When Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb announced a 30-40 + blogger meet I sat here at the PC chewing my pencil.
The decision to take: Do I brave it and go? Will anyone want to talk to me ? What will people make of my squeaky Essex voice ! )
I thought about it for a while and took the plunge before all those tickets got swallowed up. I counted down the day’s, and as it got nearer I got more and more nervous. I was excited as well, but SO nervous! In fact I was so nervous I even forgot my camera.
The event was being held at the The Imperial in the Kings road Chelsea, which was just perfect for the event. The staff were really lovely, and the service was really good.
I arrived a little early and spotted Catherine straight away. A really stylish lady that writes a fashion blog that I have admired for so long in blog land. It was so good to finally meet. Catherine is my one stop confidant that I reach out to regarding anything blog related. I must drive the poor woman mad sometimes !
I got myself a drink at the bar, turned round and took it all in. Can I just say, when you have been building friendships on line through blogging it is the most surreal thing meeting them in the flesh! Everyone was beautiful, and just as excited as myself about meeting at this event
Diane and Lucy from Life Begins At and Michelle of Bare Faced Chic
There was no need what so ever to have been nervous, each time I recognised a blogger and vise versa it was big grins all round. Such a lovely lovely feeling. I stood silent for a couple of seconds to take it all in, the room was absolutely buzzing.
Catherine our host of Not Dressed As Lamb Yvonne of Funky Forty and Josephine of Chic At Any Age
The fabulous clothing company that sponsored Catherines event was there Hope Fashion I browsed their clothing for a while, asking questions about the collection. There were some great raffle prizes to be had too. A new bag company that has been launched Jennifer Hamley was one of the raffle prizes. Do take a look at her fabulous organiser work bags on her site.
Then it was time for lunch, so off we went through to the restaurant .
We all chatted through lunch and got to know each other better, I do have a picture here of myself and Petite Silver Vixen It turns out we don’t live too far from each other and will be meeting for coffee at some point.
After lunch Catherine gave us all some great blogging tips. It was so inspiring, I feel more confident for that talk already….
The talk involved, Branding, Giving, Receiving and exposing. Now I have always worried about putting myself out there as a really mature blogger.” Who wants to read about an old girl ” is often ringing in my head. But listening to the talk, it all made sense ! There really are few of us over fifty bloggers ( especially in the UK) so all the more reason to shout about it. And shout I will from now on!
After the talk , we went back into the bar area where Hope Fashion gave us a lovely talk about the brand and the collection….
Nayna Mcintosh founder of Hope Fashion
There are some fabulous designs from hope fashion, I have already marked down my wish list, but I will talk more about the Hope brand in my next post.
The day flew by and it was time to leave. I was given yet another present, this one from Hope Fashion. A beautiful merino wool poncho. I said my goodbye’s and left feeling really good. I am so pleased I took the plunge to go. I felt so welcomed, and left with a really good feeling. One things for sure, Catherine is going to need a bigger place for the next event .
Oh and that goody bag….
So many lovely goodies, a copy of Hopes collection & Blogosphere magazine. I have bought this before and it’s fantastic. A notebook, pen and macaroons. A beautiful card to send a thank you to someone. This is something Catherine talked about. How it’s good to say a proper thank you every now and again And rightly so. I already know who mine is going too. Some eye serum from Verso. A Burt’s Bee’s lip balm ans a Laura Geller waterproof lip liner, a lovely lemon scented body spritzer, and a beautiful bracelet from blogger friend What Lizzy Loves who also has an on line jewellery site It was like Christmas !
Any of you Ladies reading this that was at the event, thank you for being so friendly and welcoming And of course to Catherine, who gave us such a fabulous day and put in so much hard work. Thank You xx
XO Laurie
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Hi Laurie,
Such a nice post. It was super nice meeting you at the blogger event!
Thank you too for the link back to my blog 😉
All the best and looking forward to the next blogger meet up.
