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Nov
12

Florida EcoSafaris – So Much More than an Adventure

by Katie

So yesterday I told you all about Florida EcoSafaris and their different EcoSafari Tours including the Zipline Tour which the women of Brandcation were able to do.

Florida EcoSafaris was so much more than an Adventure to me. Let me tell you a little about myself. I hate flying…HATE IT. I hate elevators…HATE THEM. I hate them because I “fear” them and I have always thought to myself the reason I fear them so much is because I am “not in control”. I have always said, “If I was flying that airplane I wouldn’t be afraid”. Now, I do not fear them enough to not get on an elevator or an airplane, I just don’t like doing it.

On the other hand, I am a pretty strong person. I stand up for what I believe in and work very hard at pushing myself at almost everything I do. Heck, I even played soccer in 50 degree weather in bare feet because my teammates needed me! Ok, Ok, I will admit, that is not the smartest thing I ever did!

I was also a little nervous to be attending Brandcation. Here I am, flying to Florida to meet up with 35 people I do not know and staying in a house with them. Totally out of my comfort zone. When I showed up Thursday many of the women knew each other either from previous meetings together or from chatting online, but I really didn’t know anyone. I chose my roommate because she drove from the airport with me! So that first night, although we played some fun games to get to know each other, it was a little strange for me.

We had to leave at 7:20 am Friday morning and since there were 5 girls sharing the bathroom I knew if I wanted a shower I needed to get up early and since I am always up by 5:00 am anyway, no big deal right? So I asked my roommate, “Do you mind if I set my alarm for 5, don’t worry, I will wake up as soon as it goes off?” and she said “I really don’t have a choice do I?” She was not being mean, but we really did not have a choice, if we wanted to get dressed we had to get up.

The next thing I know I hear, “Katie…..Katie…Your alarm has been going off for 20 minutes…GET UP!”. OMG…are you even kidding me??? Here I am, trying not to tick my new roommate off and I go and wake her up even after I said I wouldn’t!!! Great start to the day. I am thinking “Not a good way to make friends” lol.

When we piled into the cars my back seat mate was Jessica from ThatTechChick. Wow. What a great woman she is. She was so open and honest about her life, I felt like we had known each other for a long time. It was a long drive to EcoSafaris and I was really thankful for that because it allowed me the opportunity to get to know Jessica.

When we arrived at EcoSafaris for the Zipline Adventure, I wasn’t nervous. I don’t know why. I just wasn’t. Maybe because I was more nervous about not knowing anyone very well. I was interested in what Matt Duda was telling us about Forever Florida and the Broussard Family.

When it was my groups turn to go though and we got on the coach to get to the Zipline Staging area, I was getting a little more nervous. But it was like a “numb” nervous, no big deal you know? When Stephanie had us put on our harnesses, I kind of felt like I was watching what was happening, that this was not really happening…I was not putting this harness on that was going to hold me 55 feet in the air right? This is a dream….right???

At this point, I am still not really talking very much to the other women but then our guides, Matt and Jeff show up, and they threw a complete “lightness” over the tension I was feeling. They were charming and funny and you could clearly tell they absolutely, positively LOVED what they were doing and were excited to show us the adventure of our lives. We walked down a path towards to Zipline takeoff point and when we got to the tower, or for me, shall I say the Tower of Terror, I kind of froze looking up at it.

My first thought was, “Shoot…I am going to be dying by the time I get up there…how the heck am I going to climb all those steps without losing my breath!”. But then, Jeff explained to us how we needed to walk up the tower. We needed to stay a certain length away from the people above us and below us because the tower would start swaying. OMG! Now, it was built to sway and withstand winds, and it is perfectly safe, but OMG – SWAY???? So I do what every other scaredycat would do…I wait and wait until I am the last person besides Jeff who needs to walk up that ladder…

And I start walking. The higher I get, the more my knees are getting weak. I am starting to shake now and not trust that my hand is going to reach the next bar to hold onto, I start getting dizzy from being so high up and scared and I feel like I am going to fall and I stop. Just STOP. I can’t even lift my head anymore and I say, “Am I going to fall?” and Jeff tells me there is no way I am going to fall and tells me to just take my time. I can do it, but if I need to I can go back down. Then, all of the sudden, the 11 women waiting at the top of the platform start saying “Come on Katie, you can do it”.

