We couldn’t have imagined a better first class of 2014 than the eager gaggle of babes we encountered in San Francisco. From bakers to witches, and journalists to make-up artists, it was a truly diverse — and badass — group. It kills me that our two days together flew by so quickly, because I know they would all be a BLAST to spend more time with!

Our venue was the glorious Makeshift Society, which is, simply put, the coolest creative clubhouse on the West Coast. Think chalkboard walls, sparkly piñata letters, a stack of bunny masks, a secret loft for emergency napping, and a clandestine conference room for plotting world domination. It is just the best. (They just opened a location in Brooklyn, so if you’re sick of working from your East Coast bedroom, now you have a place to go!)

With enormous, light-filled windows, kooky mismatched seating, and a sense of quirky rebellion, it was the perfect space to house our babes. On Saturday morning, in they came, smiling and laughing nervously. Little did they know, by the end of Sunday, many of them would have met their new BFF. All together now, “Awwww!”

Esmé delighted us with her sparkly earrings, grey tutu, and on-point observations. Also, her blog is beautiful, smart, and thought-provoking.

How could you not have fun with Samantha, Mariah and Hanna by your side?! These gals could liven up any room! They laughed all weekend long.

Hanna and I having a deep chat. And I promise, I did wear pants to class! Look, I can prove it…

See?! I debuted an extremely sparkly skirt by Manoush for the occasion. It seemed appropriate!

Seamstress Erin is an all-round crafting genius who is on the cusp of obtaining her Ph.D. (very fancy!), and Alyson writes about how to connect with nature and live a fun, eco-friendly lifestyle. She is also a sweetheart!

Of course, there were balloons, too… It’s not a party without balloons!

There was a lot of note-taking going on, too. One of my favourite moments of class is when someone comes up to me and tells me they filled their entire notebook. It makes me want to explode with joy! What could be better than that?!

We had to stop for a macaron break in the afternoon. These came from Chantal Guillon, which — conveniently! — was just around the corner. (The lavender and rose flavours were my favourite. Just say yes to food that tastes like flowers!)

We are always delighted by the cast of characters who show up at The Blogcademy. Hannah from The Dress Up Box paints her face differently every day!

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Class photo(s)

Normal class photo…

Weird class photo! Honestly, I prefer the weird one, but who’s surprised by that?!

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Goodie bags galore!

So, what was in those glorious goodie bags, then?

Olivine Atelier gifted every blogcadette with a box of (fantastic) perfumes to try, complete with a glitter-dipped feather. Olivine make some truly divine scents: Amongst The Waves smells like a mermaid.

These fantastic hair-ties from Mane Message are definitely pretty enough to wear around your wrist, as Angela is demonstrating! (And can we talk about her glitter belt and gold polka-dot skirt for a second?! I mean, WHOAH!)

Art School Dropout gifted everyone a bright yellow hair-clip in the shape of an arrow. Dina wears it so well!

Everyone needs a good notebook, and Moxie Pear provided us with a rainbow of ’em, covered in felt and totally awesome.

Katie makes an oversized satin hair-bow from Dark Pony Designs look damn good!

Zelma Rose packaged up these beautifully delicate necklaces. They say I have love in my heart for you, and we spotted them around many a blogcadette’s neck before the weekend was over!

We always have a lot of pretty things in our goodie bags, but this is probably the most immediately useful item in there! WordPress For Beginners by Reeta Krishna is a total blogging bible. It’s the perfect book to keep on your desk for easy reference; we absolutely love it.

These badass badges and custom engraved keyrings came from Ladybird Likes, and I am not at all ashamed to admit I pilfered one for myself!

Finally, and of course, there were Crown And Glory ears for everyone! I loved seeing this tweet from Angela: “The ears aren’t about just wearing glittery ears – it’s about always finding a way to stand out, and having that courage.” That’s exactly why we put them in the goodie bags: they encourage you to be different, try something kooky, and take a risk, which is what blogging is all about!

An extra-big thank you to KIND for sending us boxes and boxes of their delicious bars to keep us all fueled up and ready to go!

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Oh, the fun you can have with chalkboard paint in a bathroom… I asked everyone to write down their secret dream, and I loved what they came up with!

Just about to launch into some embarrassing story, no doubt… Poor, long-suffering Shauna!

We are eternally grateful to our smart, hilarious, insightful, generous, and gorgeous interns, Vivian and Paige. They came to class in Los Angeles last year, and we were so thrilled to have them back on Team Blogcademy! Thank you, babes, for making our weekend so special, and so easy. xoxox!

Jennifer was so proud to get her certificate, and we were proud to give it to her!

End of day photos… Ayanna is so sweet. She has her own handbag line, and as you can see, has fantastic style!

Ann told us she was nervous about taking a photo, so naturally, we suggested doing dinosaur face. It’s our favourite!

#radicalselfielove with one of our scholarship winners, Theresa! In case you’d been following along on social media, this is the girl who gave herself a homemade tattoo as her scholarship entry! GASP-o-rama! We couldn’t say no to that kind of lunacy!

Don’t forget to blog your dreams… !

It all looks like fun, huh? IT IS! We’re teaching in Chicago this weekend (snap up your ticket NOW if you’ve been procrastinating!); Vancouver and Calgary in June; London, Berlin and Amsterdam in July/August; NYC and DC in September/October; and finally Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland in November/December.

Much love,

P.S. Most of our classes are just about at capacity, so if you’d like to join us, don’t put off buying your ticket!

Photos by Ingrid Chang of Jerry Yoon Photography.