My Bountiful Days at BlogHer Day Two

Dove Bars: When I heard Dove was going to be at the Expo, I was beside myself.  (Desserts are a fetish of mine along with tech).  I planned on getting a Dove Bar 1-2 times a day during  BlogHer.  Unfortunately, there was so much to do, I only made it to the Dove booth twice, and let me tell you, you know I must have been busy to only get there twice…that’s so unlike me!  One day Dove gave out hand dipped Dove Bars.  It was like heaven!  The chocolate was so soft and velvety.  Yum!

Hershey:  Hershey had a wonderful room set up to resemble a house and back patio.  Throughout the “house” were places to cook marshmallows on a skewer over a small Bunsen burner fire.  Graham crackers and milk or dark chocolate were close at hand to make S’mores.  Score!  This was one of the reasons why I didn’t make it to get a Dove Bar one day.  Hershey also handed out chocolate brown lunch bags to take home for the kids.

Tropicana:  Tropicana was showcasing two of their new juice flavors.  To increase interest, Tropicana offered free manicure’s.  I signed up and later they tweeted a time to stop by for my manicure.  Tropicana treated guests to samples of their juices as our nails transformed.  We could choose from two colors…pink or yellow…which matched the colors of their new juices.  My nails looked great and I was ready to conquer the day.

Dr. Scholl’s:  Hat’s off to Dr. Scholl’s.  They handed out these great slip-on feet saver shoes, called Fast Flats, complete with a little leather-like carrying pouch.  They have a rubber sole and are very flexible so they can be folded, put into the pouch, and placed in your evening bag.  I took them with me in my purse as I gallivanting from party to party.  Then, I hit the wall.  I could not walk in my slick new heels one more step.  Having the Fast Flats felt like sinking into a comfortable chair after running a marathon…nice!  The Dr. Scholl’s are a must for any fancy evening out.

Scrubbing Bubbles:  Scrubbing Bubbles transformed a huge room in the Marriott hotel into a pampering suite.  Before the conference, we signed up for either a massage, manicure, or pedicure.  It felt like I really got away from it all, a nice oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the conference.  The Scrubbing Bubbles staff were super friendly, there were hors duerves, delectable desserts, and a relaxing sitting area to chat with other bloggers while waiting for our turn.  I opted  for the pedicure.   I chatted merrily with the blogger next to me as the pedicure technician worked gingerly around my open blisters caused from my ultra-cool but ill-fitting shoes I brandished the night before.

HTC:  Before the conference, HTC offered bloggers the chance to meet with them to tell them about what we liked and disliked about our personal phones.  I signed up and thought it was a one-to-one session.  To my surprise, there was about15-18 of us in the room and we were a part of a focus group.  In addition to our likes and dislikes, they asked us to create the ideal phone.  We worked in groups to flip chart this ultimate phone.  To reward us for our time, each one of us was given a HTC phone, gift-wrapped with our name on it.  They asked us ahead of time our carrier to ensure we could use our phones right away.  I was given the HTC Sensation 4G.  Although it’s similar to my MyTouch 4G, it is much faster to switch screens and load videos.

 

Evening Parties

I had another full session of parties on Friday night too.  A late entrant into the Friday night party schedule was a company called SoftCup.

SoftCup

SoftCup had a full celebrity line-up and even though my evening was fully booked, I couldn’t help but want to attend, even if for a short time.  Amanda Beard, 7-time Olympian winner and Mario Lopez would be at the party, as well as a performance  by Ryan Cabrera.  I just couldn’t pass up a chance to meet Mario…and those dimples, ahhh!  The party was held at on the rooftop of a swanky hotel.  SoftCup hired pedicabs to bring us to the party.  Their signature drinks were great and they used Cake Vodka in the drinks for extra sweetness…ultra yum!  I talked a little with Amanda.  I recognized her right away, tall, slender, well-spoken.  Unfortunately, I found out Mario wouldn’t be arriving until later and it was time for me to go.  I’m guessing, you’re like me, you’ve never heard of SoftCup before.  SoftCup is a latex cup that can be used instead of tampons or pads, giving you more flexibility and confidence.  Apparently, the cup can last up to 12 hours before replacing.  Interesting.  They gave us a fancy SoftCup bag, a package of SoftCups to try….and a sample bottle of Cake Vodka (!) to take home with us (sweet!).

We attended this party about 1 1/2 maybe 2 hours after it started.  Really, the party was about done by the time we got there.  There really wasn’t much going on so we only stayed about 25 minutes.  We signed up for Swag bucks at SwagBucks.com, spun a wheel…won a key chain, then received a swag bag and left.  I have to say, the NibNobs cake bon-bon in the bag was incredible.  Good thing they only gave me one because I could have eaten a whole box!

Cheap Sally Dance Party

This was the best party of the night.  Great food, open bar (I think, can’t remember now), and a great atmosphere.  The scene was at a chic nightclub in the Gaslight District.  The nightclub had three levels to it, the top level being the rooftop.  Collective Bias and Cheap Sally did a nice job with all the details.  The rooftop was the main place to party, with cabanas lining the perimeter to learn more about the party sponsors.  One sponsor, Vix/Impanema Flip Flops  was handing out very cool flops.  Unfortunately, they had no more flops my size, gargantuan, so I got a smaller pair to give to my 8 year old daughter with monster size child feet.  It was hard to leave this party.  A bunch of us gathered up and decided to hit the next party together.  It was at this point that I needed to put on my Dr. Scholl’s Fast Flats… Ahhhh. I was so grateful to have them with me.  Unfortunately, my roomie had forgotten hers.

 

Kick Off Your Heels

This party was put on by Stiletto Media on the 6th floor outside terrace of the Omni Hotel.  They too had a signature drink, the  Purple Stillitini , complete with a stiletto pink heel stirrer.  Their best sponsor was GM.  I loved talking with GM, a very friendly bunch.  GM offered everyone a $25 iTunes gift card just by tweeting that we met them at the Kick Off Your Heels party.  They provided chauffeur service to and from the hotel to the party, which wasn’t as far as several of the other parties for the night.  We used their chauffeur service when leaving the party – needing a fleet of cars to caravan us back, as our group had amassed to 14 at this point.  We were very impressed with GM’s friendliness both at the party and with the drivers and driving coordinators.  Way to go, GM!  Very nice party, too, Stiletto Media!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a full day Friday was.  I met some really nice people in the elevator, on the expo floor, at some of the conference sessions, and at the parties.  I started off alone at the first party, picked up one new friend…and by the end of the night there were 14 of us!  I’d like to say a big thank you to all of the individuals…many of them bloggers…who created these parties, came up with sponsors, and worked extremely hard to ensure the hundreds of bloggers who attended would have a great time.  We all really enjoyed the parties and could see the great effort that was expended for our enjoyment.