Design Bloggers Conference 2013, Recap!

This past week, the Design Bloggers Conference took place here in Los Angeles - and with that came lots of events, parties, and the arrival of so many fabulous designers and bloggers that I've come to know and love! This year, it was an honor to attend the actual conference itself, as the Material Girls were nominated for a Hall of Fame Award in the category of Best Overall Blog!

The start of the three day event kicked off with an invitation (courtesy of the lovely Bethanne of Currey & Company) to interior designer Michael Berman's house for a dinner party. We were fortunate enough to have had a really beautiful day with this amazing view of the downtown and LA basin from the backyard pool of Michael's house!

As always, I attended the party with my "design partner in crime" Christian of Maison21, pictured here with interior designer Michael Berman.

Of course, all my favorite boys where there too: Christian of M21, Andrew of Andrew Joseph PR, Sylvestre of Fuse Lighting, and Clinton of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle Magazine.

The interiors of Michael Berman's chic mid-century modern home.

Here's M21 pictured in Michael Berman's breakfast room...being silly and using a real old-school wall mounted telephone! (Even the original oven was still in the kitchen!)

When we weren't being silly, we were taking amazing pictures of the gorgeous LA view (pictured here with me is Sylvestre).

A detail shot from Michael Berman's latest collection: Bronze Studio (image courtesy of Maison21).

Fun parties aside, come Monday was the start of the Design Bloggers Conference. By noontime, Tobi Fairley (a recipient of last year's Hall of Fame Awards) emceed the awards with her hilarious presentation (read about it here - the pics are the best!). While it was an honor to be nominated, the Material Girls did not win (always next year!). However, it was thrilling to be in the room when the crowd applauded and our blog was flashed on the big screen (pictured above).

It was fun to see so many design blogger friends at the conference, and while I didn't get a chance to take many pictures, I did meet up with Sara from Decorative Carpets and Lulu & Georgia during one of the brief  breaks.

As glamourous as LA can be, an invite to an intimate dinner party hosted by Duralee at the Chateau Marmont is a great honor! On Monday evening, I joined the likes of Tobi Fairley, Brooke Carter Wallace, Christian May, Clinton Smith, Vanessa de Vargas, Andrew Joseph, and both Allison and Samantha of Duralee for a fun filled evening! (Tobi and Brooke will make you laugh to tears! Just request their impression of the girl named "Dur-ah-leeee!")

Our dinner menu for the evening - everything was SO good!

While photography is not allowed at the Chateau, we rebelled - and took more than a dozen self-portraits (me, Samantha from Duralee, and Andrew Jospeh) having fun after dinner!

Last but not least, we were each given a copy of textile designer John Robshaw's latest book (& I was lucky enough to score an extra copy for a soon to be giveaway here on the blog - stay tuned!) [Image via M21]

It was great to see so many design friends and bloggers this past week here in LA. Next year's conference will be taking place in Atlanta, GA for those of you who could not make the trip to LA. Many thanks to Lynn of Decor Arts Now for sharing her conference ticket with me!