I Was There! #Whatsthestory #Britmumslive

Last Thursday I was running round the house getting my suitcase and shopping trolley packed and ready for Friday. Yes, you read right, shopping trolley. After listening to madmumof7's experience of BritMumsLive last year, I realised I would rather drag round my trusty shopping trolley than carry a bag stuffed to the brim of lovely free shizzle from the brands attending. And I didn't even need to rush out and purchase one as, sadly, I already had one!

Remembering advice from experienced bloggers on what to bring, I charged & packed my iPhone portable charger into my shopper, laid out my comfortable yet glam maxi dress along with equally comfortable Havianas ready to put on in the morning, stuffed my suitcase with various toiletries, electrical items (which I never used) and an outfit for Saturday. 

After running up and down the stairs a million times I was ready and so excited for my big adventure!

Luckily for me I was going to my first BritMums Live event with my very good friend and fellow blogger madmumof7 and her fdil Kat, and, as a silver lining on her fm flare up, her DH was to drive us there instead of taking the train. This meant less of a mad rush getting kids to school and last minute packing/fluffing so I was relatively chilled when they arrived to pick me up.

Playing a quick game of Tetris with the luggage, madmumof7's DH managed to squeeze my stuff in the boot and we were off! "Woo hoo!" we exclaimed, speeding down the road!

We parked the car in a nearby NCP car park for a 10 minute walk to All Bar One, our pre-event meet-up point. Entering the room we scanned for recognisable faces or anyone who looked like a blogger. Quickly, madmumof7 spotted a familiar face and I shuffled shyly after her, listening intently for names and blog names to see if I knew them too. Sam from 40 year old Domestic Goddess, Charly Dove from PODcast were the first two ladies I knew from t'internet, and they were just as lovely and funny as on their blogs! Vic Welton from Verily Victoria Vocalises and Jaime from Oliver's Madhouse were also two blogs I was familiar with so it was great to meet them as well, and then plopped my bum down and soaked up the conversation, interspersed with lots of cackling of course.

More bloggers arrived and there was much shrieking, hugging and kissing, and I soon lost the plot trying to keep up with who's who, but it didn't matter - we were all there for the same reason, same interest, same nervousness and I found myself chatting to people like I had known them a lifetime, it was so easy and everyone was so friendly.

We left All Bar One to check into our hotel and once our bags we're put in our rooms we headed for the Brewery for BritMums Live registration and welcome.

We were welcomed warmly, first by the staff of the Brewery and then by the BritMums team. Extremely well organised, I found my badge quickly and swopped the blue lanyard for my personalised pink one bought especially for the occasion! (Click here for the link to buy one!)

Entering the hub, I followed madmumof7 to the Butlins stall so she could say hi to one of the representatives whilst Kat and I shuffled over to the neatly stacked pile of chocolate bars! Then we headed to the hub 2? to listen to the welcoming speech from Jen and Suzanne.

Looking lovely in her tiara!

We squeezed ourselves on to the table with Sam, Vic, Jaime and Cathie and I glanced round the room, taking in the amazing sight of hundreds of bloggers of all shapes, sizes, ages, mostly women but a few men!

Donning our tiaras, we welcomed Emma Freud, broadcaster and cultural commentator who gave a fantastic Keynote, really hitting home to me how powerful our voices are as bloggers, which is amazing as we are mostly women in a society where we struggle to be heard.

The panel afterwards was very interesting and gave some valid points but I felt it went on a little too long. Then we headed back into the hub to chat to the brands.

Cookies to die for!

The Morrisons Lounge was amazing, beautifully laid out - so well, in fact, that we thought the food on the tables was just for show and only found out later we could eat it! We watched a food demonstration and got to sample it - queue lots of lovely photos being taken of me and madmumof7 stuffing our faces! Later we returned for more food sampling, everything was delicious, and came back again on the Saturday to listen to Neil Nugent, executive chef, share his experience through a q & a session. I learnt lots and, apparently, a probe will change my life! I have to honestly say the food they kept bringing out was delicious and I should not have sat next to the tray of lemon and chocolate tart as I couldn't stop myself from eating it!

A sea of bloggers in
the courtyard

For the rest of the afternoon, I couldn't drag myself away from the Hub and thoroughly enjoyed chatting to the brands and other bloggers.
The drinks party in the Courtyard was lovely, as was the weather, and then we headed for the BiBs
Awards Ceremony, presented by Katie Hill. I thought she did a great job and came across as unpretentious and funny. I felt excited for the winners but would have liked to have heard a post from their blog.







That evening, we had dinner in a nearby restaurant, The Iskele, organised very kindly by Vic Welton, with about 30 other bloggers, some I knew and some I got to know whilst we ate fabulous food!

Looking good in our specs
for Boots Opticians!

After a good night's sleep, I was ready for day two!

Posing for Wyndham Rentals

Accompanied by madmumof7 and Kat, we met more brands, took part in the Q&A session with Neil Nugent, Executive Chef for Morrisons, entered lots of competitions and met more bloggers. Lunch was delicious, we enjoyed some wine from Lindemans and had a relax in the Courtyard, beautifully decorated and lots of comfy sofas to stretch out on.



 

Neil Nugent

Madmumof7 disappeared to get changed as she was reading out one of her posts for the Bloggers Keynote so I joined her at a table near the front as she prepared. I could tell she was nervous as she was unusually quiet! I was so proud to be her friend as she walked up to the lectern, and she didn't trip or do anything embarrassing! Although I had read her post and listened the week before when she needed to practise, it was great to see her up on stage and I was pleased to report afterwards that it was not only me and her fdil laughing, I could hear chuckles all round the room. She looked visibly relieved but proud of herself as she returned to our table to listen to the rest of the keynote speakers!

She's doing it!

I enjoyed the rest of the posts, but it was very emotional as some of the stories were so sad.
The final part of BritMums was a special appearance from the musical "Good Enough Mums Club" and it was pure genius! So funny because we could all relate to the story, some very talented singers/actresses, and we all joined in enthusiastically to a rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Boobs"!
And then it was all over! A couple of hours later I was back home, goodie bag contents were fairly shared between the family, and normal life resumed. Roll on next year!