Wow…so onwards and upwards I go…One foot in front of the other…all the way up. When I got to the top, Matt tells me “Don’t go anywhere”. OMG WHY? Ohhhh!!! Safety first. They take your harness and hook it onto the safety line so that you are always attached to a line at all times!

But, now I am standing on a platform with NO RAILINGS…huddled with 11 other women and two men on a platform with no railings….ummm…how do you think that made me feel??? So, OF COURSE, I had to stand right by the post and hold on for dear life.

Then, the first guide Matt, hooked himself up to the zipline and off he went…I swear he looked like he was having the time of his life…arms and legs outstretched…Man he looked like he was having fun….then one by one the women started going…finally, it was my turn…and I was SHAKING.

Jeff hooked me up to the zipline and said “All you have to do is step down, get in a seated position, lift your legs and gravity will do the rest.” I stepped down, got in a seated position…..stood up and said “I can’t do this” with tears rolling down my face. Pure fear tears. I was crying, but not “crying” crying if that makes sense. I mean, I didn’t even realize I was crying really, it was like a physical reaction to the fear.

At this point Jeff told me to just step back and the four women that were left with me kept telling me I could do this, I could do it. Jeff was saying I did not have to do it, but it was safe and no one was going to make me do it. By now, I had stopped crying but I had so many thoughts going through my head…”I have to climb back down if I don’t do this,” (lol), “Trisha will get mad at me,” (I don’t really think so now) “No one thought I could do this and if I don’t do it, I proved them right,” “I can do this”. I was shaking and breathing heavily – I was SCARED. But you know, these women and Jeff…talk about inspiration builders. They helped give me the courage to do what I needed to do.

Finally I got back up, stepped down, sat down, held onto that line as tight as I could (even though Jeff told me not to hold on so tight!) closed my eyes and lifted my feet…..and I was gone! Sailing through the Florida wilderness – With my eyes TIGHTLY SHUT!!! And then I kept hearing “Lift your feet!,” I did and the next thing I knew I rammed right into our other guide Matt!!! Well, I do not know if “ram” is the right word…he caught me.

The girls on the platform cheered for me, told me how proud they were of me, the guides were patting me on the back. Wow. What a great feeling. Here is the thing. Although I am the one that actually lifted my feet, I can honestly say I don’t think I would have lifted my feet had it not been for the support of my new “bloggy” friends and the guides.

Now, although my fear never left and I was afraid every time I lifted my feet, I did this. I conquered my fear. I did something I never, ever thought I would. Although my group was always encouraging to me and the guides were always patient with me, I am truly shocked that NO ONE showed me the least bit of “Oh brother…get over it already”. No one. I am sure Jeff got tired of me questioning him on every take off and I am sure Matt got tired of me ramming into him because my eyes were closed, but never, ever, did I notice that (if that was actually the case). They showed nothing but kindness and compassion and patience to me. If you visit Florida EcoSafaris and have Matt and Jeff as your Guides, consider yourself very lucky.

And my new “bloggy” friends. Wow. What a difference a few hours makes. I went from feeling like I did not know anyone to feeling like I had known these women for such a long time. All of them showed patience and kindness to me, showed what teamwork can accomplish, and honestly, this event changed the entire event for me. I can never thank them enough. Below you will see listed the blogs each of these women write. I feel very fortunate to call them my friends now.

If you want a team building experience for your company, then I would absolutely suggest you take a trip to Florida EcoSafari Zipline. The camaraderie you feel when standing on a platform attached to a line is unbelievable. The strength people show when overcoming their fears and helping others is truly an amazing thing. If I owned a business, you can bet I would be taking my company to Florida EcoSafari Zipline for the team building experience.

Oh…and by the way…Remember how I said I was “afraid” of flying? HA!!! Flying has NOTHING on me NOW! Heck! I just did the Florida EcoSafari Zipline - Flying? Piece of cake!

Meet My Great Group!

Jessie
Lisa
Katie
Kathleen
Paula
Lynsey
Tanya
Courtney
Marie
Lee
Andrea

I want to thank Brandfluential and MomDot for hosting the Brandcation event, as well as thank my personal sponsors GoodBoyRoy, ShoppeCharlotte.com, ExecutiveGiftShoppe, Caretta Caretta, A Touchy of Whimsy, Nuts About Granola.

