I was honored to be one of a handful of bloggers to be invited to the Time to Play Holiday Showcase that took place in New York City on Thursday. Industry executives were available for interview, toys were set out to be played with, and the Time to Play Most Wanted List was revealed.
The girls stayed back home with my mom. She flew in Tuesday night from Austin. It’s only been a few weeks since we saw her, so Maya told me happily – “Mommy, we didn’t even get a chance to miss her!” So sweet.
After visiting my mother-in-law (who’s still at Georgetown Hospital, by the way), we left DC around 10am Wednesday morning and arrived in Manhattan just past 1pm. Upon checking into our hotel, The Carlton NYC, I opened up my Macbook to discover that this site had been down almost all day. Some of you may have clicked over here and seen an error message that said something about “exceeding bandwidth” which basically means I got more traffic than I was prepared for! You can obviously see the positive side of that; growth is always good. I still freaked out, though! I usually try to figure things out myself before sending in a help ticket, but I just had no idea! This had never happened so I wasn’t quite sure how to fix it. Less than 5 minutes after I sent a help request to MomWebs, my blog was back up, along with a little extra bandwidth so it wouldn’t happen again. That’s great customer service.
Wednesday night I was lucky enough to go to a dinner hosted by Jim Silver and Chris Byrne (editor-in-chief and content director of TimetoPlayMag.com, respectively) as well as the lovely ladies of Litzky PR. You may know Chris from his guest appearances on Regis & Kelly. He’s on the show every few months, sharing his favorite toy recommendations, and was even nominated for a Relly Award for “Favorite Expert”! 🙂 I met some amazing bloggers for the first time – Audrey from Mom Generations, Colleen of Classy Mommy, Piera from Jolly Mom, Troy Lanier from Dad Labs, and Ana of Bonggamom – and saw a few old friends: Amy, Resourceful Mommy, and Victoria from Life Starring the Kids and Me.
I’m still trying to gather my thoughts and look through some of the wonderful toys that I brought home with me, but here are some photos from the showcase and a few other random shots… and be sure to visit Time to Play mag to read all about the Most Wanted toys of this holiday season!
Oh this sounds like a fabulous trip! I love toys and miss that my son is older now (he is 14) and I don’t get to play with toys as much anymore. My family and friends need to have some babies so I have some kids to play with again LOL. Chris is a riot on Regis & Kelly’s show – he seems so joyful!
.-= Robyns Online World´s last blog ..I need a Rosie! =-.
I’ll have to check that site out. My kids desperately need some new toys, and by kids I mean me. I’m tired of playing with the same ones.
.-= Bruce Teague´s last blog ..Can I Get A Surgeon? =-.
Mariana,
It was so wonderful to finally get the chance to meet you! I had a great time hanging out at dinner and the next day during our appointments {lol}. I’m so happy to have a new friend : )
XO
~Piera
.-= Piera´s last blog ..Rice Croquettes: A Beloved Recipe From My Childhood =-.
Mariana,
I found your site a few months back and just love it and was hoping someday I could introduce myself and say hi. To know I was in the same room as you – twice – and STILL didn’t get a chance to meet you… well, I must just have horrible timing and miss you every time! Hopefully, we will meet one of these days… maybe next time you can come to Seattle or we could meet halfway?
Take care,
Leanne
Lucky you! What a fantastic event to be invited to. I cannot wait to see your post on some of the fun toys you brought home!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..New Dates Added: Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! =-.