Since the spirit of Alt Summit is all about sharing the blog love, I thought I’d pop in today to share a little with you!

This is a project I finished up in January with the super sweet Jen of Lemon Drop Love. (P.S. Her tagline “When life gives you lemons, make a lemon drop” might just be my new life motto?) Jen + I worked together on the About video for her blog + I think it turned out great! Any video is better with furry friends, am I right?

So since it’s Friday + we all need some extra lovely to inspire us for the weekend, you should go check out Jen’s blog, Lemon Drop Love.

Do you have any blog love to share? What’s been your favorite read lately?

P.S. Want to work with me + make some awesome videos of your own? Head on over to Evergreen Lane!

Filed in:Video

packwell-altsummit

As I mentioned on Tuesday, this was my first Alt (actually, my first conference ever!) and I will admit that packing + planning for the trip was almost as exciting as actually going! Anyone else feel that way? One of the best parts of travel is the dreaming, I think.

You’ll be seeing more from me in the “what I actually wore” department, but I decided to split it up in to a few posts + spread them out so that we don’t have Alt overload here. So today I’m going to mention a few things that I was SO glad I packed (and a few I wish I would have).

1. Seriously, the most valuable thing I packed was a water bottle. This one by BKR is glass with a silicone sleeve + I got tons of compliments on it at the conference. Hydration is super important, especially when you’re going like crazy + talking your head off all day. Honestly, I’m horrible about drinking water unless I have it in front of me constantly…so this was a perfect solution.

2. Nothing says blogger like a bold lip, am I right? Alt is the place for fashion choices you can’t get away with in real life, and rocking a bright red lip at my home office rarely happens. Maybe it should happen more? I went au-natural in the lip department at Alt and in retrospect, I’m a little bummed I didn’t step it up!

3. Speaking of things that say blogger…I did not pack this print. But I AM going to hang it in my office because I kind of love it (and the girl who designed it). In some ways, being at Alt was a little bit like make-believe…I saw so many things in person that I had only seen on blogs (like sequin pants) and I fell in love with the blogging community again. Because it is a wonderful + supportive group to be a part of.

4. You end up carrying around a lot of stuff during the conference, but for the evening sessions (read: parties) I decided to go with this smaller clutch. Perfect size for some business cards + a phone.

5. And as far as a phone goes, I managed to last all day on one charge. But that’s because I was completely out of cellular data + didn’t want overage fees + the wifi was overwhelmed with too many people trying to use it. So if you’re the kind that wants to take tons of photos + sit on social media all day following the #altsummit hashtag, a little extra juice probably isn’t a bad idea. This battery pack by ban.do is pretty much the cutest.

What are some of your packing essentials?

Filed in:Style | Travel

mop2

This past week, I attended the whirlwind of a conference called Alt Summit. It was my first year, and I didn’t really know what to expect. But I heard someone else say that we get out of it exactly what we need, and I think that’s probably true.

I’ve been in business for almost a year now, and have been playing it fairly safe. Tiny steps, not really any marketing, a video here or there. I’ve made plans, and pushed them off. In some ways, slowness was good for me – to get my feet wet and to test the waters with the safety of day-job-land backing me up. At Alt, I realized I was probably taking things too safe, and I also learned that there are tons of opportunities out there for me. I am still a little amazed over it, but I came away from the conference with a clear action plan for the year, what I needed to be focusing on in my blog + my business, and a few awesome ideas for how I could help you (and hopefully lots of others too!) feel less intimidated by video. Because video is awesome, and totally not that scary guys.

Not to mention the motivation I needed to get some of my creative ideas for this blog out of my head! This blog will still be the travel-inspired lifestyle blog that you’ve been so graciously supporting for the past two years (TWO! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?) but we’re about to kick it up a notch. There are more style posts, a cocktail series (yes + yes), and hosts more wanderlust goodness to come!

I totally believe that things happen in the right season, and although I’ve had attending Alt on my wish list for several years now, everything finally lined up this year + the timing was perfect.

So I think it might take this introvert a few weeks to recover from being around 700 people for three days straight, but at least I can put that winter hibernation to good use. It’s time to get things in gear and make this a super-awesome year!

Filed in:Life
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  • SaraJanuary 28, 2014 - 6:50 pm

    Yes! Go and do. I’m glad you were at Alt.ReplyCancel

  • Amy EhmannJanuary 29, 2014 - 12:06 pm

    I would love to learn from you Annabelle. Lets connect and see what we can do!ReplyCancel

  • McKenzie @ Girl Loves GlamJanuary 30, 2014 - 3:53 pm

    I’m sad we didn’t meet! You are darling. I am seriously missing Alt Conference!ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzJanuary 30, 2014 - 5:01 pm

      McKenzie, you are so sweet! Thank you! I wish we had connected too…but hey, who says we can only connect at Alt right? 🙂ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzJanuary 30, 2014 - 5:22 pm

      WAIT A SECOND. I think we totally DID meet! Were you filming a video in the hallway on Saturday? If so my roomie + I definitely crashed your party + walked by in the middle of it. My card would have said my biz name, which is Evergreen Lane Productions. But if that wasn’t you…then hello + welcome to my awkward life! 😉ReplyCancel

  • JanssenJanuary 30, 2014 - 8:46 pm

    This was my first year too and I loved nearly every minute! Next year!ReplyCancel

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Hello from Salt Lake City! A very different climate than what I’m sharing with you today, but I didn’t want to leave you without a little travel goodness even though I’m soaking up blog-wisdom at Alt.

Over the New Years holiday, my family and I traveled to Palm Desert, California. It was pretty low-key and relaxing, so one day we headed out on a little nature loop trail hike.

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It was a really short drive from Palm Desert down to the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The Randall Henderson Trail leaves from the visitor’s center and is pretty easy to spot. This was the perfect trail for us, since we had a huge range of ages + abilities in our group. There were two turn around points along the way, and those of us who wanted to go the whole way could hike a total of 2.5 miles.

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So pretty! At the top of the trail, there’s a spot where you can look out over an amazing view of Palm Desert and the neighboring cities. No need to stop and read the information booklet at the marked stops, though, unless you have some small kids with you (that seems to be the target age range for the “fun facts” this nature trail offered). However, the trail is definitely still enjoyable without the nature lesson!

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There is something so cleansing and lovely about being outside, isn’t there? Whether it’s sitting in the sun by the pool (which I did a lot of this vacation) or getting your sweat on with a hike or a run, I find that the outdoors is a perfect place to clear your head and think. I’ll definitely be needing quite a few runs/bikes/hikes to sort out all the great inspiration and tips I’m learning here in Salt Lake. Anyone else find that they think better outside?

Have a great weekend!

Filed in:Everyday Adventure | Travel
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So while I was busy tying up loose ends and preparing for Alt Summit yesterday, I decided to get distracted and try my hand at a little stop-motion video. Not bad for my first attempt!

I’m a huge fan of carry-on travel (I checked a bag for the first time in years over Christmas and it just about drove me nuts) so it was a huge priority for me to fit everything for this conference into my carry-on bag. I thought I might be a little crazy when I started, since this conference is high on style and you pretty much have to pack two outfits per day, but I was able to make it happen! I’ll be (hopefully) getting some outfit photos in during the conference (wink wink, roomie Jen?) so I’ll share more outfit posts in the weeks to come, but for now, watch the video to get a sneak peek into my suitcase.

If you want to follow along on my Alt adventures, I’ll be posting on twitter and instagram!

Filed in:Style | Video
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