{inspired} 17 Things I Learned at Haven

If you follow me on twitter or instagram (@jennmccormick), you may have noticed that I spent most of last week in Atlanta at the Haven Conference. Friends, it was such an amazing conference and I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to go. For those of you who haven't heard of it, Haven is a conference for home bloggers. This was the first year, but the response was so fantastic and I'd be very surprised if it wasn't back next year in an even bigger and better capacity. 

The Haven "living room"

I'm still digesting all the information. Honestly, I'll probably still be digesting in a month. There was so much good stuff and so many a-ha moments. The bloggers who led sessions were amazingly open and honest about what has worked for them and what hasn't. In an attempt to organize my thoughts I've made a list of things I learned at Haven. Hopefully you can glean some a-ha moments from the list as well.

1. Atlanta is HOT. Yeah, I haven't spent a lot of time in the south ;).

2. John and Sherry (above) from Young House Love are incredibly funny.

3. I don't need to have a super huge blog to think about advertising and work with brands. This was a lightbulb moment. I have a tendency to get really caught up in the numbers.

4. Tripod. Need to get one asap.

5. The four s's of styling, according to Layla: skooch it, scorch it, swap it and stamp it.

6. SEO is a complicated and crazy thing: use keywords, especially in headlines, section headers and in the first 150 words of text.

7. A blog header's size should be no bigger than 1000 pixels by 250 pixels.

8. Firebug is a Firefox extension that let's you view code on other people's websites. Brilliant.

Josh and Kevin from Shoot Fly Shoot teaching us about taking killer photos. See the slide?? ;)

9. When your shutter speed is above 60, the camera can be handheld. Under 60, and it should be on a tripod.

10. Steps for taking manual photos: set ISO and forget about it. Set aperature and forget about it. Adjust shutter speed to make image brighter or darkers.

11. Ashley (above) from Design Build Love was my roommate and is awesome! Seriously friends, go check out her blog :).

12. When layering a few different patterned fabrics in a room, repeat the fabrics: ottoman + a pillow or drapes + a pillow, etc. This helps it look cohesive.

13. Find 5-7 words that describe how you want a room to feel, to look and the purpose it serves. Be specific and honest.

14. Everyone has a "don't buy" word. Find yours and stick to it. For example, cute, pretty, good deal, etc. I had never thought about this, but it's SO TRUE!

15. Sarah, Beth, Chris, Rhoda, Kate, Marian, (pictured in order) Traci and Kristi are wonderful party planners and hosts.

16. There is an amazingly large amount of creativity and talent in the blog-o-sphere.

17. The Haven sponsors were incredibly generous, and I came home with everything from Annie Sloan chalk paint to a feather duster :). 

You'll hear more about Haven over the next few months as I implement the million + one ideas I have from attending. But in the meantime, if you have any questions about any of the 17 points, or would like me to expand on one, just let me know.

{create} a blogger summer social

Kirsten and I hosted a Portland blogger summer social on Wednesday and I thought I'd share some photos!

Friends, I wish you all could've been there because the night was so much fun. Sixteen lovely local bloggers gathered at Seek the Unique, a fantastic store that features antiques, diy, reusing and refurbishing old furniture. The owner Andrea was not only gracious enough to let us host our event there, but she let us use anything we needed for the night! It was incredibly fun to "shop" the store for props :).

While Kirsten gathered up beautiful flowers, created menus and place cards (see below), I worked on sewing napkins and table runners.

We ate at a 16-foot farm table that was oozing with charm, and made all of our decor look that much more amazing. I want it for my house. Even though there's no way it would fit in my house - even if we had no walls! :)

The food was a work of art - seriously - created by Jamie of The Lamb's Table. Beautiful and so insanely delicious. I wish I'd taken more photos of the actual dinner -- I was way too busy eating and chatting though!

It's easy to tell by looking at the end-of-the-night table that a good time was had by all! 

Next week I'll be back with a quick profile of all the attendees. There was some serious talent in that room and I'd like to introduce you to them!

Until then, I hope you all have a great weekend! :)