I was among several very lucky women invited by Disney Social Media Moms to meet in San Francisco for the
Disney On The Road Celebration. I had my Cinderella moment! I was thrilled to receive an invite to the ball! I could not pass up the opportunity. Soon after receiving the invitation in May, I began planning my trip. It would be my first one since marriage and motherhood. I was full of excitement
and worry. I was giddy and guilt ridden all at once. It would be a short flight and I would only be away from home overnight. It was a really was a big deal for me!
I've been married for nearly five years and a mommy for three of those years. In my former career, I was an Internal Auditor for a national wireless company. I worked for the corporate office and would travel across the states every other week or so to conduct week long audits. I'm not a stranger to travel and life on the road. As a single woman I thrived with this lifestyle. As a wife and mommy - I had to come to terms with going solo. I'm glad that I did! After listening to very inspirational women speak about their journey in paving their path to success - I came away feeling empowered, encouraged, validated, and so very excited for the future!
I left my comfort zone on so many levels and am proud of myself! I made new friends, found inspiration in the success stories of the conference speakers, AND had my mom guilt eased away! I cannot possibly fit all of the awesome of the day into one blog post! There was SO MUCH packed into a half day conference! I am truly grateful for the experience.
Pictured below are my breakfast buddies! I'm so glad that I got to meet Sabrina and Dawn IRL! Thanks to these ladies - I'm getting less and less shy when it comes to networking! I have a long way to go but it does become more and more natural the more that I get the opportunity to do it.
I was so happy to see a familiar face at the conference! Kate is also from San Diego and blogs at
San Diego Deals and Steals.
The half day conference was led by Maria Bailey of Mom Talk Radio. Right off the bat she took the sting out of my mommy guilt in sharing a story about her daughter. Maria is on the road a lot and does a lot of public speaking. Her daughter had a public speaking engagement and afterwards told her mom that she felt like her Mom up there. Wow for validation! Her daughter was PROUD of her mom and all that she does. She set an example for her daughter to follow. There is no guilt in THAT! Maria encouraged us to follow our passion. Our children will see us doing so and in turn follow their own passion.
Here are my favorite quotes from the conference:
"You inspire me Mom" - as told by Maria Bailey.
"Don't let what you don't know how to do stop you from what you want to do. You can LEARN." -
Erin Kelly, MD and inventor of the Hulabye Baby Changer.
"Motherhood didn't get easier. I got better!" -
Mindee Doney, Boogie Wipes creator.
"STOP talking once you have shared your message." - Michelle Stepney, PR Content Director for Disney Parks Blog.
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| Maria Bailey Mom Talk Radio |
I must admit that I was a bit insecure about the event. Not only am I on the shy/awkward side (overcoming that little by little), I don't have a Disney specific blog like many do. Through a great facebook group for attendees, I have found SO MANY amazing ones out there (and the WONDERFUL women that write these blogs). As far as planning for our FIRST Disney
family trip, I feel like I have so many resources for advice! We have a three year old who is SUPER ready for a Disney adventure! We thought about taking him sooner but wanted him to be more comfortable with life-sized costumed characters first. We want this special moment to be filled with magical memories instead of calming a traumatized preschooler. Seeing life sized versions of your favorite characters up close and personal for the first time can be a bit overwhelming for a little one. But now I think that we are ready!
After the Disney Social Media Moms event I realized just how "Disney" our family is. I smiled because it isn't only our celebrations that are touched by the magic of Disney... so is our everyday life. All that I had to do was take a quick look around our home (toys & movies GALORE), peek at birthday party photos, and reflect on gifts that we have given to our seven nephews and four nieces --- each has their favorite characters! I had to share some of our family memories!
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| Our son in Winnie The Pooh Onesie 2010 |
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| 2nd Birthday Cars Cookie Cake 2012 |
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Buzz Lightyear! Halloween 2012
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| Turning Three with a Monster's University Birthday Cake 2013 |
Disclosure: I was invited by BSM Media and Disney Social Media Moms to attend the conference. I received complimentary registration, breakfast, and a Disney gift bag. Through a random drawing, I also won an
American Tourister Colora Spinner. All opinions contained in this post are my own.
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Sounds so fun. I had never heard about it. I've been so bad at keeping up with my blog and social media lately. I need to find time. Glad you had a greay experience!!
ReplyDelete*great*
DeleteThank you Melanie! I totally understand. I know exactly what you mean. I actually took the full month of June off from blogging. It helped me to slow down instead of trying to cram everything in. Now I have a full month of great things to blog about! I hope you find time - I miss your posts.
ReplyDeleteI wish that I could go to a conference. I know that I would learn so much. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun conference! How exciting that you're getting ready to take your son to Disneyland for the first time. My son used to be scared of the people dressed up as characters too. We just had him wave from a distance until he got more comfortable. He got over his fear eventually and now they don't bother him at all.
