I was so excited to be invited to the Lands’ End Back To School event while attending BlogHer in NYC last week.  I love Lands’ Ends styles, especially for back to school and fall time so I was looking forward to attending the event and seeing what they had planned for us.

The event was hosted by Lands End and Momtrends and it began with a School Bus ride from the hotel to EZ Studios in NYC.   It’s August in NYC so you know it’s HOT but the bus ride was very hard because there is no a/c on school buses.  I feel really bad for the kids that have to take them after that ride!  But it was short and over before we knew it.

We were given report cards and we needed to visit different stations to learn about some Back To School items and if we got A+’s on everything then we’d get a backpack at the end.  So off we went to earn a back pack (which I must add my daughter was very happy with so it was worth the hot bus ride!).

There were Kids Courses…

• Backpack Philosophy – We all know how heavy backpacks can get and that can be very bad for your child.  They had a display of backpacks and they were filled with sand at different weights.  Dr. Mary Ann Wilmarth of American Physical Therapy Association talked to us about the right weight for our children according to their size.  And we learned that Lands’ End Backpacks can hold a lot of weight!
• Pants 101 – We were able to check out the invisible Iron Knee that is in kids everyday pants.  It’s really cool and I’m sure very helpful for those active kids – especially boys!
• Design Your First Day – We were able to design an outfit for the first day of school.  And you can vote for mine (or other’s if you like!).  GO HERE to “like” my outfit.  The winner will receive a $500 Gift Card so I appreciate your vote!  I know mine isn’t the best, by the time I was up for selecting an outfit, there weren’t many choices left.  And I had a cute belt to wrap around the shirt but not sure what happened to it.  But please consider voting for mine!  Thanks!!!
• Lunchtime – We were able to watch and talk to celebrity check Sam Talbot as he whipped up some easy and healthy lunch recipes.  And he was cute to watch so I didn’t mind!

And there were Adult Courses…

• Hair School – We received hair touch ups by some awesome hair stylists!  I just had him re-straighten my hair since it wasn’t too straight anymore after being in the hot city and hot bus.  But even kids like to have new hair styles before school starts.  Looking cool can help you start off the year with a good reputation, don’t you think?
• Class(y) Photo – They took head shots of us after we had our hair (and make up if we choose) by a professional photographer.  I had no idea they were going to offer this or I would have planned more accordingly but nonetheless they took them and I’m not quite sure if I like mine or not.  If you are interested you can check them out HERE and HERE.
• Dress Test – We were able to talk to a professional about what styles are best for our shape and even try on some dresses.  We then had to pick from two styles they had and they are going to send us the one we like to our house!  How nice is that!!!
• A+ Plus – I met mom, blogger and plus size advocate Brittany Gibbons and she talked to us about styles that flatter fuller figures.  This was really nice since I fall into that category.  She gave us lots of information to try next time we are shopping.  Not sure I’ll start to like shopping for clothes with her tips, but I’ll try!

They also had plenty of drinks (I only had water because I was so warm it kept me cool) and some really YUMMY hors d’oeuvres for us while we were there.  I had a great time and I’m so happy I was able to attend.

Like I mentioned above, they offered us a back pack for getting all A+’s (which I did get!) and here is the one I picked out for my 7-year-old, who absolutely loved it!

I had such a great time and I’m very grateful to Lands’ End and Mom Trends for inviting me!

Disclosure:  Lands’ End and Mom Trends invited me to their event while I was in NYC attending BlogHer.  They also gave me a back pack and will be shipping me home an outfit as well as a thank you for attending and participating at the event.   I’m also entered into a drawing for $250 for posting about the event.  This had no influence on my post and my words are 100% my own.