Mom 2.0 conference in NOLA, recap

On Thursday, Heather and I headed down to New Orleans for a conference with our mom blogging peers. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton, where the conference was held, and made more wardrobe, shoe, and hairclip changes each day than we knew we were capable of.

Heather presented on a panel with Jessica Ashley, editor of Shine’s healthy living channel, Karen Walrond, author of recently published The Beauty of Different, and Laurie Smithwick of Kirtsy. The amazing Asha Dornfest, founder of ParentHacks, was the moderator of this discussion about making your blog evolve as your life changes.

Heather’s dress is not really a maternity dress but it was able to tie just above her bump and earned her beaucoup compliments. Thanks to Lesley Evers for providing it!

We also sat next to Karen as we offered to sign copies of The Rookie Mom’s Handbook for conference attendees. Boy was my hand not tired after that. Turned out no one needed our signatures.

(Left to right: Heather and Whitney, Karen Walrond, Kristen Chase, Stacy Morrison)

That night, we co-hosted a cocktail party with the LEGO/DUPLO team. Super fun! The photo booth was a huge hit — literally, as Heather bonked herself on the nose with a huge musical note made out of DUPLO bricks.

Here are Cat Lincoln and Lindsay Ferrier.

And from leftish to rightish: Dina Freeman of BabyCenter, Colleen from Classy Mommy, Me, Heather, and Whitney from Mommies with Style.

The next morning, a small gaggle of us went out running. As everyone chatted about the half-marathons they’ve run, I said nothing. I exercise less than once a week, and just went along for the ride, pretending to be one of those athletic chicks. I don’t think anyone was suspicious. (I am in the middle of the front row below.)

The food? I know, everyone talks about the food in New Orleans. Where did you eat? you might want to ask me. Well, truthfully the food there is not really my style, so I wasn’t obsessing about having long meals rich with seafood. The first night, my friend Anna invited me to tag along at her dinner with the Merry Maids marketing team. That was a great meal complete with drinks, apps and dessert. The next two nights, in an effort to squeeze in as many events as possible, I ate sandwiches from local delis. But with very good company, I might add.

Sandwich night: Cecily, Allison, Rachael, Esther, Heather, Marie, me, Kristen, Neil. (Photo courtesy Kristen Howerton.)

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.