Haven 2012! {A Dream Come True}

Wow!  Ladies, I am still recovering from Haven 2012.

It was very surreal to watch a dream come true this past weekend.  For several years, many of us have been wanting to put together a blog conference just for Home/DIY bloggers.  A year ago, Rhoda took the lead and created our planning team.  For a year now, we have dreamed, planned, skyped, networked, emailed, phone-called, brainstormed, and more to put together Haven 2012.

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Kate, Sarah, Beth, Rhoda, Me, Chris, and Marian

I love these ladies so much!  Kristi, our blog designer, and Kristin, our event planner, are missing from this photo.  We could not have done this even without them!

To see it come together before our eyes this weekend was beyond words!  We all felt like proud little mamas.  :)

Check out all of the swag bags lined up and waiting to be handed out.

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We had so many amazing sponsors that helped us fill our swag bags with all kinds of goodies.

Wednesday, the planning team hung out to put together some of the decorations.

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We all worked together to get the registration table, swag, and décor in order for the big event!

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We were laughing at how many of these paper balls/lanterns that we had to put together.

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Rhoda was buried in a sea of them…

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It took all of us working together to put this event on.

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Wednesday night we had a “meet and greet” party sponsored by Frog Tape and Oreck to start things off.

Then on Thursday morning, our keynote speakers, John and Sherry from Young House Love, inspired us all and made us laugh a lot.  They were amazing!!!

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They have such a wonderful blog. and it was great to hear their “blog story” of how it all began.  They were so endearing to listen to.  Two words I would use to describe them are “genuine” and “hilarious.”

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I was able to snag a picture with them after they spoke.  This picture cracks me up because it looks like John and I are a couple with our cute little baby and that Sherry is taking a picture with us!  Ha!

There were many great sessions throughout the day on Thursday, and that night we had another mixer sponsored by Rustoleum.  It was so great to see all of these amazing attendees just chatting it up and making new friendships.

 

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Friday was full of more great sessions that I loved being a part of.  Kevin and Layla (from The Lettered Cottage),  and Josh did an AMAZING job in their photography class!  I learned so much!

Here’s Kevin talking to some ladies about their cameras.

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Here’s sweet Layla talking to some ladies about their cameras as well.

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Now, here are a TON of pictures that I took with some of my favorite ladies.

 

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Renee from Living, Laughing, and Loving and Christina from The Frugal Homemaker

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Tonya from Love of Family and Home

 

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Kristin from Favorite Paint Colors

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Melissa from 320 Sycamore

 

 

 

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A highlight for me was meeting Tonya from Women Do Everything.  What an amazing life story she has.  So Inspiring!

 

 

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Susie from Susie Harris blog

 

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I was thrilled to finally meet Susan from Between Naps on the Porch.  She was one of the blogs that my mom followed, and she told me I should go read her blog.  It was a very special moment for me because I could hear my mom saying, “Traci?  You got to meet Susan?!!”  Yes, Mom.  I did. Smile

 

 

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 Susan from Living Rich on Less

 

Check out this group of amazingness…

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Front row:  Sandra (Sawdust and Paperscraps), Roeshel (DIY Showoff), Brittany (Pretty Handy Girl)

Middle row (sitting):  Chris (Just a Girl), Myra (My Blessed Life), Marian (Miss Mustard Seed), Stacy (Not Just a Housewife), Wendy (The Shabby Nest), Me.

Back row (standing):  Gina (Shabby Creek Cottage), Beckie (Infarrantly Creative), Beth (Home Stories A2Z), Rhoda (Southern Hospitality), Sarah (Thrifty Décor Chick), Kate (Centsational Girl)

 

 

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Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps

 

 

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Roeshel from DIY Showoff

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Myra from My Blessed Life and Marian from Miss Mustard Seed

 

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Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl

 

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Wendy from the Shabby Nest and Stacy from Not Just a Housewife

 

 

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Tauni from SNAP!

 

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Beckie from Organizing Made Fun and Allison from House of Hepworths

It was such a great conference!  And there was a huge sigh of relief when it was over.

Not because it was over, but because it went so well.

Let’s just say we were super tired and feeling a little “loopy.”

We are looking forward to Haven 2013!!!

Hope to see you there!

32 Comments

  1. SOOOO, so glad I decided to go Haven! It was sort of a dream come true just to meet all of you – Sarah, you, YHL, Kate, Myra, Layla, Beth and so many more! (Had already met Rhoda at I Love Thrifting day!) But on top of meeting all of my favorite bloggers, learning from the sessions, and meeting other bloggers was the cherry on top! Lunch that day with you was so awesome – thanks for being so transparent and completely inspiring to us!

