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This photo about tells it all. Fun was had at Blissdom. If you are not a blogger and don’t know what Blissdom is, it is an annual conference for women bloggers held in Nashville, TN. I decided to go last month so I could personally meet some of the bloggers I have built online friendships with.
This is a group of DIY bloggers at the Girls Night Out Party – Erin –Two Story Cottage, Sandra-Sawdust & Paper Scraps, Brittany-Pretty Handy Girl, Me, Kristi – Creative Kristi, Cindy – My Cottage Love, and Tracy-Beneath My Heart
My new buddies – My roomie, Pam-Chick Clique, Tracy- Lost In Suburbia, and Cindy –My Cottage Love
At registration we got a welcome bag filled with lots of goodies. This was only the start. Swag- a.k.a. free stuff from the sponsors piles up bag after bag. One sponsor – Extra Space Storage sent 10lbs of stuff home for free for us via Fed Ex. Too much to take on a plane. I think hotel housekeeping had a banner day on Sunday when they made up the rooms as many of us left items we couldn’t take home for them to enjoy.
After registration, I met up with everyone. Christine, HGTV, Brittany, Me, Becky-Organizing Made Fun, Allison – House of Hepworth’s, Cindy, Erin, Julie-HGTV, and Sandra.
Brittany
Thursday night kick off party.
Waiting to eat breakfast. Becky, Cindy, Allison, Me
The conference was held at the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. It was one amazing place – like going to Disney. This is just one section. There are 3 like this – all inside Bio-dome atriums with shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. Acres and acres with plenty of opportunity to get lost. At check in they give you the front desk phone number in case you get lost – very easy to do and I did numerous times – almost to panic mode as the hallways are endless and set up in a spoke-like fashion.
The Grand Ole Opry is on the property – I think across the street, but I never left the hotel the 3 days that I was there.
You can even take a boat ride.
This is the entrance to the convention center where the actual conference sessions, meals, and parties were held.
Conference Center entrance.
There was a wedding going on at this restaurant on Saturday. Waterfalls and nature all around. It felt tropical.
One of the many restaurants.
The keynote speaker was Jon Acuff. Hearing him was worth the price of admission and I wanted more like that –Funny, inspirational and a blogger just like everyone in the room. He got a standing ovation and everyone got a copy of his book – Quitter. He was a cross between Steve Jobs and Billy Crystal.
On Friday night after the first day of sessions there were 2 parties. The pre-party was hosted by the new movie that comes out this week – The Lorax. It was very festive. The DIY group I was with had a discussion on how we could make our own Dr Seuss looking pom pom trees.
We were served festive drinks.
That we all enjoyed.
We even got to get our photo taken with the Lorax himself. Allison, Brittany, Cindy, Me, Erin, and Sandra.
Everyone got a pair of shoes from Famous Footwear. Dr. Scholls – Jennie. They were quite comfy – I wore them home to make navigating the airport a little easier.
Centrum vitamins provided lunch on Saturday and we got lots of vitamins to take home. Chris Mann from The Voice was the entertainment. Erin, Angie – The Country Chic Cottage, Cindy, and the back of Kristie- The Decorologist.
One of the atriums during the day-
and at night.
Friday night after the Lorax Party there was a concert by Joe Jonas and Rascal Flatts. Cindy, Becky, Brittany, Erin, Sandra.
On Saturday night – Girls night out we wore our comfy clothes and danced to a DJ.
in PJs.
Got sauced, literally – apple sauce, apple sauce martinis and showed off our hoola-hooping skills at the Go Go Squeez party.
Cindy knows her way around a hoola-hoop.
and so does Sandra.
The conference was fun and I even learned a bit at the sessions, but the best part was just meeting and hanging out with the bloggers that I have been making friendships with on line.
I met many other bloggers but didn’t get photos of them. Gail of My Re-purposed Life, Amy- All In A Day, Stephanie- All Artful, Amanda- Kevin and Amanda, plus many more. It was so nice to meet all of them.
As we all said our goodbyes we ended with – see you at Haven in June – an all DIY conference in Atlanta.
It was a whirlwind of activity and I had so much to do when I got home. I am finally feeling caught up and am going to work on finishing up painting my desk now. I will have it done soon and will show you next week.
Vote for your favorite DIY Blog! I am on the list!!! Woo Hoo! and I have 7 votes. I know I will never win, but if you vote for me my name gets moved up (which would be nice) on the very LONG list.
You have to sign into Apartment Therapy with your AT log-in. If you don’t have one – you can log-in using Facebook or Twitter.
click here to be taken to the DIY category.
xo Thanks xo
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks like an amazing time! And congrats on the Homies nod. All kinds of good–good for you!
I got to stay at that hotel once for a work conference years ago – loved it!! Looks like such a fun time meeting all of those new people. Congrats on the Homies – I am off to give you a vote!!
xo
Ashlyn
Thanks Ashlyn. Someday I would like to go back to Nashville so I can explore the city. The hotel felt like a huge bubble away from the world. Are you going to get snow tonight? I know my daughter in VT said they are in line to get some.
How exciting for all you gals. The surroundings look fabulous !
Will be excited for you…..
That looks like so much fun, Diane! Now that I’m not working, I’d love to go to one of these. I’ll have to check out the info on Haven since that one is the next up.
Hi Kathy- It was a lot of fun. Haven will be even better I think as all the sessions will relate to DIY. The photography sessions at Blissdom were all about taking photos of children. Not what I wanted to learn. Need interior photo tips and we will get them at Haven. It would be so much fun to meet you in person. I think there will be about 300 people at Haven. There were 700+ at Blissdom. I went to Blogher in NYC two years ago and I think there were 5000 or some huge number.
It was GREAT to meet you Diane! I only wish we’d had more time to chat! Enjoyed reading your post, and seeing your pics. I did not take enough pictures. uh oh
It’s fun to look in the background and see people I know. You have a wonderful shot of my backside! lol
See you at Haven!
gail
wow! that looked like a lot of fun! xo
Hi Anna-
It was a good time meeting so many bloggers, plus the hotel made it feel like we were in our own blissful world.
So glad we got to meet! :) It was an amazing few days! :)
So nice to meet you at Blissdom, Diane! And thanks for featuring the back of my head ;) Your blog is lovely, I’ll be visiting again.
I cannot stop smiling at your post…what an amazing weekend with an amazing group of women! Can hardly wait for June!
That was SO much fun and I’m so glad we got to hang out! See you at Haven…
It looks like you had a blast! I am seriously considering Haven, I can’t let you be the one having all the fun?
Diane-looks like a fantastic experience-so glad you were able to go. Nashville is on our list of places to visit.
Great meeting you! We had a blast getting sauced with you!
Diane, I’ve stood at this hotel a long time ago and it was absolutely amazing. I loved seeing your pictures. I wished I lived in an atrium house like this with my owner river running through it and all! Wouldn’t that be something? A Girl can dream right?
The link to My Cottage Love leads to a site with just a test page. Is that what we’re supposed to see?
Thank you.
Diane –
It was so great meeting you and hanging out with you! I hope to see you again, too! You are such a sweet lady!
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
Diane! I found you again from the Colortopia site, clicking on your picture because I knew you were my friend from the Philadelphia area. It’s been years since we met at Bloggy Boot Camp, and I’m so excited to see how much you’ve accomplished since then! Congratulations on your huge success! :)
Hi Diane-
Going through all my cards. I wish we had more time to chit chat. Sounds like Haven is going to be a blast. Hoping I can make it there as well.
Looks like an awesome time! I can’t wait to hear about it and everything you learned/picked up in person. Hope you’re feeling better Diane!