Getting A New Perspective With Hotter Shoes

I was very happy to be invited to my local Hotter Shoes store in Cheltenham a couple of weeks ago to discover more about this renowned brand. Hotter isn't a retailer that I have ever shopped at before, assuming it was for the older generation, so it was exciting to be able to see what this brand had to offer with fresh eyes and perspective. Arriving to the venue, I was greeted with an array of treats, and was really looking forward to learning more about where the brand came from, and getting to look more in depth at the shoes, and even bags, on display, very kindly being offered to take a pair home at the end of the event to get a real feel for what Hotter as a brand and a retailer has to offer.

Gloucester Quays Food & Drink Festival 2015

Having moved down from the cold climates of Leeds in West Yorkshire to the sweltering heat of the South, I wanted to try as many things as possible in my first few weeks living in a county that seemed to have completely different mannerisms and characteristics that the one I had just moved from - and what better was to see what fantastic local produce and vibe Gloucestershire has then to attend the annual Food & Drink Festival at Gloucester Quays, which took place this year on the 17th - 19th July.

Chaophraya Leeds Cocktail Menu Launch

Thai food is one of my favourite cuisines, and the thought of trying some cocktails which take their inspiration from such a culture, especially from the beautiful Chaophraya restaurant in Leeds City Centre was too good an offer to miss. I was invited by the lovely Lynsey to attend their launch of their new cocktail menu in their Palm Sugar Bar along with other bloggers and veterans of the restaurant to an evening filled with beautiful surroundings, amazing live music, scrumptious food and even more delicious cocktails.

THIS POST CONTAINS ALCOHOL REFERENCES, THE LEGAL AGE TO CONSUME ALCOHOL (IN THE UK) IS 18. PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.
VISIT DRINK AWARE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ALCOHOL.

The Press Tent | Manchester Escalator Event

I went along to my first event of this kind, meeting a number of brands and bloggers at The Escalator conference space in Manchester at an incredible event run by The Press Tent. There were so many fabulous brands there that I'd either never heard of, or had seen around Twitter and read their blogs and was excited to meet face to face! This event had everything a bloggers heart could desire from fashion to accessories and music to cocktails!

Too Much Picnic Food & Dustbin Boyfriends | #EastMidsMeetUp

In my short time blogging, I have come to love so many new things; Twitter chats, polyvore, satire and most of all, meeting other bloggers, the people who understand what this crazy blogging world is all about and how much time and effort and passion goes in to every word. I have been lucky enough to be thrust into this world along side on of my good friends, Kirsty Ralph, and to be invited to a number of groups and events. Facebook has been an incredible tool for finding likeminded and near by bloggers, and I was lucky enough to meet six incredible bloggers in the East Midlands Bloggers Society for a day of chatting, picnicking and art!

[top picture sourced from Samantha Partridge]

 

I have been to Nottingham a number of times over my lifetime, mainly for bowling competitions, so I was looking forward to seeing some more of the city, especially Nottingham Castle, which I've wanted to go and see for some time after hearing quite a bit about its beautiful garden areas, views of Nottingham and its art gallery inside. 

We started the day meeting at the train station, and I have to admit I was incredibly nervous. My blog has greatly boosted my confidence, but meeting new people is something that I still find very nerve racking! I was amazed at how quickly we all gelled though just from walking from the train station to the castle, and I felt so comfortable with all these amazing girls in such a short time like we had been friends for ages! Having blogging in common certainly helped and we soon found a beautiful place in the castle gardens next to a picturesque gazebo to have our picnic, and chatted about our posts, jobs and beyond! 

We certainly weren't short on food, with each of us bringing something different - and certainly all going slightly over board, having enough to feed fifteen rather than seven people! And we were soon laughing and making jokes, including ending up referring to my boyfriend, Pete as a LITERAL dustbin. Needless to say, a few days later, this photo needed to be taken..

