Mimi G 2016 Conference: Day #1 Recap

I have been looking forward to this year's conference since I purchased my ticket back in February and it definitely did not disappoint! If you follow me you know that last year was my first year attending the Mimi G Fashion, Sewing and Style Conference and I had an amazing experience. So much so that I didn't think last year could be topped but I was wrong! This year was bigger and better.Let me start at the beginning as I know y'all want ALL the details LOL.I arrived to the host hotel early with my roomie, Yomi, to check in. We got settled in our room, pressed our fashion show looks and headed out in search of lunch. Last year I made the mistake of not eating until after the show and that was not something I was willing to repeat! I recommended Triple 8, an Asian spot right around the corner, and Yomi was game. Lunch was delicious and a little Sangria helped calm our nerves before the show!We paid the check, grabbed our to-go bags and waked back to the hotel to register. As I approached the registration desk I start to see familiar faces! Alejandra, Danesha, Kelly, Candance, and more. It was officially conference weekend!!! After a ton of hugging I managed to registered, receive my goody bags and grab one of this year's tee shirts. I had to get the Sewing is Sexy one, more on that in Day 2. Don't worry darlings who couldn't make the conference this year, Mimi said these tees will be available for purchase online soon.This year really felt like a family reunion and more hugs followed as I spotted familiar faces in the crowd. Some ladies haven been worried about attending the festivities solo, but I promise you that once you arrive you are not alone. Finally I grabbed Yomi and we headed to our room to get our looks and accessories for the fashion show.Like a kid at Christmas I had to take a few moments to check out what was in my goodie bag. The conference bag included some great stuff, a set of Fiskar Amplify RazorEdge Fabric Shears, Fiskar Micro-Tip scissors, 3 Simplicity patterns (8171, 8163, 8178), a Sew Chic pattern, thread, a crochet hook, a Threads magazine, a package of needles from Tulip, a mini coloring book from evite, buttons from buttons.com, a package from Sulky (Tender Touch, CutAway Plus, and thread). My Michael Levine bag included a heather gray ponte and a cream woven belt. Other ladies snagged gold knit, black and white rayon and aztec print rayon but I love ponte so I was happy with mine. I hurriedly packed all my goodies back up and headed back down to get ready to rock the runway.The FASHION SHOW was the conference kick off! This year's show, sponsored by Babylock, received an upgrade featured a real runway, backdrop, live DJ and a Babylock serger as a first place prize (valued at $2999).Mimi live streamed the whole thing on Periscope and allowed the participants and viewers to vote for the winner from the top 4 that were selected by the judges. The only rule was sew and model a look from or based on a Mimi G pattern or tutorial.The participants had to arrive about an hour early to get our looks together and rehearse a little bit before strutting ourstuff. There was a mix of veterans from the inaugural show last year and newbies. Some of us still had butterflies but once the DJ started spinning most of us loosened right up!Just like last year, we all had a blast getting ready backstage. Meanwhile the other ladies and guests were mingling and jamming to the awesome DJ who was mixing all the classic from 80's-00's. We took a ton selfies and group photos, we danced, we joked around and we had a great time.  All of these ladies are so talented, the looks were amazing. There was so much creativity. Here is a collage of the behind the scene shenanigans...I decided to make a two looks; little white dress and a little black dress, because both are wardrobe staples. My little white dress is Mimi's Simplicity 8136. I added 13" to the peplum to create a dress. If you want to read more about it read see my post here. My little black dress is based on Mimi's free Little Black Dress Tutorial and my original post is here.Here are the top 4 that was selected by the judges. The audience both physical and virtual voted on these looks to decide the winner that was announced Saturday. Here are the top 4 ladies, Stephanie, Danesha, Alejandra and Constance. Congratulations ladies!!!After the show everyone mingled for a little while, but then we made a late night Target run (just a few blocks away at Fig on 7th) and ended up stopping by H&M and Bath and Body Works while were out. We had every intention of stopping back by Triple 8 for their late night happy hour but we ended up crashing because class began at 9am the next day.Whew, Friday was a long day, but stay tuned for my recap for day 2 which was even more eventful!Did you attend this year's conference? How was your Friday? Did you enjoy the fashion show? Let me know in the comments.Don't Miss my Day 2 and Day 3 Recaps.