Bloggers, Hats, Shopping and Teatime: N.C. Bloggers Meetup Recap

What happens when you bring 23 like-minded women together for a day of food, friendship and shopping?

Lots of fun, laughter, fellowship and crazy hats!

Home decor bloggers and readers came from across North Carolina to participate in the first-ever Hometalk N.C. Bloggers Meetup, From Downtown to Downton, held in Greensboro on May 11.

And we had a blast!

We started our day at The Farmer’s Wife, an antique store in downtown Greensboro, for breakfast and an hour of private shopping. (I can’t wait to share what I bought!)

Kirby of Kirb Appeal and Shirley of Housepitality Designs fuel up for our marathon shopping trip.

From there, we headed to Thrill of the Hunt for more shopping. Some ladies, including my event-planning partner in crime Suzy of Worthing Court, showed off their creativity and painted pretty floral canvases, a Pinterest-inspired project.

Then, we spent a couple of hours roaming the streets of downtown Greensboro, checking out the junk and treasures.

I’m surprised there were any old ceiling tins left at Mary’s Antiques after our group of upcyclers and repurposers was finished.

Next stop, Summerhouse for more shopping, eye candy and inspiration. There were lots of photos snapped (like Suzy taking a photo of me taking a picture of her) and lots of chatting. Wonder what Marty from Marty’s Musings and Kristen of Sophia’s are chatting about? One lucky lady even won a door prize from the store.

We also stopped by Rustic Romance, Me & E and other shops in Irving Park Plaza before heading to Golden Antiques & Treasures (where I have my booth and where I forgot to take any photos!) I’m hoping others who were at the event will share their favorite Golden moments on their blogs.

At Total Bliss, shop owner Nancy served us wine spritzers and virgin sangria.

Wonder which ones these ladies chose?

After we’d emptied our wallets, we headed to Deer Cottage, my friend’s lovely home, for a private Downton Abbey-inspired tea party.

Kathryn, Sarah of Create Studio and Allison donned hats worthy of the royal princesses.

Suzy and I dressed up as characters from Downtown Abbey and performed a little skit. Did you know Edith is starting a blog? Her granny, the Dowager, does not approve.

In fact, the Dowager thought Edith was interviewing for a new ladies maid when she saw the group assembled on the patio of Deer Cottage. But Edith told her granny that she’d met all these women on the Internet. The Dowager was worried they might pocket the spoons.

Holly of Storywood Designs and Danielle of 2 Little Superheroes had front-row seats for the Oscar-worthy performance. And there may soon be a video of said performance floating around YouTube soon.

What do you know, there’s the video. A few minutes of it, at least, all Holly could capture before he phone battery went kaput!

Robin created a beautiful tablescape for our event, and the food was fabulous. Even the Dowager approved! (If you interested in holding an event at Deer Cottage, please visit Robin’s website. Deer Cottage is her family’s home, so she only does a limited number of parties and teas.)

I think we need to go back to the days when women wore fancy hats. Even when you look ridiculous in a hat (and I’m talking about myself here), you still look stylish.

Speaking of hats, we gave Robin and two of her helpers the difficult task of picking the best hat. Patty of Always Something won the grand prize (and a trophy) for the fascinator she made herself.

There were door prizes, too. Danielle won this Union Jack Pillow, generously donated to us by Jill of Sew a Fine Seam. We also gave away a subscription to Our State magazine, a Downton Abbey script book and a tea set, courtesy of Deer Cottage.

In fact, no one left our event empty-handed.

These swag bags, donated by our sponsor Hometalk, were filled to the brim with goodies: Fish Foam, FrogTape, cute gift bags from Total Bliss, tea from TeaHugger, magazines from Our State,  grits from the Old Mill of Guilford, lemon-infused sugar cubes from Worthing Court and homemade tea soap and tea cup charms from Atta Girl Says.

I must say that this event was so worth all the time and effort Suzy and I put into it over the past few months. I had a grand time, stepped out of my comfort zone big time during that skit, and I connected in real life with some lovely North Carolina bloggers and readers, many of whom I’d never met before. I can’t wait to hang out with them again.

Hats off to all my North Carolina blogging friends, new and old?

 

 

Linking up to Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig and Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.