Hey Cuties,
How was your weekend? Mine was very low key which I totally needed. I didn’t leave home on Saturday and that just doesn’t happen for me. Sunday my son had his first soccer game so we had to go out and cheer him on. He did a great job and scored a goal; followed that up with a good Sunday dinner and the Emmy Red Carpet. I am looking forward to a low key week thanks to the Pope coming into town and disrupting all of Washington, DC for three days.
Last weekend I had the most amazing time at my first Blogalicious Conference. I’ve been to Blogger Week, Blogging While Brown, BlogHer but not Blogalicious. I put this conference on my radar last year after hearing about it for the first time. This year I was all in and I’m so glad I did. A few things caught my eye before I had even purchased my ticket. 1. It was in Baltimore, MD this year; umm hello 45 minute drive. 2. The theme was Build Your Own Empire; Empire has only been the #1 show of the season and I’ve been watching faithfully like the rest of the world. {You have to read it real dramatic like.} I was in fact building my own empire this year. I re-branded my Custom Converse business, I rolled out a line of t-shirts, I created a Lips lapel pin and I have signature “I Am a Cutie” wristbands. Ummm Hello EMPIRE RIGHT HERE!
A lot of things took place and there is no way I can capture them all so I’m going to share my favorites. You know I can’t share a post if I don’t talk about the food.
Day 1: I was branded and ready to go; whenever I go out I try to represent my brand. Shout out to The LBD Print House for my tees.
Natasha Eubanks was great she shared her story of creating the ever popular TheYBF.com.
Paul C. Brunson is my new favorite. He will also be speaking at the Steve Harvey SOAR Retreat next month. & Mahisha Dellinger {Curls}
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake graced the stage. I LOVED HER!!!! She reminded us to be who you are because people are going to talk about you no matter what.
As bloggers it’s so easy to virtually connect with people for years and never meet them face to face. This beauty and I have connected online, she has been such a motivator for me and it was a joy to meet her in person. She has pushed me to be accountable for the things I desire to work on. Go check out Siobhan {BeFreeProject}
The other great thing about conferences is you get to hang out with your fellow Blogger Boo’s you’ve not seen in a minute. Christine {MomsNCharge} is local so we get to hang all the time. Dani {OkDani} is way out in Florida so I don’t get to see her much. We did get to hang a little in New York in July. LAUGHS FOR DAYS WITH THESE GALS!!!!
It was so good to see the amazing Jaime Foster Brown {Sister 2 Sister Magazine} again. I met her last year at Blogging While Brown and then THIS happened.
Day 2: Branded Tee, Lip Lapel Pin, and my I’m A Cutie! wristbands. They were the gift of connecting so I gave them out as I met people. You can get one HERE.
Naptural Nicole aka Scoprah aka Monetize Thy Self did our morning session. She reminded us of the importance of getting out own coins. She is a Periscope Queen and drops jewels on there daily. Ask about her…
It was a joy to see Alfred Edmond again; this man is the Senior VP at Black Enterprise and the Founder of the Grown Zone. If you don’t know him then get on your research ASAP! He and his lady are a powerful team.
I was so excited to meet Ms. Marie Denee {Curvy Fashionista} she is as sweet as ever. I will give you more on her presentation on Friday. She was serving it up in her breakout session.
Maria Jose Ovalle {Very Busy Mama} and I supporting St. Jude #ShowYourGold for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
The turn up was so real at the close out party. This party picture is a but a micro glimpse into the night. I was nursing a headache so I couldn’t do much. Thanks to the twenty classes of water I was able to two step before the end of the night. It was a straight up old school party and everyone had fun.
Meet 14 year old DJ Beauty and the Beatz, she rocked it all the way out. I told you the theme for this year was Build Your Own Empire #BYOE15 and this young lady is doing just that.
This is Baltimore so I had to get in my fair share of Maryland crab.
