Recently I was hanging out with the talented and more-than-a-little cute Chef Sam Talbot, restaurant owner, Top Chef famer, and author of a book of recipes for those living with diabetes–and we were just chatting, and he was saying how cool I am and how fun and… What? You don’t believe that happened? Not even a little, huh?

Well. Recently, I was at a party thrown by the always-red-carpet-ready ladies at MomTrends and they know a lot of very cool people. And Chef Sam was there too. Better?

The lovely Serena Norr of Mama Goes Natural, Chef Sam Talbot, and myself.

The party, to celebrate Land’s End’s Back to School event, took place during BlogHer in New York City. Land’s End is a favorite brand for my family because its products are fashion-forward while being reliable and of the highest-quality.

Chef Sam was on hand to pose for awkward pictures with googly-eyed mommy bloggers who don’t get out that much. (Oh, was that just me?) And he gave us amazing tips on preparing healthy, easy, and fun lunches for the coming school year.

Lunch ideas are already up on our fridge. Ready to go!

While the August temperatures were hot, they were nothing compared with the back-to-school fashions for little ones we had a chance to preview.

Smokin’ hot as well were all the bloggers getting our gorgeous on courtesy of Warren Tricomi hair stylists and Revlon make-up artists.

My new hero.

We were also shown highlights from the Land’s End women’s fall line–the colors are jewel-toned and vibrant; the styles are sophisticated and completely, totally feminine.

I will cancel autumn if I don’t have these shoes.

This was truly one of my favorite nights for so many reasons. The Land’s End party represented the best of BlogHer for me–I needed a night like this one. It brought me the opportunity to meet a few darling women I know from our online lives while anticipating an exciting new school year. My dear friends from the New York City scene were there as well, of course; I never get enough of these wonderful bloggers. There is nothing that screams “lucky!” to me like having my favorite people close by as I venture into new friendships.

I received a child’s backpack and a women’s dress, both from Land’s End, for attending this event. Opinions are, as always, my own.