unsolicited advice Archives

What to Take to a Blog Conference + Printable Checklist

March 25, 2013

In a few weeks I’m heading to SNAP!, a crafts and home DIY blog conference in Salt Lake City. I’m pretty excited because I had an amazing time at Haven last year. Blog conferences are downright fun. You’re with your people. They get you, and you get them. Plus, you learn a lot.

Around this time is when bloggers start to freak out a little about what to take to a blog conference, especially newbies. Do I take my laptop? Will I need my DSLR? What will I wear?!

Now, I’m not an expert because I’ve only been to one conference, but I quickly learned what to bring and what not to bring. So let’s start with your blogger bag. It’s the bag you’ll carry with you during the conference.

1. Bag
In order to have a blogger bag you’ll need a bag. A nice sized tote is a good choice. Feel free to splurge and get a smaller bag to curtail the little stuff you’ll put in the bag.

2. Smartphone
This is kind of a no brainer, but you’ll want your smartphone. You’re going to want to tweet people and post pics of you and your favorite bloggers on Instagram. You’re also going to want to use your smartphone to take photos.

3. iPad/tablet
An iPad is great for taking notes in breakout sessions, especially if you prefer typing over writing.

4. Notebook
You’ll want a notebook for notes (obviously), especially if you don’t bring a tablet. I used my notebook and iPad at Haven last year.

5. Pens
Bring more than one pen. You’re bound to lose one. Plus it’s nice to have a couple to lend people who forgot or lost theirs.

6. Business Cards & Holder
You’re at a blog conference to network so it’s kind of silly to show up without business cards. (Read about mine here.) And you don’t want to fumble around your bag for your cards when someone asks for one, so invest in a business card holder. There are plenty on Etsy.

7. Mints
Who wants to have rank breath when they meet their blog idol? No one. That’s who.

8. Hand Lotion
Sometimes you hug people, sometimes you shake hands. Which now reminds me that I should have put hand sanitizer on this list. Anyway, keep your hands moisturized for all the hand shaking with some lotion.

9. Water Bottle
Wet your whistle. You’ll be talking a lot.

10. Lip Gloss
Sometimes you hug people, sometimes you kiss people. Hah. Just kidding. Keep your smackers looking pretty and hydrated with some lip gloss.

11. Smartphone Backup Battery
Your phone battery will die. I promise this will happen to you. Save yourself a headache and invest in a smartphone backup battery.

1. DSLR camera
I lugged my DSLR all the way to Haven to not use it. I took photos with my iPhone or if I was in a photo taken with a DSLR I’d ask the DSLR’s owner if she could email me the pic. Worked out fine for me.

2. Laptop
I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to bring your laptop. I didn’t take one to Haven since I had an iPad. You won’t have time to work on blog posts or edit photos at a blog conference. Leaving your laptop at home means one less thing you have to drag around the airport with you.

3. Duffel Bag
To put the bodies in. Just kidding. There’s typically a fair amount of swag at blog conferences. If you’re flying, I recommend bringing along a durable duffel bag in your checked bag. When the conference is over, you can put your dirty clothes in the duffel bag and your swag in your suitcase. This way you’re able to take your swag home with you. Trust me, it’s no fun leaving swag behind. Since you’re only flying one way, the checked duffel bag should only cost you an additional $20-$25 to get it home. Darn airlines making us pay for checked bags nowadays.

4. Media Kits
Your media kit is a piece of paper that tells all about you and your blog. Some things you’ll find on a media kit are: type of blog, history of the blog, photo of the author, about the author, statistics, some blog photos, advertising policy, brands the author has worked with, etc. Media kits come in handy when meeting and talking with brand representatives.

5. Power Strip
If you’re going to have 3+ roommates you may want to consider bringing a power strip so there will be enough outlets to charge all of your electronics. However, I stayed with two other girls at Haven, and I never used the one I brought because there were enough outlets for the three of us.

6. Roommate Gifts
Some bloggers will bring little gifts for their roommates as a preemptive apology for passing gas or hogging the bathroom mirror. Just kidding. Kind of. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It could be a candle, their favorite candy, or some cute stationary. If this gives you anxiety (will my roommates bring me a gift and I’m the jerk who shows up empty handed?) talk to your roommates about it beforehand and tell them you don’t expect a gift or settle on everyone bringing a bag of dried fruit candy to share. Or you could take it to the next level and do a white elephant of sorts.

7. E-reader
If you’re going to be spending a lot of time flying or hanging out in airports between flights I recommend bringing your e-reader along. You won’t need it during the conference. Unless you’re totally anti-social. But that won’t happen because you’ll be with your people, remember?

Now, because I’m the nicest person in the world, I created a blog conference packing checklist for you. Oh, stop it. You don’t have to tell me how awesome I am.

I added the lines next to the clothing and accessories so you can specifically list which pieces of clothing you want to bring (ex: blue dress, jean jacket, emerald earrings).

Click on the image to download the checklist.

