This past Saturday I spent the day at the 2nd annual Socal Social, right here in Orange County. This event is a fun gathering of Southern California bloggers organized by Bev at Flamingo Toes and Vivienne at The V Spot. What a blast! We got to shop, eat, get free stuff, meet Mark Montano from HGTV, and best of all, make new friends!
The day began with a ‘swag walk’ through the Old Town Orange, a historic area filled with fabulous antique shops, vintage clothing stores, and great restaurants! Each store on our ‘route’ gave us a little bit of ‘swag’, or a goodie-bag!
I was loving all of the refinished furniture….
…and the amazing vintage accessories…
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| That is a a wood block painted to look like dice! |
There are a handful of quaint vintage clothing shops
stocked with unique wardrobe pieces.
We were welcomed by every store with warmth and hospitality!
One of our stops, Paris in a Cup, greeted us with a delicious chicken salad sandwich, a macaroon, and a tangerine (cause we were in Orange, get it?), what a lovely treat!
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| Paris In a Cup |
I was blessed to have made so many new friends! When you spend your days making friends online (as we bloggers do), it’s refreshing to actually ‘meet’ people, like–in person. I spent most of the day with Monika from Life With Lovebugs, Vanessa from New Nest Designs, Joni from Pop Art Minis, and was so happy to finally meet my bloggy friends Tara from A Spectacled Owl, and Dinah DIY Inspired.
The day wound down at Avila’s Mexican Restaurant for a delicious dinner and dessert. After all that walking, it was well deserved!
Our guest speaker, Mark Montano from HGTV participated in the entire day’s event! He introduced us to his latest book The Big Ass Book of Bling, and even signed copies for us! What a great book it is too, I’m sure I’ll be copy-catting some of his ideas soon!
There were tons of fabulous giveaways and an amazing swag bag full of everything a crafty minded gal could ever dream of. Let’s just say even though I didn’t win any of the giveaways, and despite the all-day drizzle that wrecked havoc on my hair, I walked out of there a very happy crafter!
Vivienne and Beverly did an spectacular job in organizing this fabulous event, it was so much fun, can’t wait for next year!
If you have a chance to attend a local meet up like the Socal Social, I highly suggest you go, you will LOVE it!
Tara says
Hello Fellow Night Owl! You knew I was going to comment first, right? I am so glad I finally got to meet you. Loved all the pictures you took! Now, have you started spray painting anything yet? :)
Pamela Henderson says
Wow what a wonderful event, looks like you had a great time! Thanks so much for sharing!
Beverly {Flamingo Toes} says
I’m so glad you had fun Barbara!! It was so great to meet you.
I love all your photos – those refinished furniture pieces are amazing!
I hope you can join us again next year!
Vivienne @ the V Spot says
You got some fantastic photos! So glad that you joined us and that you had fun!
Joni Nickrent says
Great wrap up! Awesome pix! Was nice meeting you and look forward to reading your creatively fun blog!
Simone Iantorno says
As a fellow OC Blogger, i m so sad i missed this event! gotta get hooked in for the next time around! Its nice to see other OC bloggers!
-Simone