Arkansas Women Bloggers will gather, grow, and connect during the The Pioneer Woman’s book signing in Rogers, AR, November 16 (#reeinrogers). And, we will meet up the night before for a little fun!
Everyone that knows me, The Park Wife, knows that I love me some Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. We are old Internets friends from way back in the dark ages of blogging. She is genuine, kind, and is always there to help the bloggy world, she is the real deal sistahs. I am so glad that someone like her has had the success she has had, she has worked hard and deserves it.
I went to her cookbook signing in November 2009, stood in line for four hours, met some great women who I am still friends with today.
As The Pioneer Woman heads to Rogers, AR for the signing of her Holiday Cookbook on November 16, I hope many of you Arkansas Women Blogger gals will be there to welcome her and get some of her books signed. Great Christmas presents!
Here’s the Info:
The Arkansas Women Bloggers will hold a Meet-up beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 15 at the Embassy Suites in Rogers, AR. Come hang out for as long as you can. If you are traveling in for this (like my friend Heather and I) Embassy Suites is offering $89 Pioneer Woman Weekend rate, go make a reservation now!
Then, on Saturday, November 16, we will all meet at 10:15 a.m. at the Walmart at 4208 Pleasant Crossing Blvd to stand in line together, visit, and wait to see REE!!!!!!
Please RSVP on the Facebook event invite if you will be able to join us on Friday evening as we need a headcount.
See you in Rogers!
The Park Wife
BTW-we will use the hashtag #reeinrogers, so use it and follow along!
Eilleen Jennings and Jacquelin Wolven are hilarious and I want to sit with them whenever I get a chance because I’m always so flipping intense and I need women like them in my life to help me lighten up!
Angie Albright has a delightful laugh that I could listen to all the time
Terra is super creative and sweet, and I could take her home, squeeze her, pet her, and call her George.
Sarah Daigle is smart in a way that I aspire to be (coding rocks)
everybody should have at least one good wig, thank you Kelly Jo
Debbie is fantastic. Cheerful, supportive, on the mission. I love her!
Stephanie McCratic has a famous picture taking pose and I need to master this
I need a tutu and a tractor, because that’s the kind of girl I am, thank you Ashley
I definitely live in the land of deep fried meat. I don’t think I ever heard so many praises on behalf of bacon. We even saw pictures of stalagtites and stalagmites caused by excessive meat cooking, and these were taken by Janeal, a meat science Ph.D. Nope, not even kidding.
Bloggers are, for the most part Introverts. Throw them all together for a weekend at camp and you get a 100 women who will hang out for a little while, but just can’t wait to get back to their own head space.
I want to be able to speak as easily and comfortably as Boomama. She made us all feel like we were together like family.
There are real live women making money as writers and mothers, and doing it well. Robin’s Chicks, Boomama, and Tricia Goyer are amazing. I’m inspired.
Jodi Dilday exudes confidence and beauty. She makes me want to stand up straight.
Donnie Ferneau may bake absolutely everything at 500 degrees (raw foodists like myself try not to let our food get up above 119 degrees) and call it cooking like a chef, but he definitely is singing my song with the fresh local foods and his lack of tolerance for grown up Mac N Cheese. Amen.
It’s very difficult to talk about healthy eating when we all have such emotional attachments to our food. GastroMom is not very popular among beef farmers, but her data is staggering. Sheer information. I have challenges ahead of me if I’m going to blog about Raw Food Health in the land of Deep Fried Meat.
Stephanie Buckley is a woman of vision to be able to put this event together, harnessing the power of such amazing, creative, beautiful, funny, and powerful women.
Travel blogging is an option. Don’t know why I didn’t think about that before. Thanks to Ally for that insight.
Looking forward to all that I have to learn about blogging. Thank you for the introduction #awbu
Wendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and Educator, a Licensed Massage Therapist for 20 years, and a gardener. She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health. You can find her at www.itouchpeople.wordpress.com
When I registered for Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged (#AWBU) this year, I registered for Foodie Friday as well. Last year I arrived at the end of the Foodie Friday Challenge and witnessed how much fun it was.
I don’t consider myself an amazing cook because I keep my meals simple. If I’m not preparing my meal in a blender, I’m keeping the number of ingredients to about 3 to 5. So when Amanda Brown asked me to be a table leader for this year’s #AWBU Foodie Friday Challenge, I agreed and considered that they might be desperate for help!
