Hello, old friend. A post about the Arizona Blogger Conference.

So if you're here reading this post, you probably know I'm a stay-at-home Mom. I love my job, but there are some things that I don't experience now that my main company everyday is my 2.5 year old son. I don't always realize I'm missing these things until I experience them, but once I do it's so strange to me to think about the fact that that particular emotion or experience just isn't a part of my daily life.

As a teacher I was used to public speaking every single day. It's something I've always enjoyed, and something I've always felt very comfortable doing. But no matter what, on the first day of school every year, I'd get those familiar butterflies in my stomach, that nervous feeling that nothing but going through the entire day and finally being DONE with it would take away. I'd get it from time to time if I had other things pop up too- perhaps sharing something in front of my colleagues or having to do a presentation for parents, but since I stopped teaching I can't even remember a moment I've experienced it, until this past weekend.

And as odd as it sounds, that first feeling of insanely nervous butterflies was so awesome. I love that I had a reason to feel that way again; to have a chance to shake things up a bit. A total "hello, old friend" moment. I don't often do things that scare me, and getting back to that a bit Saturday night was just what I needed.

It was a wonderful event- the Phoenix Style Collective girls threw an amazing party, full of fun pop up shops, great food, and the coolest gift bag. The only negative was not getting too much of a chance to check out all of the shops and talk to everyone there. There were so many people and things to see that next year that will definitely be a priority!

It was so fun to be able to speak too- I was on a panel of five other women, and went first. My topic was "Finding Your Voice," and I swear, I could have stretched my 20 minutes into an hour! There's just so much to say and the super sweet audience was so receptive and I had the best time sharing some of my experiences and what I've learned over the years. All of the other girls were amazing, and if you get a chance be sure to check them out. Our panel consisted of these lovely ladies: Summer from The Girls With Glasses, Jessie from Style and Pepper, Sarah from Emma Magazine, and Sara from Frances Vintage. I learned a lot from each of them and on a more personal note, really feel thankful we were all able to connect. Yay new friends!

I can't thank the ladies and gentleman of the Phoenix Style Collective enough- they're such an inspiring bunch of go-getters and I'm honored they asked me to speak again this year. AND I should also mention that we got to end the night with a very special proposal! A certain little lady got engaged! So, so awesome.

Hank and I ended up making a staycation out of it, and did some swimming and brunching and laying around before we headed back over to my parents' later that afternoon to pick up our little rascal. I still don't understand how Henry can look and seem older after being away from him from even just a day, but I swear, it happens!

I wish I could have taken more photos of the actual conference, all of the wonderful friends I saw and new people I met, but it was so hectic trying to get ready to speak! I'd apologize for not dragging my regular camera around, but remember we talked about that in this post? ;) Happy Monday, friends!