ReplyDeletewhat a great conference to attend--I'd like to get to a small one to brake the ice...but so far none have been close enough to me and don't have the cash for travel ={
ReplyDeleteWow! Sounds like you had a great time! And disney is so ingrained in us, i think, that we don't even realize it any more.
ReplyDeleteChristy I really do enjoy conferences and learn something new every time. I hope that you get the opportunity to go.
ReplyDeleteDelSheree I loved it! I hope our son has a great time at Disneyland! We will certainly takes tons of pictures & video! I like your tip. We will try that!
Pamela I think that I prefer the smaller sized one day conferences! It is more intimate and I don't feel as overwhelmed! I understand your concern with the cash! I try to volunteer for the big conferences that I want to attend to cut down some of the expenses.
Raine I did have a wonderful time. Thank you for stopping in! Disney fun found it's way into our home for sure!
the Buzz lightyear outfit is awesome! Great photos! I love posts that have this much to look at! Glad you had a great time!
ReplyDeleteLexie Thanks! I love his funny face. He wanted to be Buzz Lightyear and for his dad to dress up as Woody! Good times! Always glad to capture these moments in a photo or video! I did have such a great time - it's not hard to have fun being around other bloggers and discussing Disney. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a wonderful experience and took away so much from such a short experience. It sounds like it was power packed.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a great time Cynthia! And Happy Birthday to your adorable son.
ReplyDeleteCheryl Thank you. You are right - it WAS power packed. I loved that it was a one day experience - sometimes the longer multiple day conferences can be TOO MUCH for me to process.
ReplyDeleteSusan Thank you. I can hardly believe that our son is now three years old! We had a simple celebration at the park in June to celebrate.
That is so cool! Your family is so darn cute, by the way! I actually had the pleasure of meeting Dawn from Mama Harris Kitchen at Blogher Food this year. Stopping by from the SITS Girls.
ReplyDeleteWinter Redd Yes! It was so cool. I couldn't believe that I got to go! So glad you met Dawn too. She is a sweetheart! Awesome that you were at BlogHer Food! I'd like to go next time! Thank you for visiting!
ReplyDeleteIt will be a while before I get to go on a conference due to costs involved. But I know that they are a great place to meet new people and learn cool, new ideas and trends.
ReplyDeleteChristy I totally understand. I have volunteered my way in to a couple of conferences to defer the registration fee. One day I hope that we can meet in person at a conference! I have heard of some bloggers secure sponsors to help them cover the expenses - wouldn't that be great?!
ReplyDeleteSo happy for you, Cynthia! I know you had a wonderful time at the event. Hope you get to attend more events like these, I'll look forward to reading them since we're a Disney family too! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity, Cynthia! I love the story Maria shared about her daughter. It can be hard to let go of the mommy guilt, but when we are setting a positive example for our kids, it can make it all worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteCzjai Reyes-Ocampo Thank you for sharing in my happiness! I do hope for more opportunities to be involved with Disney! I love that your family (and families all over the world) loves Disney!
ReplyDeleteThe Savvy Mompreneur I am grateful for the opportunity - I got so much out of it! You have said it so well! It can be hard to let go of the mommy guilt, but when we are setting a positive example for our kids, it can make it all worthwhile.
Cynthia that would be awesome if I could get everything sponsored. I know that it will happen in due time and I hope that one day I can meet all of my blogger friends. I am thankful for you and all of those who support my blogging efforts. I live in the Dallas area so who knows a conference might be in this area one day.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been a great experience attending such a conference. I wish there were such things here in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteBeauuuutiful family!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I could really relate about overcoming the shy/awkward part.
This looks like so much fun, and I hadn't heard about it!!! I grew up watching Disney movies, reading books based upon those characters ... I loved it when I went. Friends tell us to wait until kids are just a little bit older, so that they can really appreciate it, and we can hardly wait to see their faces.
I'm glad the conference gave you so much to think about :-)
So much fun! Glad you got to go Cinderella!
ReplyDeleteChristy Dallas is a great conference location. I'll keep my eye out for one!
ReplyDeleteDominique It really is a wonderful experience meeting other bloggers :) I've been to a few blogger meet ups organized by fellow bloggers - those are fun too. Maybe you can meet up with other bloggers in Singapore?
arirjames Thank you so much for the kind compliment! I've met a few other shy bloggers :) We are not alone.
Mommys Juice Thank you. I am still so very glad! Hoping for more magical moments!
That looked like an amazing experience. Glad you enjoyed it!!
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures, of the conference and your little one!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a wonderful time and hurrah to you for going! :)