{TBScon day 3 | gingham set at navy pier}

Photography by Lindsay
Gingham Two-Piece Set - Top & Shorts // Sandals // Yellow Tassel Earrings // Straw Purse //

J Necklace // Mirrored Ray-Ban Sunglasses // Bite Lipstick

Day 3... It's a good thing I had had a lot of pasta the night before because after all of the wine that Laura, Lindsay and I drank at Eataly that night... well, you can guess. However, I was ready for the speakers on Saturday morning - the view of the conference room alone was enough to get me excited for the day! I have been following blogs since wayyyy before I started my own. I love learning advice from other bloggers first hand. 

We kicked it off with Cathy and Jessica giving us some stats about The Blog Societies and then moved on to Dandy and Grace talking about traveling. This topic was what I was hoping for the most. I've attempted to kick off the travel section of my blog this year - it's something that was missing from my life and really brings me great joy. Dandy and Grace are a travel duo that I've been following for awhile - they are true #girlbosses. They gave us the run down on how they pick a location, to how they pitch a brand, and then their game plan when they arrive... scouting out locations, outfits they bring, tripod use, hiring a photographer, etc. Y'all I've never been so inspired to email a PR company! Every bit of info was fascinating.

Then the always gorgeous Rachel Martino took the stage. Can we talk about a more perfect human? She made every girl in the room feel like we were best friends and that her chat was just a catch up session between two best friends. Adorable. She gave us some great life advice along with the story of how she went full-time. I'll let you in on a little secret... almost every blogger wishes they could go full time but can't let go of the ties to their job or are simply too damn scared (seriously. If you're reading this as a blogger and thinking 'nah' then you know you've had the thought at least once). We all love our jobs if we aren't full time but seeing people like Rachel turn her hobby into a career is awe inspiring. She got down to the nitty gritty about money and expenses. So real and still inspiring. Did I mention she's bilingual? She has TWO YouTube channels - one English and one French. And then she followed me... AH! #fangirl

Last but not least was Brittany from Lawyer Lookbook. Can we talk about girl power for a second? Because I was feeling all of the "yas honey" comments when she schooled us about FTC guidelines and how to write your own contracts. Moral of her speech: stop letting brands own you and STOP doing work for free. Now you can understand my "yas honey" comments ;) I love women who empower other women!

We wrapped up the speeches (before an adorable outdoor picnic lunch with Charming Charlie) with a brand panel. Questions such as "how do you stand out in a brand pitch" to "what is the outcome you want from a collaboration" to "how do you find us" were asked. It was insightful to hear the other side of the collaboration give their input. 

After lunch, my roomies and I went to the 3 Arts Cafe (inside the Restoration Hardware store) and sipped on rose while eating grilled cheese and burrata - my favorite stop in all of Chicago. We sat on the roof and reflected on the wild weekend that we'd had and everything that we learned. I love those two girls with all my heart - it was amazing just being able to see them and feel like old times!

That wraps up my TBScon days! I'll be doing a Chicago Travel Guide soon and will share everywhere I ate and my favorite things to see and do! As usual, if you have any question feel free to leave a comment below or email me.

Love Always,