Last week local radio station BEN FM hosted a mom blogger event at Sugarhouse Casino in Philly. Joey  Fortman was the hostess with the mostest!

There was plenty of music, drinks and some fabulous giveaways including trip from Apple Vacations!

Read more at Real Mom Media.

photo credit: iyampam.com

Once again, the Philly Social Media Moms brought the weather to our hands-on Writing Workshop last Saturday. A small but hardy group of women tromped through the snow and ice to join us at the Radisson Valley Forge for a morning of networking and writing instruction. Other ticket-holders joined us from home via Skype, and many more followed along as we tweeted our way through the morning. #PSMM was trending on Twitter by the end of the morning!

photo credit: iyampam.com

Cecily Kellogg guided us through writing exercises and instruction on writing for all types of audiences. The smaller-than-usual group was perfect for sharing and gleaning feedback, and we all left the workshop armed with a new bio in our pockets and tremendous feedback to help us take our blogs and business to the next level.

photo credit: iyampam.com

Therapon Skin was our Coffee Break Sponsor, and every woman took home samples of their skincare regimen to try.

Our next workshop is scheduled for February 18, and the topic is Pitching and Proposals. You won’t want to miss that! Sign up for our PSMM Events Newsletter to be notified when tickets go on sale. PSMM Workshops are open to all women interested in blogging and social media education. PSMM membership is not a requirement.

Yes, it’s true. December 29, Philadelphia Social Media Moms and their families crossed over the bridge to meet a T-Rex in Trenton.

Last month, Jersey Family Fun organized a Family Fun Day in Trenton to give families something fun to do and show off how family friendly and affordable a trip to Trenton can be. We had an amazing time.

Karla's kids became part of the exhibit. Their bodies actually fit in the footprint of one dinosaur. Photo credit Jennifer Auer | JerseyFamilyFun.com

We started our day by meeting up at the New Jersey State Museum. Paleontologists from the Field Station: Dinosaur exhibition took us on a tour of the dinosaur fossils on exhibit.

Did you know that the first dinosaurs discovered were found in New Jersey?

Paleontologists Dave and Jason shared with us some interesting facts and took questions from the kids. From there, the kids joined Sam, the Dinosaur Troubador in a dinosaur sing a long.

Sam, the Dinosaur Troubadour lead us in a sing a long. Photo credit Jennifer Auer | JerseyFamilyFun.com

Well maybe it was something about the kids singing but it got the attention of a certain T-Rex. As the kids were still singing, he headed around the corner, slowing peaking in on the kids before making his grand entrance. The T-Rex  snacked a little on one of our guests, caught on film by the Trenton Times. Then, he posed for pictures and allowed the kids to pet him.

Karla did a great job catching her kid's reaction to the T Rex's grand entrance. Karla Trotman | blog.BellyButtonBoutique.com

Photo Credit Hillary Chybinski | hacscrap.com

When the show was over, we moved onto the New Jersey State Museum Planetarium to see the Laser Nutcracker Planetarium Show. Our speaker showed us what the sky would have looked like during Christmas years ago when Washington crossed the river. Then, we all put on our 3D glasses to enjoy the show. While holiday music representing Christmas, Hanuakah, and Kwanzaa played, neon images danced and some of us even sang along.

For lunch we reserved a room in a nearby building. Most of us brought our own lunches, but we ended our lunch with yummy goldfish and Milano cookies from Pepperidge Farms and doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.

The action didn’t end with lunch though. Some of our families returned to enjoy the New Jersey State Museum while others headed to the New Jersey State House. Barbara, our guide, led us on an extensive tour of the State House and shared a wealth of information about the State house’s history and symbolism of many of the details.

No, we didn’t meet the governor, but we did score a bonus. Since the assembly was not in session, we got to see many areas that would normally have been off limits.

Creating patchwork quilts at the New Jersey State Museum Hillary Chybinski | hacscrap.com

Hillary Chybinski | hacscrap.com

Jennifer Auer | JerseyFamilyFun.com

After our tour was over, older children participated in a Make a Law program in the visitor center classroom. We hear they even passed a bill. As younger kids waited outside the classroom, they passed the time playing with the interactive exhibits and building the State House with blocks.

Waiting for the Make a Law program to begin. Photo Credit Jennifer Auer | JerseyFamilyFun.com

Building the State House with blocks. Photo Credit Jennifer Auer | JerseyFamilyFun.com

Everyone had a fun time, and the best part was hearing parents say they didn’t realize that Trenton had all that to enjoy. It does! And you don’t have to be a blogger to enjoy it. Both the New Jersey State Museum and New Jersey State House offer free admission and free parking throughout the year.

The event was organized by Jersey Family Fun and was open to the public.

