As with Blogher conferences before, the parties are a very large highlight of the conference. There are official Blogher parties and unofficial parties. This year, Blogher listened to complaints from last year and the parties are open to ALL attendees, not just those who register. So how do you keep up with what parties are when and how to get in? MomSpark does a great job of the what and where and keeping everyone informed of when invites are released and how to get into parties: http://momspark.net/blogher-11-official-and-unofficial-parties-and-events-blogher11/
• Take a Break: It's easy to get consumed and overwhelmed. If you are staying at the hotel, be sure to take a few minutes to head back to your room to recharge.
  

The Must Haves:

• Something a little lighter than a laptop: Some people bring laptops to use in sessions but I will tell you, after attending a few conferences I don't think it's a necessity. Also, last year I found myself on the floor at least once during a session, crunched down in a corner because there was no room for me, or my laptop. If you have an ipad, tablet or smart phone, just use that. Netbooks are a little easier to carry around too.
• Cameras: People bring their DSLRs , I did last year and will bring one again this year. Of course, it depends on what you want to carry around. I carried it mainly around my neck but when I was done, I brought it back up to the room. For most of my pictures though, I just used my smart phone.
• Business Cards: You can not attend this conference without a large amount of business cards (plan on at least 250). You can read about my design ideas with the #Print4Blogher series here: http://www.supersavingsense.com/2011/07/print4blogher-session-5-design.html
  
• Pen and Notebook: I felt I was constantly taking notes, having a handy dandy notebook in your bag will be most helpful!
• Bandaids: Blisters happen, in fact mine happened within the first hour of Blogher last year! Even if you don't get them, you could easily make a friend when someone else needs them :)
• Comfortable shoes: Obviously, I learned my lesson from last year and I will be leaving the heels at home. Or at least in my room till party time. If you do want to rock the cute shoes, have some foldable flats in your bag! I'll have some http://cityslips.com/ with me!
• Snacks, candy & gum: Feeling famished during Blogher11 is a big possibility! I like to keep snacks in my purse (call it the mom in me) for those moments when I realize I forgot to eat! Last year I brought some to keep in my purse and then I also grabbed some granola bars from the breakfast buffet in the morning to stash for later. Candy is just a way to stay sugared up and of course, make friends!
• Power Strip & Chargers: We are all going to need to recharge something at Blogher, find an outlet and bring your power strip. Another great way to make friends! If you have an Igo, definitely bring it! If not, check them out here: http://www.igo.com
• Outfits a plenty: I'm such a clothing uhm, enthusiast. I love to glam it up and change outfits, last year I changed more than once per day (don't judge). Plan on bringing an array of outfits for the events, if you are like me that is. At least 2 outfits a day, one for day and one for night.
• Large Bag: You will be getting swag like crazy, also you will be carrying your electronics, notebooks etc so you need something big. Blogher gives out totes every year so if you don't bring one, don't fret.
• Fun! You must have fun, I think it's easy to think that you have to do this, this and that but if you lose sight of just having a good time, you won't leave Blogher with a very happy feeling.
  

My Frugal Blogher Journey: Accessories from Forever 21

I have a jewelry obsession and Forever 21 is probably the number 1 place I buy my accessories. I went with a $20 budget this year and this is everything I got, 7 pieces total that I will be bringing with me to Blogher and I only went over my budget by $1.60.





These silver/black tear drop earrings were only $1.50!


I love having at least 1 pair of hoops, they really go with just about anything! These were only $1.50.


Gold drop earrings with dangles only $4.80

I fell in love with these online, blue/bronze paisley tear drop earrings only $4.80

These gold tear drop earrings are only $3.80


Gold chain tear drops with blue gems, only $1.50!




I found this necklace and fell in love at only $1.50