Breakfast with Today's Moms and Tea with The Duchess

For every Pampers Baby Bodysuit manufactured for the 1 pack = 1 vaccine program, The Pampers brand will donate $.07 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to help provide one tetanus vaccine to a pregnant woman or a woman of child-bearing age in the less industrialized world. Visit www.pampers.com/unicef for more information.

On Friday April 24th, I had an amazing opportunity to join 50 (+a guest) other women in New York to celebrate the release of the book Today's Moms: Essentials for Surviving Baby's First Year written by Today Show producers Mary Ann Zoellner and Alicia Ybarbo. I could not contain my elation to not only have been chosen to attend, but to attend my first TweetUp and meet so many other amazing and influential women that I have spoken to through Twitter.

Not knowing what to expect from the festivities, I brought my sister and her really good camera along for the fun ride hoping just to get to know more of the moms and get a chance to talk to Mary Anne and Alicia. Boy was I in for a wild ride!

About the BookBash

The BookBash was not just a party to celebrate the book launch. It was also a fundraising event through Baby Buggy, a 501c3 accredited non-profit organization who helps mothers in need. Natalie Morales was on hand to lend her support to their efforts to help parents in NYC and around the world. Today's Moms also partnered with Pampers and UNICEF for their ONE PACK=ONE VACCINE where 1 donation of a pack of Pampers to Baby Buggy equaled a donation to help provide vaccines to pregnant women and women of child-bearing age. AND if you place an order at Diapers.com for a pack of Pampers and the Today's Moms book, $1.00 will go to Baby Buggy.

The Excitement Begins

As I chased after Maddy (who was surprisingly only 1 of 2 babies there), Megan Meany swooped in to interview me about the book and Twitter. While my sister is freaking out because Megan Meany is interviewing me, I was like "oh and what is your name?" (It's been awhile since I've watched a non-kid TV show in the morning!)

In between the madness/excitement/networking I had a chance to put faces with Twitter names and keep up with Maddy as she skipped her entire morning nap because of all of the noise and chatter. Thank goodness my sister was there, who actually didn't mind being my on site babysitter (If she was a real babysitter, I'd probably owe her hundreds of dollars by now).

Then it was Special Celebrity Guest Time. Who could it be? Who would have a connection to Mary Ann and Alicia beyond Natalie Morales? And then she walked in. Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. I think I fall into that generation that remembers her as Princess Diana's friend but knows her current claim to fame as a Weight Watchers spokesperson. More recently, she has been supporting UNICEF and Pampers in their efforts to educate the world on the importance of giving vaccines to future moms.

At the end of her greeting speech, she offered her new ADORABLE book, Tea with Ruby, as a giveaway which Amber, @jerseymomma, won. But then, as she looked over at Maddy, she said that she just had to give one to her/me. I'll let the photos speak for themselves of the UNREAL moment that followed. Sure, there were a ton of flashes in our faces, but all I could think was how REAL and COMFORTABLE Sarah Ferguson was and how she radiated LOVING MOTHER with Maddy. Such a class act!

The rest of the morning was full of giveaways, mingling and photo-opps with the authors, Natalie and Sarah. Caitlin (my sister) even won the Scandinavian Child Svan Chair, which I will gladly hold on to for a few years.

Though I didn't get the chance to meet as many Tweeps as I wanted to, I chatted with some fun women from NY and NJ like: @todaysmoms (the authors!), @Jerseymomma, @chefdruck, @kmazzi, @Elizabeth_N, @JenRab, @brianboyd (the photographer, IT guy), @mommyblogger76, @mommyshhshoes (buy her book!), @melysas and @primetimeparent.

Today's Moms is available for purchase at Amazon.com or at the NBC Experience Store. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook.