sassy moms celebrate bts

I'll be brutally honest.  I love going to blogger events, but getting motivation to go is a completely different story.  I have the best intentions of always going to events where I know I'll reunite with old friends and meet new ones, but between balancing a hectic work week and wrangling a toddler, it can be tough to follow through.  Most of the time I just want to over pour myself a glass of wine, sit on the couch in my PJs and just veg, BUT I'm trying to be better about pushing myself because every time I do push through I have the most amazing time and never regret it.

Last week I had the pleasure of going to the Sassy Moms in the City Back to School Soiree where I had an opportunity to discover some great new back to school must haves.  Going into the event I only knew a few folks, but was excited to finally meet some bloggers I've only interacted with over the interwebs.  Walking into these events can be a little intimidating and also exciting at the same time - kind of like the butterflies I used to get on the first day of school - but as soon as I walked in and spotted faces I recognized from Instagram I was in complete ease.  I finally met April from Knocked Up and Fabulous, Jessica from Style Meet Life and Leyla from Second City Mom, and let's just say, "They had me at Hello!"

We shimmied (no really - we did) our way through the event - chomping on goodies made in-house at the Chopping Block - discovering great new products like my Liam's new favorite water bottle from Refresh2Go, down bedding from Dacron, air freshners from Fresh Wave and having way too much fun trying frames from Iristocracy.  We chatted the night away throughout the event and had so much to talk about that we continued our night down the street over food and drinks.

Photo credit: KH Photography

Photo credit: KH Photography

In getting to know the ladies beyond blog life I learned that I have so much more in common with them.  I'm living parallel lives with Jessica (down to the tee that our kids went to the same daycare), I have a thrift soul mate in April who just understands the thrill shopping at thrift stores and I have way too much in common with Leyla, not to mention that she is the ONLY other person I've met that refuses to let their toddler wear character clothing.  While getting myself mentally prepared to go was a little bit of a tough feat, I walked away not only discovering some great new stuff for Liam, but I walked away with three new "real life" friends that I can't wait to hang out with more often.  Proves that sometimes those moments that require a little more motivation, have the best rewards!

Thanks so much to all the sponsors and Alison Ray from Sassy Moms in the City for the wonderful event AND for connecting me with new friends!  Be sure to check out more pics on the event here.