To @BloggerBashNYC With Love! #sweetsuite14 #EAEvents - My Christmas in July!

How do you thank a blog conference that lets your inner child play not just for the two days of the conference but way afterwards? For introducing you to great brands and fun experiences? How about for winning an amazing raffle?

With a great recap post of course!

The Blogger Bash conference kicked off with Sweet Suite where hundreds of bloggers played with new toys, indulged in sweet treats and left with tons of swag! The conference was created by Laurie Schact (Toy Insider, the Big Toy Book), Joey Fortman (Real Mom Media), and Charlene DeLoach (Charlene Chronicles), the conference featured 10 themed parties over the course of two days.

We were serenaded by the Kidz Bop kids singing and were able to customize our own badges and unleash our creativity with Crayola right from the jump! Pretty cool right?

And as I LIVE for mascot shots, I was pretty stoked to be greeted by the one and only SNOOPY!

You can follow Snoopy via instagram and tag your peanuts pics with @Snoopygrams and #snoopy!

With the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie coming out soon (August 8th) and their faces splashed across a wide variety of School Supplies for Back-to-School, be prepared for the #TMNTMovie Madness!

Who was your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?

The Skylanders Trap Team had their own suite (I was lured in by the cupcakes!)

The Ultimate Adventure awaits as you explore Skylands in search of the escaped villains!

There was also a Rabbids Invasion!

And as a horror genre lover, I was super excited to find out that McFarlane Toys is launching a Building Block Set for The Walking Dead.

I can now own my very own The Walking Dead apocalypse, my work here is done folks!

Blip Toys won my heart with Hello Kitty Dance Time, I've been a fan of HK since I was a little girl!

They also have Olaf from Frozen:

and this one above even won them an industry award! Each doll comes with a stand and the hands and feet have suction cups attached to cling them to any smooth surface. They will dance to any song or sound, including your voice!

Above: I even got a great summer read, the glass kitchen signed for me by the Author Linda Francis Lee!

Above: Check out the cute Butterfly Print Tote by MZ Wallace! (Perfect for me!)

Above: Little Pim is the #1 Language Learning Program for Kids!

Above: MiP is the Balancing Robot, with GestureSense technology, ANY hand motion controls MiP!

Above: Also by the folks at WowWee are Elektrokidz which bring back memories of Troll dolls, except these dance to the beat of the music you are listening to!

I started riding horses at a very young age, I would have loved this equestrian playset when I was younger.

Above:  I did geek out a bit when I saw the Care Bears! Which is your favorite Care Bear Butterfly?

Above: If you like Scrabble and Upwords, you will love Bananagrams, plus it comes in cute banana packaging to store it!

Above: Johnny Rockets hosted a lunch, where there was a Ketchup Artist! See her creations below:

Above: So does that make it a 'Ketchup of Liberty'? LOL (Sorry, couldn't resist!) I am a big fan of the Patty Melt at Johnny Rockets!

Above: We even got to make our own Shakes!

Above: I have a funny feeling that LeapTV is going to be a popular Christmas Gift this year! With Body Motion your child is the controller! (and yes there's a Classic Controller also!)

Above: It was a Beados Beads Butterfly that drew me to this table!

Above: I know why the caged bird sings! LOL These birds can record your voice and play it back to you! These look just like the Parakeets I had when I was younger (and these are even better because there is NO poop to clean up!) And by the way they also have a Little Live Pets Butterfly House! (Guess who will be hearing from me about it!) Whether you opt for the Little Live Pets Bird Single Pack or the Butterfly House you can't go wrong!

Above: Sorry butterflies but screen shots of the game in action of Disney Infinity 2.0 were verbotten, but I can disclose that Marvel's The Avengers Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Venom, Nick Fury, Iron Fist, Nova, Star Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax and Groot are here and it's available for pre-order!

Above: You know just how much Ascending Butterfly loves all things with wings!

Above: Anything Christmas related always has my full attention and this display from Elf Magic caught my eye!

Above: The Elf Magic Elves are recognizable by the magic snowflake placed on their hearts by Santa. What Elfcapades will your Elf Magic Elves get into in YOUR home?

Above: Things with wings alert: Just Pretend Kids stopped me in my tracks with their supercute costumes, isn't this fairy princess costume adorable? And guess what?

Above: You don't have to be a kid to enjoy playing dress up! Left: That's ME Ascending Butterfly (in pink wearing a pink tutu no less!) and Right: My blogging buddy Laura from My 3 Ring Circus

Above: In the 'Why didn't I think of that?' category is Zipz, a premium single serve wine with the look of traditional stemware but 'Clean Wrapped' to keep each glass fresh!