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

Nov
11

Florida EcoSafaris – An Unforgettable Experience

by Katie

I honestly do not even know where to start about Florida EcoSafaris. It was so much more than I ever thought it would be, not only as a place to visit, but as a place that I would learn so much about myself, about the goodness in people, and about teamwork. Because there were two very different aspects about this, one strictly about Florida EcoSafaris and one that was very personal, but intertwined with Florida EcoSafaris and Ziplining, I have decided to do this in two separate posts. So let’s get going shall we?

Friday morning we all piled into our cars to head over to Florida EcoSafaris, one of the event sponsors for Brandcation. Have you ever heard of them? If not, you should really look into them on your next visit to Florida. Forever Florida is situated on 4700 acres of an untamed, all natural, wildlife conservatory. And that is no joke! As we were driving in, we saw peacocks all over the place. Do you know how many times I heard someone say, “Poke the peacock!”? We also saw all sorts of wild birds, cows, horses, and even a bald eagle! And that was just pulling into the parking lot!

Florida EcoSafaris offers three types of safaris; Zipline Safari, Coach Safari, and Horseback Safari. And guess which one we were there to do? Yep! You guessed it! The Zipline Safari!! When we arrived, we were split up into three groups, the first group didn’t even have a chance to think about what they were getting ready to do before they were off to do it!! Luckily for the second and third groups, we had Matt Duda come tell us about the history of Forever Florida and the purpose behind it.

Forever Florida is a wildlife conservatory on 4700 acres which includes all three EcoSafari Adventures, the Crescent J Ranch, nine distinct ecosystems, the Cypress Restaurant, special event facilities, educational camp programs for kids and adults, field trip and scout programs, camping and cabin rentals. Matt told us all about the importance of conserving the Florida ecosystems and wildlife to the Broussard Family and that their son Allen had always had a an interest in nature. Unfortunately, four days shy of his 29th birthday Allen died from an infection in his heart. The Broussard Family created the Allen Broussard Conservancy in hopes to bring awareness to conserving Florida’s wilderness.

Read more about the Allen Broussard Conservancy here.

Once it was our groups turn to go, we walked out of the building and into a waiting coach, driven by Brent, to take us to our Zipline Adventure!

*Brent, our insightful, fun driver

On the way, Brent showed us all the different plants and trees, and we even stopped and got some pictures of the alligators waving goodbye to us!

*Why is that alligator looking at me like that?

I was seated in a ONE SEAT chair, but when Brent stopped the coach to show us a HUGE, yet BEAUTIFUL spider, one of the other girls jumped on my lap! Let me tell you, that spider did not scare me ONE BIT. I was facing an alligator and facing the fact that I was going to be ziplining at heights up to 55 ft in the air in just a few minutes? Spiders? HA! You can’t scare me!

*Just beautiful

Brent was an excellent guide who took the time to point out the different animal and plant species and different ecosystems we saw on our way to the Zipline.

Once off the coach we met up with Ben who gave us a tour of the wildlife interaction area that included a panther hybrid! Yes, that is a skunk he is holding, and no, I did not touch it but a lot of the other girls did!

*Ben and the skunk

Now, it was time to enter the Zipline staging area. Can you say nervous yet? Hmmmm…For me, I think that was an understatement. At this point we met up with Stephanie, Matt, and Jeff. Stephanie gave us the instructions on how to put on the harness we needed to zipline. Step by step instructions, very friendly, very helpful. If you couldn’t figure out how to do it (I will raise my hand here) she was glad to come over and help!

*Me, Jeff, Matt, – Our Guides – and Lee from My Sentiment Exact Lee

Matt and Jeff….well what can I say? Bless your hearts for putting up with me? LOL. These guys were GREAT Zipline Guides. I do not think we could have asked for better Guides. They were friendly, completely knowledgeable about how the zipline works, and had a great sense of humor! I will go into more detail about them in my next post, because in my opinion, they really were just the best guides EVER! After our gear was put on we started our trek to Zipline.

*Hi Ho Hi Ho It’s Off to Zip We Go!

What a beautiful walk it was, all natural beauty at it’s best. I could have walked that path for hours to be honest and not gotten bored. Well, we finally reached it. The Zipline Adventure was about to begin. Standing in front of us was a tower of stairs that we needed to climb in order to get “zipping”.

