Is it okay to post about something that happened over a month and half ago?! I sure hope so because I just realized that we never finished blogging about our Vegas trip.
For those of you who went to Vegas; consider this a trip down memory lane. If you didn't get to go to Vegas, you might already be sick of seeing/hearing about Vegas… in that case, I apologize. :)
This picture was taken shortly after I {Natalie} got off my plane. I was greeted by some of the cutest teacher bloggers I know: Kelley, Rachelle, (Me), Amanda, Erica, Stephanie, Deedee, Cheryl, Tanya, Katie, and Hope! First thing we did: headed to lunch at the yummy Grand Luxe Cafe.
That night was the amazing Teacher Blogger Meet Up. You can read more about that here!
The next day, while all our friends were presenting or in conferences, a few of us (Erica, Hope, Michelle, Me, and Amy) headed to Ceasar's Palace for some lunch at Planet Hollywood.
After lunch, we quickly made our way back to our hotel for a special surprise. A few of us wanted to surprise Rachelle with a "What Would Rachelle Do?" (#wwrd) workout tank. It was in honor of her weight loss journey and the fact that she has inspired so many people to be healthier and make better food choices! I think she was pretty surprised and it's safe to say she loved it!
P.S. Thanks to Deedee for organizing and ordering the tanks! (If you would like your own Rachelle inspired "Teachers and Barbells" tank, you can order from Ruffles with Love's online shop! (Can you spot Deanna Jump, Kim Adsit, and Cara Carroll in the picture above?
Of course we had to go back to our hotel room for a little photo shoot! ;)
That night we (Holly, Amy, Hope, Michelle, Lindsey, Amanda, Elizabeth, Erica, and I) ate at the famous Serendipity's! (Yes, I tried the frozen hot chocolate, and yes, it was pretty amazing!)
The next morning was the AMAZING TeachersPayTeachers first ever conference!!!
The whole day was fabulous! It was so fun meeting new friends, putting faces with other teacher bloggers, learning more about the business side of TPT, and sharing the love we all have of TeachersPayTeachers.com!
I think the highlight of the whole trip, for Rachelle, was meeting the infamous Paul Edelman, founder of TeachersPayTeachers! His keynote address that morning was inspirational and very powerful. We are very grateful to this man for his *little* idea of creating an online place for teachers to share their ideas and resources online while being able to earn some extra income for their families. He is such a humble and down-to-earth guy and it was an honor to meet him in person!
Here are just a few pictures from the Happy Hour that took place after the conference. Rachelle had a fun time mingling with everyone, while I got to be the special photographer for an upcoming TPT project. While I am sad I missed out on some of the Happy Hour activities and getting to know new people, I had a fun time meeting the people who came to get their photos taken! (Did I ever mention that I was 27 weeks pregnant at the conference? Take a look at my belly in the picture in the bottom right.)
The next two pictures are too good not to post on the blog!
We were trying to get a group shot against the white backdrop and professional lights. I snapped this photo just trying to test the lighting and it could not be any more perfect! The expressions in this picture are absolutely priceless!
And here is the final shot! I sure love each of these girls so much!
This picture turned out to be the best picture of the whole trip! What could be better than a bunch of teacher bloggers laying in a circle WITH the founder of TPT?!
The last picture I have to share is this cute one of all our roommates! (Technically only 6 of us stayed in the same room, but we were all together the whole time anyways.)
Amazing friends + fun meet ups + good food + inspiring conferences… it's the recipe for an incredible vacation!!
I am honestly already excited about our Vegas trip next year!