The Elements Associates Social Suite also offered a wide variety of brands and experiences that were a bit more 'Lifestyle' based than they were toys so needless to say I spent the most time there!

We were the first to see the new Miii jewelry collection by Joseph Nogucci, each Miii helps to commemorate a milestone or memory and they are made from semiprecious stone beads. (I like the Buddha's!)

I also got to celebrate the 70th Birthday of Smokey Bear who posed for photos and shared birthday cake! Want to join in on wishing him a Happy Birthday? Sign Smokey's online card!

Above: So I got to experience the magic of 'green screen' first hand, here is a picture taken with my personal camera, and below is how it looked after the green screen magic:

Above: VOILA! Via the Magic of Green Screen, I'm chillaxing in the forest and my friend Smokey is whispering in my ear!

Above: My friends at COVERGIRL were offering Manicures and Makeup Touch-Ups! The look on my Makeup Artist's face when I told her I was already wearing my Ready Set Gorgeous Liquid Foundation (I'm #220) and COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara and Gloss was priceless! I've already featured it here so you know just how much I love the #instaGLAM Collection by COVERGIRL.

AutoTex Pink encouraged bloggers to help "Wipe Out Breast Cancer", for every purchase of AutoTex Pink Wiper Blades, a donation is made to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. You can get them in black with a pink ribbon or in pink. 'Pink' your car for the cause butterflies! You can purchase them HERE!

We also got to take home Washdrops, a green car wash solution, it's quick, easy and environmentally responsible, what's NOT to love? + No hose or rinse required to get a beautiful shine. Now all I need is the beamer......

Above: Major "After Party" Props go out to the team who organized "The Angry Birds After Party" - there was food - think actual hotdog stand with never-ending hot dogs, Tacos, hair be-dazzling, sweets and treats and of course 'signature cocktails'. Because after a day of play, grown folks, need 'Grown Drinks'!!!

Above: Angry Birds Stella will debut Fall 2014!

Above: Signature Cocktails included: "The Hella Stella" - a citrusy cosmo with Clementine Vodka, Triple Sec, Cranberry and Fresh Lime Juice, "The Willowrita" - with Silver Tequila, blue curacao, fresh lime juice, sour mix and splash of OJ (this one was my fave, but I am a Tequila Lover, so no surprise!), and last but not least, "The Holy Gail" - Join the dark side with a refreshing mix of blueberry vodka, raspberry liqueur and lemonade.

Above: On the last night of the conference, I passed a jar filled with candy, instead of just collecting our business cards, we were asked to fill out a paper with our cell phone numbers and our best guess as to how many starbursts candies were in the jar. I ventured a guess. And I as I milled about and saw kids actually standing there to count I honestly thought I had no chance of winning. So imagine my surprise when I got a text telling me my guess was the closest to the actual number of starbursts in the jar! I WON!!! I got this beautiful Jansport Backpack filled with a Kindle Fire HD and a cover for the HD as well as AT&T Unite for GoPhone by NETGEAR. I am honestly still pinching myself! I will post a review of the service once I have fully tested it out, but I love having my own Mobile WiFi as I don't trust public WiFi and I feel way more secure having my own!

Above: It was difficult to get all the amazing items included in our post conference 'big box of awesome'. Instead of having to lug our swag haul home, it was mailed directly to us! Notice the Butterfly Wand in the middle? However did Just Pretend Kids know? I love that our days of allowing our inner child to roam free doesn't have to come to an end!

My Take:

Sweet Suite was such a fun way to connect with so many amazing brands in a casual environment that allowed for conversation and great 'hands on' experience with fun products. It was fun seeing products that aren't even out on the market yet, and I have to admit it was a bit like Christmas in July come to life.

I can't even venture to pick a favorite experience, there was literally that much to choose from. I am sure I will find something I missed and if I do, I'll include it an upcoming Wordless Wednesday.

I still can't believe I won such an amazing raffle too!

Which of these brands would you most like to connect with? Which toy is your or your little ones favorite?

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FTC Disclosure: While my conference ticket was sponsored, all opinions expressed are 100% my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

First I got Wet, then Tickled! Not dirty or anything, just some @ConeyIslandFun #ConeyFamilyFun #AmusementPark

While the title might imply something naughty, I promise it was all good, clean, fun! Luna Park Amusement Park at Coney Island hosted a day for bloggers to hit the Park with their families and indulge in a little adrenaline boosting fun on the rides and then enjoy great eats courtesy of Applebees! (I miss their old commercial tagline - 'Eating Good in the Neighborhood'.)

