Southpaw's Birthday Party at US Cellular Field

In our house, we are pretty big Chicago White Sox fans, so I wanted to make sure I shared this cool event with you .

Sunday June 3, 2012 marks Chicago White Sox mascot, Southpaw's birthday party celebration! The first 10,000 kids 13 and under will receive a Southpaw Mini Plush Pal. We are hoping to attend the game, maybe we will see you there?

BABW Connect ~ Day 1 (part one)

Today started off with a bang. Seriously. I took a look at the itinerary for the day and realized we were not going to get a seconds rest! But I was so excited to see that, because that is SO me. I am the mother to TWO toddlers, I'm not real familiar with what some people call "down-time". And seeing that I was going to get a chance to hear so many stories and listen to so many influential people speak, I was pumped and ready for the day.

Maxine Clark, the Founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-a-Bear started off the morning with a few influential words of wisdom and specifics and stats on the company. Did you know that 30% of the guests at Build-a-Bear are boys?! And the average age and gender of a Build-a-Bear guest is a 10 year old girl. I was so happy to hear this knowing that I have many, many years of creating memories and stories with my OWN kids, and they will still be in to it for many years to come.  Maxine also said "Shopping is about Dreaming" She made me think about how true it is that we remember exactly what we were wearing, or smelling, or feeling when certain, influential events have happened in our lives. It made me think back to the day I met my husband and how I specifically recall what pants he was wearing, and what shirt, and how he had a silver chain wallet hanging out of his right pocket. And it made me think the furniture in the delivery room when Jonah was born, and what was on the TV in the delivery room when Lily was born.  And I know these aren't specific "shopping" experiences, but these are emotional experiences. And isn't EVERYTHING emotional?

Next to speak after Maxine, was a great friend of hers, Adrienne Weiss. I have to be honest, I had no idea who Adrienne was, and I wasn't sure what she was talking about was going to have much relevancy to myself and my blog. But once she started talking she made points like:
     
          ~Brand is about story-telling
          ~Become a club people want to be a part of (i.e. Starbucks)
          ~Think about your brand as a country, with it's own language, rituals, and customs

But when she really engaged me. I mean, really pulled me in and made me want to be her best friend and pick her brain and make her hire me as one of her employees is when she said;

          "Get up 30,000 feet and have a moment with yourself and figure out your
           story.  Where's the heart? Unless you have an emotional piece of it, your
           missing where the story lies."

And truly, isn't that what this is all about? Figuring ourselves out? Just because we are mother's, it doesn't mean we have it all together. All the pieces don't always fit together perfectly and things aren't handed to us by any means. But taking that second (whether it has to do with blogging, or your career, or your life overall), doesn't this statement hold true everywhere and anywhere? I think deep down, we all want to leave some sort of a legacy behind us. Not necessarily for us, but for those beyond us, particularly our kids. Being an empty shell, going through the motions is meaningless and empty. Don't you want to fill your heart up and then give pieces of it out to everyone? Branding is not solely external and easy to understand and clear-cut. We are setting the stage for others within our blogging brand, why not set a phenomenal example?

And that's what the Build-a-Bear Huggable Hero's are about. And that is what the Build-aBear company is about. They give back in ways you cannot even imagine.

More tomorrow...

BABW Connect ~ Pre-Conference

Recently I was invited to attend the first ever Build-a-Bear brand building learning session in St. Louis, MO that is going on this weekend and I OF COURSE said "Yes!".  I was so excited to get a chance to meet with the Build a Bear people and get to hang out with fellow Mommy Bloggers (old friends and getting to meet new ones), and I am even more excited that this weekend is finally here.

We arrived yesterday and got a chance to take a short sneak peek of the area around Clayton, MO. There are some really amazing, old, houses that I am sure Todd would love. Hey Honey, have you ever thought about moving to St Louis??

And we ended up getting a quick dinner in a college town nearby. Tons of hangouts and even a very diverse and organic band playing on the street corner.

And did I mention how absolutely amazingly sweet our hotel rooms are? A king bed ALL TO MY SELF?! Wow.

We headed to bed pretty early, because we knew we had a super long day of learning and networking ahead of us. Honestly, I had a horrible time sleeping and woke up a million times. Leaving my baby girl (and my son and hubby) was really hard on me. Thanks to some of the awesome ladies here for their words of encouragement and promises to help me get through these few days by keeping my mind off of the family back home.

I finally got to sleep and of course, morning came too soon. But I got a chance to take a shower! And for some of you other mommy's out there know, showering is a hot commodity when at home. Knowing I got to take a shower, TWO days in a row was well worth the 5 hour drive. Oh, and of course all of the amazing things I got to experience the next day were indescribable! But that is for....tomorrow's post.