No one else gets as excited as I do about things like concrete and jigsaw blades and spray paint as my girls at Haven Conference do. I just got back from 3 very full days of blog classes, mingling, and DIY projects, and I just HAD to share.

One of the best things about Haven this year was the people I met at Haven last year. I’ve been quietly stalking friends like Cynthia (who apparently still does not actually have a blog) and Tracey and Linda and Anne all year, and we finally got to meet up again. It’s like summer camp for big girls! Big girls who love power tools.

I love, love, love meeting with the product vendors. I get to see what’s new and shiny, and then share that with you. Unlike your basic trade show event, companies I met at Haven last year are interested to hear what we’re doing that’s creative and interesting. In fact, several of them like Rust-Oleum and Annie Sloane Chalk Paint and HomeRight are interested in helping make the Habitat for Humanity events (coming up on 8/7 and 8/16) a really great event for you. They love reading our blog stories just as much as you do, and that’s fun for us writers.

I always learn so much here. if you see a few changes in my site and blog over the next few weeks, you’ll be seeing some Haven learnin’ going into place. I hope it makes my articles even better to read and easier to find.

While I loved every single moment of the conference, there were definitely some highlights. Meeting Mike Holmes was a thrill. Getting Mike Holmes to autograph my arm was a chuckle. Being able to brag about it the rest of conference, well, I just don’t know where to go from there.

After hanging with Mike, the only thing that could come close was seeing my Ryobi friends. Man, if I ever have to go work at a corporation again, I want to work there. They have too much fun, and they get to play with tools all day long. They are the best bunch of folks, and I thought that before they threw the best party of the summer! Thanks, guys!

Tom Bury, construction manager on Restaurant Impossible and spokesperson for FrogTape was super nice as well. Let me just say Tom is no frog! I almost completely missed seeing him, and was so glad he tweeted me before he left. It almost makes being on twitter worthwhile.

There were too many other great people to mention each and every one. but I loved catching up with Sandra Powell {Sawdust Girl}. She’s one of those big, established bloggers, but you know what they say, even those gals put their overalls on one leg at a time like the rest of us. We had some fun in her a how to Tile class, with help from the Ryobi team. 

But Sandra and I really bonded over our love for concrete. I made her promise that we’ll work together to cast concrete counter tops in one of our houses, hers or mine, I don’t care which.

My pictures stink, but they are still pretty awesome. Like that time Emily and I realized we were twinsies.

And that time Kim was perfectly framed In the foyer that was all tricked out in Tide Oxi bubbles. It was so fancy, we both thought it was decorated for a wedding. You’ll be hearing more about how much I love these Tide Oxi bubbles!

There was only one perfect way to cap off this trip. I just want to give a quick shout out to my friend Lon and his lovely family who is kind enough to let me stay win them in Atlanta so that we have time enough to catch up from the old days at the company we used to work for. They are all some of my favorite people in the whole country, but lucky for me I get to see them when I’m in Atlanta.

Sigh. Now you know just a teensy little bit about how great this event is, and I haven’t even told you about all the great tools, products, and tips that I’ll be sharing with you over the next few months. Really, it’s going to take that long to cover them all, but I’ll just give you a sneak peek at one that I love, Lacefield Designs, who makes amazing fabrics and curtain panels, all made here in the USA.

I hope you had as much fun reading about Haven as I had telling you. there’s no good way to wrap up this story except this. Hang loose until next year, Haven Mavens.