When I met fellow blogger Sarah Ivell at the #LDNBloggersParty a month back, we were both delighted to discover that we lived in the same area of Hertfordshire. Previously, I hadn’t even considered that any beauty or fashion bloggers might be located nearby, so it was a lovely surprise to know that Sarah and I were in close proximity of one another – and could meet up without having to trek all the way to London and back. After a little discussion and Sarah’s reassurance that there were even more bloggers living nearby, we decided to organize a small-scale lunch in St Albans, so that we could all meet-up close by, have a bite to eat – and chat all things blog related.
With the date of 31st July booked at L’Italiana in St Albans (if you’re ever in the area, it’s a really lovely restaurant with amazing food), Sarah set about sending out invitations and I started emailing around so that we could put together some little goody bags. The day itself came around so quickly and before we knew it, we were in St Albans, setting up.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you may have noticed that Em Sheldon has been staying with me for a few days, so us Hertfordshire bloggers adopted her as a ‘Southerner’ for the day and she joined us for the lunch, along with Lucy Rance, Shope Delano, Adela Cechova, Sophie Pearl, Olivia and Hannah. Together, we were a mix of fashion, lifestyle and beauty bloggers – so we had lots to talk about!
With talk of ‘vlogging’, our favourite bloggers and why we set up our blogs on the agenda, there was even more of an excited hush when the food arrived (a cue to whip our cameras out and start snapping away – we must have been a real sight!).
Very kindly, we had two wonderful brands who contributed to the mini goody bags that Sarah and I were able to give out to all the girls that came along – MyShowcase (T.LeCLERC) and Rouge Bunny Rouge. I always rave about Rouge Bunny Rouge, because they are a beauty brand that I genuinely love (half the contents of my make-up bag is RBR!) and can 100% vouch for, so I can’t wait to hear if the other attendees love the brand as much as I do!
In addition to sending over two of their famous summer glow products – Bronzing Glow Powder and Bronzing Glow Liquid, they also sent over gorgeous little mini gift bags for the products to go in! I am going to do a full review in a few days time, so keep your eyes out for it in my beauty section. Also contributing was MyShowcase, who are a fantastic new online ‘umbrella’ brand, who represent and sell lots of products from lesser known, smaller beauty based brands. I think it’s an amazing concept, as it gives smaller, more specialized brands a platform to showcase their products, something I am really passionate about doing too. Sometimes, your miracle product (that you simply cannot live without) isn’t going to be in from of the mainstream beauty brands, but from a smaller brand who only offers a select few products – but has put years and years of research and care into it.
Thank you so much to Sarah, who did a fantastic job organizing the lunch and sending out the invitations – and to all the lovely girlies that came along! If you’re in and around St Albans at lunchtime, L’Italiana is worth a look in (although it’s rather busy as it’s popular) as their lunchtime menu is £5.95 each (for a pizza or pasta dish).
If you are local to Hertfordshire, or Bedfordshire and would be interested in attending another meet-up soon, please let me know by leaving a comment with your details below – so that Sarah and I will keep you updated when we have something planned!