* All I can say is “WHOA!”

Florida Zipline EcoSafari consists of 7 “zips,” 2 bridges that cover 3 ecosystems, and 9 observation platforms! The Zipline Adventure itself takes about 2.5 hours, but you should plan for at least 4. You will zip among the trees, over alligators, George the alligator to be exact, reaching heights up to 55 feet and going as fast as 25 mph!!! Talk about a rush of excitement!

*Hello George!

But it was so much more than a “rush”. It was absolutely beautiful to stand on those platforms and look out into the Florida Wilderness, the smell, the wind blowing in our hair, there will never, ever, be another experience like this again for me. I was extremely frightened during this adventure. Like “phobia” frightened. But that never stopped me from observing the beauty that was below me. My opinion is that, you know what, yea, you might be afraid or nervous to do this, but you should do this NO MATTER WHAT. Even if you can not handle the Zipline, try one of the other Safari’s the Coach or Horseback Safari! You will not be disappointed.

*Lynsey from Party Plan Divas

Thank you so much Florida EcoSafaris! Thank you for sponsoring this event for Brandcation! I definitely hope to come back!

*See! Safe and Sound after the EcoSafari Zipline Adventure! Shirt provided by Caretta Caretta!

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

Nov
9

Brandcation Media Event Kissimmee FL

by Katie

As most of you know I spent last weekend attending Brandcation – A Media Event put on by MomDot and Brandfluential. This was the first ever blogging trip I have ever taken and I had no idea what to expect.

There is so much to talk about this trip because it goes beyond just the Media Events we were able to attend, the friendships that were created, the wonderful new tools I found, it was so far beyond what I actually expected, but it came in a different form. There was so much that I learned about myself personally, what I could over come, what I was good at, I learned so much about what other options I have available to me that I didn’t even know existed, and I also learned I am technologically challenged when it comes to the hardware I use to blog.

I will be writing this week all about each of the individual activities we did, what I learned etc and will keep you updated.

But did you know?

1) If you climb 55 feet in the air there is only one way down?

2) If your alarm clock goes off and you don’t wake up, it will wake up your roommate?

3) Toilet paper is a hot commodity in a house full of women?

4) I heard the statement “Someone poke the peacock” five times this weekend

5) GPS systems don’t always work

6) Florida can be cold and windy

7) You can put an alligator to sleep by tickling it’s belly?

You can walk and experience Epcot in 2 hours?

Keep coming by, I will be updating all this week on how my Brandcation Experience went.

I also wanted to thank my personal sponsors, because without them, this trip would not have been possible for me:

Good Boy Roy

Executive Gift Shoppe

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

Nov
2

Super Big Thank You to My Sponsors for Brandcation!

by Katie

This is a big, humongous THANK YOU to my personal sponsors for Brandcation! I am super lucky to work with such a great group of companies! I cannot wait to get to Brandcation and tell all the women about you – as well as my readers!

Let’s See – Who do I have?

Good Boy Roy – A young man is setting out to conquer the world with his drawings! His mom, Kim, of course is the CEO and she is a proud momma that is FOR SURE!

Executive Gift Shoppe – Are you looking for a personalized gift? Go no further than Executive Gift Shop! They have everything you need with GREAT customer service!

ShoppeCharlotte.com – Trying to find the cutest boutiques, restaurant, or shopping center in or around Charlotte? Then check out ShoppeCharlotte.com!

Caretta Caretta - Seriously some of the most unique and one of a kind items out there! I have been working with Caretta Caretta since I started blogging a couple of years ago and am so fortunate to have gotten to know Ozan and Katie! Check out Caretta Caretta!

Others:

A Touch of Whimsy - Adorable paper products – Mommy Cards, Play Date Cards, Luggage Tags! Oh, and I was so happy with the Luggage Tag she made for Brandcation I ordered Business/Mommy Cards from a Touch of Whimsy – They ROCK!

Nuts About Granola – Some AWESOME granola out of PA that comes in a huge variety of flavors – and the fall flavors are delicious. A mother/daughter team these women know their granola! If you are looking for some tasty granola, this is the place to go!

Thank you all for your support! I can’t wait to brag about you all at Brandcation!

