Chicago was the city that just kept on surprising us. From its chilly weather to its cast of characters, we never knew what to expect! But once we got to Enerspace, an enormous — and badass — co-working space near downtown Chicago, we were delighted to meet a sweet, thoughtful, and lovely group of Midwestern blogcadettes.

You can’t really tell from these photos — ha! — but our Chicago blogcadettes were the most well-behaved, mild-mannered students we’d ever had. As soon as the breaks were over, they were back in their seats, ready for more. Not like those rowdy babes in San Francisco!

Clayton was a very special student. Why? Well, he finished high school THE DAY BEFORE… And The Blogcademy happened on his birthday! We’d be terrible headmistresses without celebrating in some way, so we bought donuts and then sang him happy birthday. He seems pretty stoked, right?!

Who wouldn’t be?!

Seriously, how can you teach if you’re not wearing false lashes?

John Fluevog, Dr Martens, and Marc Jacobs: only the most sensible footwear to teach in!

This is Leah. Here’s something you may not know about her: Leah was booked into our very first class in NYC, but a couple of weeks before class, she had a massive stroke, and was put into a medically-induced coma. As you can probably imagine, this drastically changed her life.

When we saw her scholarship entry for the Chicago class, she was an obvious choice, and we were so excited to have her! Her parents drove her across the country to attend, and Leah told us that The Blogcademy was one of the first things she had gotten excited about in a long time. We were so humbled to be part of Leah’s journey!

SPONSORS

Oh Crown And Glory, how could we do it without you?! It just wouldn’t be Blogcademy without sparkly ears!

Once again, all our babes got a copy of WordPress For Beginners to take home and keep on their desk. This book is like a WordPress bible. Don’t sleep!

Sydney looked adorable in her Life on Mars Vintage scarf! It’s covered in illustrations of Marilyn Monroe, and makes a good impromptu head-covering, as I discovered on day two!

Everyone needs a glittery arrow to adorn themselves. We spotted one of these Art School Dropout arrow pins attached to a pair of Converse within an hour. Keep on movin’ forward, indeed!

Can you ever own too many notebooks? I’m going to have to go with NO. These notebooks by RibbonSquirrel are unlined, but have multi-coloured pages and the best designs on the cover. Very modern chic!

The best sentiment. Love Ideas Ink gave everyone a greeting card, perfect for putting on your fridge, or giving to your best friend!

Tamara of Mad Bijou came to class, and gave everyone a disco necklace. Now that’s one sparkly bullet!

I’m in love with these engraved keyrings from Ladybird Likes. We had the owner, Zoe, inscribe the keyrings with a variety of quotes, and DREAM BIG is (naturally!) one of my favourites! (P.S. I’ve been doing my own gel manicures lately, and they don’t look half-bad, huh?)

CLASS PHOTO

Now that we have confetti for each class from B-Triz Collection, you can expect to see a whole lot more photos like this! Don’t mind us: we’re just partying in the street!

Carrie helped us out so much during our class in Chicago. She attended one of our first ever classes in January, and came back to assist and take a whole lot of notes! Merci beaucoup, Carrie!

Thanks, Chicago! Your big blue skies, friendly people, and cookie skillets are always a pleasure!

Kisses,

Photos by Soda Fountain Photography.