I can't believe that The Blog Connect is over, but now that I've had a week to decompress and reflect on the whirlwind that was the conference, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite parts of the weekend.  Today I'm sharing part one of the recap, the ellelauri pre-party!

Day 1: ellelauri Pre-Party

I was part of the planning committee, and the pre-party was my baby.  From first sight I knew I had to select ellelauri (I mean, have you seen the cute pieces in store?) and I really couldn't have asked for more hospitable venue.  A huge thank you to Liz and Amanda for treating us so well!
Concihairge provided guests with the coolest braids I have ever seen!  See my review and my braid here!
Ann Blake shared some of her secrets for creating beautiful flatlays!
And of course no party is complete without delicious food and drinks.  I tried Kombucha for the first time (thanks Inspired Brews) and learned about Paint Cans (the adult version of boxed wine, but so much better!) from Pinot Boutique.  I also learned that Pinot has wine slushies...let me know if you want to join in for a summer happy hour!  The food was so delish; the cauliflower pizza from Agno Grill and the DiBrunos cheese spread definitely hit the spot.  And I'm still dreaming about those ICI Macarons!
The raffles were seriously amazing.  Shoutout to all the winners!
But my absolute favorite part was meeting all the bloggers that I've gotten to know so well through social media.  It was like catching up with old friends.
Me with Khoi | Gentleman Within
Me again with Carolyn | Energetic Foodie and Kasia | Ampersand

Yup, that's me so busy chatting with my bloggy friends that I didn't even notice the camera!

I thought that the party was a huge success.  It wouldn't have been possible without the help of my girls/amazing planning team of Chrystina | Chrystina Noel, Sara | smoorelovin, Melissa | Skinny Affair, and Sarah | Shades Of Sarah!  The party was the perfect way to start the conference and give everyone a chance to network in a fun setting!

If you attended, let me know your favorite part of the party below and look out for part two of the conference recap tomorrow!









A huge thank you to our talented photographer, Tim Becker, for all the photographs!