Adventures in New York City as a blogger, as a Latina, and as a hostess: BlogHer 2010

This past weekend, the super-mega-insane-blogger-fest known as BlogHer came into town, bringing with it over 2,000 bloggers from NYC and most from out of town.  Because of this I had the opportunity to spend time with some friends from near and far, and hang out in some fabulous NYC spots, which can make any one’s trip or night out a fun one.

My darling friend MJ Tam from Chicagonista hosted a Afternoon Tea in The Palm Court at the Plaza. Afternoon tea is held daily from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and reservations are required. The tea is wonderful, the pastries are pretty and delightful, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing like experiencing it all at the luxurious Plaza Hotel. I saw families with children all enjoying the experience as well, so do not hesitate to consider it, especially if you think your child might enjoy it.

After tea, it was dinner with a wonderful group of foodie friends for authentic Chinese food at Congee Village (Allen St.). Now, when I say authentic, I mean AUTHENTIC. We’re talking chicken feet, pig’s stomach, jelly fish, sea cucumber, and all sorts of crazy, yet delicious culinary adventures on a platter (watch out Anthony Bourdain, I’m coming!) that requires little thought and much tasting. There was a group of 10 of us: Kim of The Yummy Mummy, Jennie of In Jennie’s Kitchen, Marc of No Recipes, Jessica of Food Mayhem, Vanessa of ChefDruck Musings, Kian of Red Cook, Cathy of Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen, Gail of One Tough Cookie NYC, and Jessica of Mommas Gone City.

We sat in a large, lower level back room, the kind that made me think this is where the Chinese version of The Godfather would probably take place, with some rooms decorated with velvet couches and very ornate chairs and tea sets. Our room had a large round table with about 12 chairs, and a large karaoke machine with television which we tried out, though not to the fullest since most songs were not in English!

Yet still, I had a wonderful time. Kian made sure we were all taken care of as he instructed the waiter about our group order, drinks, and other wishes. I dropped the F-bomb enough times to make any Brooklynite proud and I laughed. So much it took me hours to come off of the high from my joy.

The rest of my weekend was a whirlwind, much of which consisted being one of what is now being called the “Fabulous Seven” Latina bloggers chosen by VMe television, the fastest growing Spanish television network in history and part of the beloved family of PBS programing, to represent them. It is the first time that a major company has hosted Latina bloggers to attend a conference, especially one of this magnitude. And after a lovely lunch meeting network executives and being pumped with pride over the incredible quality of t.v. programing by the network.

I am still trying to to wrap my head around the fact that someone, anyone, would be interested in talking to me about blogging…as a Latina. It is something that I can’t describe too well in this post, but suffice to say that I am just thrilled, delighted, proud, and incredibly emotional over being a part of the VMe Ambassadorship (more on that in another post) and to be part of such an awesome group of Latina bloggers who are: Ana Lilian Flores – SpanglishBaby, Carrie Ferguson Weir – Tiki Tiki Blog, Melanie Edwards – ModernMami.com, Rory Lassanske – Mamá Contemporánea, Roxana A. Soto – SpanglishBaby and MimosBlog, and Silvia Martinez – Mamá Latina Tips.

From the studio I ran to begin my responsibilities as hostess, which consisted of a NYC movie sites tour with On Location Tours co-hosted by Jessica of MommasGoneCity.com, followed by an awesome party, also hosted by me, at the really cool Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

The party was another great way to connect with some friends while enjoying a location that is beloved by many visitors to the city. Some New Yorkers who went to the event said they had never been there before because they felt it was too “touristy” yet they couldn’t deny how fun of an attraction it was. The food was amazing, catered by Cafe Metro, and the gift bags were fun, provided by Corine of ComplicatedMama.com. Cecilia, my friend from Havana Central helped with greeting people at the door and taking tickets. To have so many new and old friends come out for the night was wonderful and I was delighted to share such a fun NYC experience with them.

That night after the party, and after a few drinks with my lovely friend Tod of TheReluctantDaddy.com at his posh Times Square high-rise, Jen of MommyInstincts, Corine, and I made it through Times Square at close to 2:00AM and walked, stopped to see some sights, missed catching a glimpse of Justin Timberlake filming his new movie “Friends with Benefits”. I crashed like a college girl in my girlfriend’s dorm, I mean, hotel room and got up the next day as if nothing had happened. Sort of.

Started the next morning with tea and breakfast at Alice’s Tea Cup hosted by Fantage, an online gaming site for kids 6 to 12. My favorite location is Chapter III on East 81st Street on the Upper East Side. Alice’s Tea Cup is such a sweet place. One of my favorites in the city. If I had a little girl I would go nuts there. Wall drawings featuring favorite scenes in the Alice in Wonderland book, little fair wings hanging from the wall, princess outfits for those little ones wanting to host a tea party of their own, it is beyond cute and girly. But the tea is very grown up and sophisticated, as is the food. With baked goods done in-house and a wonderful array of choices for the foodie big and small, Alice’s is certainly my cup of tea, especially after a long night out.

That amazing morning was later followed by this:

A NYC Nite tour sponsored by Tours4Fun was a success, thanks to the help (rescue) from Issa of SingleMamaNYC.com who hosted the second bus and gave guests an her awesome NYC insight, and Tod (TheReluctantDaddy.com), Jen (NextKidThing.com), Heidi (Coast 2 Coast Mom), and Jen (MommyInstincts.com), who, without me asking, and simply because they are such good friends and love me so, helped carry and giveaway boxes of goodies sponsored by The New Victory Theater, The Intrepid Museum, On Location Tours, Litzky PR with special treats from Ocean Spray! Not sure if it was the exhaustion or what, but I literally wanted to cry at one point as we drove by Times Square, Rockefeller Center, South Street Seaport and I shared so much of my city with others who have never been here.  It just reminded me of why I love what I do so much.  It’s truly a passion.

I ended my hosting duties on that Sunday morning after the conference had come to an end with a brunch at the Loews Regency Hotel one of the best family-friendly hotel destinations in the city. Chevy/GM partnered up with me as well, and drove our guest to the Loews Regency Ballroom where they had a chance to taste the amazing culinary magic of Loews (it truly is the best, I first  discovered this during my visit to Loews Royal Pacific in Orlando), while the kids played in the area perfectly set up by Fisher-Price. The food, the ambiance, the service: it all led to a wonderful ending.

A lot of people were met, not as many drinks were had, but friends were made, and I talked so much my voice was almost shot by the end of the weekend. I am finally getting back to my normal groove (before I have to get on a plane a few times this month). I never once stepped into a session room and I missed almost every single one of the “official” BlogHer events, but I didn’t miss out. Friends were all over, I even met with some clients and colleagues. When I was able to, I took in every single ounce of affection they gave me and I gave it right back tenfolds.

It was an amazing adventure. The best one I have had in my beloved city with friends in a long, long time!

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Tags: nyc
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