One week ago, we packed up the boys to go to Nana and Papa, met Christina and were on our way to BlogHer10. We drove into NYC in style via our Chevy Tahoe Hybrid courtesy of Chevrolet for the ChevyBlogHer carpool. TechyDad wrote about our adventure and included a video of the pictures from the road. By the time we arrived and had finally left our car to the valet, our nerves were a bit frazzled. 

After circling the block several times, seeing a few too many yellow cabs nearly crash into us, and being told the parking lot of the Hilton was full – we were ready to get inside and relax. Luckily, the valet found our rather large SUV a spot to sleep in for the weekened and we were able to head into the hotel to get our rooms. TechyDad and I went to drop off our things in our room on the 31st floor.

We quickly called the boys, left our things and went back downstairs to see when we could officially register for BlogHer. It was still too early, so we went back to our room and I tried to get in touch with Debra, Cathi, and Kailani about the event we were all going to. While I waited, I got ready to head out for a night in NYC. Just as we were about to go down, I heard back from the ladies that they would meet me at the Hilton. They figured they could register and then we would get a taxi to the Toy Industry Association’s Girl’s Night Out.. Christina met us down stairs and we posed for a quick photo all dressed up and ready to go. 

Soon it was time to head out with Debra and Cathi, Kailani would be meeting us later on at the dinner. So the three of us went to get a taxi. Thank goodness Debra and Cathi knew what they were doing. We quickly got one and were off to the Dashing Diva Salon for the start of our Girls’ Night Out hosted by the Toy Industry Association. Let me preface this with a HUGE thank you to Adrienne, Stacy, Reyne, Kristen and Joan who made an amazing event for all of us in attendance.

When we walked into this pink palace, there were drinks on the table and gorgeous specialty cupcakes. We signed in and then set off to select a polish color to start with a pedicure. It was during this time that I was able to chat some more with Debra. We had met at DisneySMMoms in February, but never had a lot of time to talk. Here are some photos from the time here. 

During our time here, I also met other bloggers. While sitting with my fingers and toes drying, I got chatting with Selfish Mom. As we were talking, she mentioned that she had lived in our area while working at the New York State Theater Institute. When I asked which productions, she was able to list them off and I had actually seen at least two of them. It truly is a small world!

Eventually, it was time to head from the Dashing Diva Salon to Cafeteria for dinner. Once again, we needed to get a cab from one side of town to the other. Here are Reyne and Debra getting us a cab to go.

Once we arrived at Cafeteria, we were whisked away to a private room in the basement. Here there were cocktails and an array of amazing foods served. Check out the bacon popcorn, their infamous macaroni and cheese, and amazing goodies at the end. (I goofed and was too busy chatting and enjoying the other food to take photos.)

Of course, the night was also about finally meeting friends that I have been talking with online for years now. Here are the four of us with our Twitter names above. We represented Hawaii, California, Texas and New York proudly at this dinner. 

We also had wonderful conversations with Reyne and Helen from Working Mother Magazine. The evening flew by so fast as we talked about our life experiences, blogs, travel, and love for toys. 

When it was time to go, we thanked everyone from the Toy Industry Association, gave lots of hugs and went back in a taxi toward the hotel. TechyDad met up with me to walk back to the Hilton where we went to bed to get ready for a day filled with non-stop sessions, connections and fun. Thank you again to Adrienne, Stacy, Reyne, Kristen and Joan for a magical start to the BlogHer10 weekend. I look forward to working with all of you in the future.