#MNBsFavoriteThings Recaps!

This past weekend, a bunch of amazing Minnesota Bloggers got together for a Favorite Things party! 

Back Row: Daci / Andrea
Middle Row: Becky / Carolyn / Lauren / Kelly B / Dawn / JJ / Bridget / Jess / Melissa
Front Row: Brittany / Lindsey / Syndal / Meg

It was so much fun! 

If you were at the meetup, make sure to link up your blog recap here! If you weren't at the meetup, make sure to go to everyone's blogs and see all the fun you're missed out on!

Minnesota Blogger Holiday Party Link Up

Hi Minnesota Girls! Feel free to come here and link up your recaps from last night's Minnesota Blogger Holiday Party. It was a lot of fun to see all of your smiling faces, as well as to laugh at our creative tacky sweater attire. Hope you all had fun :-)

 If you weren't able to join us, then you are definitely missed in this photo above. We'd all love for you to join us at our next get together.

Merry Christmas, all! :-)

Kelly

Secret Santa names have been distributed!

Happy Monday ladies! Hope you're all surviving the first day back from the long weekend!

I just wanted to stop in and let you all know that the names for the Minnesota Blogger Secret Santa have all been distributed, so check your emails! 

Also - get excited! Our Minnesota Blogger Holiday Party is next week! EEK! :)

 For more details on that... head here!

If you have any questions, concerns or didn't get a name, please email Kelly and/or I! 

Minnesota Bloggers Get-Together: The Paint Pub

Last night, thirteen fellow Minnesota Bloggers got together at The Paint Pub for our own private party. It was pretty understood that many of us were nervous about creating an actual painting-- just as nervous as meeting one another at our last get-together?

Well just like that event, all of the nervousness was for nothing because our Stone Arch Bridge paintings turned out fabulous and most importantly, it was fun to hang out together :-)

Special thanks to Tom and Laura at The Paint Pub-- what a fabulous place! They were so welcoming and accommodating, friendly and nerve-easing, and Laura helped us turn a challenging painting into thirteen pieces of artwork :-)

And plus? I didn't see either of them scoff or roll their eyes once at our "weird blogging ways" ;-) I think we all agree that we are of a special "wait! one more picture!!" breed.

I know it was a late, late night but it was so nice to see you all. Big thanks for everyone coming near and far to meet up-- it was so much fun!

Stay tuned for some discussion about our next event. Although I created this here blog, I certainly am not the ringleader :-) If anyone feels inclined to organize our next get-together, feel free to volunteer!!

Also, if you would like to be a featured blogger, leave a comment or email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com for more information.

If you wrote a recap post, feel free to link up below!

PRE-Painting Get-Together Information!

Just a quick note before we all head off to our (no doubt) fun weekends ahead... Becky and I met for frozen yogurt earlier this week, caught up for a bit, and of course chatted about next week's Minnesota Blogger's Get-Together at The Paint Pub.

The idea of getting together for a very unofficial bite to eat before the painting shenanigans begin was brought up and Becky encouraged the idea.

So here is the scoop...

For ANYONE who wants to join us before heading over to The Paint Pub, Becky and I will for sure be at Wild Bill's Sports Saloon at 5:45pm. This is super informal and serves just as way to meet up for some food and liquid courage before rockin' it out with some paint.

12730 Elm Creek Boulevard.
Maple Grove, MN 55369

If you would like to join us, PLEASE leave a comment by the end of the weekend. I will NEED a head count for reserving a large enough table at Wild Bill's.

Just as a reminder, it is NOT too late to join us for our private event at The Paint Pub on Tuesday at 7pm. Click here to learn about how to register-- it's bound to be a blast! I personally, cannot wait!!

And one more thing? It was discussed between Becky and I that a major agenda talking point for Tuesday's event will be thoughts on what, where, and when will be our next get-together. Waiting two months to see you girls again and to meet other Minnesota bloggers was just waaaaaay too long in my opinion ;-) Come with ideas!

Hope to see YOU on Tuesday!

<3 Kelly

Don't Forget: Minnesota Bloggers Get-Together

Where will YOU be next Tuesday the 18th at 7:00pm?