    Thank you so much for all of your work and the work the rest of the team did to pull it off! it was AMAZING!! No complaints except I want to stay at the hotel next time and not commute back home every day so I can hang out with everyone more! :)

  2. You guys did such an amazing job! Thank you so so much for making my first conference such an amazing experience. And it was soo good to meet you! Took notes on all the kiddo suggestions {i.e. if I end up having the guts to have 5 kids, to space them out :) }

    Can’t wait for next year!!

  3. Haven was awesome!!! It was so nice seeing you again Traci!! Big thanks to you & to all the Haven coordinators for all of the countless hours you all put in to make this conference possible!! I know that I am in good company when I say, we are TRULY appreciate it!!! Love ya!

  4. So sorry I had to leave to catch a train (and was sick!) but I had such fun with you all and can’t wait for the planning sessions for 2013 to begin! :)

  5. Thanks for a great job putting Haven together! It was a wonderful time. I learned a lot and I laughed a lot. The goodie bags were awesome too! Thanks again.

  6. Thank you for all you ladies did to make my first conference an amazing time! I felt like a star-struck groupie! :) I hate that I didn’t get to meet you in person. Next year… :)

  7. Traci,
    You ladies did an AMAZING job!! Everything went so smoothly and was so well-organized! And I can’t say enough about your team of presenters and session leaders — so much know-how and great advice!!
    I loved meeting you and look forward to seeing you for Haven 2013!
    xo Heidi

  8. Such a great recap Traci, it was a delight to work with you through this whole process, you are an inspiration and I adore you! So great to see you again, can’t wait for next year!
    xo
    Kate

  9. SO wish I could’ve hung out with you girls!!! I just smiled and teared up like a sappy sick woman. Can’t wait until next year already.
    :-)
    shaunna

  10. Wow! That looks like so much fun! I have been hosting (along with Courtney from French Country Cottage) small Blog Forums in my store The Vintage Bricoleur in Ca. This next Friday we are hosting our first “big” one. It will be longer and will include lunch. It will also be the biggest yet. What you ladies have done, has inspired me to continue on with a dream of hosting something bigger like you all did, only here in Northern Ca. Wish us luck!!! :)
    Terry from The Vintage Bricoleur

  11. Hi Traci,

    You should feel so proud..you did a wonderful job…all of it, especially your candor and honesty during the sessions you taught. I really appreciated your honestly, fessing up to things you did not know, and sharing your “obsession with numbers”, which in turn made us newbies feel less crazy!!. I must confess, I am a bit sad that I did not meet as many people as I had hoped, probably my own shyness got in my way, oh well, next time, I will try harder and I am very happy I met you.

  12. Aww, so glad you had a blast!!!! Some of my favorite bloggers there all together in one spot! Hope to attend Haven one day, it would be an honor to meet you in person along with the rest.

    Have a fantastic week

    Marilyn C.

  13. Traci – I am super happy that we finally had a chance to meet in person. You’re gorgeous, hilarious and such an inspiration. I wish we had had more time together. Thank you for all of your hard work in helping to make Haven a dream come true for everyone attending! :)

  14. Such a great recap, Traci! I’m the blonde in the right of the pic with Layla talking cameras. It was so nice to meet you, we were at the same table for lunch on Thursday. I would love to hear how it all goes after BlogHer with the ad layering. I hope it rocks your blog. :)

  15. Really great post. Now it’s going to take me all day to go to all the blogs that you linked in your post. I look forward to it. Congratulations to all of you for a truly successful Haven 2012. I’ll be stopping by a lot and Jane and I look forward to next year.

  16. It was so good to meet you! I learned a lot from you in the Blogging PR class and I can’t wait to follow your blog because you were so sweet!!! Oh and I’m totally going to be wearing more dark blue and teal thanks to your fabulous outfit that first day. :)

    Anna
    http://www.askannamoseley.com

  17. I absolutely LOVED meeting and chatting with you! You are one funny chica!! Loved how you kept us all rolling. :) Thanks for taking time to sit and just chill with us! It was a highlight! And, hello! Can’t believe MY picture is on BMH!!! Woohoo! :)

  18. You all did an amazing job organizing this conference. I had a blast (and so did EVERYBODY I talked to). Looking forward to Haven 2013!

  19. It was so great to see you again, and you all did an amazing job. We’re all so grateful for your hard work.
    On a different note, I will think of you every time I hear “Yes M’am.” :)

  20. Wonderful write up of the event! Wish I could have been there and am planning on going next year. I cracked up with the picture of you and John and Sherry. It IS like you are a couple with the cute baby! too funny.

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