It Took a Village, You, and Toyota to Get Me to NYC for #TopBlogueras & #Latism13

On September 7, I get an email that tells me I’ve been selected by Latism (Latinos in Social Media) to be a Top Bloguera for 2013. What does that mean? It means I’ve been invited along with 99 other top Latina bloggers to go to NYC, visit the U.N., talk to members of the Secretariat, and attend the Latism13 Conference. Think of it as a fantastic leadership retreat where I will get the chance to be inspired by others and maybe just maybe do a little inspiring of my own. Oh and the total cost for me? $0! Thanks to the generosity of MANY wonderful sponsors like Toyota, this experience will be covered. I will fly to NYC, stay at the Waldorf Astoria, and attend the Latism13 Conference for free.

It seems like a no-brainer that my answer would be YES, right? But it’s not that easy because I am the mother of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, I have a full time job, and a husband who depends on me for day to day pick up of our kids. The mami guilt almost kept me home, but something in my gut, heart, and soul told me that if I didn’t go I would be VERY upset with myself. My husband, brother-in-law, and mother came to my aid and gave me the help and support I needed to go on this trip and invest in myself and I am beyond grateful.

So I went. I packed my clothes, self-doubt, and nervousness and I headed to New York City, baby! I walked into the Waldorf Astoria and thought, Oh my GAWD, my mother would cry if she saw me here! And maybe just maybe I cried a few times while I was there because son of a gun I got to have this experience simply for sharing my thoughts online with you! What?! How does that even happen?! I don’t know, but it did. It did happen and it happened to me.

I shared my room at the Waldorf with the BEST roommates ever. No disrespect to any of the other Top Blogueras, but I won the jackpot as far as roomies go.

My extraordinary roommates were Staci from 7 on a Shoestring, Tiany from Social Savvy Mom, and Vanessa from De Su Mama.

There are too many details to share about my trip in a simple blog post so I’m not even going to try. I will just tell you what I got out of the trip.

I was so impressed by the abilities and drive of all the Top Blogueras. I wanted to shrink them all and put them in my pocket so that I could pull them out whenever I need inspiration. I was grateful to members of the U.N. Secretariat for taking the time to talk to us and show us that our voices do matter, that they are listening. I was humbled that Latism chose me for this experience.

To all the sponsors who made this experience possible, I want to give a hearty thank you. To Toyota I want to give a special shout-out and here’s why. As anyone with any manners should do, we were asked to thank our sponsors. We each got a chance to pick what particular sponsor we wanted to thank on our blogs and for me it had to be Toyota because I love Toyota. The very first NEW car that I bought and paid for in full was a Toyota Echo. That car was GOOD to us. We had to say goodbye to it because our family grew, but it left my husband and I with such good feelings about Toyota that recently when we were in the market for another car we bought a Toyota RAV4 and we are in LOVE. So Toyota, thank you for making cars that I love and thank you for investing in me and my fellow Top Blogueras.