Event: Bump It Up! Book Signing
Date: May 26, 2010
Location: W Hotel, San Francisco CA
Time: 6:30 – 8:30pm
So after a few weeks after launching my blog, I found a notice on TwitterMoms about a Mom’s Night Out event in San Francisco. I thought this was a great opportunity to plunge into the blogging world so I grabbed one of my friends and her 3-month-old son to go with me. She drove and while I was trying to look my best to make a good first impression, I dropped the mascara wand on my shirt and had a thick black stripe on my shirt. It was then I decided that my coat would stay on the whole night. Great start, huh?
After we parked we walked over to the W Hotel. I was overwhelmed. It was a beautiful hotel with modern decor and hip music. As you entered you got a nice swag bag and entered your name for a raffle. The atmosphere was that of a fancy nightclub scene but with mostly pregnant women. My friend made an interesting observation that it as strange to have an open bar at a party for expecting women. There were some vendors and a fantastic spread of food. You could also get some mini spa services such as eyebrow shaping and arm massages. Obviously these had a bit of a wait so I mingled instead.
Amy Tara Koch got on stage and read a few excerpts from her book, “Bump It Up: Transform Your Pregnancy into the Ultimate Style Statement”. It was all about the mixed feelings of pregnancy and how that affects what we wear or how we look at that time. She said that sweatpants are a ‘no-no’ and that dressing better can make you feel better. Then she had three pregnant ladies model a few fashions and pointed out some key features of their style. She mentioned a few things I thought were interesting such as that you should always wear long necklaces to lengthen and that earrings that hang almost to your shoulder will draw attention to your neck, the one place you do not gain weight during pregnancy. If only I knew some of these before, I wouldn’t have looked so homely in photos of when I was pregnant. Oh well, I’m not all that fashionable now . . .
One highlight of the evening was that I actually won a raffle prize. This was amazing because I was just explaining to my friend that even though I had been entering close to 100 giveaways the past few weeks, I never won. Then we hear my name announced. I won a bunch of item from Bebe au Lait. As I have no need for them right now I plan on giving them to an expecting friend. When I finally stopped chatting, I went to get a bit to eat only to find that most of the food had been cleared away. Figures!
I found very few other bloggers so it was not a typical networking event as I had originally though it was. I did meet Christine Young who pointed out that it was more of a book-signing event. It seemed to me that the author is a friend of the woman who runs TwitterMoms. Then she, Megan Calhoun, spread the word to those in the TwitterMoms group.
Ultimately it ended up to be a good experience. I was very nervous and this allowed me get a bit of confidence in putting myself out there. It was actually fun t get away and have a little time to spend with a friend and meeting new people. Being a stay-at-home mom that homeschools equals little, to no adult interaction.
