Share Your Trip With #Tripographer

I have been extremely lucky to travel every year with my family.  We make it a point to go somewhere even if its only for a one day staycation.  We have the best time.  Last year was the first year in six years we didn't plan a family trip because I was pregnant and wanted to take it easy.  I was bummed about it.  But life is funny, good and full of surprises and I got to attend The Niche Mommy Conference in New Orleans.  It has been my favorite solo trip so far.  I'm dying to go back with my husband - the people, the food, the history... I could not get enough.  I personally think that New Orleans is a fantastic location for blogger conferences.  Commit to "working" all day by sitting in sessions and get to the good eats & entertainment at night.  I didn't get to enjoy the city in daylight but what I did see at night was gorgeous.  Especially the lights, sweet smells and constant buzz of happy people at Cafe Du Monde.  My amigas and I really had an adventure and Tripographer is one of the best tools to memorialize and share a trip!  It is so easy to use and great for bloggers!  It is what we have been missing.  

Don't just take my word for it - check it out!

Tripographer is a new, fun and easy way to stylishly and dynamically share your trip, whether it was a much needed getaway, an unforgettable adventure, a family vacation or a business trip. Apply filters and edit your photos, create beautiful slideshows and build actual street-view tours and share them all on your favorite social networks!

This is a screenshot of my browser in create a slideshow mode.   It was raining when I arrived, I was on the same flight as my roomie, we met up with a few more friends at the airport and shared a taxi to the hotel.  

My favorite part about Tripographer is building a tour.  My tour shows an actual street-view tour of the different places I visited.  It starts from the airport and it is interesting seeing the route I traveled!  

Disclosure: This compensated post was written in partnership with Niche Mommy Network & Conference. All thoughts are my own.

Karen Walrond Inspired Me #culturefanclub

I'm slow when it comes to finding good blogs to read.  I'll admit that.  I had no idea who famous blogger Dooce was until I found a copy of It Sucked and Then I Cried at my local Goodwill last year.  Yep, thats how out of touch I am when it comes to bloggers.  I wish everyone would go back to sharing their favorite blogs that way I wouldn't have slept so long on Karen Walrond.  Her blog, chookooloonks.com is beautiful, inspiring and uplifting.  Thank goodness for hearing her speak on "How to be Extraordinary" at Niche Mommy '12 or I don't think I would have found her blog or followed her on Twitter.

Last month Karen opened up a form promising a postcard from her to the first 100 (or so) to sign up.  I made the cut and received my postcard last week!   Not only is the photo gorgeous but the quote and note from her is lovely.  I kept it in my purse all week and was genuinely inspired to do the same.  I wanted to do something!

We love snail mail - receiving it and sending it.  Inspired in part by Karen Walrond, a fan club I was involved in on a forum in the early 2000s and a mix of my own ideas, #culturefanclub was born because I am your fan!  I will be sending out photos, art, books, sweets, letters, postcards, anything!  It can be something little, maybe something big.  That is the beauty of me being your fan.  I would love to send everyone something but the reality is that there will be a total of 24 parcels going out.  2 for each month.  There are no strings attached - All I ask is that if you receive something from me, please let me know it arrived by tweeting or instagramming me @raisedbyculture and/or using the hashtag #culturefanclub

Sound good?  Fill out the #culturefanclub form!

I'm Attending #SoFabCon And Other Blogger Conferences...

There is an explosion of blogger conferences and I want to go to all of them!  Attending blogger conferences is addicting.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  My first blogger conference was BlogHer '11 in San Diego.  I went on a whim and had no idea what to expect.  It just made sense to go since it was in my state and I figured, if I didn't learn anything, it wouldn't be a big loss.  I walked away with some sense of what I wanted to do, what I needed to do to get there and I wanted to learn so much more.

I finally narrowed down the list of conferences I want to attend next year.  It was rough.  I made a list of pros and cons for each one - cost, location, dates, sessions, speakers, brands, parties and friends!  If you have your goals in mind, ask yourself these questions:  Are these sessions for me? (Especially if you are a beginner or advanced)  What do I need to learn?  Will this take me to the next level?  Do I like these brands?  Do I know who these speakers are?  Am I a people person?  Let's face it, you need to work a room.  Make friends with bloggers just like you.  Can you woo the socks off brands?  Make a list of questions that works for you.    

