This last weekend i went to Britmumslive along with 500 other bloggers. Mostly women but a few very notable men. It is conference organised by and for the mummy bloggers of this country who regularly put ourselves out there to own our little corner of the internet. My little corner was nominated, short listed and made a finalist in the Brilliance in Blogging awards. I didn’t win in my category. Which is okay. But the awards ceremony bit made me feel ill. I hadn’t thought about it through most of Friday and then suddenly remembered! had to almost sit on my hands to stop me chewing them down to the nubs.
But i didn’t win, it was okay. SIGH. huge relief and then on with games.
Friday was a bit of a strange day for seminars, we formed a little secure pack and gravitated towards the ones that we all jointly thought we would like. Safety in numbers. The seminars were maybe aimed at people new to blogging or with a greater attention span than a mother of 5, freed for the weekend into London! .
These ladies (3childrenandit, the 40year old domestic goddess, hello wall and a strong coffee) were my homies for the day and we chuckled and messed around like naughty school kids. One of my friends noted how wonderful it was to see people realise that the complete stranger standing before them was actually someone who they have a pretty in-depth relationship online. Putting a face to the avatar…that moment was awesome, arms flung wide and hugging each other like the friends we knew we already were. Although inevitably it took a lot of staring at name badges, trying to discreetly peer at women’s chests is not a talent i have and again, like last year you got to the end of the weekend and pretty much gave up doing it. Its far to stressful and awkward and little bit odd. 😉
My highlights of the weekend were:
A lovely hotel room (by myself) squuueeeeee….i didnt have enough time to enjoy it really but it was lovely having space that was mine and no-one elses..just for a little bit.
Listening to Kirsty Allsopp talk about dog poo and vomit and thinking actually i quite like her…
Some lovely ladies having my back at the awards when i was feeling nervous
The wine
Laughing….and laughing…and laughing
Hanging out in the bar at the end of the day, WAAAY past bed time with the lovely daddy bloggers
Listening to the amazing Katie Piper and being inspired by her strength and her faith.
Stumbling into a seminar on videography and being inspired by a brilliant and knowledgeable teacher and nice guy who was willing to help
Talking cameras.
Getting my blog name on a bottle of diet coke and marvelling at the genius behind the marketing campaign with one of their PR bods, only to find out it started in Australia a few years ago! We are clearly behind the times here!
The keynotes. Last year these were one of my favourite parts, it was like grown up jackanory 😉 Listening to the stories of motherhood told by mothers who are so very gifted at giving their words a voice. It was again, one of my favourite parts of the weekend. Especially as i was thrilled to see online buddy and writer extraordinaire reading a post which i had read on her blog and been transported into her world, hearing her read it was like listening to a movie script. Do go and check her out. Oldermum
The dedication to a very special baby whose shares a name with one of my own babies and who i will never forget
Singing and dancing at the top of my voice to firework by Katy Perry to remember a mummy blogger who last year i chatted with over coffee and who sadly is no longer with us
Laughter through tears
Hugging the incredible Edspire. what a brave, brave lady she is.
For me, it was the people who made this weekend. I could have easily done without the seminars, or maybe actually it is more about the fact that my attention span is so short, so easily distracted that as i sat staring blankly into space while someone was talking..i found myself wondering why i was sitting here and not going out and doing some of those things that i always said i would love to do when i didnt have my kids with me. Beacause here i was, without my kids, and i wasn’t doing any of those things.
maybe we just need to organise a Britmums night out, or weekend away?
Anyway i chatted to many lovely folk this weekend, including Alex from Madagascar..who, okay is a lion..but having seen all of the Madagascar movies a MILLION times i feel like i know him.
But some of the folk that just rocked by little world this weekend where….as they say on the X factor, in no particular order…
The 40 year old Domestic goddess
and a bit of a special mention to theboyandme who i have been badgering about the joys of prime lenses for so long and so convinced was i that she would love it that it toted my own 50mm lens to London so she could try it and i think after using it she might have seen my point!! 😉
This week there isnt a giveaway but you can carry on going for the LUSH box and supporting my friends at onepercent. Rafflecopter below. The winner of the Hotel Chocolat goodies will be announced on my facebook page so be sure to go and like it. Thanks lots!!
