On Wednesday, I attended my very first ‘blogger’s only’ event!  Those of you following along as I walk along two parallel paths in life – 1) the scientist/PhD/researcher path and the 2) fashion/lifestyle blogger path – know that this is the very first event I have attended as a ‘real blogger’!!  Wait, actually, I have a third path…motherhood/wifehood (wait, those are two paths, haha!)! 😛

Anyway, it was super cool to get the ‘blogger’s only’ for ‘Birmingham’s best bloggers’ invite!  Eeeep!!  I’m among the best!  Yay!!  This, of course, coming off the heels of my attendance at Birmingham Fashion Week as a blogger/press/media!  More on that to follow in an upcoming post!  Curious?  Check out this guest blog post I wrote for Lotus Boutique!

Anyhow, so this event.  In Birmingham, we have this store…Swoozie’s.  Cute name, right?!  So, Swoozie’s is a gift and social paper retailer in the Birmingham area.  There are 7 other locations, in Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, Colorado and Texas!  They also have an online site.  So…this event.  Sorry, haha, I get easily distracted, apparently!!  Squirrel!!  Hahaha, okay, ENOUGH!

AN-Y-way…Swoozie’s!!  I arrived at the event having only had 15 minutes to get ready, so I went with basics.  Black harem pants, a red pleated top, animal print heels (because, really, WHO can tell the difference between cheetah and leopard prints?!!), a gold fringe necklace, Stella and Dot hoop earrings, and lots of bracelets!  You’re not a real fashion blogger if you don’t wear every bracelet you own, haha! Just kidding.  No but really, I was wearing like 6 altogether.  I also wore my usual top knot.  Anyone studying biostatistics could easily use me as an example for explaining what Bayesian statistics is all about, haha! You know…because I wear my hair in a bun almost everyday!! So, this is what I ended up wearing to the event!

I arrived at the event, and was greated with my very first SWAG bag!!  Eeeeeep!! I was so excited!!  Check out the goodies I got!!

Um, okay, so I may have added a napkin from the food table that I thought was cute, as well as new notebooks that I picked up at the event with my exclusive, ‘blogger’s only’ discount (both were not originally included in the swag bag, but they make the picture look cuter, right?!). 😀

NEXT, I made a beeline for the food table.  Check out the food table!!  If you know me well, you know that I do NOT pass up an opportunity to eat, so just know that I may or may not have eaten the crab cakes that are missing from this platter…oops!!  In my defense, it WAS dinner time.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t, but I hadn’t eaten dinner!!!  JUDGE ME! Hee hee!

The event was lots of fun!!  I met a variety of bloggers there!  Fashion, food, lifestyle, etc…a fun and diverse group!

Krista Colin and Alicia Rohan from KC Projects, LLC, as well as other new blogger friends!

Pictured here are the founders of Birmingham Bloggers, See Jane Write Birmingham, To Hell in a Handbag, All About Bham, The Hill Hangout, and Same Chic Different Day bloggers!

The event focused on giving us tips for becoming the ‘Hostess with the Mostest’, both socially as well as digitally.  I didn’t really capture too much of the digital hostess goods (e.g. business cards, personalized stationary and other items), but here are the social hostess items I thought were cute!

ChewBeads!! Have you heard of these?? You wear them as jewelry, your baby chews on them while toting him/her on your arm, and then you throw them in the dishwasher and voila! You have a clean necklace to wear again!

Cute decorative pieces like this one! SO relevant in our household, since our little one has YET to sleep through the night consistently! Oh woe is me!! :((

Kate Spade…’nuff said. 

Voluspa Candles…my FAVORITE!!

TONS of baby things, including this super cute baby announcement for your front door or mailbox!

Omgosh, and SOOOOO many other goodies!!  For those living in the Birmingham area, Swoozies is having an event for YOU this coming Saturday, May 3rd, from 11am-2pm!!  They are also offering an exclusive 20% discount to all attending this fun event!!  I told you what’s on my wish list, so feel free to use your discount to get me something cute! 😉

I have to tell you, this blogging ‘thing’ has been such an amazing experience thus far!  I never thought I would have a hobby I loved, but I can honestly say that this is one of the most fun-filled experiences/hobbies, I have ever had!  I *may* now understand how my hubby feels about golf.  Maybe… 😉

Keep an eye out for my upcoming post on Birmingham Fashion Week (yes, I know, SOOOO overdue!!), as well as my post on staying ‘Chic in Academia’ while pregnant or nursing (ALSO WAY OVERDUE!!)!!!  I’ve got about a 1-week window before my grant writing takes over my life again, so look for these posts in the upcoming week!  In the meantime, follow along on Instagram and Twitter for daily workplace outfit inspirations, as well as my SALE ALERTS peppered throughout!

Thanks so much for reading and…Stay Chic!!