Well my attempts at Blogtober didn’t last long, I made it to day 3. Blogging every single day is hard, especially when you have plans and end up pretty busy. One thing it has given me though are some great prompts for future posts. Over the last month I have attended two different blogging conferences. The first being BritMums Live and the second was BlogCampOnBoard which was on a cruise ship!! But more on that later.
Last year was my first time attending BritMums and I didn’t really know what to expect. I really didn’t have a good time. Halfway through the day I had to fight the urge not to run out of there. I said to myself on the way home that I wouldn’t go the following year. Then the tickets went on sale and I got caught up in the hype on twitter. So I got a ticket and although this year was better, I still don’t feel like I got a lot out of the day. I was surprised there wasn’t a welcome speech or announcement. It just started. The venue was lovely, and right on the river Thames which amazing views. It was lovely to see and meet other bloggers. But the sessions felt rushed, and overall the day felt a bit unorganised.
Keep on blogging
I enjoyed Aby’s session and the Instagram flat-lay session but the one I felt I got the most from was the Pinterest one. It was just a shame that it felt a bit rushed towards the end. I left before the BiB’s and the night-time city cruise which meant that I didn’t get to see Bridget win her award but I was so tired, I just had to head home. It was lovely to see other bloggers, and meet some new ones. I pushed through my social anxiety and actually spoke to people! I was so proud of myself.
It’s now half term. In Brighton, schools get two weeks off so we’ve just got back from visiting my Mum in North Devon for her birthday. The weather wasn’t amazing, but we did manage a visit to Ilfracombe to see Verity. It’s been in the harbour for 5 years now, and as we left almost 10 years ago it means I’d actually never seen her. Wow she is big. Verity is a pregnant woman with two sides. One side of her shows her skin peeled back and the foetus inside her, the other she is normal. With a sword in one hand and holding the scales of justice behind her, she is stood on top of law books. It is supposed to represent truth and justice.
We’ve also started thinking about schools! Cue panic and lots of proper grown up conversations. Suddenly this whole parenting stuff seemed to get very very real. In September next year Clem will be off to school. A proper big school. I can’t quite believe it, she still seems so little.
Although we have pretty much decided on our choices, we have booked in to look at a few schools next month. Applications have to be in by January so we don’t have long. Is anyone else applying for next September? Are we the only ones worrying about making the wrong choice?
#BlogCampOnBoard
As I mentioned at the beginning I went to a blogging event on a cruise ship! Yep an actual cruise ship and it was massive, and super shiny. Seriously I still can’t get over how shiny every thing was. I am still hoping to do an entire post on this so I won’t talk too much about it now. However it was a lovely event. It was my first time going on a cruise ship and I have to say I was impressed. We were on board the MSC Preziosa and it was very glitzy. The ship is Mediterranean themed and this was noticeable from the beginning. But the winner for me were the Swarovski crystal grand staircases, with each step worth between 8,00-10,000 euros. I was scared when we were allowed to walk up it as I had such grubby trainers on.
The last few months have been super busy, I have so many different blog posts to write and I really need to just get on with it. So the next few days I am planning to put my head down and work!
The cruise ship sounds like the place to be. Did it go anywhere? I keep seeing flat lays being mentioned, I thought it must have come from somewhere. #DreamTeam
No unfortunately it just stayed docked in Southampton but we did get some lovely views from the top deck.
It’s a shame that BritMum’s felt disorganised and you didn’t get more from it. I can imagine it was lovely to meet lots of other bloggers. I don’t really know any other bloggers so I feel a bit on the shelf with those sorts of things.
The BlogOn event on the cruise ship looked AMAZING! I saw lots of Instagram photos of people being on it. That staircase! ?
Blogcamponboard looks amazing! I also went to Britmums, I really enjoyed the flat lay session and I agree the Pinterest one felt very rushed which was a shame as I was most interested about that x
I haven’t been to a blogging conference for a couple of years now as I just didn’t feel like I was getting much from it, so I definitely get where you are coming from. A blogging conference on a cruise ship though…sounds like an interesting experience!
I really cannot take my eyes from that Swarovski staircase! The decadence!
Ahh I was at Blogcamponboard too! How incredible were those stairs?! It was so nice to meet people that I’ve known online for so long!
I quit blogtober at day 3 too it was impossible when I already had so many planned posts it is a.nice idea but I felt I was not staying true to my blog
Was so gutted to miss blog camp, I haven’t been to Britmums for a few years now. I found the last one a big overwhelming.
I heard about the Blogtober too late so couldn’t join in this year.. Is there a site that lists all the themes for each day, or do you just come up with the topics yourself?