The team leaders were provided guidelines a few days before the big event, and I knew then the Foodie Friday coordinators had made a mistake in asking me to lead a team.
We had a maximum of 45 minutes to prepare and present for judging one appetizer that could serve 15-20. Each team was given an “In-Basket” of items from which we had to use at least one ingredient, Presentation items which we were to share with other teams, and Pantry items which were first come, first served. Team Leaders were also told just a few days before the conference that we could bring ONE secret ingredient. I chose to bring miso.
I created these easy to read boards for my newly formed team to visualize the ingredients, guidelines and discuss our options.
Ceri was nominated as our kitchen runner and Lenora served as our pantry runner. Talya and Samantha were the bosses of the prep table. These women are amazing. They orchestrated and created an incredible winning appetizer, Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Dates with an Orange Marmalade Miso/Soy Sauce.
Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Dates with an Orange Marmalade Miso/Soy Sauce
Ingredients
1 bag of whole pitted dates
1/4 package of feta or goat cheese
1 bag of whole almonds
Petit Jean Meats bacon slices, quartered
toothpicks
Sauce
1 jar of orange marmalade
1 tbsp. miso
3 tbsp. water
1/4 cup soy sauce
Preheat oven to 500º F.
Split dates down the center lengthwise. Place one almond inside each date, add a pinch of feta or goat cheese, wrap in 1/4 slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Repeat until all dates are filled and wrapped.
Place on baking sheet. Bake until bacon is cooked (about 10-15 minutes). (In the case of the Foodie Friday Challenge we did not have access to the oven so we pan seared the bacon until it was cooked.)
Sauce
Blend miso into three tablespoons of hot water and dissolve. In a sauce pan, add 1 jar of orange marmalade, dissolved miso and water, 1/4 cup soy sauce. Stir and simmer for simmer 20 minutes. (or microwave for 30 seconds, as Ceri prepared it in our case).
Thank you, Debbie Arnold,Julie Kohl,Amanda Brown and Gina Knuppenburg for coordinating a very informative Foodie Friday and an incredibly fun Foodie Friday Challenge. And thank you, esteemed judges: Mimi SanPedro, Joel DiPippa, Daniel Walker, Kevin Shalin, Alice Stewart and Justin Burks.
Talya, Ceri, Lenora and Samantha, you women created a fabulous appetizer!
The thank you list is not complete without extending our heartfelt gratitude to our wonderful AWBU Foodie Friday Sponsor, Arkansas Farm Bureau. What a delicious and enriching event.
Enjoy!
Kelly Jo at Delta Moxie
In 2007, Kellee Mayfield and her family moved to Lake Village. Kellee was quickly given the nicknamed “Kelly Jo” and the name stuck.
As an Oklahoma native, Kelly Jo writes about living in very southeast Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta which has been penned the most Southern place on earth. She also shares her art as well as the art of resourcefulness as being the key to really small town living. Kellee is a mother, wife and contract clinical specialist for a medical device company. And she has a southern drawl. Catch up with Kelly Jo at Delta Moxie.
No, that’s not a Halloween phrase. Notice I didn’t add any punctuation in there: Boo, mama! Rather, Boo Mama is a person. Specifically, a hilarious blogger/author/storyteller who loves God and making people laugh.
She really brought the funny to the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference and now – a few days after getting home from the conference weekend – I’m reading her book (thanks for the free copy, sponsor Petit Jean Meats!) The book, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, has already inspired me, just a few sentences into chapter one.
Boo Mama (a.k.a. Sophie Hudson) has this theory about how we remember people: that we typically have one particular “fallback” memory that becomes our mental go-to image when we think about somebody.
I immediately agreed with her theory and a multitude of people marched through my mind – along with all their corresponding go-to images:
* My paternal grandmother, “Nanny” – Waving and smiling at us as we drive away from her house after Sunday dinner. (Alternately, in her rooster print apron pulling a cast iron pot out of the oven.)
* My maternal grandmother “Grandma Kelley” – Frying egg after egg after egg on the stove and artistically stacking them on a huge platter for any of her 11 kids and their families who happened to come by for breakfast.
