...Arkansas Women Bloggers

**To those of you stopping by the ole blog from the Arkansas Women Bloggers Meet-up--  Hello! and welcome to desperately seeking {gina}!**

I stepped out of my comfort zone on Saturday and attended the Arkansas Women Bloggers meet-up in Little Rock.  I had clicked the "maybe attending" button on the AWB Facebook page forever ago, giving myself the opportunity to back out.  It was only two days before the meet-up that I officially RSVPd....and committed fully {if only to myself} to go and be social.

I've whined for three years about not having any friends down here in Ark.  I've whined about the drive to work, how tired I am when I get home, and how I never have time to make friends....but the truth is- I haven't really made any effort to make friends.  And so, I decided it would be a good thing for me to get out and meet women- fellow Arkansas bloggers. I was so nervous as walked into the Museum of Discovery.  It was almost like walking down the glass hallway back in high school.  

I needn't have been!  I met an amazing group of ladies.  It was fairly easy to be social at a blogger meet-up; if the conversation lagged a bit on the personal front I just asked a technical question about the blogging process.  Even better-  a girl from work showed up.  Turns out she's a blogger herself!

I wasn't sure what to expect.  We started off by doing a speed-dating-like exercise where we spent about 2 minutes talking with one blogger and then switching and speaking with another.  It was a good ice breaker.

Following that were three speakers.

LaTonya Richardson spoke about finding your voice and putting yourself into your blog.  I found her humorous and inspirational.  It was reassuring to be reminded that, as bloggers, we should be writing about what we know and that our posts should be a reflection of ourselves.

Kyran Pittman  spoke about not focusing on the "numbers," meaning-not paying attention to how many hits your blog is getting.  Rather, we should be focusing on content.

Katie McManners, as a representative of the Museum of Discovery, welcomed us and invited us to be a part of the MOD Voices, a guest-blogger series over at the Museum of Discovery blog.

Other highlights:

Door prizes:

I won a lovely basket of handmade ornaments from Julie, whose blog, Willow Tree Creek Farm is delightful.

I also won a super-cute camera strap cover, donated by Ruthanne of Eclectic Whatnot.  She has an Etsy shop, too...and her shabby chic camera strap covers are adorable.

Lunch & Sweets:  

Petit Jean Meats provided some meat trays for lunch. {for those of you visiting DS{g} for the first time, I should mention here that I don't eat meat...so I didn't sample any...but everyone else seemed to be enjoying the trays}

And...you may remember my fondness for cupcakes...well...I had a lovely little Eggnog cupcake provided by Elaine of Cupcake Crazy Arkansas.  Let me just say-divine.  Moist, and delicious...and they deliver!  Cupcakes at my door....coming soon!  Swoon.

For a list of talented, interesting bloggers please visit Arkansas Women Bloggers.

Ladies with whom I was able meet before and during the speed-dating-like exercise:

Pris from Arkansas Ties
Melissa from Gerbera Daisy Diaries
Carmella @ Southern Fried Gal
Sherry from Our Loonyverse
Susan @ Stroller Strides
Kat from Team Hills
Ramona from Addicted To Fries
Stephanie @ The Park Wife

Thanks, so much, ladies for an enjoyable time.  It was a pleasure meeting all of you!