HOPEFULLY

You will be hanging out with some of the greatest girls in the Twin Cities :-)

Check out this post on how to join in the fun-- come sip on some wine, create a FUN Minneapolis-themed painting, and meet some new friends!

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com Hope to see YOU there!

Join Us For a Night of Wine & Painting

Who: Minnesota Bloggers

 

What: Private Party at The Paint Pub

 

When: Tuesday, September 18th

7:00pm

 

Why: Because it's FUN!

 

Want to join us? It's easy! Just go to The Paint Pub's website and click on the "Calendar" tab at the top of the page. Find "MN Bloggers" Private Event on September 18th and click on "Register" You can then enter in your information and payment details.

 

The $30 price includes canvas, brushes, acrylic paint, and aprons. The instructor walks us step by step through the whole painting process. Unfortunately, wine is available at extra charge but I'm most excited about the company anyway :-)

 

The majority of those who commented on our last post voted for The Stonearch Bridge:

 

So what are you waiting for?? Take a few seconds to hop over HERE and register to join us on September 18th-- guaranteed to be a FUN time :-D



Mark Your Calendars!

Hi everyone!

Mark your calendars for the 2nd Minnesota Bloggers Get-Together!

Tuesday, September 18th!

We hope you can join us :-) Stay tuned for more information including where, when, and what (yanno, the important details)!

Pull Out Your Calendars & Planners... It's #MNBloggerHH 2.0 Time!

Alrighty! So after chatting with the owner of The Paint Pub, here is the scoop...

The best possible way to make everyone happy with dates and painting choices is to host our own Private Party. With this option we obviously have The Paint Pub (and most importantly, our instructors! ;-)) to ourselves for a 2-2.5 hour class and we get to choose our painting for our group (rather than choose according to the calendar and trying to schedule based on that date).

Price includes canvas, brushes, acrylic paint, and aprons. The instructor walks us step by step through the whole painting process. Unfortunately, wine is available at extra charge but I'm most excited about the company anyway :-)

If you would like to join us for the 2nd Minnesota Bloggers Happy Hour, please choose the following TWO things...

What would YOU most like to paint?



Choice A: Stone Arch Bridge

Choice B: Sunset

Choice C: Tropical

Choice D: Starry Night

... As you can tell from the first two options, the instructors REALLY walk you step by step on how to create your painting. Carolyn and I narrowed our choices down to four paintings that are of different skill levels and hopefully will appeal to you. Please comment (or email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com) on which ONE painting that you would most like to paint!

What date(s) works best for you?

The least expensive option is for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday classes which cost $30. The price increases for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and weekend dates so we made the decision to stick with earlier weekdays. We hope that Mondays and Tuesday work well for most everyone. Here are some date options...

Monday, September 10th

Tuesday, September 11th

Monday, September 17th

Tuesday, September 18th

Monday, September 24th

Tuesday, September 25th

Please comment (or email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com) on which date(s) would work best for you!

For our last Minnesota Bloggers Happy Hour, we had 13 bloggers attend. If you were not able to attend last Happy Hour, we would love for you to join us this next time! In case you're worried, there is no "clique" going on and I believe that we ALL feel that the more, the merrier :-) If you have ANY questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask.

Otherwise... Get down there and COMMENT on which painting you like best and which date(s) work for you!! I personally cannot wait for this event and to hang out with you girls again :-D

<3 Kelly

Who's Ready for Happy Hour Seconds?

Hi friends!

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who has been excited to set up our next Minnesota Bloggers get-together ever since last week's first Happy Hour event. And if you weren't able to attend, we hope that you're just as excited to participate in the next get-together!

Those who attended know that it was fairly impromptu and unofficial-- just gettin' together to have a good time! That is why we wanted to ask a few questions so that our next get-together can (hopefully) be the best for everyone.

The last #MNBloggerHH was on a Tuesday-- what day works best for you?