* My mother – Building, cooking, sanding, mowing, weeding, planting, creating — with her own two hands. I always see her hands. And her face is usually a little red from the exertion.
* My father – Working on a vehicle, tanned and just a little smudge of motor oil on his face and under his fingernails. He’s either under the hood, under the truck or in the driver’s seat.
* My husband – Laughing. Teasing me with a joke. Or laughing at one of mine. (Alternately: The yep-she’s-mine expression on his face in my favorite picture from our wedding day.)
* My daughter – She’s about 2 years old, wearing a little denim skirt, sleeveless top and white sandals — carrying the book Goodnight, Gorilla around the Little Rock Zoo.
There are so many more people I love and would like to mention, but that’s just a few for now. I think the longer you know someone it’s possible that the go-to image could change, but it does seem to ring true that one strong memory will be the most enduring.
Thanks for the theory, Boo Mama Sophie. I enjoyed that trip down memory lane.
And I have to add that I LOVED your keynote speech at the AWBU conference. I’m impressed by anyone who can quote Bruno Mars and scripture all in one speech.
Treasure indeed.
OK, Arkansas Women Bloggers, what’s your go-to image for certain people in your life? We’d love to read your list!
Shannon Magsam is a tween mom, married to a newspaperman and the love of her life, and co-founder of nwaMotherlode.com
What an amazing weekend we had at the beautiful, serene Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center (go LIKE them on Facebook) at the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2013 conference! We couldn’t possibly capture all of the awesome that occurred in one post here and I have already seen so many today that have pulled at my heart strings, encouraged me, and after a couple of more good nights sleep, motivated me to get going on #awbu 2014! So, would y’all be so kind as to place your AWBU blog posts here? That way, we can all peek in on one another’s memories with ease, and it will be that much simpler for us to help convince everybody not to miss AWBU 2014!
Thank you for all that you shared and for all the ways you jumped into AWBU with total FABULOUSNESS!
Share your AWBU post below – be sure to link directly to the post rather than your homepage! (You can put your blog name in parentheses after your name)
by Angie Albright A Growing Season
@AngieAlbright @AGrowingSeason
Am I the only one who, when I find out that company is coming, rushes around my house to make things presentable? I try to keep things in order around my house (mostly unsuccessfully), but when I know I’m about to have visitors, I tend to see things a little differently. Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged is just days away, and for those of you attending, you’re about to get lots of visitors to your online house. Some of those visitors may even be representatives of the brands sponsoring AWBU or interacting with participants during the conference. Are you company-ready?
What follows are a few suggestions to help you polish up your online presence as well as help you prepare for all these new visitors.
Your Blog
What is the post any visitor will see first when she lands on your website? Is it a favorite? Is it a really solid one? You’ll have the opportunity to make lots of good first impressions in just a few days, so make sure your top post is one that shines and that you’re proud of (and if that means re-posting a favorite that really represents who you are, then do it!).
This will sound a little nuts, but listen anyway. Look around your blog. Where is your name? I read lots of great blogs but often have to dig around to find whose words I am reading. Do us a favor and make sure your name is right up front on the home page. We want to connect with you!
Are any of your ads or sidebar images outdated? Freshen up any information or images on your homepage. Consider adding a picture of you toward the top of the sidebar so any new visitor will immediately connect the blog to the person she’s just met.
Make sure the link to your blog is on the ARWB website and that you are a registered member!
Social Media
You will probably end up with a number of new Facebook friend requests. If your profile pic isn’t a picture of a clearly recognizable you, consider swapping it out for one that is, at least for the duration of the conference. If someone wants to engage with you but doesn’t see your face, she may not remember who is making the friend request! Also make sure that a link to your blog is included in the “About” section of your profile. Same goes for Twitter. Put a picture of yourself in your profile and make sure you have a link to your blog as well.
If you have a Facebook fan page, does your cover photo make a good first impression or represent your professional identity and blog well? As with checking your blog posts, check to see what your last few status updates are. Is it your best stuff? Would a quick glance at your latest postings there tell a visitor who you are and what kind of work you do?
Twitter is the social media channel that dominates conferences and professional events. I am at my limit of those I can follow (2,000) until I have closer to 2,000 followers myself. You will want to follow lots of folks you’re meeting, so clear out the junk so you have the capacity to do all the following you want! JustUnfollow.com is a great website and smart phone app for helping you manage your Twitter contacts. You can quickly identify who you can stop following based on any number of criteria.
