Hey folks. Sorry for being totally MIA lately. I came down with a crazy stomach flu that had me completely down and out. Now that I’m feeling somewhat human again, let me tell you about the seriously amazing weekend I just had.
It started off with an event called BlogPodium (put together by the lovely Jen from Rambling Renovators and Lindsay from Aubrey + Lindsay). It brought together a big group of folks to chat about blogs and media. On the expert panel were media mavens, like Kate More from CityLine, Kimberley Seldon, Margot Austin, and Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault from Benjamin Moore. I felt totally out of my league.
Besides learning some fabulous tips on how to get media exposure, I also met some other bloggers. This was the first time I have ever gone to a “blogger event”, so to meet other folks who are into blogging as much as I am was so fun. It’s definitely kind of weird to meet people who you feel you know already from their blog… it’s like starting on date #8. Weird, but in a fabulous kind of way.
[Photos by the amazing Jason Hudson, on flickr here]
After BlogPodium, I hit up the Interior Design Show (IDS). It was crazy inspiring. I’ve only ever gone to “Home and Garden” type shows which have been bo-bo-bo-boring. Unlike those shows which often have 15 different granite vendors and not much else, the IDS is chock-a-block full of amazing vignettes, a variety of vendors and artists, and just all-around eye candy. My eyes were peeled for anything I might be able to DIY. I noticed tons of orange (tangerine is the colour of the year, remember?), lots of salvaged wood, and lots of natural textiles. Here are a few of my fave things from the show, but apologies for the less-than-fabulous photos (I relied on my phone instead of the SLR)…
ELTE had one of my absolutely favourite booths. I love their mixture of soft textiles with more rough, industrial pieces. I’m dying for one of their colourful silk rugs. None of my photos turned out well, so I snagged these ones off Elte’s facebook page here.
To wrap it all up, I attended the Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup. Like BlogPodium, it was a great opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow bloggers. And there were some great guest speakers — Cameron MacNeil and Lisa Murphy from House & Home, Cassandra Lavalle from coco + kelly and Brian Gluskstein. Amazing, right?! Oh and there were some incredible prizes to be won from IKEA, Delta, Kravat, and others (maybe I’ll get lucky next year!).
[photos by Alessia Lamonaca]
Now I’m off to drool over everything in the swag bags from BlogPodium and the Bloggers Meetup. It’s like Christmas all over again…
**We’ve been having some technical issues over here, so if our page comes up looking a bit wonky (no background, small text), please know that we’re working on it and hope to be back to our regular look soon**
Tags: blogpodium, canadian design bloggers meetup, elte, IDS 2012, interior design show, toronto
Oh no…hope you are feeling better. It was lovely to meet you on Saturday! What software do you use to do these collages? Man, looking at that picture I think I need a makeover!
Hi Sundeep! I just use Picasa/Picnik (but I gather that Picnik is soon to be no longer… apparently switching over to Google+). Hope that helps.
PS. Don’t be silly – you look lovely!! :)
xo,
gem
It was so great to meet you Gemma! Date #8 is the perfect way to put it…we’re not strangers if I know what your bathroom looks like ;) And you look totally pretty in that BlogPodium photo – not awkward at all! Hope you can make it in from Ottawa for the next event.
Gemma, it was so fun meeting you on Saturday! I really wish I could have gone to Blogpodium and the IDS as well as the meetup… next year, right?
Absolutely! SO lovely meeting you too!!
xo,
gem
Ick! I hate being sick, glad you are feeling better! It was seriously an amazing weekend wasn’t it! So much to see, do, learn, and take in…
Hi Gemma. My name is Andrew Metrick and my great grandfather started Elte. I don’t think we met at IDS but I was working in our booth during the show and I came across your site and just wanted to thank you for featuring us on your blog. It really means a lot to me. I’m so glad you had a great time at IDS. I has a blast meeting all sorts of amazing people, designers and bloggers. We already can’t wait for next year. Anyway, thank you so much once again and I hope to see you at Elte sometime soon, if not then definitely at IDS13!
Andrew – you are most welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog and leaving this comment. I adore Elte — your grandfather started a fabulous store!
I’m an Elte regular when I’m in Toronto, so maybe I will see you there sometime!
All the best –
Gemma
Pingback: throw this girl a bone (pretty please?!) | the sweetest digs