Is there a day that normally works best for you?
	Monday
	Tuesday
	Wednesday
	Thursday
	Friday
	Saturday
	Sunday
	Any day as long as it works with my schedule.
pollcode.com free polls

There was talk about meeting at The Paint Pub Art Studio Cafe in Maple Grove for our next event. If you haven't heard about this type of business yet, you basically show up with friends, sip on a bit of wine, and follow your instructor on how to paint a masterpiece!

Does that sound like fun to you? If so, let us know and then we can plan our event by polling everyone to see which painting we most want to attempt!

What would you MOST be interested in for our next event?
	Just another fun Happy Hour sounds good to me!
	I want to get my wine and paint on at The Paint Pub!
	BOTH! A shorter Happy Hour followed by getting together at The Paint Pub sounds like fun to me!
pollcode.com free polls

{you can see the results by click the "view" button}

If you have any other thoughts, suggestions, or opinions, feel free to leave a comment or email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com


And just to give you all a time frame to think about, we are hoping to get our 2nd #MNBloggerHH scheduled for sometime in early-to-mid September. We were able to successfully organize the first happy hour in a month's time, so hopefully we can do it again!

Can't wait to see many familiar faces and to (hopefully) meet new ones as well! :-)

And while you're here, did you see Bridget's Featured Blogger post from yesterday?

<3 Kelly

#MNBloggerHH Recaps!

Last night was our first Minnesota Bloggers Happy Hour (organized from this ol' blog) and I have to say that it was HUGE success!! We hope that you all had a great time enhancing your friendships in real life and meeting new friends too!

A big thank you goes out to all of you bloggers who, despite your nervousness, came out to meet everyone! Apologies for not being a bit more organized, but we're learning :-) It obviously would not have been the same without everyone who was there. We had bloggers come all the way from Farmington to Coon Rapids to Medina to Forest Lake, some of us (err, just super genius Kelly) had just busted our butts with the BAR exam, some leaving work functions early, or having the husband take on kiddo duty for the night, etc... Thank you for coming!!

There was a ton of feedback about how we must get a 2nd get-together on the books soon. The general consensus is that now that many of us have finally been introduced, having a more specific activity would be fun-- like meeting up at The Paint Pub for wine drinking and painting! Stay tuned for more information soon! (I'll check to see if they have a chalkboard wall or not ;-))

Once again... If you were able to make it out last night, THANK YOU. I truly had a blast. If you were not able to join us, you were missed!! Blogger get-togethers are only as successful as the ones who attend-- the more the merrier and we'd love to have you next time!! :-)

If you have posted about last night's Happy Hour, feel free to link up below! Thanks again and take care, girls!

<3 Kelly

Don't Forget!

If you have time today, make sure to head over to last week's blog post to check out the fellow bloggers who will be joining us at tonight's Happy Hour at Psycho Suzi's! Hopefully the rain stops sometime today so that we can enjoy some patio action... But of course if it is still wet out, we'll move the party indoors.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com or leave a comment here. And it's not too late to join us-- the more the merrier!

See YOU at 5:30! :-)

A Week From Today...

A bunch of us awesome Minnesota bloggers will be getting together for our first Happy Hour (at least the first organized from this ol' blog ;-)) Personally, I cannot wait! It is going to be an amazing night. We promise!

First order of business, I want to apologize to anyone who might have fallen through the cracks or overlooked at all in the past month since this blog has started. Between work, life, our own personal blogs, and many other responsibilities, I never thought this little ol' Minnesota Bloggers blog would prove to be so time consuming (but in a good way)! I took some time to sift through emails and hopefully everyone who would like their blog linked in the Fellow MN Bloggers tab is listed above. If for any reason you'd like to ask questions, leave a comment or suggestion, become a featured blogger, or just say hi... Don't hesitate to email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com

Okay, so moving on to the fun stuff. After looking through all of the comments and emails regarding our first Happy Hour, I have compiled a list of those bloggers who gave anywhere from an adamant "Yes, I'm counting down the hours" to a "Sounds like fun, but I need to check my work schedule" RSVP response.

