Lynchburg Virginia Blogger Meetup

Last night we had our meet-up for Lynchburg bloggers at Mangia Wine Bar!

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I was so excited to meet other bloggers near me! In our little town of Lynchburg, Virginia there were 5 of us that met for dinner from Virginia Bloggers. 

• First there's Paula from Sweet Pea which is a blog about cooking, gardening, home projects and life. You may recognize her screen print pumpkin pillow project (I think I'm getting out of hand with all these "p's") from the latest Clutch Guide! 

• Then there's Cait from Cait Makes Things which is all about sewing and upcycling thrifted finds. She also shares another fashion based blog called Two Little Bells with a friend. Check out her easy project for making cheap (and adorable) boot trees! My only tall boots are from my horse showing days but I'd love to make this project for a friend!

• There's also Carrie from Dream Green DIY, the blog about incredible DIY design on a budget. You make recognize her from a recent Better Homes and Gardens issue. No big deal. (Except it's a hugely awesome deal!) If you're local you may also recognize her and her beautiful home from the latest Clutch Guide! 

• And finally there's Megan from Rappsody in Rooms, another fantastic blog about renovating a 1960s rancher into a space that reflects her personality along blogging about life in general. Ever wondered what a year's supply of toilet paper looks like? Wonder no more. 

We sat on the patio during the beautiful evening and had a great time chatting and eating and discussing all kinds of things. We brought up one of our favorite bloggers, Young House Love multiple times, talked about networking, our families, jobs, and some silly giveaways. We talked about Haven Conference and got some awesome insight from Megan and Paula who were fortunate enough to go! Megan almost got pooped on by a bird, our waiter forgot about us and overall we had a fantastic time! We ended up having such a good time that we completely forgot to get any pictures! I'm a little bummed but I'm sure we'll get together again soon! 

If there are any other local bloggers in the area we'd love to meet with you too! 

Be sure to check out their awesome blogs and tell them Catherine sent you! 

Till next time,

Catherine

Maya Angelou and New Friends!

The wonderful and wise Maya Angelou spoke tonight at Randolph College in Lynchburg. I'd love to tell you how great she was, but unfortunately I didn't get in!

I met up with a new friend from a book club I just joined and we had a delicious light dinner at Rivermont Pizza before getting in a tremendously long line just before 6pm. Dr. Angelou was scheduled to speak at 7pm. We knew we should arrive early because students and teachers were allowed in first but there were no tickets, just first-come, first-served basis. What we didn't realize was that all of Lynchburg decided to show up!

After waiting for over two hours and meeting up two other ladies from the book club, some police officers came and told everyone that the building was full and we had to leave. Such a bummer! We got as far as her tour bus, but no further. Despite not being able to see Maya Angelou speak, we had a great time hanging out and chatting with other folks in line. It ended up being really fun!

We left Randolph's campus and walked a couple blocks over to Mangia to sit and chat some more with drinks and appetizers. They had the most adorable old man playing classic and ragtime piano the whole evening! One more lady from the book club came by and joined us and shared some things that Ms. Angelou said. She was lucky enough to know a Randolph alumni and was able to get in!

Overall we had a great night, had a little preview book discussion, ate good food, swapped stories and came up with great ideas like a cooking club expanded from the book club.

Did I mention I ran out into the street to try and help catch a loose dog?

Yeah that happened too.

It was a great night and we made some great memories! Can't wait for our first book club meeting on Saturday! We're reading MWF Seeks BFF-My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend. It's really good!

P.S. This was my 100th post!!!

Have you ever read any of Maya Angelou's work? What's your favorite poem or book?

Till next time,
Catherine