My advice:  You need to spend money to make money.  This is what I tell myself and my husband.  This not only goes for conferences but your brand.  This goes for investing in your own domain and business cards.  Every conference I've attended has been an investment and has definitely helped me grow.     

My Christmas gift was a trip to SoFabCon!  I knew I had to make it to this one but the flights are pricey but because the rooms aren't going to kill my bank account and the early-bird price was only $149, I made magic happen.  I can't wait!  I love working with Social Fabric.  I know I'm going to leave this conference with a notebook full of ideas and inspiration!  

Here is a list of cool conferences that I would love to attend - In order by date.  

alt Design Summit www.altitudesummit.com January 23-26 Salt Lake City

Blissdom blissdomconference.com March 21-23 Dallas

Hispanicize www.hispanicizeevent.com April 9-13 Miami

BBC Phoenix bbcphoenix2013.eventbrite.com April 12-13 Phoenix, AZ

SNAP snapconference.com April 18-20 Salt Lake City

Mom 2.0 Summit www.mom2summit.com May 2-4 Laguna Niguel, CA

Camp Blogaway www.campblogaway.com May 24-26 San Bernadino, CA

Elevate elevateblogconference.blogspot.com May 11 Huntington Beach, CA

evo evoconference.com (Unfortunately this conference has been cancelled)

Niche Mommy www.thenichemommy.com (Niche Mommy has been renamed to Niche Parent)
Niche Parent www.thenichemommy.com September 5-7 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 

Blogalicious conference.beblogalicious.com October 3-5 Atlanta, GA

What conferences are you attending this year?

Introducing Huggies Respuestas de Mamás at #NicheMommy12

I had the honor of being one of the Brand Ambassadors for Huggies at The Niche Mommy Conference.  Jeannette Torres-Alvarez, mother of two and child development expert was on hand to explain Huggies Respuestas de Mamás program to conference attendees in the Huggies® suite.  Respuestas de Mamás is a new forum called Mommy Answers—a special one-stop destination on the Huggies Latino Facebook page that puts top pregnancy and baby information at Mom’s fingertips.

Having four children, I am no stranger to Huggies.  It is our choice for diapers ever since I had my first child 15 years ago to my last child just 4 months ago.  There is a 6 year gap between my two youngest sons so I was impressed when I found out at the hospital that Huggies® Little Snugglers have an integrated moisture indicator, which changes color when wet.  My 6 year old loves yelling at me to change his brother's diaper every time he sees the blue line.  Talk about innovative!  Thank you Huggies for thinking of Mamas and babies with your high quality products and programs!  It shows you truly care!

Una encuesta reciente de Respuestas de Mamás de Huggies® descubrió que el 72% de las nuevas y futuras mamás hispanas en los Estados Unidos quisieran contar con una sola "fuente" para obtener toda la información que necesitan sobre sus bebés. Por eso pienso que las Respuestas de Mamá de Huggies® son perfectas para nuevas y futuras mamás: porque reúnen la mejor información de los sitios principales, como BabyCenter, en un espacio de acceso fácil en el que las mamás pueden interactuar con otras como ellas y presentar sus propias preguntas.

¿Vas a tener un bebé? ¿Y ahora qué? Huggies® ayuda a las nuevas mamás a conseguir respuestas a todas las preguntas relacionadas con su primer bebé, con Respuestas de Mamás de Huggies®: un exclusivo y único destino en la página de Huggies Latino en Facebook, que pone la información principal sobre bebés en la palma de la mano de toda mamá.

Las futuras mamás pueden visitar Facebook.com/HuggiesLatino para buscar las Respuestas de Mamás de Huggies®, donde encontrarán la información principal sobre el embarazo y el bebé de los sitios y recursos líderes en la crianza de los hijos.