Andrea at Keeping Up With the Sonneks
Andrea at Love Is...
Becky at Nacho Average Blog
Bridget at Life As Bridget Knows It
Britni at Britni's Beginnings
Brittany at Bllissfully Britt
Carolyn at Life, Love & Puppy Prints
Chelsea at Sunny with a Chace of Sprinkles
Dawn at Mom-A-Logues
DJ at Just D and Y
Dottie at Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Jess at Jess is More
Kelly at Keeping Up With Kelly & Co
Kelly at Kelly B, JD
Kristin at Busy Bee
Kristin at Crown Jewells
Lauren at Our Crazy Ever After
Meg at Mr C & Me
Melissa at I Carry Your Heart
Michelle at You're My Favorite Today
Samara Dane at Wanderings of Miss Dane
Syndal at Synfully Delicious
Zhenya at Being Zhenya


Are you listed above?

If not, do ya wanna be? If so, just leave a comment and we'll be excited to meet you!

If you have already RSVP-ed with a "yes!" and I don't have you listed, please don't hate me. Just leave another comment and I promise to not only add you to the list but buy you a drink at Happy Hour too ;-)

And if you are listed but can't attend (boo) please let us know as well.


So mark your calendars (whether that be an Erin Condren planner, iPhone calendar, work schedule, or Mom Calendar on the side of your 'fridge ;-)) and plan to have a great time at Psycho Suzies on Tuesday, July 24th at 5:30pm. A handful of you also mentioned that you may be a tad late and that is a-okay! If having a contact cell phone number makes you feel more comfortable about showing up fashionably late, I am more than happy to give my number out as well, just let me know :-)

See you then!!

<3 Kelly

SAVE THE DATE!

That's right! We have a date! 

We're all getting together for some Minnesota Blogger style fun! 

After looking over everyone's responses, July 24th seemed to work for the most people.

We decided on Psycho Suzi's because it's pretty central, has a great patio, and let's be real... 

there are some great photo opps, which is the most important thing for every blogger!

Let's all plan on meeting on the patio at Psycho Suzi's at 5:30pm!

If you didn't reply to the original blog post, you can still come! We'd LOVE to meet you! 

If you could, please comment on this post letting us know if you'll be there, just so we have a head count.

We'll be sending out an email to everyone that will be attending about a week prior, but please don't hesitate to email/comment if you have ANY questions! 

Can't wait to meet you!

Last Call for Happy Hour #1

Hi all!

This is just a reminder to cast your vote on the date of our first Minnesota Happy Hour. We'd like to start ironing out the details, but first we need to decide upon a date. Which is why if you'd like to attend, we need to know what date works best for you.

The choices are:

Tuesday, July 10th

Tuesday, July 17th

Tuesday July 24th

It's guaranteed to be a lot of fun, so hop over to this post and leave a comment about which date {hopefully} works for you! Thanks :-D

And of course if you ever have any questions, suggestions, or concerns you can email us at minnesotabloggers@gmail.com

Wanted: Blogger Friends for a Minnesota Happy Hour

Grrrrrrrrrrrl. Look at you with your JCrew Bubble Necklace, rockin' those white skinnies.

Though... why aren't you wearing shoes? Haha... Ooops.

Even though you may not have feet, WE WANT TO HANG OUT!!

We can chat about blogging, life, pets, husbands, friends, and why oh why we live in the great state of Minnesota ;-)

But first?

We need to discuss a date to get this shindig going.

If you would like to spend a few hours over drinks and food with some of the nicest ladies in Minnesota, we'd love to have you! For our first Minnesota Happy Hour, possible dates are:

Tuesday, July 10th

Tuesday, July 17th

Tuesday, July 24th

If you think you'd be able to attend either of these dates, PLEASE comment below so that we can get a head count going. We'll try our best to plan happy hour around 5pm at a fun, easily accessible, and inexpensive venue.

More information to come as soon as we get a good idea of which date would {hopefully} work for you!

And PS: If you're nervous for this guaranteed-to-be-fabulous blate {"blogger date" FYI ;-)}...

Don't be.

Carolyn, Kristin, and Kelly met up for the first time just a few weeks ago and had a BLOGGIN' FILLED BLAST.

Go ahead and tell us (and any other Minnesota Blogger friends) what date would work for you. Stay tuned and hope to see you there!!