HWTM Launch Party Recap

I should call this post “take 2” as I had it nearly ready to publish 3 weeks ago when my computer froze up and then deleted the entire draft (yes, I had been saving during the process but who knows what happened). Now it’s way past due but I still wanted to give a little shout out to some fabulous women I met at the recent HWTM Launch party to celebrate the new social/photo sharing site. The event took place in San Diego during the BlogHer conference, and was truly one of the highlights of my year so far! I don’t have any snapshots from the trip since I’ve misplaced the charger to my pocket camera (I blame the husband ; D) so we will settle for the fun photos taken in front of the step-and-repeat upon entry into the party.

Jeanne Benedict, me, Lisa {With Style & Grace}, Tori {Thoughtfully Simple}

Above you’ll see me with some long time friends who I met in RL for the first time. Jeanne Benedict is an entertaining icon who has hosted her own tv show, been on countless tv segments, and authored several entertaining books. I’ve followed her work for years and we became Twitter buddies last year. I felt honored to meet her and she was incredibly sweet and down to earth.

Lisa, our former contributor, was my roommate on the first night. I was actually meeting up with Amy (of Operation Shower) the next day so Lisa opened her door to me on Thursday. It was great to meet her in person since I’ve talked with her on the phone & through email many times. I’m so impressed with her presence and attitude. Keep an eye on her – she is ready to take off!

Tori is one of my blogger buddies from the early days and I love how “real” and smart she is. She actually took my place as Lisa’s roommate the 2nd night. The 3 of us had some good times chatting over a midnight meal after the launch party, and coffee the next morning.

Rebekah {A Blissful Nest}, Nancy {A to Zebra Celebrations}, Jillian {Catch My Party}, me, Amy {Operation Shower}, Lindi {Love the Day}

My next round of photos was with this lovely group of “party girls”. I’ve known Rebekah for a long time but she’s even sweeter in person than I could have imagined. She met me with the biggest hug and some of the sweetest words.

Nancy is a spitfire and I only wish she lived in my neighborhood! She’s full of life and fun and I loved hanging out with her.

Jillian and I have talked on the phone a couple of times over the past couple of years and I knew she was kind and a generous spirit. Meeting her face to face was no disappointment.

My partner in crime for the trip was Amy, even though I feel like I hardly saw her! We were roommates the 2nd night and helped with pre-party set up but we were so overwhelmed by meeting everyone else for the first time, we hardly stuck together otherwise. LOL, at least we have our Operation Shower events together. What can I say about this lady except that she has a huge heart, a generous spirit, is witty beyond belief, and is a fabulous dresser. Other than that…eh, she’s okay. ; D

Lindi is my home girl as she lives about 2 hours away in N. Virginia. We’ve met up on a few occasions and I haven’t told her this but she reminds me of my favorite cousin growing up. She’s a sweetheart, and even though she doesn’t drink alcohol, she’s quite supportive of her friends who do. LOL Oh, AND she’s a surfer girl!! Yep, she was out early in the morning both days to catch some waves on the SD beach. How cool she is!

Amy {Amy’s Kitchen Table}, Sharon {Cupcakes & Cutlery}, Janel {Glue Dots}

The night before the launch party I met up with my long time virtual friend Sharon, who is truly fabulous. We had dinner at Searsucker (owned by Top Chef Brian Malarkey) with her friend Amy, who I felt like we’d known each other all along, and Janel with her team from Glue Dots. The meal was delish but the company was even better! Later in the evening the Glue Dots gals had another BlogHer event to attend to, and Sharon took us with her (she was on the list) to crash a sponsored party {shhh, don’t tell}. It was great to catch up in person and I can only say, “Sharon, please move to my neighborhood so we can laugh and hang out together all the time!”

Amber & Jenn {HWTM}, Marie {Sweets Indeed}

Here you can see the lady of the evening, Jenn with her assistant Amber. As I mentioned above, some of us helped with pre-party prep on Friday afternoon and all I can say is that Amber was a rock star at coordinating everyone.

Sweet Marie is one of my favorite creative minds to watch and I think I was the first person to blog about her back when she was getting started. Her designs are brilliant and she is just as awesome in person. I’m so happy to finally have met her face to face.

Jessica {Modern Moments Design}, Michelle {I Do Invitations}

Jessica and Michelle helped set up too, and I was excited to spend time with them. Jessica is another creative genius and has a fantastic outgoing personality to match.

Michelle was impressive in that she came by herself to the event and didn’t really know too many people. Of course she fit in immediately and was very sweet.

Sonny & Jenn Sbranti {HWTM}

Last but not least – the couple of the hour; the hostess with the mostess herself! Sonny & Jenn put on an amazing event. So much attention to detail and a beautiful rooftop setting were the perfect backdrop to a night of fun and socializing. You can see all the decorative details from the Wonderlandia party on Jenn’s site.

All photos via Dan Fields Photography

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