WAFFLES: Glogirly left her swag bag from the conference just hanging here on the chair. All by itself.
WAFFLES: I wonder what's inside the bag. How does that *if a tree falls in the forest* thing go?
WAFFLES: If a cat gets into a bag of loot but no one sees him...
WAFFLES: Boss! Did you get into the bag of loot already?
KATIE: Get your own sparkle ball, Waffles. This one's mine.
WAFFLES: But I wanted that one.
The cat blogging community is a tight knit group of wonderfully compassionate and fun loving friends. It's also the best part of a conference like BlogPaws. Some of Glogirly's most special and lasting friendships are with people from around the world she's met online through blogging. Funny, this just couldn't have happened 20 years ago. For as much as we like to complain about the internet and social media, they've given us some of our most cherished friends.
The cat bloggers have a fun tradition of bringing small gifts to the conference for one another. They call it "swag." Don't get us wrong, the treat and food samples from all the brands and sponsors are great (and delicious!) but the most special souvenirs come from our friends.
Some of the gifts are for Glogirly, like the beautiful handmade chainmaille bracelet from Dash Kitten's Marjorie Dawson and the purple felted kitty pin from Naked & Hungry's Cho Meir. There's catnip filled toys, boingy springs, and lots of soft and fun-to-bat balls. Some bloggers personalize their gifts with their logo or name of their blog. These are just a few of the cool things we received. We had a little trouble with the camera (operator error!) so we don't have pictures of everything. 
Glogirly brought pink tambourines for all the cat bloggers so they could really make some noise at the awards banquet. And that they did! Even a few dogs got in on the fun.
Thank you SO much for your enthusiastic congratulations on our award for Best Pet Humor Blog. Glogirly was (and is) over the moon! That's her on the left with fellow Nose to Nose finalist Lisa Richman from the cat blog, A Tonk's Tail, at the red carpet event held just prior to the award presentations. Black tie may be optional, but cat ears are most definitely required,
Lisa was a finalist for her beautifully powerful video called 4 the Animals. It didn't win the trophy, but it's a true winner in our hearts. It features the voices and images of pet bloggers from around the world, including Glogirly!
If you haven't seen it, you need to. If you have, you know you want to again.