¿Qué productos para recién nacidos ofrece Huggies?
Huggies® ofrece toda una variedad de productos enfocados en los recién nacidos. Los Pañales Little Snugglers de Huggies® proporcionan cuidado delicado para tu bebé con el sistema comprobado de protección Leak Lock®, una cómoda capa exterior transpirable y una capa interior acolchonada y flexible. Los Pañales Little Snugglers de Huggies® vienen con un indicador de humedad integrado, que cambia de color cuando están mojados, y un recorte para el área del cordón umbilical que protege el ombligo de tu pequeño hasta que sane. Las nuevas y mejoradas Toallitas Natural Care® de Huggies® ahora limpian mejor y son limpieza sensible y delicada para la piel naturalmente perfecta de tu bebé.



¿En qué tamaños están disponibles los Little Snugglers de Huggies®?
Los Pañales Little Snugglers de Huggies® vienen en tres tamaños diferentes: desde Recién Nacido (máx. de 10 lb) hasta Talla 2 (12 a 18 lb).







Disclosure:  I am a Niche Mommy scholarship recipient through Huggies and received Huggies diapers to review.  All thoughts are my own.   

Daddy Weekend

Hey Everybody, This is Xenia's Hubby, Chris.  About a month ago, she came to me with the biggest grin.  So I was like, "What's up babe?"  She told me that she had this big opportunity to go to a conference called Niche Mommy and was chosen to be a brand ambassador for Huggies.  I was happy for her because she seemed so excited to go.  The thing was the conference was going to be in New Orleans which meant she would be away from our six year old and four month old sons for a couple days.  Most often parents would jump at the thought of going on a vacation without their children but I can honestly say my wife & I are not those kind of parents.  We love doing stuff with our kids so I knew it was going to be hard for her to accept the fact she would have to be away from her babies for a couple of days.  So I assured her that the kids would be fine.  I told her that I would take some days off from work to watch them myself and she was much more relieved.  There are times when I tease her about her blogging but it makes me happy knowing that she is doing what she loves to do.

The time she was away in New Orleans, I really enjoyed the time I spent alone with my boys.  We watched movies together, played Legos with Duke, laid around with Omar reading him books, being silly and making him laugh.  We even went on a lunch date at Duke's favorite Japanese restaurant, Niko Niko.  It was kind of weird without Mommy being home and we were all missing her.  Duke would get so excited when she would call on Facetime.  The day she came home, Omar smiled so big, it was great.

It was fun having all that Daddy time with my boys but we were happy having Mommy come back home.

I'm Going To The Niche Mommy Conference! Thanks #HuggiesLatino

Let me tell you a story about how things just work out sometimes.  You just have to have a little faith.  

I had been itching to attend a blogging conference after all the fun and learning from last year's BlogHer.   I met many, lovely ladies that understand blogging.  I turned down many drinks at BlogHer because we were trying to conceive and I didn't know if I was with child yet.  I found out later that I was pregnant and I knew I had to count out all conferences for the next year.  BlogHer in New York was definitely out.  I couldn't handle being almost 3000 miles away from my 3 month old.  It just wasn't happening and I was kinda sad about it.

And then I applied for a sponsorship for The Niche Mommy Conference in New Orleans and was chosen!  You can't imagine how honored I am!  Excited is an understatement.  I am so grateful to The Niche Mommy Network and Huggies!  Thank you for choosing me and giving me this huge opportunity to learn and grow!

There are still passes available - This is a great opportunity for those of you that want to start blogging or advance your skills!

      

Huggies® is helping new Moms get all their first-time baby questions answered with Huggies Mommy Answers—a one-stop destination on the Huggies Latino Facebook page that compiles information from top baby sites, making it easy for Mom to get all the answers she needs as she starts the incredible journey of motherhood. 

At this year’s conference, child development and parenting expert Jeannette Torres-Alvarez will be greeting attendees in the Huggies® Mommy Answers suite and discussing all of your most pressing baby questions.

Disclosure: I didn't have to write this post but I wanted to.  I also want to hug each and every one who had a hand in the process.  All thoughts are my own.  As always.