Do you have to bring everything on the checklist? No. Decide what you want to bring based on what you think your needs are. If you won’t use your laptop, don’t bring it. But please bring your deodorant. You’ll definitely need that.

Will I see you at SNAP?
Any blog conference tips for newbies?
Is there something you bring to conference that I left out?

I’m sharing this at the following parties: Home Stories A to Z, Tatertots and Jello, House of Hepworths, Liz Marie Blog, The Shabby Nest, Positively Splendid, Whipperberry, Classy Clutter, Today’s Creative Blog, Uncommon Designs, Craftberry Bush, Design, Dining, & Diapers, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Snap Creativity, and Serenity Now.

This post contains affiliate links.

29 Comments · Filed Under: blogging, organization, printables, tips and tricks, unsolicited advice ·

Favorite Phone Camera Apps + Tips

March 18, 2013

Many of you know that I love me some Instagram (I’m twotwentyone). I often get comments asking about my photos so I thought I’d do a post sharing my favorite phone camera apps and some tips.

Let’s start with a few tips. Then I’ll answer some of my Instagram (IG) friends’ questions. I’m going to include photos I’ve taken with my phone and posted to IG to keep things interesting and visual for you guys. I know reading can get boring and what not.

Tip #1
Take your photos with your phone’s camera. Don’t use the IG camera. The resolution is no bueno. So take the photo with your phone’s camera and import it into IG (at the very least).

Tip #2
Find the light. If you’re taking a photo of something that can be moved, move it toward some light. When I take photos of fresh cut flowers in my house, most of the time I move them into my office to get a nice, well lit photo of them because my office is the brightest room in our house. Call it cheating if you want. Or say that’s putting too much effort into it, but I love taking photos with my DSLR camera and my phone’s camera so I’ll do what I can to get a better shot. Even if that means moving a vase of daffodils from my living room to my office. So sue me.

Tip #3
If you repost someone’s photo on IG, credit them. It’s super rude to repost someone’s photo and not give them credit because, um, you didn’t take the photo, they did. It’s essentially stealing, and then leading your followers to believe you took the photo. Don’t be a jerkface. The end.

Do you use your phone’s camera to take your pics?
Yep. I take all of my IG photos with my iPhone 4s. If it’s not taken with my iPhone I’ll let you know, but I can’t remember the last time I didn’t use my phone to take a pic.

Do you use any special accessories? What about an additional flash?
Nope. I wouldn’t mind getting my paws on an olloclip 3-in-1 lens but I always use an Otterbox defender case (I’m clumsy) and I’d have to take my case off anytime I wanted to use the olloclip. I never use the flash on my phone to take pics I post on IG.

Do you use the same Instagram filter? If so, which one?
Here’s a graph of my most used filters. As you can see, I use no filter the most, followed by Nashville.

If you’re wondering where I got the graphic, it’s from statigram. It’s a website that tells you all of your IG stats. Kind of like Google Analytics but for IG. Pretty cool site.

How do you refrain from posting nonsense?
I’m sure I’ve posted plenty of nonsense. I guess it depends on what you consider nonsense. In fact, a lot of the time when I think I’m posting something dumb I get more likes or comments than I was expecting. It’s perplexing. I thought maybe 30 people would like this photo of Jack, but apparently 126 people thought it was great. Sometimes I’ll stop and ask myself if whatever I’m thinking about posting is post-worthy. I will say, I’m not a fan when people post gross things. Here I am, eating my lunch, scrolling through my feed when a photo of your bloody appendage is staring me in the face. Ew. Gross. No, thank you.

Now onto the apps I use most often.

Camera+
This is my go to app for basic edits. It also has some fun filters, but I never really use them.

Pro HDR
Perfect for landscapes. I’ll also use this app to brighten photos. You can use the app two different ways. You can import a photo you already took with your phone’s camera, or you can use the app’s camera. The app’s camera takes two photos. (Now I’ll let the people from Pro HDR explain the rest.) ”Pro HDR captures an image exposed for the highlights and another exposed for the shadows. It then aligns and merges the images, giving you a gorgeous HDR image…” Pretty cool, eh?

XnView Fx
Great all around app. Tons of editing features: crop, rotate, straighten, mirror. You can adjust the brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, color balance. This app also boasts a bunch of cool filters.

Diptic
Perfect for collages.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little phone camera lesson! If you want to learn about more apps and tips visit my iPhone Pinterest board.

Are you an IG lover?
Did you find this post insightful?
Got any additional questions?

50 Comments · Filed Under: iPhone, unsolicited advice ·

For All The Big Footed Gals

February 5, 2013

I’m straying from my home/DIY blogging routine today. The topic of discussion today is shoes. Shoes for those of us with tugboats for feet. This topic came up when I posted a photo of my new black suede wedges on Instagram and Facebook. All my big footed friends came out of the woodwork. So I thought I’d bring the topic over to the blog.

big footed collage

I’ve always had big feet. I’m guessing this is due to the fact that I’ve been 5’10″ since the ripe ole age of 11. I’m. Not. Kidding. I wear size 11 wide shoes. I’ve always worn wide shoes, but they’re more imperative now that I’m an 80 year old woman with a bunion on my right foot. Seriously. I’m destined to not be a ‘shoe girl’.

