TPT Meet-Up Fun!

Oh my goodness, friends, I just had the BEST weekend!

Have you ever met people that you hold in high regard? Like, in your eyes, they are superstars? Did you not only meet these people, but get to talk with them? Sit down, and have lunch with them? Take pictures with them? BECOME FRIENDS WITH THEM?!?

Well. I did. And it was FANTASTIC.

WHERE?!? are you asking? I was fortunate enough to attend the Nashville TPT Meet Up! Because I am just starting my TPT journey, I wasn’t sure if I should attend, but I am SO glad that I did! I had seen someone post about a Nashville meet up in the TPT forums and decided to add my email address to get more information. I didn’t really hear anything for a while, but then was invited to a Facebook group where the details eventually got hashed out.

Although I don’t live in Nashville anymore, my parents do, so I was able to come spend the night with them and then head on to the meet up. Actually, a childhood friend and neighbor (we lived three houses down from each other!) is a TPT seller, so we were able to ride together. It was so fun getting caught up with her! Kayla from All Things Third is so sweet – you should definitely check out her TPT store. ;) I was so thankful to ride together, because this was SO out of my comfort zone.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, I turned to open the door, and who did I see?? THE BROWN BAG TEACHER! I was so awkward. She said, “Hi, I’m Kate!” and I responded, “I know who you are!” Bless. Could I be any worse? We laughed that off, thankfully, and found our way to our room. You guys, Ashley had done so much to make this a fun day! We walked into the room and there was a sign in area, a drawing for door-prizes, appetizers, and then goodies at each place setting.

After signing in, I found a group and stuck to it. I met Greg Smedley-Warren from Kindergarten Smorgasboard and Jen Hartmann from Jen Hart Design right away! Talk about more celebrities in the teacher world! I love both of their work! Kristy and Misty from Teaching Times 2 came over and I got to know them a little bit.

When it was time to eat, we sat at tables that sat eight people. Our table included Kayla, Greg, Jen, Kristy, Misty, Dana, Carmen, and myself. We were at a wonderful Italian restaurant and ate ‘family style.’ It was so fun just sitting around, talking to these great people! Although I was super nervous to meet everyone at first, as time went on, they became more like friends just hanging out. I wish there was a way for me to have spent more time with everyone there, but time didn’t allow for that.

After lunch, it was time for the door-prizes! Let me just tell you – we were at the lucky table! Out of the eight of us, seven people won a prize! The prizes ranged from free clip art, designer planners, and even TPT gift certificates!

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We each got some pretty great swag, too! We got a TPT bag and hand sanitizer, several pens from people there, a guitar shaped cookie (yay for music city) from the Puffy Muffin, Kindergarten Smorgasbord goodies (a draw string backpack, pen, lanyard, keychain, etc.), and GoNoodle even gave us a poster and folder. WHOAH! Jen designed a super cute logo for us and Dana made t-shirts!

It was SO fun making new friends with other teachers who just “get it.” I know you get it, and I’m so thankful that you do! While I have some great friends at my school, it’s nice to have other teacher friends to bounce off ideas with and support each other.

Are YOU interested in going to a meet up? I definitely encourage you to seek out opportunities to do so! We have a Teacher Meet Up in Nashville the first weekend in June, hosted by Greg and Dana. I definitely plan on being there – I hope you can come, too! :)