GEMomsperience Part 3--21C Museum Hotel

I'm finally getting around to writing my third and final post about my trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the GEMomsperience.  Thank you to my loyal photography readers who put up with these three off-topic posts!  If you're lost, my first post was about the GEMomsperience itself, my second post was about the great women and fabulous hats at Churchill Downs, and this is my third post--all about the fabulous 21C Museum Hotel!

Yes, this hotel was so awesome it deserves a post of it's own!  If you are anyone who's anyone (such as Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber) staying in Louisville, KY, you stay at the 21C Museum Hotel.

21C Museum Hotel, as it's name says, it a combo of a hotel and art museum in one.  It's got great, modern, eclectic artwork everywhere you look!

It also has the most comfortable hotel beds I've ever slept in!


Since 21C is a famous, upscale hotel, I thought it was going to be a bit snooty. I was WAY wrong in my assumption!  The staff was super friendly and super fun!  You've got to read Love Feast Table's post about me and Creative Kristi's red penguin prank gone WAY overboard!!  No, seriously--STOP--read the post!  I guarantee you'll laugh your butt off!

Yes, these 21C mascots create a lot of fun for the hotel...

...as does this interactive artwork that you just can't help but play with while you wait for the elevator. It's a poem that rains down on you! You can "catch" words on your limbs and can even make letters bounce up and down. Too much fun not to play with!

Even the public bathrooms have some interesting "art work".  The above left is the men's urinal.  It's a waterfall that you pee into.  While you pee into the waterfall though, you look into the hallway!  Don't worry, it's a one-way mirror so the people in the hall can't watch you pee, but still...kinda weird!  On the right are little screens in the mirrors (of both sex bathrooms).  Those screens have eyeballs that look at you--really creepy!

There you have it, one of the best, most comfortable, most fun hotels I've ever stayed at!  If you are ever in Louisville, KY, you have to check it out!

*Disclaimer* GE Appliances paid for my hotel stay as part of the GEMomsperience.  I was NOT asked to blog about 21C Museum Hotel by GE or by the hotel itself (in fact, 21C doesn't even have a clue I'm writing this post!).  All opinions are my own and are of my own will because I thought the hotel was so cool!

GEMomsperience Part 2--Fun Women, Fabulous Hats!

I had a blast with some amazing women at GE Appliances' GE Momsperience!  We met on Sunday evening over dirty martinis and derby hat making.


Yes, I said derby hat making!  Dee's Crafts (a professional Kentucky Derby hat maker) helped us make our own derby hats in preparation for our trip to Churchill Downs on Monday night.  Did you know a hat like mine can retail for well over $100?!


Crazy!!  (Above photo courtesy of Love Feast Table)

Anyway, like I said earlier, I met some amazing women!  Bloggers from all different niches were at the GE Momsperience, yet we all got along and found a ton of stuff in common!  Only in a group of bloggers can you talk face-to-face and be on Twitter/Facebook at the same time and no one thinks it's rude.  Only in a group of bloggers can you go around taking photos of all kind of weird things (including all the food you eat) and no one thinks you're crazy.  Only in a group of bloggers can you get so many pictures of yourself because everyone is willing to take photos for you!  Only in a group of bloggers can people ask you to take photos for them to be emailed later.  Only in a group of bloggers can you keep up with people who aren't in the same room with you via Twitter.


After a long, yet super fun day at the GE Monogram Experience Center, and some photo ops with the interactive artwork at the 21C Museum Hotel on Monday...

it was time to head to Churchill Downs (hats and all)!


I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see the actual track at Churchill Downs but it was fun anyway.


We ate some amazing food and sipped on Mint Juleps, interacted with some of GE Appliances various managers, and toured the museum.


What a great time to interact with some of the amazing women I met and bounce around ideas with the GE appliances managers!


(Calie from Broccoli Cupcake who's blog I won my trip from, and Kristen from High Heels and a Hammer with Chris Ann from Love Feast Table--my travel buddies.)
 


There you have it, fun women and fabulous hats!

To see the first post I wrote about the GE Momsperience, click HERE. To see a list of all the bloggers that went, click HERE or HERE (I'm too lazy to make my own list).

*Disclaimer* GE Appliances paid for all my expenses related to the GE Momsperience including the stuff to make my derby hat and the trip to Churchill Downs.  I was NOT asked to blog about it.  All opinions are my own and of my own will because I had so much fun! 