Yvonne xx
http://www.funkyforty.com
What a great event, I wish we could have more of these for the older blogger. I am in my 50's and would have loved to go. Maria
Try and organise one Maria ! It was really good to meet bloggers face to face. Thank you for popping over 🙂
Laurie what a wonderful write up – thank you so much for all your kind words!! It was lovely to meet you too finally (and btw no, you don't drive me mad at all, hehe… I'm just glad to help)!
I'm so, so pleased with how the day went and how much everyone seemed to enjoy it, I've been quite overwhelmed by the response. As you can tell I'm still catching up now on commenting on all the blog posts that were written about it!
I'm also glad you made some great new friends (how lovely that you live near Jacqueline!) – I hope we'll see each other again very soon 🙂
Catherine x
http://notdressedaslamb.com
You definitely will at the next one Catherine ! Thanks for popping over, I know how busy you are xx
Sounds like a great day! I'm not sure if they have them for 50+ and in Australia but it is good to put yourself out there and meet others who share your passion. We can always learn more and also make new friends. Sue from Sizzling Towards Sixty
It was a fabulous day Sue. Maybe you could arrange one in your neck of the woods x
I've read a couple posts of attendees of this blog meet up and it looks like a great event!
Thank you for being a part of TBT Fashion link up and hope to see you soon!
Alice
http://www.happinessatmidlife.com
It looks like you had a wonderful time!
It was fabulous Darlene. Maybe you could arrange one in your neck of the woods x
Looks like you had a great time!!!! Thanks for sharing your story.
Thank you Becky. And thank you for taking time to read xx
http://www.keepingitfabulous.com
Had such a brilliant time. Can't wait for the next one where we can hopefully get to chat this time!
Yes Sharron that would be great xx
How awesome! I think it's really cool to finally meet up with your fellow bloggers, whether in person or via Skype (which I've done both). The blogging world is such a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Thanks for sharing your meet with us!
Thank you Brenda, thanks for stopping by x
Looks like a fabulous event, us over 50's need to keep flying the flag 🙂
Lyn x @thelavenderbarn
Thank you Lynne, and yes I totally agree with you ! xx
It looks like you had so much fun. I would have loved to be able to attend such an event.
Maybe you could create one Amy. Even if it's just a few blogger friends. It was really good meeting everyone x
Looks like a great event!
It was a fabulous day Pam. Thank you so much for popping over, you have made my day xx
What a fun event! I would love to be able to go to a blogger event sometime!
Jill
Doused In Pink
It was a really fun day Jill.Maybe arrange your own ? Thank you for stopping by x
I'm so glad you did decide to take the plunge and go along! It was lovely chatting to you over lunch, and I agree…Catherine will need a bigger venue next time!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
Sounds like such a fun day! Never be worried about putting yourself out there. Fell the fear and use on through x
Thank you Ceri. That's good advise ! I do need to toughen up a bit more x
Sounds lovely – so glad it was a success. I've never been to a blogger event as practically it is too difficult but hopefully one day #sharethejoy
Yes hopefully one day.It amazes me how good friendships can be formed on line too x
Lovely post. Gutted I couldn't make it.
I firmly believe in saying Thankyou and recently sent some flowers to a company that sent me some jewellery . Tracey xx
Next one maybe Tracey ? Would be great to meet you x
Hi Laurie, it was lovely to meet you and so glad we had the chance to chat over lunch. I had a great day too and everyone was so friendly as you say. My only regret is that I didn't get to talk to everyone on the day – hopefully at the next one! Melissa x
I agree Melissa. Look forward to reading your post x
It all sounds wonderful. I would enjoy going to a bloggers event at some point in my blogging career!
I totally recommend it Debbie x
Wow sounds like a great time was had. Such a great read, just the right amount of everything. I'll aim for something like this!! Xx Jacqui mummabstylish
Maybe you could go to the next one Jacqui x
Yes somthing I would like to do..x
Read this post earlier and totally forgot to comment so I'm back haha. It looks like you had a great time and glad it was all friendly. Gemma x
http://www.jacquardflower.uk
It was fantastic Gemma. Would love to see you at the next one x
I agree it was a great day and enjoyable to meet so many inspiring bloggers. Thanks for the link to my blog. Looking forward to the next event.
No problem Josephine. Hopefully we will get to chat more at the next one x