Alright, let’s start with where I buy my mamajama shoes. I’m not a big in-store shoe shopper because many stores don’t carry my size. But when I feel up to in-person shoe shopping I’ll hit up Nordstrom or Payless. I’m a big fan of online shoe shopping. My VIP Zappos membership may have something to do with that (free 1 business day shipping). Zappos has a great selection and offers free shipping and free return shipping. And you have a year to return your shoes (unworn, of course). Nordstrom has a good selection online as well. One of my Facebook fans recommended Barefoot Tess, but I’ve never purchased shoes from there. Another site that carries larger sizes is 6PM, but I haven’t purchased shoes from there yet either.

Here are some shoes I own and wear on a regular basis in case you’re in the market.

It took me a while to find some good knee high boots. These wide calf Lumiani boots from Zappos are my go-to boots for fall and winter. They’re great boots but they start to hurt my feet if I walk in them a really long time because of the sole. They probably just need some inserts for comfort.

lumiani

Every girl needs a nice pair of black heels. I love my black patent heels by Bella Vita.

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These are the black suede wedges I bought from Payless. I broke them in on Friday night. So far, so good.

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I love these wedges by Annie for summertime. I bought this pair last spring, and I love them.

annie dandi -- 6pm

I got these leopard ballet flats from Payless last fall. I wear them all the time. They don’t have them on their website anymore, here’s a similar pair.

I recently bought these nude heels by Trotters. I like them but I’m still deciding. Have I mentioned how much I love Zappos?

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Looking for wedding shoes? Here’s mine by Vaneli. Great wedding shoes. They probably would have felt more comfortable than they did if I hadn’t worn crazy tall wedges for 8 hours the evening before our wedding. 1046733-p-MULTIVIEW

Most of my athletic shoes have been Nikes or Asics. Both brands make wide width shoes.

I find most of my inexpensive, ‘trendy’ sandals (you know, the ones that last a year or two) at Kohls, Target, or Payless. I’m a big fan of the Nike Celso sandals. Yeah, they aren’t the most fashion forward sandals, but they’re super comfy and perfect for running errands or working around the house. Sandals are easier for us wide feet folks so wide width isn’t always necessary.

Are you a big footed gal?
Where do you find your shoes?

In completely unrelated news, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s (the guys who perform the song “Thrift Shop”) album ‘The Heist’ (MP3 version) is on sale for $3.99 on Amazon.

macklemore-theheist-1352146916

28 Comments · Filed Under: unsolicited advice ·

How to Dry a Rained-In Car

January 14, 2013

Yep. I’m speaking from experience on this one. It all started on Saturday when my handsome, weekend mechanic changed the oil in our cars. After I drove my car off the ramps I parked it on the street so Brad could work on our other cars. I was going to move my car back into the driveway when he was done, but it started to rain so I decided I’d move it in the morning. While Brad and I were watching this documentary (yeah, we’re worldly like that) later in the evening, I sat up and said, “Did I roll up the window on my car?” Thank goodness I threw on my rain boots and ran out into the pouring rain because no, no I didn’t roll up my window. And it had been pouring rain for four hours. FOUR HOURS.

how to dry a rained-in car

So here are my handy tips for drying out your rained-in car:

1. Curse

2. Roll up the window and get the car into a covered area ASAP.
(I backed my car into our garage.)

3. Sit on towels when you move your car. This will help soak up some of the water and kind of keep you from getting a wet butt.

4. Towel off as much water as you can.

4. Grab a Shop Vac and turn it to the ‘wet’ setting. Vacuum the crap out of the wet areas of your car– seat, floor, everything. Be sure to get all the electronic-related areas (window/door/mirror buttons, door speaker, etc.). Don’t have a Shop Vac? Buy one. Seriously. The small ones are around $30. Money well spent.

how to dry out a car

5. After you’ve done all you can do with the towels and vacuum, grab as many fans as possible. (I went with a fan trifecta.) Turn on the fans. Open the door with the window that was rolled down. Position the fans on the areas that were saturated with water. Roll down the other windows in the car for better circulation.

how to dry a rained in car

6. Wait.

As of late Sunday evening, the fans have been blowing for 24 hours. I plan to leave them on for another 18-24 hours. If some spots are still wet today I’ll grab my hair dryer and get to work.

If you have a dehumidifier that can be easily moved, you can put it near the car. Someone suggested Damp Rid. I may head to the store (in a different car) and pick some up today as a precautionary measure.

While this episode obviously wasn’t the best experience, it could have been worse. All of my windows could have been rolled down. OR I could have left the car out there all night with the window down. Keep in mind it rained nonstop from 6 PM Saturday til, well I think it’s still raining (it’s 10 PM on Sunday).

Have you ever done this?
Any additional tips?