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

Oct
15

Dear Alligator – Can’t Keep Up With Us Can You? Brandcation

by Katie

Dear Kissimmee Alligator,

Oh Alligator! I know you are laying in your swamp, your body totally covered in water except for your eyes and nose, trying to figure out a way to catch me. But dear Alligator, I will repeat…I am not delicious, but if you insist on taking chase, good luck with catching me on Saturday during the Brandcation festivities!

Alligator, I will have had a full nights rest at the house provided by Global Resort Homes, the comfy bed, the quiet neighborhood, unlike your noisy, wet, little swamp. And although our Adventurous day starts early, I will be nice and refreshed – So come along Alligator, Catch Me if You Can.

You may need to put an engine on your tail though for our first Adventure! Yes, I can see you rolling your eyes…yes..I know you can run fast, but I am afraid you will be no match for an Airboat Ride! Yes! We will be whizzing by you and your friends thanks to Boggy Creek Airboat Rides! We will be zipping through the Florida Everglades up to 45 mph waving hello and ADIOS to you and your little friends all the while taking in the natural beauty of your wetlands.

I know, I know…not the best place to try to catch me…but what is next on our list? Hmmm??? I am thinking you might be very familiar with this place…you might have a friend or two there, and hey, maybe this is your home…off to Gatorland we go after Boggy Creek Airboat Rides!! Gatorland is a 110 acre park and nature conservatory located at the head of the Florida Everglades. We explore the park, see wildlife including your friends, see birds, little animals…and you know what else? They have Gator Wrestling.

Oh…was that a challenge I just heard from you? What? What did you say? You wanna Gator Wrestle with the Brandcation clan? You just made me spit my drink out of my mouth I am laughing so hard. Do you not remember the mention of Trisha of MomDot? Hmmm….I suggest you think twice about taking her on, you see she comes with body guards, Nicole (aka Blondie) from Good Golly Miss Molly, and Kim from What’s That Smell? . Oh, and since this is a conference where we are learning from each other, it is a good possibility you are going to have 35+ bloggers against you….Not a smart move. Yea, I thought you would change your mind.

(But in case you don’t, give me time to get some popcorn and grab a seat because I wanna watch Trisha take you down!)

I am glad you will be able to say Hello to your buddies, but since you took so long, we are already heading back to our BEAUTIFUL Global Resort Homes, to change, discuss the events of the day, and I hope it includes pictures of Trisha Gator Wrestling, and how to improve our blogs, relationships or anything else…maybe the color of your greenish scaly skin..I do look good in green you know!

And off we bolt again! This time to Arabian Nights for dinner! Yes, we will be enjoying a fun filled night watching a thrilling and romantic adventure that includes riders and acrobats with over 60 horses! And see Mr. Alligator, this is what I would call a delicious meal, not me…but the food at Arabian Nights! If you want, ask one of the acrobats if you can take his place on one of the horses! I will cheer you on even if you are still chasing me!

PHEW…Do you think you will be tuckered out yet? Give up on the chase? Well, let’s make a deal. You don’t chase me while I am there and I will take you with us on our last Adventure of the trip on Sunday! How about that? Oh, you want to know what the Adventure is? Why it is Disney World of course! How can you be mad at me at The Happiest Place on Earth?

I think we will remain fast friends Alligator…You just need to not chase me, then we can be buds and hang out with the rest of the Brandcation clan at Disney World. Wanna shake on it? Oh, never mind…I am no so sure I want your mouth so close to my hand…I will just take your word on it!

Thanks so much to the Brandcation Adventure Sponsors who allowed all the Brandcation Bloggers a chance to meet my friend Alligator:

Global Home Resorts
Boggy Creek Airboat Rides
Gatorland
Disney World
Arabian Nights
Florida Eco Tours
Sleuths Mystery Dinner Show

And for my personal sponsors, a special shout out offering to cover my back in case Alligator sneaks up me!

Good Boy Roy
Executive Gift Shoppe
ShoppeCharlotte.com
Caretta Caretta
A Touch of Whimsy
Nuts About Granola

If anyone reading this would like to sponsor me and help me fight off the Alligator, check out how to Sponsor Me at Brandcation.

Want to learn what will be doing on our First Day at Brandcation?

