Viva Las Vegas

Oh my goodness y'all I had such an AMAZING time in Vegas!! I'm linking up with The Elementary Entourage to share my experience. Prepare for tons of pictures!

My Vegas experience started EARLY Wednesday morning. While waiting at the gate, I discovered two ladies I met at a blogger meet up months before were also on the flight! Early morning flights=me not bothering with makeup jut yet!

Familiar faces certainly make delayed flights and gate changes easier to deal with.

After finally arriving in Vegas, it was straight to the hotel. I didn't get an upgraded room, but the room I did have had an amazing view! The pirate ships of Treasure Island were right below my window.

After a little cat nap it was time for the Cool Kids Meet and Greet (which I didn't get any pictures of, boo!) and the big Blogger Meet Up. You could feel the excitement in the air! I met some of my favorite bloggers and even won a prize!

While eating dinner at the Cool Kids Meet and Greet I got a Facebook notification. A sweet friend from college informed me that TpT shared the link from my One Stop Teacher Shop guest post! I couldn't believe that a small fry like myself would have any sort of mention on the TpT Facebook page ever!

I wonder how they even found that?! If you want to read the original post you can click here.

Recognize any of your favorite bloggers? I can't wait to receive my prize pack in the mail from Creative Clips! 

Thursday before the conference started a group of us had breakfast at Treasure Island. The conference didn't start until the afternoon, but there were networking opportunities to attend. I got a chance to meet more of my favorite bloggers and make new connections!

I adore Erica Bohrer! I enjoy her Instagram posts and her blog. Erica is such a sweetie! I was pleased to hear her dog Niles is doing well. We chatted for a few minutes about everything from classroom pets to being single. #singleteachers

Tamara Russell was one of the first teacher bloggers I discovered a couple of years ago when I decided to join the blogging world. I was so happy to finally meet her! Talk about the real deal, Tamara is it! If you aren't following her blog do so now. 

Colleen Noffsinger is another favorite blogger of mine! I discovered her blog Literacy Loving Gals a few months back. We got to have lunch twice during the conference! If you're ever in need of reading ideas for your classroom check out Colleen's blog or Instagram for amazing ideas. Love those curls! 

Love Angela from The Daily Alphabet, and look Ma I'm on tv! A picture taken during the networking Thursday morning made it into the happy hour slideshow Friday. I was so excited I had to take a picture of it.

I learned tons in the sessions about finding my niche when creating products and building a brand. I took some pictures in the sessions, but out of respect for the presenters I won't be sharing those. Sorry!

Despite being exhausted we did manage to sneak in a little fun Thursday night. Madame Tussauds, dinner at Margaritaville and a visit to Sprinkles cupcakes made the day complete. 

The keynote Friday morning was amazing! I'm sure we all enjoyed hearing from some of Team TpT and Rachel Lynette's inspiring story. One of the best things about TpT is what I like to call keeping it real. We learn that each of us is human and we all face challenges in life. Rachel shared what it was like as a single mom and a teacher facing daily life like we all do. Love it when someone reaches success and doesn't forget where they came from!

My iPad is full of notes and pictures from the session. I attended Deanna Jump and DeeDee Wills' session and learned some new things about PowerPoint I didn't know before! After catching up on much needed rest I immediately started working on a few things today. I attended Mel D's session on Advanced Pinterest. Let me tell you that woman is the queen of pinning! I've finally switched over to a business account, now to clean up some boards! 

Here are some more pictures from Friday! How funny to see The Tutu Teacher AND Paul Edelman at the same time!

Kimberly Geswein was so nice! Some lucky duck won a lifetime license of her fonts at the blogger meet up!

See that picture on the bottom right? It shows part of the swag that was given away/won in a few days. It actually took me more time to pack for the trip home than it did before arriving, crazy right? I have yet to build up strength to unpack. The swag given out to teachers all week was insane! Thankfully I bought a fancy schmancy suitcase a couple of months ago with plenty of room in it.

I had about five hours left for Vegas fun Saturday before the flight home. I won big at the slot machines, ha! Next year I'll try Blackjack and Roulette.

No Vegas trip would be complete without a visit to the pool! Michelle Webb (@thosewholoveteaching) and I met up to chat and sip on yummy beverages before I had to leave.

Poolside collaboration is the best! Even though I didn't want to, it was time to head home. 

For Vegas hotel transportation I used this wonderful company called Bell Limosuine. They have a wonderful service that takes you directly to your hotel and back to the airport. Customer service was perfection. I highly recommend using them next year. No waiting in lines or long rides on a shuttle. The cost of $28 was well worth my time and sanity. I guess they were busy Saturday and the only car available to pick me up was a limo!

I felt so fancy!! Can you tell I had the so much fun in Vegas but ready to go home look? Good Lord what happened to my hair?! I rode to the airport in style, zipped through security and landed home in Dallas Saturday night.

My heart is so full from all the amazing memories made in Vegas. I met many more people and can't wait to meet up with them again next year. Believe me when I say the money you spend is nothing compared to what you'll gain. My goal for 2016 is to stay in Vegas for a week so I have more time for sightseeing. I know I'll be a better teacher thanks in part to the conference. Let's start the countdown for next year!