Haven Conference 2013 (long post — grab a snack)

As you guys all know, last week I was in Atlanta at the Haven Conference. It’s a place where 300 bloggers, from all over the nation, come and take classes from the biggest and best bloggers in the business.

I was pretty nervous before I went. What if no one spoke to me? What if my roommate, Jen from Girl In the Garage, was weird and I was stuck with her for days? What if everyone knew more than I did and thought I was stupid? These things were all floating around my head before I left.

Before I left, I also had clients’ projects to finish, posts to write, errands to run, and packing to do. I went to bed at 3:00am the night before I left and got up at 3:45 to get ready and head to the airport.

Once I landed in Atlanta, I waited for my roomie to arrive.

Yay! She wasn’t weird! In fact we clicked right away. We both started blogging almost a year ago, so we had tons in common. We took the MARTA  (Atlanta’s public transportation) to the hotel, not really having any idea where to get off, and then where to go once we did.

Once we debarked, you leave through the terminal, and you have to swipe your MARTA card to get the doors to open, and you exit — reminder, I had a giant purse, a carry-on, and a big suitcase.

My roommate Jen went through and then I swiped my card, and I passed my big suitcase through to Jen and then Wham! The doors closed.

I swiped my card again … and nothing. What!?

Apparently you get only one shot at the exit … and only four seconds to do so.

So I was trapped inside the MARTA.  I tried several times to exit right after someone entered and no dice. It went way too fast. I then saw a phone to contact someone for help. Guess what? No one answered.

Awesome. I passed my card over to Jen who went to reload it and before she did the doors magically opened. I was free! So we made our way to the Buckhead Hyatt (which was beautiful) and unpacked.

Jen and I

We then got ready for the first nigh’ts cocktail party. There were bloggers everywhere! I’m sure we looked like deer in the headlights. It was a bit overwhelming seeing all of these people, whom I have admired and looked up to for so long, but once we had a drink we decided it was now or never, and we dove right in.

One of the first people I saw was Mandi from Vintage Revivals. Now she has been one of my favorite bloggers from day one. I was so excited to see her I shrieked a little which got her attention.

The most exciting part… she knew who I was! OMG, I almost died that she knew who I was! If you have ever wondered if she is the same in real life, yes she is. She also is crazy tall and very beautiful. I could have left the conference right after meeting her and been one happy girl.

Mandi and I

We met so many people! There are so many bloggers that look one way on their profile pictures, and look completely different in real life — and some that didn’t look at all like I envisioned in my mind.

Everyone thought that I had red hair! Did any of you think that? I guess in my profile pic, it was taken close to sunset, and it had a reddish hue in the photo. I had no idea anyone thought that.

We stayed at the party until 11 and then we sat up talking in the room for hours.

The next morning came waaayyy too early, and we got up so that the fabulous Kristen Duke from Kristen Duke Photography could take our headshots. For free no less, such a generous thing for her to do.

I got up that morning and actually curled my hair people. Yes, I know it’s shocking seeing that 350 days of the year my hair is in a bun, and I have on sweats and no makeup. But when someone like Kristen is going to take your photo, you better look decent.

I must say, I felt like I was having a decent hair day for once, and I had sprayed it into a hair helmet. We went outside for pictures, and I was literally out there less than 5 minutes. Once we reentered the hotel I felt my hair and I knew it wasn’t good.

The crunchy curls I had before I walked out the door felt soft and limp. Oh No!

The very first class I had was with Miss Mustard Seed herself! Now this woman is my blogging idol. She is the reason I started blogging in the first place. She is THE QUEEN in the blogging world my friends.

I got into the mirrored elevator, hoping my hair wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was right, it was worse!

It looked like my hair had been hosed down. Now, being from Kansas, I know what humidity is, but apparently in Atlanta it is something entirely different. I had no time to go back to the room before the class started, so I had no choice but to go as I was.

As much as I didn’t want Miss Mustard Seed to see me looking like I had been electrocuted, my desire to meet her and get my photo with her won out.

Marian and I

She is such a warm and sincere person I could hardly stand it. She is one of the busiest women on the planet, yet she has stopped what she is doing and emailed little me multiple times throughout the year.

The class was with her and Shaunna West of Perfectly Imperfect, another one of my blogging idols.

Shanna and Shaunna

   Marian Parsons and Shaunna West

It was so fun, and I learned some great new techniques, and got to test out some new Miss Mustard Seed and Annie Sloan products. Of course I did spill milk paint down my skirt — which was to be expected.

After class, I walked/ran up to the room and recurled my hair. Thank goodness I did because right after lunch I met Beckie Farant of Roadkill Rescue. She is also a Big Deal in the blogging world and has so kindly featured my furniture many times. So I was super pumped to meet her, and she was nice enough to chat with me for a while.

Beckie and I

Well that’s probably enough for today. I’m sure your snack is gone by now.

Tomorrow, I will catch you up on the other half of my adventure!

Don’t forget to sign-up for the giveaway!