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BlissDomCanada_CL Buchanan Photography-1039I have waited to post this post for many reasons.  But mostly because I wanted to let it sit.  While everyone else had their posts fresh from the conference, I had to recover.  You see, I had the most amazing opportunity to be one of the Official Photographers at Blissdom Canada with CL Buchanan Photography, Cherie-Lynn asked me to work the conference with her and there was no way I could turn that down.  Blissdom and Photography all together in one conference, where do I sign up!

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And just look at us!  We truly had the best time all while being behind the lens.  As a photographer, who could ask for more?

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My experience was a little different than others, mostly because I wasn’t taking notes, but because I was listening while watching others.  The most memorable session, for me, was the one hosted by Erica Ehm.  Erica needs to share with the world, the reason she started the Yummy Mummy Club, not all of us know this story.  And I for one was brought to tears just listening to her tell her story of being lonely  as a first time Mom.  As the session progressed, I was brought to tears further by tales of  loss, children with challenges and mental illnesses.  I finally hit the point that I could no longer take photos because I couldn’t even see through the tears.  This session hit home to me.  There are so many stories to share and perhaps I need to share some of the not so smiley happy stories so that others will know they are not alone.

I had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful Women whom I have known online for a while or just met the week before, the internet is truly a wonderful place.  I was also able to reconnect with a former coworker from Ottawa who now lives in Toronto.  I haven’t seen her since just after J was born so that was lovely.  Here she was sitting at our table and ironically (I didn’t find this out until about midnight) she also knows GlidingLara, my roomie for the conference.  I couldn’t possibly name all the ladies that touched me in those three days, but I could put up a few pics just to show you, how beautiful and wonderful they are.

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Of course, I can’t show all the photos, but just a few.  You can check the rest out at CL Buchanan’s Flickr Stream. Thank all of you for making a difference for me in just three short days.  Is it too corny to say, I miss you all!?

Oops!  And I almost forgot one really, really important Thank You!  To GM Canada for not only providing Lara, Sara, Brie and I transportation to Toronto in a Chevrolet Equinox. But, for having Chauffeurs handy to drive us to evening events in the New Chevy Cruze.

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WOW.

That is pretty much all I have to say right now, no really, if I can move tomorrow morning it will be a miracle. Tonight was the first class in my four week Booty Camp Training.  I haven’t worked out that hard since before Apple was born and I had a personal trainer.

Getting Fit!

I have to say I kept up pretty well. Class was done in a circuit.  Laurie kept us moving from one thing to the next and back again, which is really great  because if you keep moving in between reps it works your muscles out harder as well as your cardio.

I was certainly sweating and definitely had to do the level one (beginner level) for a few of the exercises.  The best part was there wasn’t anything I couldn’t entirely do.

Laurie was really fun.  She did not yell at me, which I am really thankful for, and all the other ladies in the class (who were at least 10 years younger than me) told me how awesome Laurie was as an instructor.  I was the only newbie, everyone else has been going a while.  I got to get measured (gah!  shocking, yes, but on the right track here) and then had to write down another girls measurements. It was lovely to see she had been working hard and in the last four weeks had still dropped about 8 inches all over, that is what I am looking for folks, at least an inch from my waist and my thighs and I will be one happy, happy girl.

Now, another glass of water, some Ibuprofin and I am off to bed.

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She’s Connected

There are a few things I need to blog about even if they happened over a week ago.  Catching up from the week where I had no computer (ok it was four days but it seemed like a year) I realized that I didn’t have the opportunity to blog about my day at the She’s Connected Conference in Toronto.  And how can I go on to talk about Blissdom Canada if I don’t finish the first of what I hope to be many adventures in the world of Social Media.

I am going to be honest and upfront with the fact that I don’t think I am one of the top 100 most connected Women in Canada. But, I will say that I knew quite a few of the ladies that were invited so I felt pretty connected if even for just a day.  The idea of the one day Conference was to bring together 100 Women who are connected in social media together with some top brands.  A day for them to pick our brains perhaps, find out how we can work together, share some idea about their products and how they can interact within the social media world.

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Together with eight other women from Ottawa we hit the road and traveled to Toronto, grabbing a couple of hours sleep and a walk down Younge Street to the Library where the conference was.  There we were met by a few others from Ottawa that flew down or took the train.  It was a really amazing experience to meet up with everyone and share in this day.

Most of us had our make up done by either Bourjois or Smashbox and that resulted in some great photo taking opportunities for me, since I love having my camera around.

Glidinglara, one to never shy away from getting her makeup done.
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Miss Fish, who I don’t think had hers done, but was too gorgeous not to take a photo of.

And Capital Mom, who has the biggest smile when you catch her at the right moment.
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We also had the opportunity to meet with Booty Camp Fitness, who will be joining me on Workout Wednesdays staring next week.  Yes, my friends I am heading to Booty Camp.

Kobo.  Who graciously gave each of us a new Wireless Kobo to try out.  And I never, in a million years thought I would say this, but … I LOVE reading on an ereader.  I thought that I would miss the texture and feel of a book, but I love it.  I don’t miss it at all at.  And what I really  love is that I have five or six books in the cue that aren’t piled high on my nightstand.  They are just patiently awaiting the click of my thumb.

The Kit, a new online Beauty magazine, which I can’t wait to read on my iPad that I received for my birthday.

Maple Leaf Foods, Dempsters, Coke and the Egg Farmers of Ontario were all there to share with us new products and old as well as learn from us on how to engage in the world of Social Media.  They also provided breakfast and lunch for us, which was all delightful.  I personally enjoyed talking to Maple Leaf and the Egg Farmers as they provide some of our favourite foods here in out house, eggs and bacon.

We also had the opportunity to talk to Seagrams, who really needs to stop selling their coolers as a Summer drink and start spreading their beachy cheer all year long.  I think I told the rep, “I am BeachMama, it is always Summer in our house.”

Kraftfoods was there as was Calvin Klein.  I didn’t get to talk to them as much as others as we really started running out of time.

Our particular table was sponsored by the Look Good Feel Better organization that is working to help women with Cancer feel good about themselves and help them beat Cancer.

Although it was a crazy packed day and there were a few hiccups since it was the first conference of its kind, I think that all around it was a great day.  We learned a few things and got to talk to some brands to see what they are up to and why they want to be included in this crazy world of Social Media.  I enjoyed myself thoroughly and was only disappointed that I couldn’t meet all of the ladies I was hoping to meet in person.  But, I did get to meet most of them last weekend at Blissdom, so it all worked out.

Keep your eyes and ears open as She’s Connected will be doing this again in 2011 with some promises to appear outside of Toronto.

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