A couple months ago I made a vow to do more for ME this year. Don’t get me wrong I love my job (almost too much), but it is a very selfless job. You give every part of yourself to it. Your time, your location (aka you live out of a suitcase), your energy, basically your entire life. Which is fine, I sold my soul to the road a long time ago. But it’s time to be the gal attending the conference not just working the conference too.

Which brings me to Create + Cultivate. I stumbled upon this conference because I noticed a couple of my favorite bloggers were going to be speaking at it. January is a crazy month in my industry, so I figured it would be impossible to be able to attend. Low and behold, the exact days I had free fell on this weekend. Is that fate or what? I bought my ticket, changed my flight to head to Dallas, and bought a new dress. Life is fun sometimes.

My overall impression of the conference? It was definitely a motivational/inspirational day. While I did not walk away with a lot of new tangible knowledge, there is something to be said about being around like-minded women for 12 hours who want to make something of their online presence. The women I met were incredible! And being able to hear some of the most influential women of today speak about how they have built their empire was truly inspiring. You should sign up for this conference purely for the high you get off of hearing these boss ladies speak.

So let’s get a breakdown on what happened at Create + Cultivate Dallas.

Words of Wisdom

• “Don’t post what you don’t like, and you’ll be able to build a style for yourself.” – Sophia Macks of Beyond the Mag @beyondthemag
• “Sell on your passions, not your technical skills.” – Tina Craig of The Bag Snob @bagsnob
• 3-Point Collaboration Check by Camille Styles @camillestyles:
  1. Are our values aligned?
  2. Can we work with this brand to tell a good story?
  3. Will we have editorial control?
• “Say yes and figure it out.” – Hillary Kerr of Who What Wear @hillarykerr @whowhatwear

Also basically anything Julia Engel @juliahengel, Lauryn Evarts @theskinnyconfidential , and Emily Schuman @emilyschuman said because they are major boss lady inspirations.

Food & Beverage

Sakara Life: New favorite travel snacks! This brand speaks to me. Healthy, CLEAN, food with good ingredients that are packaged beautifully and great for travel and taste amazing. I had the Watermelon Jerky and Plant Protein Granola at C+C, but I loved it all so much I ordered their bar set which I will definitely be doing a blog post on! I was slightly bummed that all of our meals were not Sakara Life because their prepared food delivery meals look AMAZING.

Suja Juice: Fellow San Diegan Annie Lawless spoke at the conference but also had the Suja juice flowing all day long. I loved starting my day with the Lemon Love and having a mid-afternoon snack of Glow.

Austin Cocktails: Loved seeing Austin Cocktails here which is always one of my faves! I enjoyed the Bergamot Orange Margarita & Fred’s Ruby Red Cocktail.

Mulderbosch Rose: Rose on a hot Texas day in January… yes please.

Cultivate Pinot Noir: Didn’t get to try this, but I heard great things!

Hermanos Coffee: Simply wonderful coffee all day long complete with almond milk and stevia on the side, so I was clearly a happy gal.

Sprinkles Cupcakes: So I recently found out that I have a dairy sensitivity, and I totally broke my dairy-free month-long streak for a Sprinkles cookie. I was in so much pain afterwards but it was SO worth it. Salted oatmeal deliciousness. And the mini cupcakes were adorable as always!

Joy Macarons: Local Dallas macaron shop in fun flavors like Honey & Lavender and Rose & Lychee.

So many great snacks were at C+C including Beanitos, mini Luna Protein bars, Peeled dried fruit, Pasta Chips, Plentils, and more.

 

Pretty Spaces

Being in the events industry, I was geeking out over the decor. By far the prettiest conference I have ever been to. Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic Couture provided the decor which made for some pretty awesome places to hang out during C+C. Buy some of these items and more here.

Also, I am not sure who the events design team is for Create + Cultivate, but I want to work for them. Seriously. Hire me for the next C+C.

Some Fun Stuff

The Beauty Lounge: Fromm Beauty hair styling (I won this hair dryer!)with Matrix products and makeup touch-ups plus Jergens products to keep your skin hydrated

Photo Booth: Have a memory to keep forever with your new blogger friends

Pop-up Shops: Fossil, Bar III, Framebridge, Lou & Grey

SWAG BAG: I wish I could list everything that was in the swag bag but the list is WAY too long! Instead I will let you check out the picture above and scope all of the amazing products. They may have made my luggage overweight for the next 20 days of travel I had, but it is SO worth it.

Image via @CreateCultivate

Things I May Do Differently Next Time

• Be Well Rested: This was slightly out of my control this time around because I was coming straight from an intense program in Vegas, but I think it would have made a big difference. I did not utilize my time as well and meet as many people as I would have liked to because I honestly just did not have the energy. Next time I will try to have a buffer day in between working/traveling and the conference.
• VIP: Still trying to decide if VIP would be worth it, but it might be fun to try next time. The swag bags looked crazy cool, you had a separate VIP lounge, got to pick your track, and had some free drinks all day.

---

Overall a wonderful experience. Check out more pictures on their Facebook page. Can’t wait to see where the next one will be!

Safe travels y’all!

Best,