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

Oct
12

Dear Alligators – I Am Not Delicious – Brandcation

by Katie

Dear Kissimmee Alligators,

I am clearly not delicious so there will be no need for you to chase after me while I am there for Brandcation. You see, I am staying in a BEAUTIFUL house thanks to Global Resort Homes! Surely, those accommodations are not to your liking! I mean, beautifully furnished houses with a pool and game room? There are no swamps in the house so you will have no where to rest your weary head after chasing me around all day! Oh yes! You have to catch me before you can eat me!

You see Alligators, we will not be sitting idly along the swamp banks listening to some boring speaker while you sneak up behind us! NO! We will be moving and shaking the whole time!!!

Friday morning will find us up early for our first adventure. Think you can hang Mr. Alligator? Well let me tell you a little more and see if you are still game. We will trek as a group to Florida EcoSafaris and enjoy a Zip Line Tour of the Pine Flatlands and the forest wetlands of Florida. Oh yes, I said Zip Line! Afraid of heights Mr. Alligator? Well, being afraid of heights is no excuse. If I can do it, you can do it! Otherwise you can try to catch me when I am through. But by that time I will have zipped through the treetops waving hello and goodbye to all your friends down below!

Friday afternoon will find us back at our house provided by Global Resort Homes where we will hang as a group, learning from each other. We might even talk about the Alligator that seems to be following us! Oh, believe me Mr. Alligator. We know who is invited and who is not, so if you show up in swim trunks I am sure Trisha from MomDot will kick you out on your behind! You had better find a better disguise than that. Seriously.

Friday night we will venture off to Slueths Mystery Dinner Show. You can put on a disguise all right Mr. Alligator, but did you know I am the Clue Champion of the World? Or maybe… just my world, but none the less, I am the Clue Champion of “a” World. So watch out! I do intend to find out who done it! And if there are any Alligators like yourself in the way, don’t hold me responsible for turning you into a purse!

And then back once again to our Luxurious Accommodations. Where we will combine as a group again, discussing our wild day, talking about how we can all work together to make a better blogging community, how we worked together as a team to build each other up to actually do the zipline, what we can do as a group to create strong relationships with brands, how we can help each other in doing what is best for companies as well as ourselves individually as a group and more!

And I am SURE someone will notice you looking in the window. It is kind of hard to hide a nose like yours. But remember Trisha? I suggest you hide for the night and try to catch us tomorrow. As we will enjoy the state of the art kitchens at one of the homes provided to us by Global Resort Homes and then lay our heads down for a long nights sleep…wondering what Saturday will hold for us!

Wow! Busy day! Tired of chasing me yet Alligator? No? Well you just wait Alligator! Wait until I tell you about Saturday at Brandcation! Come back in a couple of days for a heads up on our Saturday Adventures at Brandcation.

Oh and by the way Alligator…Do you know who is sponsoring Brandcation? Well, the sponsors of Brandcation mentioned in this post are:

Global Home Resorts
Florida Eco Tours
Sleuths Mystery Dinner Show

And you know what else Alligator? If you insist on chasing me, you will have my personal sponsors to answer to. They are:

Good Boy Roy
Executive Gift Shoppe
ShoppeCharlotte.com
Caretta Caretta
A Touch of Whimsy
Nuts About Granola

If anyone reading this would like to sponsor me and help me fight off the Alligator, check out how to Sponsor Me at Brandcation.

Want to know what we are doing on our final days at Brandcation?

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

Sep
24

YEAH! Kissimmee! (Brandcation)

by Katie

WHOA!!! My Brandcation trip is only about 6 weeks away! Where did the time go??? I am so excited!!! What is Brandcation? It is a conference where bloggers come together as a group to learn and grow as bloggers, as people, and build strong relationships. It is a place bloggers can get together and support each other, as well as support and promote the companies they represent!

Because it is only a small group going, 35 bloggers, I believe it will be truly and learning and growing experience for me. Generally someone who blogs has a love for writing, and when you actually first start blogging it is usually, “What the heck do I do now?”. You write, but what do you write? Who do you connect with? What can you do to build your blog, strengthen your relationships? Let me tell you, there is always some new technology, some new social outlet, it is my opinion that in the blogging world you can never stop learning. If you do, then you become stagnant and become bored easily.

This is why I am so happy to be able to attend Brandcation! Because it is not a classroom setting, but rather a relationship building experience, I do believe I will be learning quite a bit!

