Haven 2014 Recap

Hey guys, I am so excited to tell you all about my amazing three days at the Haven Conference in Atlanta!

(Hanging with some outrageously talented ladies.  Melissa from The Happier Homemaker, Jamie from So Much Better With Age and Jenna from Rain on a Tin Roof.  And yes, those are coral chevron couches.  I may have squealed a bit the first time that I saw them!)

Haven is a conference where over 350 bloggers gather to connect with each other and brands, take classes and sessions and generally have a ridiculously good time.  Since I have been at the whole blogging game for less than a year I was a bit nervous to attend, but I had the best time!  Everyone was so welcoming, the classes were chock full of valuable information and the networking could not be beat!

If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook you may have seen some of these pictures, but I’d love to share them with you here as well.  Warning: full selfie mode was in action often!

After a quick flight from North Carolina to Atl, I met up with my real life BFF, Melissa from The Happier Homemaker at the airport.  We grabbed a shuttle and high tailed it over to the hotel to make sure that we were there in time to check in and gussy up for the opening reception.  Lots of business cards were exchanged, hands shaken, lights dawning as I was able to put faces to blogs that I’ve been following forever.

(Quick photo op with Beth from Beauty and Bedlam after listening to her session.)

Day 2 started out early with an inspiring opening session with Chip Wade.  If you aren’t watching his newest show, Elbow Room, you are totally missing out!  Next I took a couple of great classes taught by some of the sweetest bloggers around.  Before I knew it it was time to order a super quick room service dinner and get then it was off to the Haven Maven mixer.  I’ll be honest though, I was totally drained and called it a night early.  I was in bed by 10pm and it was great to grab a few more minutes of shut eye.

(Okay, so admittedly this is not the greatest picture, but it was such a pleasure to meet Chip Wade.  He was incredibly kind and gracious.)

Waking up totally refreshed and ready to attack the day I squeezed in as many classes and sessions as I could on day three.  Between classes I spoke with brands and sponsors and saw some pretty darn cool up and coming products.  Hopefully there will be some that I will be able to chat with you all about soon!  The closing session was followed by one more round of room service and prettying up one last time for our final party.  The Home Depot and Ryobi party was insanely fun with an ice cream bar, chocolate fountain and a fun DJ to keep us all going.  The party was supposed to end at 11:30pm, but I was on that dance floor until they basically turned the lights out on us…hours later!

(Having on blast on the dance floor with KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms and Heather from At the Picket Fence.)

After only three hours of sleep it was time to head back to the airport on Sunday morning.  It was a crazy busy, super quick, unbelievably great three days that I will be remembering for a long time to come.  I learned so much about the blogging business, but mostly I learned a lot about myself.  I can’t wait to bring my reenergized excitement to the projects that I’ve got coming up!  And I really cannot wait for Haven next year!!!