Life is all about relationships. College — design school, in particular — was so enjoyable to me because of the like-minded community of designers I was surrounded with every day. We were always questioning each other, sharpening each other — iron on iron. So when I got booted out into the real world as the single designer in a small apparel company and then my subsequent jump to freelancing, I was lonely. There was no one to bounce ideas off of and there was no Twitter, no blogs, no nada. Or if there was, I didn’t know about it. This was (gulp) seven years ago and the internet was a different place. You certainly didn’t admit to anyone in real life that you talked to people on the internet. It just sounded … weird. The response you’d get is: “Well, it’s probably a shady old dude living in a shack in the mountains posing as a hip young designer. It’s only a matter of time before you’re found out and axe murdered.”
All that to say, I love what social media and blogging has created, especially for the freelance designer in the past few years. There is community – there is corroboration — there is friendship spouting up where maybe there wouldn’t have been otherwise. In the past two years especially, I have been overwhelmed at how happy I am in my freelancing role. I even said to Simon a few weeks ago, “If only these tools had been around when I got started, I wouldn’t have been so depressed!”
So, once I started meeting up with other Twitterers & bloggers in real life, I was so excited. We have the best community of bloggers here in Oklahoma City and once again, I feel that connectivity between creative minds that I’ve been missing since college.
A few weeks ago, I got to together with Danielle for a playdate w/ our boys and she brought up the idea of doing a blogger’s night out. I’d previously had a really fun brunch a few months back with a few other bloggers and since then, our scope has only widened. We organized a Blogger’s Night Out at Cheever’s this past Friday night, and it was such a success. We even managed to get several local businesses involved and once again, I was blown away. One of my passions is supporting local businesses and I believe much of that is forging good relationships w/ the owners. For example, I’ve loved getting to know Susan Kropp, who owns Chirps & Cheers in Edmond. Susan is so perky and positive, and she has excellent style. Her shop is divine, and I thought she would be a perfect business to include. She blew me away with her generosity and adorable goodies AND she even wants to host us at her shop one night. And that was just the beginning of the generosity. Carolyn (my sister-in-law who owns Uptown Kids) donated these awesome Aden+Anais blankets to each & every one of us. Too too generous.
Anyway. All that to say, I REALLY hope we all get together soon because it was just too much fun. And I also hope that we add more great bloggers to our ranks!
Bloggers:
Allison from Shopcrawlr
Kelly from Design Crush
Erin from Pippin and Pearl
Sara Kate from Sara Kate Studios
Shana from Gorillabuns
Rita from Me and My Shortloffs
Evie from Evie S
Kathleen from Jeremy and Kathleen
Susan from The Working Closet
Carolyn from I Am A Greedy Girl
Special thanks to:
The Make Up Bar
Chirps & Cheers
Cuppies & Joe
Langston’s
Blue 7
Kelly Beal
Uptown Kids
and the night was at the beautiful and yummy Cheever’s Cafe
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