GEMomsperience Part 1

I didn't quite know what to expect when I found out I had won a trip to GE Appliances' first ever GE Momsperience from Calie at Broccoli Cupcake.  I kind of thought it was going to be one big sales pitch where we look at the newest GE Appliances, they tell us how great they are, and then GE asks us to blog about them.  Boy was I wrong!  The GE Momsperience went far beyond my expectations!  I had so much fun that I'm going to have to write three posts about the event!

First, and foremost,  GE Appliances brought us to their headquarters to learn from us.  The whole experience was personal, from our names on our lockers, to hand stenciled swag bags.



During our sessions learning about the appliances, we talked just as much, if not more, than they did!



Sure, they gave us small sales pitches about some awesome products (the Advantium oven *drool*) but they also valued our feedback.  I think they were a bit overwhelmed by how much info we gave them about online presence and advertising!



I think Shell from Things I Can't Say summed up my feelings about GE Appliances and the Momsperience pretty well. Please read her post!

Midway through the day of learning about GE Appliances at the GE Monogram Experience Center, we took a break to cook our lunch with top Chefs Joe Castro and Brian Logsdon!


(Did you know that Chef Joe Castro won over Chef Bobby Flay in the Food Network's show Throwdown?  That's HUGE!) I learned so much while cooking with the chefs and made an awesome meal at the same time! (Reminder to self: put it in the pan and LEAVE IT ALONE!)



While eating our fabulous, and most delicious lunch, the President and CEO of GE Appliances, James Campbell, along with the Mayor of Louisville, Greg Fischer, made a surprise visit!  I don't even think the people who put on our event knew they were coming!  I also don't think the CEO and Mayor were prepared for a bunch of women bloggers begging for photo opps!



Rumor has it that they enjoyed the "celebdom" though :)

After lunch, we enjoyed sharing our laundry secrets/confessions which we wrote out the night before over dirty martinis!



I have SO MUCH more to tell you about this AWESOME event from eclectic artwork and red penguins at the fabulous 21C Museum Hotel, to derby hats at Churchill Downs, to the awesome women I met!  Look for my next two posts coming up later this week!

Love Feast Table is doing a link-up of posts about the GE Momsperience event.  If you want to check out what other people have to say about it, check out their site!

*Disclaimer*  GE Appliances paid for ALL my expenses related to this event however I was NOT asked to write a post about it!  All opinions are strictly my own and of my own will because I truly thought the event was awesome!

Blog Love Spark & Style Event

I had a TON of fun this past Saturday at the Minnesota Blog Love Spark & Style Event!  It was my first Minnesota bloggers get together and I must say I was NOT disappointed!  Blog Love Spark & Style was lead by Kristin and Chris Ann of LoveFeast Table, hosted by Houndstooth Boutique, and sponsored by Therapon skin care.


There was great food and drinks, plenty of socializing, and fun music provided by The Real DJ Kane.


I meant to get a picture of DJ Kane but I completely spaced on it! If you know anything about clubbing or hip-hop music in the Twin Cities, you've heard of DJ Kane!
In addition to food, drinks, socializing and music, there was also a small fashion show featuring some local bloggers and spring fashions from Houndstooth...


...and makeup provided by Chanel reps from Bloomingdales at the MOA.


I FINALLY got to meet some gals I've been chatting with online...

Missy

Elle

 ...and meet some awesome new friends!

Samara, Kate, Darcie, Elle

Allison, Moriah, Jo (with little Harper)

Yes, this little precious thing totally stole the night!

She was so well behaved, I never heard her cry once, and she totally soaked up being passed around all the women!  She slept for brief periods but was wide awake for most of the event!


At the end of the Blog Love Spark & Style event we all got these awesome swag bags filled with fabulous stuff from the sponsors, local companies, and bloggers!

I really, seriously, had a GREAT time at Spark & Style!  It was a ton of fun getting to know bloggers of all genres, meeting people in real life, hanging out with real women.  I was actually shocked about how non-clicky, friendly, and welcoming everyone was.  As a new person to an event like this, it can be a bit intimidating.  After the first few minutes, I felt like I fit right in!  I can't wait to go to another Blog Love event or Minnesota bloggers get-together!