So instead of being that annoying friend that whips out a photo album of a billion pictures, I thought I'd share the fun with you all via slideshow, same great pics, faster way to view them!

.

My Take:

Coney Island is one of my fondest memories of childhood and I have to admit I am thrilled that they host a day for bloggers at Luna Park in Coney Island annually to experience the park and get an inside scoop on all the fun things going on. I am also a beach person, so the fact that the park is located centrally to the water is just another all around plus for me! I'm not a mom, but riding Amusement Park rides for the day certainly brings out the little kid in me! And works up an appetite so enjoying some time at Applebees and trying out the new Take Two Menu was a great end to a perfect summer day!

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FTC Disclosure: This recap post is NOT sponsored, however I attended the park as a guest of the Alliance for Coney Island. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

{#WordlessWednesday} #TrendyTravel with @miraclesuitswim Edition! #Photos

Earlier in the season I got to attend an event focused on Trendy Travel where I had the pleasure to meet the team from Miraclesuit Swimsuits. I was also lucky enough to win their raffle that night, and I wanted to share a photo of one of my wins, what better day than Wordless Wednesday right?

I couldn't resist hamming it up with the Big Tiki Tongue! I am wearing the Miracle Suit Swimsuit I won during the Trendy Travel Event in New York City while at The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City!

This Sassy Butterfly would make a great bartender, don't you think?

A pool that looks out onto the Ocean Below? Yes, Please! A chair, a good book and some sun is just what the doctor ordered! My Miracle Suit held me in and offered great support, totally enhanced my curves! And be aware butterflies, the next pictures you see of me will be with my new super short hair! My long trademark high ponytail? GONE!

Did you rock a Two Piece or a Bikini this Summer Butterfly? Tag us so we can see your fun in the sun photos! Have you ever tried a MiracleSuit Swimsuit?

Bloggers you can comment on this post with a link to your Wordless Wednesday Photos and we will visit yours too! Just no giveaway links please!

Happy Wordless (or as in my case Not So Wordless) Wednesday!

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post. I won a raffle at an event and received a MiracleSuit Swimsuit as my prize, I am under no obligation to share about this product, I just really think this swimsuit ROCKS my curvy gal socks off and I wanted to share it with you!

{Op-Ed} An Open Letter to #NewYorkCity - Just say NO to "The Poor Door" #oped #poordoor

I am not a visitor, a lurker, a stalker, a dreamer or 'NYC Wannabee' I was born here. I was raised here. I have worked hard my entire life here. 

Forging a life in this City is not an easy task.  This city isn't all endless cocktail parties.

It takes a lot of hard work and quite frankly cojones to make it here. No one hands you anything, there is a reason the song lyrics say 'If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you New York, NEW YORK'.

I sat on this Op-Ed for days, hoping that when my fingers met my keyboard somewhere amid my furious typing that my emotions would level off a bit, that I could approach this from a place of neutrality and tap into my News Writing Background, but I am still as emotional right now as I was when a status update from a wide variety of my friends hit my feed with a link to a Huffington Post article entitled "Luxury New York Condo Will Have A 'Poor Door' For Lower-Income Residents." The link I provided to it will open in a new window for you, please read it. Then come back here and tell me how it made YOU feel.

A 33-story building now under construction at 40 Riverside Boulevard on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City will contain 219 luxury units facing the Hudson River, there will also be a segment on floors two through six that will contain 55 street-facing units for the building's 'poorer' residents. The 'poor' residents will have their own entrance. These 'affordable' units are being made available to families of four whose annual income is $51,540 or less - which amounts to 60% of the area's median income. The lower-income residents will not only have to go through a 'poor door' to get in and out of the building, they will also be prohibited from using the amenities found in most properties by the New York-based developer Extell like the gym and swimming pool. The Developers will receive millions in tax breaks and hard working New Yorkers deemed by them as 'poor' will be stigmatized as they enter and exit their own place of residence each and every single day. Demoralizing much?

We all opted to tweet Mayor Bill Di Blasio (who may have still been on his vacation to Italy at the time) and I am sure none of us will get a direct response, but that tweet I sent just didn't feel like it was enough. This doesn't sit right with me on any level.

I spent time post College doing Public Relations for my local district's City Councilman and all throughout my School Years and while working with him I was constantly told I should pursue a career in Politics, and I scoffed at the idea, until now.

The Huff Post article has left me with a knot in my stomach that has been churning for days, and while part of me wants to break up with this City, another part of me questions if it's time for me to make change in a way that really matters, from the inside out.

The New York Times noted in May that minorities and the elderly largely make up the city's rent-regulated population, but by far the best quote I've read so far on the issue comes from Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal who said:

"A mandatory affordable housing plan is not license to segregate lower-income tenants from those who are well-off."

