I arrived home from the Mom 2.0 Summit just in time for (a quick nap, and) dinner last night. I plan to write about what I gleaned from it when I have time to both decompress and sit down and do it justice. So far today I’ve brought the kids to school, ran 10K, and done a huge grocery shop to replenish our fridge and cupboards. In an hour I have to leave to pick up those same kids, take them shoe shopping, then make dinner, pack school lunches, etcetera. But there is a part of the weekend that has been a hot topic both with attendees and people here at home and I think it deserves its own post.
Those of you who have been to conferences know that there are always sponsor booths. Sponsors pay to be there, which means that us attendees get to stay at fancy hotels with breathtaking views for far less than we would normally pay.

Hooray for sponsors!
To encourage the attendees to talk to all of the sponsors, we we given a card with all of the main sponsors on it. After talking to a sponsor, they would stamp their spot. When all of the sponsors had been stamped, you handed in your card to be part of a draw on the final night for a grand prize of a Prada bag. I KNOW.
I never win anything huge. Okay, I did win a Wii Fit at BlogHer ’09, but that was four years ago. There were 550 attendees at Mom 2.0, so the odds weren’t that great. That aside, we made our way to all of the sponsor booths because, why not? They were sponsors whom we liked and use, or will likely use in the future. Blurb was there, and I’ve worked with them a few times. Dove was the main sponsor and I love their Girls Unstoppable campaign. When Rob Candelino showed the videos with the stats about how women and girls view themselves, I was in a constant state of tearful emotion.
We made our way to all of the sponsors (Who doesn’t like Starbucks, either?) and handed in our cards when they were full of stamps. Fast forward to the final party — with a Kentucky Derby theme — and we were standing at the back of the room chatting while Laura and Carrie thanked everyone and prepared for the draw. All of a sudden, they announced who won the Prada bag.
ANGELLA DYKSTRA!

You guys, I won a $2,000 PRADA BAG. I guess all of the times I haven’t won things has added up? Or something? I had people asking to touch it all night and I don’t blame them. Because, PRADA.

I still don’t believe that I won. I sent that photo to all of the Internet places, and texted Matthew. He was as excited as everyone else, because even he knows how cool that is.
When I got home, we were talking about it as part of the general debriefing and he asked if I was going to sell it. Sarah had asked me the same thing, and I said no, because PRADA. But where would I actually use it? I live in the sticks, I work from home, and aside from conferences, I don’t go to fancy parties on a regular basis. He pointed out that I could sell it and use that money to buy WHATEVER I WANT. Not to spend on bills or household expenses, but to spend it on myself.
I … don’t know. Part of me thinks that’s probably the practical thing to do, but the other part of me is a small town girl who thinks that it’s pretty special that she won a fancy purse. In the meantime, I’m going to leave it sitting on my dresser and smile every time I look at it. Winning it has had me beaming for days.
*Our church secretary commented on Facebook that the devil wears Prada, so I might not want to bring it to church. Ha!
**She also told me in person today that I deserve it, and than men just don’t understand.
***It’s really pretty in person. And I WON IT, against the odds.
****But maybe I should be practical. Sigh.
*****I’m going to stop typing now.