Phillips: I was a fat girl so I had the Crab Cake Minis w/ Chips {far left} Crab Dip w/ bread {middle} Crab mac & cheese w/ Mango Sangria
White cheese crab pizza, this thing right here TRUTH!!!!!
They served us good hot food every single day of the conference. Our last day they served us Maryland Crab Cakes, Shrimp Salad Broccoli and salad. It was some kind of good.
Before you go check out my Blogger Boo’s Blogalicous Recap:
MomsNCharge –From Rookie To Expert – Blogging Tips For Success #BYOE15 Style
Passenger 156 –What I learned from the Perfect Pitch III Contest @ Blogalcious
Sisters With Beauty –5 Ways to Maximize Engagement at a Blogging Conference
The Style Medic –Blogalicious ’15 #BYOE
Are you building your empire? Chat with me in the comment section below or FB, IG or Twitter.
BUT THE FOOD THOUGH.. OMG TO GO BACK INTO TIME ONE WEEK AND DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN..Thanks for your recap boo. I wasn’t in many of your sessions and just got my #LIFE.. .YASSSS I LOVE IT.
We need a food field trip to Baltimore for sure.
Yaaassssss!!!! I didn’t realize this was your first Blogalicious! We had SO much funnnnnnn!!!!!!
Yes, it was an amazing first time. You gals are the best.
Loving this recap and I will DEFINITELY be there next year!
Thanks AC.
Awesome recap! Everyone looks great, and the food looks delicious! I hope to make it one year!
Thanks Kasi, food is such a huge part of my existence. lol
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Looks like you had a great time and learned a lot too. I am jealous of the food you got to try! I need to go to one of these again.
You must Jeanette.
I am allergic to blog conferences LOL I went to one and was so overwhelmed by the time I left that I never went back to another one. Glad you had fun at yours.
lol Robin I totally understand how you could feel that way. Don’t feel obligated to attend EVERY session and do EVERY thing when you go.
There is nothing like a great blogging conference to put you in the right frame of mind and get your business booming! It looks like this was a great one!
Yes Jenn, now I need to whip out my notes and take action.
What a fun event!! Looks like you had a blast! I would have loved to have gone to this one. Hearing great speakers, meeting and spending time with great friends and OH, let’s not forget the good food! 🙂
Right Jenni, its like staying up all day all night learning, having fun, and eating well.
I love this! I am new to the blogging world. Not even a month old. I had no idea there was such a large and connected blogging community and that there are conferences! I’ve been hearing about Blogalicious, but youve exposed me to others too! I hope to attend one next year! 🙂
Welcome to the club Bree! We are like a open yet secret society. lol
This recap was everything! I felt like I was actually there in person! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, thanks Valerie.
Great recap. The conference was amazing. I thought I’d heard hat the DJ was 14 but I assumed I misheard.
No, you are correct. The DJ is only 14 years old.
There must have been such a vibe of inspiration. It’s awesome that you were able to connect with so many cool people!
Liz yes, it is pretty amazing to experience.
It looks like it was an amazing conference! Attending a blogger conference is one thing I’ve yet to do and would really like to cross off my goals list soon!
Jessica, kudos to investing in yourself.
This seems like it was such a fun event. I only went to 1 blogging conference and I really would love to go to more but there aren’t a lot in Canada, or Montreal. I might need to travel.
Julie, you might have to travel. I know BlogHer was in New York this summer.
Looks like an awesome blog conference! I love activities like this where like minded people get together and have a great time. The food pictures made me drool. I hope I could have a recipe of that crab mac and cheese!
Annemarie, it is so important to connect with like minded folks.
You can probably look it up, it came from Phillips.
I love your outfit.. You look fabulous and very stylish! I’ve never been to any BLOGHER event. Hope to be there next year
Thanks Rika, I don’t blog about fashion but I totally love it. lol
This sounds like a fun event. I have never been to a blogger conference. I love the idea of wearing a shirt with your blog’s name on it.
Branding is everything, I wear them most of the time I attend any Blogging related events.