We also had a look around the art gallery, something which I haven't done in a good few years and sorely regret not taking more time to do. It brought back so many happy memories of going on school trips to see amazing art work - plus a bit of culture never hurt anyone did it? The art gallery was beautiful and was filled with different types of art, classic and modern to see and even interact with. Our childish sides definitely came out when we found the interactive iPads, jigsaws and cut out figures to pose with! The walk around the art gallery reminded me of a quote my art teacher told our small group of six who were taking art A-Level;

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of our daily lives off our souls"

- Pablo Picasso 

After a lovely walk around the castle and the art gallery we retired to a beautiful pub on the cobbled streets outside the castle entrance and enjoyed a 'Bev' as Emmie put it...it was so nice to be able to sit and chat to other bloggers. I've been quite nervous about telling my friends and family about my blog, and in fact didn't really tell my parents about it in detail except mentioning it once to my dad until after this meet up, despite showcasing some of my dads art work on here beforehand! I feel like this meet up gave me a chance to really get the discussions out I wanted to about blogging beyond the hectic Twitter chats and gave me a confidence boost to just go for it and tell my family. Friends on the other hand still don't really know about it other than a few passing notes on Facebook, so it's an overwhelming feeling to have so many bloggers I now feel I can call friends and talk to about my blog after just one meet up!

All the girls I met are wonderful and fantastic offers and people - be sure to check out all their blogs and twitters (below) and let me know your first time blogger meet experiences in the comments! 

The Fabulous Bloggers

Kirsty | Kirsty Ralph

Emmie | Carpe Diem Emmie

Sam | Coco Butter Blog

Hannah | Hannah Bakes Things

Chelsea | Chelsea Potter

Ellie | Ellie Kathleen

Crabtree & Evelyn Blogger Event

I attended my first ever blogging event at Crabtree & Evelyn in Nottingham, hosted by the lovely Gemma of Gemms Beauty. Crabtree & Evelyn is a beautiful, unique shop which sells fantastic beauty products as well as delicious teas and treats - a combination that I certainly can't deny is possibly the best combination I have tried!

As this was the first blogger event I have ever attended, I was incredibly nervous to meet so many bloggers who are so much more established and experienced than myself, so I was certainly glad that Kirsty Ralph was there with me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a first time event for a number of other bloggers there, which made an incredible atmosphere of people all learning new things about each other and being able to learn tips and tricks from other, more experienced bloggers.

I have heard of Crabtree & Evelyn before, as it is a brand that my Nan was a massive fan of, and she used to use their hand creams all the time, so I was excited to see some of the new products that they had and be able to take a trip down memory lane, remembering days testing my Nan's hand creams and pretending to be a grown up when I was little.

The Crabtree & Evelyn store in Nottingham is absolutely beautiful - we were greeted by pink balloons and bunting in the window display and a bright store with a incredible summer time feel to it, with greens, pinks and yellows everywhere. We were welcomed with champagne and a delicious elderflower sparkling drink and a wonderful display of sandwiches and shortbread biscuits, giving a surprisingly British summertime feel to this American company.

Throughout the evening, we were offered products to try, of which I think I smelled every perfume and fragrance in the store - some smells that I have smelt before and some interesting combinations of scents that created new and exciting smells. One that especially grabbed my attention was an absinthe scent, which smelled like a mild absinth and chocolate - surprisingly something which was a lot better smelling than I expected. I also tested out one of their hand therapy creams in a lavender scent, a mixture of an exfoliant and a shea butter cream, which left my hands feeling incredibly smooth. It's something that is so simple to use, as you just rub it into your dry hands before washing it off, which is great for my somewhat lazy routine and also great for my hands, which are generally dry and coarse due to my tenpin bowling - of course I had to buy a bottle! I also made the most of the complimentary hand massage that was offered, choosing the pear and pink mandarin hand cream, which smelled amazing - and I couldn't resist not buying a soap in the same fragrance.

There were so many beautiful, fantastic bloggers at the event, and I loved every second of being able to pick their brains about the things they have done to improve their blogs and get their names out there. It was also exciting meeting new bloggers, some as new as myself, who had found ways of improving their communications with their readers already. I have experienced, mainly through social media like Twitter the community spirit in the blogging community, but at the Crabtree & Evelyn event it became apparent that it's more than just an online community, it's a gathering of like minded people who all share a passion for writing and sharing the things they love, be in beauty, fashion, family life or music, and I can't wait until the next event!

Follow Crabtree & Evelyn

Follow Gemms Beauty