Notts Blogger Meet 2015

A week last Saturday I attended a blogger meet in Nottingham. Arranged by the gorgeous Becka (you should go and check out her blog if you haven’t already), 15 local bloggers high footed it across town to meet at Nottingham’s Lush for a lesson in beauty products followed by lunch and a good old chinwag at Jamie’s Italian.

Meeting other bloggers is one of the best parts of blogging. Finding someone who not only has the same interest in lifestyle but in the nerdy workings of the digital world too who you can nerdily while away hours chatting with is like finding gold dust.

We spent an hour at Lush being shown revitalised products, exclusive new products and getting our hands dirty – in the cleanest of ways – hand making our own bubble bars. 

I should probably point out at this point that I am not head over heels with Lush products. I am yet to find one that doesn’t bring me out in a rash or in horrendous spots. 

However, it was great to chat with the Lush team about their products and spend the morning sniffing different products, and I’m having a whale of a time with the bubble bar I made and the lemon shampoo bar that they kindly gifted.

We then moved onto Jamie’s Italian for the eagerly anticipated food and natter. I found myself sandwiched between one of my faves, Sally, and the lovely Chelsea. 

We spent the lunch chatting about all things blogger and giggling while trying to avoid spilling Tagliatelle bolognese down ourselves (guess which muppet decided to wear white?)

After the meal Becka declared that she had a little extra task for us to get involved in.

A month or so ago, you’ll be more than aware, there was the awful attack in Tunisia in which 39 people lost their lives. The majority of which were British holiday makers. One of those that lost their lives was a local blogger Carly. When events like these occur it’s hard for us to comprehend the fear and destruction that follow, and it’s even harder for us to understand. Knowing that innocent people lost their lives is bad enough but it truly resonates when it is one of your own, especially when it’s a friend.

Life is made up by degrees of separation, degrees of heartache, and degrees of love. The best part about blogging, about living and about life is meeting new people and making new connections. Life is nothing without love. The fate that those tourist met on that beach is nothing short of tragic and something that I cannot even pretend to begin to understand. What I do understand is that there was a loss in the blogging community, and even greater than that were the losses from families.

The great thing about blogging is the community. Yes, some may argue amongst themselves, and yes, we don’t all agree with one another. The point, and the key thing, is that we band together when it matters.

Becka arranged for us to release balloons in Carly’s memory. We each took a tag, wrote a note, and released it. 15 memories, wishes and heartfelt messages floated away in the wind. It may not have had the biggest impact in the world and no doubt no more will come of it. But for that moment of togetherness, for that moment of release, we were all stood together in unison with our eyes looking in the same direction: up.

Remember to yourself that life is only about the connections you make, the people you love and the life you lead. Take it and own it. Never be weighed down by it.

I wrote my email address on my tag with the hope that it’s found and the finder gets in touch; new connections can lead anywhere. So, if you see a pink balloon floating by or stuck billowing in a tree please let me know. It’d be great to have a chat.