Everybody looks fabulous! Blloger Bash is an event that looks so much fun to attend to.
I’ve never been but it is on my radar. I might try and go next year.
Great post! It was so nice to meet you!
Thanks, it was nice meeting you as well.
I love a good blog conference and this looks like it was a great one!! I’m glad you has a great time!!
It was a great first experience.
Sounds like a great time! I would love to do something like this hope to at some point! Glad you had a great time!
You should Jeanine its so important for us to also build relationships in person.
This looks like it was a fabulous blog event. What a great group of people and so much to learn. The food looked fantastic too!
It really was Lisa, food is so important.
I think conferences are always fun to go to. We still haven’t attended any conference yet, but we would certainly love to attend one someday.
They are, you learn so much and you get to meet so many people.
I am so envious of all of you bloggers who went to Blogalicious! I was supposed to go but I couldnt find a last minute room buddy! Its ok I loved your recap all these beautiful people make me so happy! I didnt know Natasha of THEYBF.com was there she is like the original blogger for me that made me really inspired to be a blogger professionally one day…I would love to meet her!
Awwww, sorry to hear that. Yes she is an OG for sure. I didn’t get to talk to her after the general session though.
I am making it my business to attend Blogalicious next year! Everyone looks like they got so much from the conference.
Rachee I look forward to seeing you there.
that food looks so good! lol Glad you all had a great time. Your tees are too cute. Yes to building the empire and congrats on your son scoring a goal.
The food was really good, that is important to me. Thanks, I love my branded tees, it makes it easy for people to find me. Thanks he was so excited.
I have been wanting to go to a Blogalicious Conference. It looks like you had a great time. I will have to see when the next one is.
They haven’t announced anything about next yet but keep your eye out.
This looks like a fun conference. I have always wanted to go to one. I will have to look into what will be in my area soon.
That is a great idea Lisa.
Omg looks like you had a blast at this conference. Loving the photo booth props! So much fun 🙂
Thanks Courtney, photo booth props are always a lot of fun.
You got to meet some great bloggers! I totally need to step my conference game up. I haven’t been to any yet!
I totally did, you get to fan out in a controlled environment.
It was such a great conference and so good meeting you in person Mimi. Great recap.
Thanks Tyra, it was so great to meet you as well.
I absolutely loved your branding techniques with the shirts. Blogalicious looks like it was amazing. I will have to check it out next year!
Thanks Kimberly, it makes deciding what to wear very easy.
i LOVE how you were completely branded before you left your house. Great idea for increasing awareness of your brand.
Every recap I see has me so disappointed I couldn’t attend this year. I’m also in Maryland so I would have loved to attend a local conference but I was in a wedding the same weekend and couldn’t miss all the festivities.
Great recap, the food looked amazing and I can’t wait for Part 2. I was reading your recap looking to see what you said about a particular speaker, so I’ll be back
Thanks Yaya, I try to brand down as often as possible.
Awwww man, that is a tough situation to be in. Speaker sessions and break out recaps will be up tomorrow.
That sounds like a fun conference! I really want to attend a blog conference soon.
Ashleigh, you should give them a try.
This sounds like a great conference. I went to one in July and it was amazing. It was only 4 hours long thiugh. But it was packed with useful information.
That is great, I love a good conference full of great content.
It was great seeing you at the conference! You looked so cute, as always, and I love the lips lapel pin. Great recap – it was first time attending Blogalicious and I really enjoyed myself. Hopefully it won’t be too far next year.
Thanks Jonna, great to see you as always. The close location was key this, fingers crossed for next year.
How neat! I have never heard of blogalicious before. I can’t wait until my kiddos get older so I can attend stuff like this. Would be so exciting.
Bonnie, some people had their babies with them. 😉
It looks like a great event. I need to do more blog conferences. I hope they come to my area soon.
Krystal they are a great way to connect with people and brands.
Wow this looks like a really fun event, I would love to attend something like this soon.
Jessica they are a real treat.
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