So what exactly will we be doing? A LOT as a matter of fact! My lips are sealed right now, but I can tell you this that seriously, there is no way this would be possible without Trisha from MomDot, Nicole from Good Golly Miss Blondie, and Kim from What’s That Smell?.

And thanks to Global Home Resorts the Brandcation Bloggers will be staying in Luxury Resort Homes!

Check out the house I get to stay in:

WOW! Absolutely Gorgeous! Thanks Bobbie from One Scrappy Mommy for creating the collage! And thanks again to Global Home Resorts for providing us with such posh living arrangements while we are there!

And to my personal sponsors. I could not have done this without you. I have been so fortunate to work with some GREAT people, great companies, and great products. I just want to thank you all personally for supporting me in this Brandcation Adventure – And let me tell you it will literally be an Adventure!

Good Boy Roy

A company where a Mom saw the potential in her sons work so much so that she is helping him create a business that will last him a lifetime…and he is only 15. Zack Hix designs T-Shirts based on the characters he creates, with the main character being Good Boy Roy.

As Zack says, “One day my mom decided to surprise me and have Roy put on a shirt. I loved it, and so did other people. And the rest as they say is history!! The first character that came to life on a shirt was Roy, mom thought we should call him Good Boy Roy. Like me he really is a good boy but sometimes does things he should not do. And that is what I have always said after something happens that I did not mean to happen, I always say “I really am a good boy”, so Roy is kind of my alter ego. I am making new characters almost every day and will put the new designs up on my website as I get them created. So, by now, Good Boy Roy has a whole gang of friends I have created, and they too are now on shirts.”

You should check out their shirts – they are so cute and they can even do custom shirts!!!

Thanks again Good Boy Roy!!!

Executive Gift Shoppe

Executive Gift Shoppe is an online shop that offers unique, engraved & personalized gifts at affordable prices. It is not just limited to wedding and professional gifts (although they do have LOTS of those!). You can find a gift for just about anyone here. Business Card Holders – They have them…and don’t we all need one of those? Or a Swiss Army knife? Those definitely come in handy.

But Executive Gift Shoppe is more than just the products they sell. The people I have worked with are very kind, and truly want their customers to be satisfied. Fast Shipping, excellent customer service, and great products. Could you ask for anything else?

Thanks again Executive Gift Shoppe!

ShoppeCharlotte

ShoppeCharlotte is local website that provides information, coupons, and much more to the local business of Charlotte and surrounding areas.

Whether you are visiting Charlotte, moving to Charlotte, or live in our beautiful city, you will find their website offers a plethora of information on restaurants, shopping, and things to do in Charlotte. Plus, check out Charlotte Coupons page for quality savings in and around Charlotte, NC.

Thanks again ShoppeCharlotte!

Caretta Caretta

One of the first companies I ever worked with, Caretta Caretta is truly a one of a kind place to shop and their customer service is AWESOME! Caretta Caretta offers one of a kind, hand made items in addition to jewelry, Turkish towels, and Custom T-Shirts. Plus they off FREE SHIPPING on all domestic orders. Can you say AWESOME?

Caretta Caretta works with independent artists from around the globe to bring you unique fashion for you and your home. We want you to display your personality through the work of independent artists and support independent women.

Caretta Caretta is also providing me with Custom T-Shirts to wear on my trip.

Thanks again Caretta Caretta!

A Touch of Whimsy is a “Whimsical Place for Unique, Personalized Stationary”. And that is no lie! From adorable luggage tags, to play date cards, memo sheets, lunch boxes, water bottles, and everything in between, A Touch of Whimsy products will bring a smile to your face! The products are so cute it is really hard to describe them in person.

A Touch of Whimsy provided me with with the Black/Pink Stripe Personalized Bag Tag.
Thanks A Touch of Whimsy!

Nuts About Granola is a Mother/Daughter run business out of Pennsylvania. Sharing their love for nutrition and cooking, it all started when Sarah (the daughter) decided to package their granola up and sell it as a fund raiser at her college. One thing led to another and in 2008 Nuts About Granola, llc. was incorporated – built on the foundation of providing the freshest products from local resources to consumers.

Nuts about Granola is graciously providing me a bag of Granola for my travels!! Thanks Nuts about Granola!

Many Brandcation Updates Coming! Be on the Lookout!

Categories : Brandcation - Global Getaway

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