Hashtags: Most of the third-party social media tools like HootSuite or Tweetdeck allow you to add “streams” to your profile. Add a stream for #AWBU so you can watch the action from the get-go. For the Instagram lovers among us, the “Explore” tab also offers a search for hashtags. Facebook is using hashtags now, but as with Instagram, you have to put the hashtagged phrase into the search field to pull up the feed.
Use the hashtag in your posts about the conference! It does a couple of important things: it shows our sponsors and others that we are indeed influencers and know how to generate a good buzz around an idea, product, or event. It will also help you find other attendees to follow. You’ll have fun scrolling through the #AWBU stream on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram after the conference is over.
Once you’ve done these things, forget about all that and just have fun connecting with new and old friends, learning from each other, and enjoying the weekend getaway!
Are you ready to run a 5K? How about walk it? Or, you could hit the course and cheer on your fellow social media sistahs? New Balance Arkansas (go like them on Facebook) will sponsor the first #AWBU 5k Race on Sunday morning of the conference at 6:30 a.m.
There will be some fun along the way, of course, we are ARWB! So, be prepared.
New Balance Arkansas is providing some incredible awards for the top 3 race time winners and the top 3 social media superstar winners. Yes, awards for Tweeting and Instagraming, what a wonderful world!
In addition, they will be on hand during the Handmade Marketplace to do fittings for anyone who would like to find the best fit and best shoe for you.
In preparation, I need some info. Remember, if you do not want to head out on the course, we could always use volunteers, that is how this stuff happens!
I know, I know….seriously, how can #AWBU get any more awesome? Easy, AWBU attendees have the opportunity to purchase P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes from the Gardenfrom us at ARWB, and he will sign it at the Kick-Off Reception Friday night. Um…yes, it’s true, it’s true!
You can go here and find out more about the contents of the book. I own it and use it often. And, as someone who has mostly been a grower of food, this book has helped me along the way in becoming a preparer of food too. If you do not garden, head out to the Farmer’s Market, grab some Arkansas Grown produce, and try some new recipes. It is also a beautiful book, the photographs are gorgeous. A great Christmas present idea.
There is even more incentive to purchase it, the proceeds from book sales will be for ARWB members in need to attend the conference through an #AWBU Scholarship.
You can preorder it (we only have 45) and we will have it ready for Allen to sign Friday evening at #AWBU Kick-Off Reception. The cost for this wonderful book with proceeds to help your fellow blogger gals is only $30. When they are sold out, we will not be able to get any more. So, do it now!
We are beyond thrilled to announce that award-winning designer, gardening and lifestyle expert P. Allen Smith will kick off Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2013 on Friday, September 6 at Ferncliff Conference Center. Many of you know P. Allen Smith from watching his public television programs, P. Allen Smith ‘s Garden Home and P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table, and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens. There are also some of us lucky gals that have been able to hang out with him at his home, Moss Mountain Farm, for the day during Bean2Blog.
My mission at ARWB has always been to create community and to help you be better bloggers/social media superstars which I hope has helped to better your lives. Allen is the perfect person to kick off this extraordinary social media conference weekend because he is also in the business of helping people live better lives. And, his vision is quiet beautiful and always rooted in Arkansas.
He also understands social media and our impact: According to P. Allen Smith, “Social media has caused a huge paradigm shift in how business is conducted on our planet. The social web has created a new era of instantaneous business where bloggers are today’s up-to-the-minute voice. Businesses want to tap these bloggers to spread positive word-of-mouth about their products.” Smith continued “Bloggers are very influential because they become product evangelists or influencers giving marketers instantaneous feedback on exclusive previews, product testing, marketing plans, customer services audits, etc. The blogger’s opinions become actionable items that businesses can employ immediately thus better serving consumers. In this scenario, everybody wins.”
For more information, contact The Park Wife and yes, I am jumping up and down with excitement that Allen will be there. In celebration, I am going to make a dish from P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes From the Garden book while wearing my Heritage Poultry Conservancy t-shirt.
We are beyond thrilled to announce that award-winning designer, gardening and lifestyle expert 