Last weekend saw over 500 bloggers descend on central London for BritMums Live! 2014. I enjoyed last year’s conference so much that I booked a ticket for 2014 just a few hours after getting home. Once again it didn’t fail to disappoint, but at the same time I think I have moved on a bit since then, and my blogging certainly has too.
As well as being an excellent opportunity to meet up with other bloggers the conference featured some really useful sessions which I felt that I learnt a huge amount from. My notebook is full of plans for a new blog design, ideas on how to use Pinterest better and tips for mastering YouTube. The programme meant that I wasn’t able to attend all the sessions I would have liked to attend, but I’m hoping to catch up on things from other people’s blog posts.
One big thing that I was very keen to embrace this year was a focus on travel blogging. I’ll make no secret of the fact that I’d like to travel more with Mr C and the kids and if I can do that through my blogging then even better. I was thrilled to meet the Independent’s Simon Calder and there was also a great Travel Bloggers session which I took loads away from.
Another trend that I noticed when I got home and looked at my photos was the selfie. All over the place people were taking selfies of themselves with other bloggers or whilst talking to brands and there were also several competitions run by sponsors which involved posing in some sort of fancy dress and posting it on social media. Definitely not one for camera shy bloggers!
So, after a couple of days of inspiration I came home to see a very happy Little Miss C and Master C and then Mr C and I were able to spend a lovely evening just catching up. All was looking rosy until about 11pm that night when I went to check on Master C before I headed up to bed. All looked fine until I closed his bedroom door and then heard him promptly throw up!
Since Saturday it’s been a messy week. Sadly not just a 24 hour bug, but something else that has been going round his nursery. I think the record of getting through 17 nappies in one day probably sums it all up quite well. It’s been tough, especially as it’s meant that I’ve been unable to do much with LMC as I’ve been trapped under a poorly toddler. I’m hoping that we might finally be coming out of the other end, but we’re certainly still not clear and there are several things that have had to be cancelled as a result. A shame, but selfishly it’s also been nice getting so many cuddles from my little man. LMC definitely needs a bit of one on one time to make up for this last week though. Looking after two kids when one of them is poorly is tough.
Luckily, and with huge thanks to my MIL for babysitting, Mr C and I were still able to have a special day together today though that we’ve been planning for quite a while. Months back I attended our Mayor’s charity ball here in St Albans. I first got to know the Mayor when we involved her in our Team Honk activities and since then we keep bumping in to each other at events ranging from Radio Verulam interviews to a WI meeting. At her ball there was a silent auction and a lot that really piqued my interest – a tour of the Infiniti Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes. Mr C and I have been F1 fans for as long as we’ve known each other (slightly longer than Red Bull has been an F1 team interestingly!) so I jumped at the chance to bid on this. Amazingly we won and today was our tour.
Now there’s plenty of secrecy in F1 meaning that there was plenty that we couldn’t see and photos weren’t allowed for most of the tour, but it was great to see behind the scenes. We even Christian Horner deep in a meeting with Adrian Newey, the two race cars were back from Sunday’s race in Austria and the teams were very busy getting ready for the next race in Silverston.
It really was an opportunity to see something that I doubt we’ll get to see again and it felt great to be so close to the action that we watch on TV every race weekend.
Even just waiting in Red Bull’s reception makes you realise just how epic the team’s success has been. Not only did we get to see the current World Championship Trophy and the Constructor’s Championship Trophy, but they also had a few other pieces of silverware on display!
In a way it seems hard to believe just how much has happened in the last week. From the highs of BritMums, to the lows of a poorly little one, and then back up to the high of today’s Red Bull visit. Life really is a roller coaster at times!
Leave a Reply