Savings with Denise

Blogger Bash 2015 Recap

July 28, 2015 By denise Leave a Comment

I was so thrilled to be invited to Blogger Bash this year. I would first like to thank the entire team for making this a wonderful experience. Thank you especially to Charlene DeLoach, Joey Fortman and Laurie Schacht.

This year’s event was held at Pier Sixty on July 16th and 17th.

This year my Blogger Bash experience started with the Care Bears Share Your Care Brunch. It was awesome to see one of my favorite toys/shows from my childhood is coming back in time for another generation to enjoy them?

Brunch was served as we listened learned all about our favorite cuddly friends, and the fun Care Bear Cousins. They will be back on Netflix starting November 6, 2015 with some all new adventures! Zachary Kaplan, a New York City resident, spoke to us during the presentation. When he was only 9 years old he wanted to do something to help typhoon victims in the Philippines. He sold Kind bars in front of several grocery stores in New York City and after 6 weeks he raised and donated $1200 to the aide efforts. He is moving on to his next project which is to help homeless children have something soft of their own to cuddle at night. Care Bears is generously donating bears to his cause!

On the agenda next was the Blue Man group performance. I did not get to attend but I have seen the show before and it is very exciting.

Last but definitely not least we hit up Sweet Suite. Sweet Suite is the event not to be missed when attending Blogger Bash. Think candy, treats, drinks, toys and amazing food! Sweet Suite will be a post all by itself tomorrow! There is too much from this one 3 hour event then I can add here!

Day 2 kickoff with the Disney Infinity Breakfast. We got a sneak peek at the amazingness of 3.0. Disney Infinity will have Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars characters all in one game and the figures are forward compatible so there’s no wasted investment in the pieces you already have.

After breakfast it was time to head back for Baby Palooza and other panel events. We then had the peanuts lunch. We heard from the cast who answered questions about themselves and their characters.

There was an amazing expo with a great Rite-Aid Recharge Lounge. In the Rite-Aid Lounge there were spaces to sit and relax, bottled water, and massages! There was also a place where I took a quiz and Rite-Aid gifted me a bag full of goodies that matched my personality, which happens to be: “On-The-Go”. I totally agree as I am not a huge make-up girl but I like being put together and I always have to have a little bling!

At the end of the night there was a great Canadian Lentils Carnival! We had some great bites all made with lentils.

We had a fun night of games, fun, and food!

Overall it was an amazing two days. I met so many bloggers and brands I will be sifting through cards for weeks to come!

“MARS POP” The First Real-Time, Multiplayer Bubble Shooter Game

July 26, 2015 By denise Leave a Comment

Mars Pop is a brand new app that dropped today from the creators of the popular Talk Tom and Friends franchise. I had the chance to play the game this week a few days before it dropped and it is a ton of fun. It is designed for players of all ages and skills and pretty much anyone can pick it up and play.

What makes Mars Pop stand out from an already crowded group of bubble pop games out there is that you can play live, in real time with stangers or friends. There’s no sign-in required for Mars which is nice, but if you choose to, you can connect via Facebook and invite friends.

The game takes place in a universe called NeoMars and players can pick Jet or Eve who together with their NeoBots take on this new world, gain points and awards and compete.

Mars Pop follows the basic premise of the classic bubble shooter game, match three or more bubbles of the same color to make them explode and another row of bubbles appears on their opponent’s screen and vice versa. The goal is to clear the screen of bubbles before they fill the screen and before your opponent.

Mars Pop is available for free today on iOS, Android and Windows. You can visit http://www.mars-pop.com/ to get quick download links for your mobile device or just search your app store for Mars Pop and start playing today. You can also watch a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ewc5HUjiU

Disclosure: I was asked to review this game, and was not compensated. As always, all opinions are my own.

BlogHer 2015 Recap

July 26, 2015 By denise 1 Comment

For the past few months, I have been waiting for BlogHer 2015 to come, and it has come and gone. It was the first time I attended and it has given me so much to remember. I will always remember this conference for the people that I meet. I got to meet some of the bloggers that I communicate with on Facebook and have never meet before. It was so exciting.

This conference is all about the people, you are able to talk with others who have a curiosity and enthusiasm that you share. It allows you to put yourself out there, and you will find people who will connect with you and who will support you. I found so many welcoming people that at times I was overwhelmed by it all.

The BlogHer conferences do so well is offer bloggers an empowering environment in which we can push ourselves out of comfort zones, shove fears aside and be upfront without worrying about it.

If you want to meet brands then this is the place to be.

The first time I entered the Expo Hall I had to literally take a moment and just breath it all in. The Expo Hall is a maze of booths, presentations and demonstrations from nearly every Brand represented at the conference. The limits are endless – from technology, beauty, lifestyle, parenting, home design, food, DIY – you name it and you could find a Brand that was perfect for you.

Where do I start? That’s what I was thinking as I stood at the entrance and realized that there were literally hundreds of booths and I had to try to navigate my way through to make sure I made connections with the ones that best fit my purpose and goals for my site and my own brand. This is definitely where the BlogHer App came in handy. The App provided not only a list of the Brands represented, the PR Contacts for each but also a visual Map of the Expo Hall. I was able to plan out my where I wanted to be and keep a bit of logic to it at the same time.

At BlogHer, finding the chance to Network is so easy. I think the best thing I realized while making my way through the many different events, parties and presentations was that PR Reps are people too. Many of them are attending the Conference for more than just work and getting to know them, chat with them and share a bit of who you are as a person can at times make a longer lasting impression than the perfect set of business cards.

The Education side of the conference is just as important and Brands and Networking. If you don’t have the tools you need to prepare your site and your mindset for giving a Brand what they need then you may not see the results you want when you approach them.

BlogHer offered so many different topics that it was hard to choose just one. I was able to pick a few sessions that were great. I got to attend the Staples session, the Merck one and the Depend Yoga session. Yes they thought Yoga would relax me, and it did not.

The closing ceremony hosted by McDonald’s was so much fun. I found the two days that I spent their so rewarding, and will never forget it. As I write this, I can not believe that it is over, and can’t wait until next year.