On Dec 3rd a few PSMM Bloggers and their families gathered for lunch at the 263 Marketplace located in Warminster, PA. The 263 Marketplace is a growing indoor shopper’s village that opened just last November. You can find a little bit of everything there including: antiques, apparel, children’s boutique items, hand-made jewelry, and local wine.

PSMM member, Nichole Ann, organized the event and the marketplace graciously hosted and treated everyone to lunch.

While the moms gathered and took advantage of their opportunity to chat in person, the kids had fun making ornament crafts provided by Lambkins Children’s Boutique.

A few ornaments made by the kids.

Then the marketplace event coordinator, Sven from 263 Lock & Key, gave us a tour of the market and told us about upcoming events. And the bloggers gave twitter a virtual tour of the market by tweeting and sharing things that caught their attention during the tour. You can see highlights of our twitter tour here! A few bloggers, including Diane from Knitting Zeal and Nancy from The Wedding Queen, later wrote up personal reviews of the market or favorite shops.

Gift Bags!

A number of the the family-run businesses within the market that we were introduced to during the tour also contributed to gorgeous gift bags that were given to each blogger.

Best of all, the market arranged a surprise visit from Santa. You should have seen the kid’s faces when he came rolling around the corner on roller skates during our tour of the market! The 263 Marketplace Santa is extremely generous; not only can you take free pictures with him but he also gives out stockings full of gifts (while supplies last) to any child who visits.

And speaking of generosity, some of the bloggers who came brought board books or purchased them with at special discount from Just Children’s Books for an amazing local charity called Team Abby. Team Abby provides care packages to families with hospitalized babies and is run by another PSMM member who did not attend nor knew what we were up to!

Big thanks to the 263 Marketplace and the following vendors for making this event possible: Uncle Joe Dautcher’s Farm Market, 263 Lock & Key, Hina’s Eyebrow Threading, Crabby Jean’s, Philly Apparel Company, Rosann’s Jewelry, CoolRays Tees, Joyful Teirs, Beautiful Baths, Carpet Buying Services, JMT Awnings, Unique Peddler, Bennick & Co, Malinda’s Eyewear, and Rina’s Rocks!

Friendship comes in many forms. Animals to animals, owners to pets, and blogger to bloggers. Some of my greatest friendships I have from blogging. So it would only be natural that Philadelphia Social Media Moms and their families joined each other last Saturday night for the Opening Night of Charlotte’s Web at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. We celebrated our friendships and we celebrated the friendships between Wilbur and Fern and Charlotte and Wilbur.

I always love Opening Night at The Arden because they provide so many great activities for the kids. This night was no different. Just take a look at the pictures below. There was spider making, photos with Bubbles the pig, face painting, trivia games about spiders, adjective webs to be spun, actors to be interviewed and delicious refreshments to be eaten.

Face painting and Snout Making - Photo credit to Jo-Lynne Shane

Adjective Web - Photo credit Jennifer Auer

Whack A Mole - Photo Credit Caitlin Sigler Knight

Interviewing Charlotte - Photo Credit to Jo-Lynne Shane

Franklin Fountain ice cream at Charlotte's Web Photo Credit to Jennifer Auer

In full disclosure, The Arden Theatre provided several bloggers and our families with tickets to see Charlotte’s Web.

Back in the summertime, I got it in my head that I wanted to have a holiday party for our Philly Social Media Moms — something fun and festive where everyone could just hang out and visit and maybe take home a fun gift or three. Debbie and Sarah offered to help, and suddenly Cyber Monday Events was born!

The idea behind Cyber Monday Events is to have one last hurrah before the holiday season, where brands can get their best products into the hands of influential mom bloggers and in front of their audiences. We were overwhelmed with the response we received when we pitched our idea to some of our favorite brands, and soon we had our Party Sponsors lined up and many offers for swag and giveaway prizes.

Mega thanks to Little Miss Muffin, KooKoo Birds, and BigJigs Toys for making this night possible.

Our event was graciously hosted by Dave & Busters at the Plymouth Meeting location. They had recently renovated a room for hosting group parties such as this one, and we were thrilled with this beautiful space.

During and after the party, attendees took advantage of the games, and I hear there was a pretty competitive game of Skeeball going on down there!

Bai supplied us with plenty of their delicious coffeefruit drinks, and we had wine from a local winery, Paradocx Vineyards. We all loved the presentation in decorative paint cans.

And let’s just say, everyone took home way more than three gifts. Our swag bags were filled to overflowing. Our swag bags included items from many of those brands as well as Fairy Tales Hair Care, Horizon Dairy, Mabel’s Labels, Ohanarama, Avon and Suave.

