Blogger Meet-up

It's been a good weekend.  Not the most productive one, but hey, I have Monday off (from nannying).

While I was home over the holidays, I felt a need to connect with more people in the blogging community.  Sure, we read posts and write comments, but these days, it's too easy to replace face-to-face time with online communication.  I shot an email to a few girls—people I knew from the blog world and "real life"—and suggested a blogger meet-up.  Those girls invited some others, and soon enough, we had a nice little group assembled... so on Saturday afternoon, Jillian of Cornflake Dreams hosted a bunch of us Chicago blogger ladies. 

Everyone brought an appetizer or wine, so we sipped, sampled, and got to know each other better.  It was a really nice afternoon... I was happy to broaden my little blog network... and the food was sooo yummy!  We chatted about the stuff of life: engagement rings, wedding planning, apartment searches, babies, dogs, the best restaurants in the city, recipes, bikes, and big-screen TVs.  You have to check out the apps everyone brought to share!

I brought Spinach Roll-ups from the Taste of Home Summer Appetizers cookbook (my go-to for easy, delicious party apps).

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup crumbled cooked bacon (I left this out)
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
6 flour tortillas (8 inch), warmed

1) In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, green onions, bacon, and salad dressing mix.  Stir in spinach until well blended.  Spread over tortillas; roll up tightly jelly-roll style.  Wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 5 hours (I only did for one, but a longer time would probably help while cutting).

2) With a serrated knife, cut into 1/2 inch slices.  Refrigerate leftovers.  Yields 12-14 servings.

Thank you to all the ladies who attended.  I had a great time catching up and getting to know each of you!

Ashley of Ashley Nicole Catherine 

Cara of City Girl Chicago 

Jillian of Cornflake Dreams 

Cathy of Fiscally Chic 

Jess of Makeunder My Life 

Lara of Simply Irresistible 

Lesley of Six Twelve Place 

Zoe of Style Foodie 

Shari of The Daily Dish

A little tip for you party-planners out there... I used Paperless Post to send out an electronic invitation for the blogger meet-up, my first time using the website, and it was awesome.  The designs are adorable, the process is easy, and the tracking is super organized.

I started with this template and changed up the fonts to make it a bit more casual.

When you sign up for an account with Paperless Post, you start with 25 "stamps" and 25 "coins" (each stamp sends one email to one recipient; coins are used for premium content and features).  From there, you can purchase more stamps or coins for a matter of cents or earn more by referring friends or liking Paperless Post on facebook.  The invite designs look like ones you would send via snail mail (cute fonts, layouts, etc), and the tracking of RSVPs is really clean and streamlined.  Love it.  Recommend it.

And the rest of the weekend... Scott and I enjoyed low-key evenings on both Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, we watched the movie Moneyball (good stuff), and on Saturday, we made a frozen pizza, had a couple of drinks, and I read Sense and Sensibility for one of my classes while Scott watched football.  Juuuuust right after a long, busy week.

Sunday was a lot of fun... I went bridesmaid dress shopping for a college friend's wedding.  A whole group of us made stops at Bella Bridesmaid and Macy's with a little lunch at Feast in between.  Great news: we found our dresses!  And I love mine!  (A few hints: dark blue, chiffon, a ruffle.)  I can't wait to support the lovely bride & her groom and then dance the night away on K's big day in October.

Now, back to that whole productivity thing... it had better kick in tomorrow morning!