CookieCon 2017!!!!

I know I don't really post here, but I had such an amazing time at CookieCon '17 that I felt compelled to share my experience. This post will probably get a little personal, and will have tons of links in it, so please bear with me.
For those that don't know, CookieCon is an event that happens every 18 months or so for us "cookiers" around the world. For some, the fun starts Wednesday with pre-event classes where you can immerse yourself in a four-hour class taught by some incredibly talented cookiers from around the globe.

Each jewel represents where a Cookier is from. Can you guess which color mine is?

I flew out early Thursday morning and arrived that afternoon. One of my childhood best friends picked me up and we went to lunch and caught up on life. She introduced me to Cafe Rio, where I had my favorite nacho meal of the trip. Lol. After we ate, talked, shared, and laughed, she took me to the hotel to check in and begin my weekend of cookie-bonding.

I didn't waste any time after checking in. I dropped my suitcase in my room and headed down to the convention floor. There, I checked into CookieCon, got my swag bag, put my name tag on, and added a jewel sticker to the map. "Hi"s were exchanged with familiar faces, and hugs given to friends I'd made from my first CookieCon. Then I headed to my room to dump my swag bag and check out my goodies! It...was...AMAZING!!!  

Here's a list of where to find all of these awesome supplies: Cookie Connection, 2 T's Stencils, Sugar Stamp, Country Kitchen Sweet Art, Renshaw Americas, Sweet Southern Stencils, Designer Stencils, Artfully Designed Creations, Killer Zebras, Stencil Genie, BRP Box Shop, Sweet Sugarbelle, Bobbi's Cookies & Cutters, Autumn Carpenter, Bee''s Baked Art Supplies, Sinful Cutters, Truly Mad Plastics, The Fussy Pup, Ann Clark Cookie Cutters, Springerle Joy, The Cookie That Saved Christmas, Notta Cookie, Yoli's Yummies, R&M International, Tammy Holmes

After a very emotional keynote speech on Thursday night, I met up with a few of my Bay Area Decorators (B.A.D.). We kept it super chill and just went to a pub across the street for dinner and drinks. I feel like a spoiled brat saying this, but those nachos, aside from the rainbow colored chips, didn't cut it. Lol. We headed back to the hotel and I turned in fairly early because I had an idea of what Friday would be like, and I wanted to FaceTime with hubby and the kids.

Friday, I had an early breakfast with my B.A.D. family: Kathy, Nancy from Auntie Cookie's Sweet Treats , and Sherree from Sugared Designs. After breakfast, we headed to the convention floor for some shopping! Those who know me, know I hate shopping--unless its for new cookie cutters! Lol.

Free cookie cutters and cutters I bought from CookieCon '17.

At 9am, we headed to the first class of seven for the day. I won't go into too much detail about the classes--because that's the fun of CookieCon. Just know that our instructors are all amazing and knowledgeable in what they were teaching. The very first class I sat next to Jennifer, a young lady in a Phillies shirt. I knew if she liked baseball even just a little, we were going to become friends. Lol. She did--and we are. It was her first CookieCon, and we spent a lot of time, off and on, together over the weekend. The B.A.D. ladies and I adopted Jennifer as an honorary BA Decorator, and she joined us for lunch that day. To say that our lunch was an adventure was an understatement. Just know that we ate at a local bistro, there were seven of us, and only one girl working the entire restaurant! I ended up back at the same place for dinner and the same young lady was working! She remembered me, and took my order even though they were closed. How sweet is that! I took my dinner back to my room to hang out since I had invited some people to hang out after the infamous Orson Gygi shopping trip.

I only had a few new CookieCon friends come hang out, but I already feel like they'll be lifelong friends: Suzy from Suzy Bee Bakery who was super sweet (and I haven't forgotten that I owe you an IG tutorial. Lol. Call me), Amanda from Nanny&Weebs who was hilarious, Gina from 2 Chicks and a Cookie who was super kind, and Kaitlin who was just plain adorable! Gina, Kaitlin and I bonded instantly when we all nerded out over Pokemon. Lol. Everyone left by 1am and I managed to get a few hours of sleep before my busy Saturday began.

Saturday morning was awesome! It started by having breakfast with Sherree, Suzy, and the infamous Ann Clark of Ann Clark Cookie Cutters! I felt like I was eating breakfast with Cookie Royalty! Lol. After breakfast, I FaceTimed with the kiddos and let them get a glance at the amazing Sugar Show (a cookie contest with a few different entry categories.) The non-judged section was where a ton of us contributed to Cookie Town!!! 

Photo by unidentified Cookier.

After talking with the kids, I kind of wandered around the convention floor. I popped into open decorating classes, learned to make toothpick roses, shopped, and talked with cookie friends--old and new. I felt really lucky at lunch because I had a chance to have some bonding time with Lisa from The Bearfoot Baker, her hubby, Jennifer, and a new friend: Bev from Bev Made Cookies. We joked, laughed, and had an overall great time getting to know more about each other. After lunch, I went to another open class and then got to meet the incredible Stephanie from The Hungry Hippopotamus. After that, I finally got to meet Leann from Annie's Naked Cookies--we've been following each other's journeys on social media for years now! Before the banquet, I had a super fun, super productive Pokemon hunting trip with new friends Gina and Kaitlin. Lol.

That evening, I met up with all of my B.A.D. ladies and we put on our "special" aprons before heading to the banquet. We took the Americolor food gels and made our own California-specific versions to honor our favorite brand. 

Top row: Nancy, me, Kathy, Barbara, Bettina. Bottom row: Sherree, Kerry, Linda, Pamela, Gina, Liz, Pat, Thelma, Sandy, and Maria
Photo courtesy of Lindy Wall & CookieCon 2017.

The banquet was great! We turned heads in our aprons, we laughed, took photos, and said good-bye to our cookie friends. The best part was getting to see all of the winners from the Sugar Show entries. I'm so proud of my California-friend Jodi from Kids to College Cookie Creations for taking 1st place in the Anything Goes category!!! The banquet ended with one of my favorite moments pictured here:

All of us saying "Thank You" to Karen and Mike for putting on an amazing event.
Photo courtesy of Lindy Wall and CookieCon 2017.

After the banquet was Cookie Karaoke. All I can say was it was fun, loud, and the next day I had no voice. Lol. What happens at Cookie Karaoke, stays at Cookie Karaoke!

The next morning, because of a late night combined with daylight savings, felt impossible to get up for. But, a late night was not going to stop me from finally spending quality time with one of my favorite people: Diane from Mama Mayer Bakery. She's definitely the punniest cookier I know, and I just love how her mind works! After breakfast, it was time to go home.

I learned a lot this CookieCon. I gained new friendships, and strengthened others. I get to walk away with memories I'll never forget. The cookie world is this vast, knowledgeable, gifted group of people with different backgrounds, different experiences, and different skill levels. I'm so thankful that we have this time to get together, share, learn, laugh, and bond. #MyCookieFriendsAreReal
To view more photos from my trip, click here :D