Besides that, we raffled off over 20 big-ticket items from Little Miss Muffin, KooKoo Birds, BigJigs Toys, Corolle, Paddywhack Lane, KaZAM Bikes, LEGO, Villeroy & Boch, ASTRA, and Bai.

Cradles to Crayons was there as well, as our charity partner. Attendees brought socks and underwear to donate to needy families in our area.

I think it’s safe to say, a good time was had by all!

Thanks again to our sponsors for making this event possible!

Our third PSMM Workshop packed the house once again, despite Snowtober’s unwelcome appearance. We tromped through the rain and sleet and snow to hear Debbie Bookstaber of Bloganthropy and Mamanista speak about how to monetize our blogs using affiliate marketing.

Our sponsor for the October workshop was Horizon®, makers of sustainable, organic dairy products.

At Horizon®, we care about healthy families because we’re parents, too. We believe in making healthy choices easy with wholesome, nourishing organic foods we’d proudly serve on our own tables. And as longtime champions of organic, we know that it all begins on the farm. Our network of over 600 organic family farms spans the country — and we’re working hard to expand it every day.

Follow them on Facebook and on Twitter to stay apprised of new products and special promotions throughout the year.

We will be taking a break for the holidays, and workshops will resume on January 21st with Cecily Kellogg leading a hands-on writing workshop. Local bloggers will NOT want to miss this! Tickets will go on sale after the holidays.

Part of the benefit of the workshops is the time to network and socialize (to say nothing of the fact that no one is pulling on our sleeves, begging to watch TV). We usually go out for lunch afterwards so as to prolong the fun. Here’s part of our group, posing after the Affiliate Marketing Workshop before venturing out into the snow and sleet.

photo credit: Babypop.com

If you are a local brand who might be interested in partnering with us on future workshops, contact Jo-Lynne Shane.

PSMM members, Trina O’Boyle and Jessica Mudrick organized the 2nd annual Philadelphia Costume Swap in Swarthmore, PA this past weekend. Many PSMM members were in attendance, including Sherry from Babypop Designs with her custom superhero capes.

PSMM Members stopped to pose for a photo.

National Costume Swap Day is TODAY October 9th. People are celebrating this movement throughout the whole month of October so please check to see if you can find one in your area.

The 2nd Annual Costume Swap was a great success. The night was filled with eager moms looking for costumes, yummy food, and local businesses showing off their wonderful products and services and women just enjoying a night out.

Read more about the 2nd Annual Philadelphia Costume Swap at O’Boy Organic.

PSMM Members Erica and Tina created Girls Lunch Out events “to give women in social media a place to connect, share ideas and collaborate all over lunch!” Their third Girls Lunch Out took place on October 1st at Casona, a Cuban restaurant in Collingswood, New Jersey.

Casona is located in an adorable Victorian home on Haddon Avenue, with private residences lining the streets.

Featuring a menu ranging from traditional Cuban fare to Nouveau Latin cuisine, Casona is the home to truly innovative dishes such as mouth-watering vegetarian versions of traditional Cuban favorites as well as an in-house coffee bar and panaderia.

Lunch was truly delicious, and the chef took into account any food restrictions by offering gluten free and vegetarian entrées for those who needed them.

As if that wasn’t enough, The Sweet Life Bakery in Vineland treated us to salted caramel chocolate cupcakes for dessert, and we enjoyed wines from Unionville Vineyards (compliments of WineTwits) and mojitos made with Zacapa Rum.

We all had a great time networking and socializing and experiencing pampering hand and back massages by Verde Salon of Collingswood.

Nancy, Founder of  Joy of Sox Foundation, inspired us all with the story of their mission to give socks to the homeless. Attendees brought sock donations to benefit Joy of Sox.

Everyone left with swag or door prizes from Jackie Collins, Picaboo, Goody Hair, Belly Button Boutique, Daily Deals for Moms, The Quilted Nest, Yogawood, babybdesigns, Charm, and Therapon Skin.

I think it’s fair to say, a good time was had by all!

Thanks, Tina and Erica for organizing a fun and profitable event for local women in social media!

A few weeks ago, The Martha Stewart Show put out a call for groups to apply to be in the audience. PSMM member Hillary applied for our group, and lo and behold, we received in invite!

There was a group of seven ladies from the Philly Social Media Moms, and we were escorted in and shown to seats in the middle front of the audience.  We were good girls and followed ALL of Martha’s dress requirements.

Jessica, Valerie and Sherri at The Martha Stewart Show

Jen, Trina and Jessica at The Martha Stewart Show

I was absolutely speechless over the beauty of the set design. . .

Read more about the trip at Hillary’s blog, My Scraps.

PSMM members in attendance were Hillary, Sherrie, Jessica, Jessica, Trina, Valerie and Jen.