Haven't we battled hard enough to end segregation in America? Is history really doomed to repeat itself because we never learn from our mistakes?

I don't want to be part of a system where it's OK for some to hold their head high and others be made to feel like they should drop theirs in shame.

You know what families may end up qualifying for the 'poor apartments' those of teachers, doctors, fire fighters, sanitation workers - you know just the folks who keep this city running, IN the actual trenches. You mean to tell me the local teacher and his/her family should enter from a separate door? That a Police Officer who puts his/her life on the line each and every single day should come home from a hard day's work keeping this city safe and enter through a 'Separate Door'?

What about that hard working young College Grad working at a Not-For-Profit? Should they feel 'shamed' when they come home too?

Butterflies I am always super careful to use this space as a place to inspire. I try to keep Religion, Sex and Politics off these pages, as my goal was to always keep my online home rant and snark free, but I can't pretend this doesn't hit me where it hurts. As a New Yorker I find this shameful. I know that the city where dreams are made of has always had a rough 'underbelly' and I never want to cover the sky with one hand, but I can only hope that everyone apartment hunting sees the Huff Post article or this one, and that even if they can afford the apartments there, that they will put their money where their mouth and conscious is, and NOT buy an apartment in ANY building with a "Poor Door".

As a lifelong New Yorker, there is one and only one 'separate entrance/exit' I find acceptable. The one at the theatre that allows actors to quickly exit after a play. When that play ends they are off the clock. Some days they may stop and sign playbills, other nights just like us they need to get home to family obligations or just de-stress. That is the only 'separate' door I can find acceptable in this day and age.

Since Sundays is usually the day I reserve to share my Weekly Moment of Gratitude, all I can say for today is that I am grateful not to live in a building with a "Poor Door".

I found AND SIGNED an online petition that is intended directly for Gary Barnett, President of Extell Development Company who is building the Apartment Building at 40 Riverside Boulevard, I hope you will considering signing it! I want this to remain a City that rewards you for your hardwork, but can't it do so without shaming anyone? NYC median rents continue to skyrocket, the average right now is at $3,247 per MONTH, longtime residents are being pushed out of the City, so in essence most of us can work here, just not afford to continue to live here.

What do you think of the "Poor Door"?

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FTC Disclosure: I would assume it goes without saying for this one, but this is NOT a Sponsored Post!

{Summer Read} Photo Highlights from the @WendyWilliams #HoldMeInContempt #Book Signing #burlingtonootd

I got several of my summer reads early this year, but haven't had a chance to start on them yet, yes it's been THAT busy. But with the debut of the trailer today of 50 Shades of Grey (which I also haven't read by the way) it made me realize that those hazy days of summer will soon come to an end, and me and this book still haven't had our much needed 'me' time.

About the Book:

Move over 50 Shades, there’s a new romance in town. Television Personality and Author Wendy Williams brings on the heat in her first ever, no-holds-barred, down and dirty, romance novel.

Kimberly Kind is trying to get beyond her roots. A successful, beautiful, smart lawyer, she’s finally finding direction in her life and getting out of the streets. But a terrible accident threatens to throw her carefully laid plans off course. Now Kim’s hiding a huge secret… one that could threaten everything.

Enter King. A perfect mix of Justin Timberlake and David Beckham, the man oozes sex and has more swagger than anyone Kim’s ever met. Their chemistry is off the charts. But after passion-filled nights, the intensity of their emotions takes both of them by surprise.

Love was not supposed to be an option. Now it’s the only thing holding them together. When their pasts come back with a vengeance, can love possibly be enough?

Photo Higlights from The Book Signing:

Event Sponsor Burlington offered 2 signature cocktails

Two Signature Cocktails were in effect:

Burlington Blush: Russian Standard, Aperol and Fresh Grapefruit

Sparkling Style: Prosecco, Elderflower and Cranberries - With my love of all things Sparkling when it comes to Wine, guess which one I chose?

Left:  Denise Albert Center: Author/TV Personality Wendy Williams Right: Melissa Musen Gerstein 

This particular Mamarazzi event was held at Hudson Bond in New York City and sponsored by Burlington.

It was great getting another book signed by Wendy, I was also able to catch her book signing last year for her book, Ask Wendy, in case you missed that recap, press HERE.

My Take:

I haven't had a chance to read this one yet, so this book and me and the sand have a beach date coming soon! In the meantime, no spoilers please from those who have already read it!

Do you enjoy Romance Novels Butterflies?

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a compensated post, no compensation has been received to share our event recap coverage, all opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.