Spreading Some Sunshine: BlogHer and Beyond

My friend and fellow blogger, Alison H. of Mixer Upper, recently granted mom a la mode the Sunshine Award: a viral accolade highlighting a series of blogs that the recipient enjoys reading.  The idea is to shine some light, show some digital love and pay it forward.

I purposely waited to bestow the Sunshine Award to other worthy bloggers until my return back from BlogHer ’12, because I had a feeling that I’d have quite a lot of sunshine to share with some new digital buds.

Golly, was I right.

For those who don’t know, BlogHer ‘12 is an annual social media convention of over 3,000 digital influencers that provides female (and male, too) bloggers a forum to be inspired, educated and entertained through a series of programs, panels, events and – cue the horn section – an infamous Expo Hall of consumer brands/event sponsors showcasing  their latest and greatest products.

And so for the past two-and-a-half days in New York, I enjoyed meeting gals who blog about everything from fashion, mommying and couponing  to cause-related issues like feminism, appearance awareness  and autism.  And I even met a very cool NYC-based “daddy blogger.”

In the oh-so-mighty Expo Hall, I sampled the latest products from the event sponsors ranging from Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt and SO Delicious dairy-free ice cream bars to Hillshire Farm’s new chicken apple sausage and Land o Lakes Italian blend deli cheese.   

There were all sorts of cupcakes in all different sizes in many booths and brand suites, along with the magnetic pull of manicures, makeup touch ups and massages that drew us ladies to be pampered left and right.  And we even made Smore’s over a real campfire in the Hershey’s suite!

But let’s get to the meat and potatoes of what the conference was truly about – the programming, the connections and the PEOPLE! Which brings us back to the Sunshine Award. 

So here’s how this works – you get to learn a little bit more about me, and then a little bit more about some outstanding blogs I got to know this past weekend.  Below are the rules and the accompanying information. Enjoy!

Rules of the Sunshine Award

1. Accept the award.
2. Post the award on your blog together with the name / link to blog of the person who granted the award.
3. Answer the questions below.
4. Pass the award to 10 other blogs providing links to their blogs.
5. Contact your 10 bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Questions

1. Favorite color? – Blue (although Red is a close second)
2. Favorite animal? – Bunny
3. Favorite number? – 7
4. Favorite food? – Bear with me, folks: pasta; brie cheese with a warm goey fruit compote enrobed in puff pastry; cupcakes; custom blend burgers (like sirloin/brisket) with really good sharp cheddar cheese on a lightly toasted/lightly buttered brioche bun with pickles and ketchup; fries: both French and sweet potato; authentic Neapolitan Pizza Margarita; shrimp cocktail; ribeye steak cooked medium rare plus; risotto; arugula; farmer’s market veggies and many, many, many more…..
5. Favorite drink? – soft: watered down unsweetened iced tea with lemon and lots of ice; hard: margarita on the rocks with salt, these days; but wine most others
6. Facebook or Twitter? – Twitter.
7. What is your passion? – Writing. My Family. Writing about my Family.
8. Giving or getting presents? – Both.
9. Favorite day of the week? – A tie between Thursday and Saturday.
10. Favorite flower? – A tightly bundled bouquet of Hydrangea, Peonies and Roses.

I was exposed to thousands of blogs and bloggers over the course of this weekend, but here are a few that peaked my interest to whom I bestow The Sunshine Award:

1. Triple Threat Mommy.  My friend and colleague, Pam K. discusses living, working and mommying with style and grace straight from the heart of downtown NYC.
2. This Lovely Home.  Stacey I. talks about turning a house into a home, while also providing weekly photography tips (she’s a pro photographer!)
3. Hip and Healthy Kids. My friend Marissa Z. A. is a certified health counselor, mama and research queen.  Her blog is the intersection of these things and more, dedicated to providing all that is hip and healthy for your family.
4. Everything’s Abuzz. Michelle S. provides content on natural parenting and green living in an aesthetically pleasing way.
5. Tales from Clark Street. Where humor, life and anonymity meet up…on Clark Street, apparently.
6. Sunny Side Up. Sarah B. urges her readers to live a life that shines via a well-organized, visually stimulating blog.
7. DaDa Rocks. The first Daddy Blog I’ve encountered! Adam C.’s blog is chock full of product reviews for tech, gadgets, audio/visual and other cool stuff dads and dudes would dig.
8. Momtrends. Nicole F. is a fashion industry veteran whose mission is to keep mamas looking sharp in their stilettos long after the epidural wears off.
9. Little Lunch Notes.  Amy H. is a fashion illustrator but her darling printable lunch notes will add a side dish of humor to your kids’ lunchboxes.  See for yourself!
10. Tough Cookie Mommy.  Maria C. of the Bronx blogs about juggling motherhood, marriage and her career as a NYC public school teacher, and also offers product reviews and giveaways.

So there you have it – the Sunshine Award!

In closing, here’s a short video that I shot while in the Pfizer booth in the Expo Hall (audio note: it was very noisy at the Expo Hall!)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzVyT0xO8fQ]

I’m still buzzing with delight, and my head is spinning from how much I learned and how many amazing people I was able to meet.

To quote BlogHer Editor In Chief, Stacy Morrison, “Storytelling is the currency of our culture.”

I’m looking forward to keeping this story going…

oxox

– mom a la mode

{The opinions expressed in this post are solely mine. While I was not compensated monetarily for any product or blog mentions in this post, I did receive samples and coupons for free product from some of the brands mentioned.}