Kelocity.com

Man, when my alarm went off yesterday, I honestly didn’t know where I was. I was supposed to do the BlogHer 5K, but I felt like I was hit by a bus. I just need one solid night of 9 hours of sleep to catch up I think. Can’t get those hours back once they’re gone!

But I was pretty excited for a day full of learning and networking. I was already feeling more confident than I did the day before, and if that’s all I get out of this conference, I consider that a win.

I am not staying in the host hotel, but I always get excited when local public transportation is involved. Nerd alert. I LOVE subway maps and navigating through new towns.

San Diego’s trolley reminds me of Boston. So fun to ride!

I found some friends and grabbed breakfast in the pavilion. I can’t believe how big this convention center is!

I attended the “Newbie Breakfast” to hear a little bit about what to expect and meet some other new bloggers. The conference is organized by three amazing ladies Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone. They are very smart women who are passionate about blogging and I was so proud to be part of the community that ties us all together.

Their keynote highlighted some of the accomplishments the blogging community has made in the past few years. More women now rank blogs above corporate websites and social media when it comes to getting advice and information. I am inspired!

Next up was “Blogger Speed Dating”. We got into large circles and had 90 seconds to introduce yourself and pitch your blog to someone before moving on to the next. I LOVED this. I started out a little shy with an unpolished pitch, but by the end, I found that I was able to really pinpoint what my blog was really about. “Kelocity.com is a blog about running, travel and life in Los Angeles”.

And I also met a bunch of other amazing bloggers that I’m sure will populate my Google Reader soon! I’ll share some link love later in the week.

I was also happy to meet up with an old friend, Jessica who runs The Rose Run website in honor of her mom.

The first thing I did was attend a “Geek Bar” session. These were great sessions because only 4-5 people were in there at a time, so you can really get your questioned answered. I learned about “Internet Sleuthing” and how to track down mean commenters, hate emailers and stalkers. Thankfully I haven’t had to deal with any of this, and I hope I never will, but it’s great to have the tools incase you do. So don’t try anything mean, I will find you! Kidding. Kind of.

After that, I took a stroll around some of the sponsor suites. Lots of fun things to explore. Like this giant sculpture made out of Twizzlers.

The Hallmark Suite

And Hot Wheels (this track sticks on the wall!) If I was a 12 year old boy, I would want this in my room. Such a cool idea!

Then it was S’Mores time!

Make your own? Don’t mind if I do! I LOVE s’mores!

My marshmallow caught on fire and the lady was like “ahh, blow it out”! And I said, Oh, let me take a picture first! Priorities, right! And besides, isn’t burning it the fun part?

The Convention Center is RIGHT on the water, but it’s a shame I didn’t really get outside much this weekend! Hopefully that will change on Sunday!

I hit up the expo one more time to pick up a few more things. Including a Tempur-pedic Travel Pillow! Score!!

HAHA And I just had to share this picture. FeBreeze was there and they actually hired a guy to pose as a teenager in a messy room. But regardless of the “mess”, it smelled amazing!

It felt like I just ate breakfast, but apparently that was hours ago and lunch was served! It was fun to catch up with friends again while we ate.

The hilarious Amanda from ConfessionsOfAFatGirl! I missed her!

In the middle of lunch, there was a Flash Mob!!!!!! OMG I was so excited. Seeing a live flash mob seriously was on my bucket list!!! They did a great job dancing to Lady Gaga!!

I attended a Photography session about what makes a great photo. We looked at lots of eye candy and talked about what a photo should do. And the bottom line was that photos should connect people, places, emotions, etc. It just has to connect to something.

What makes a good photo itself?
-Light (try not to use flash)
-Color
-Composition
-Subject Matter
-That Connection

I’ve been using my small point-and-shoot camera this weekend, but honestly, I need to get used to carrying my DSLR around. I need to start experimenting more, stretching my eye a little more and learning to perfect my images. I think I might start adding a “Photo-A-Day” concept to my blog and seeing where it goes. Another BlogHer breakthrough for me! I’m pumped!

When I walked out of the session I happened across some snacks! Hooray for fruit! Yum!! I am impressed with the hospitality of BlogHer so far.

There are so many sessions to choose from, but the next one really stood out for me. It was about Perfecting Product Reviews. As a relatively new blogger, this was something I was really interested in learning about. It’s no secret that bloggers sometimes get the opportunity to receive free product in exchange for a blog post. But you also don’t want to compromise your readers or “sell out” in the process.

The session was led by Momspark.net, mommyniri.com and thedivinemissmommy.com.

I tried to soak in as much as I could, and by the end of the day, I was beat! I called it a day and headed back to our hotel.

It’s crazy that my husband has been here all weekend, but I’ve barely seen him yet! We turned right around and headed to dinner with our friends Jen and Angel. I used to live next door to them while I was growing  up and it was fun to see them again to catch up! Jen used to tutor me in math when I was in school!

We ate at a FABULOUS restaurant called Bankers Hill. The atmosphere was great and the food was amazing.

The wall behind us was a ‘living wall’. All of those plants are real and thriving. So cool!

Ok… let’s review why I need to use a better camera….

No flash:

With flash:

Both photos are atrocious. Sigh. You’ll just have to trust me that it was amazing. (Crispy Eggplant with Burrata cheese and artichokes).

I’m back at the conference today so I’ll be back later!