Blog at the Beach Party | My Weekend in Leeds

Hey Sweeties,

It’s been a couple of weeks but it’s finally time I told you all about a recent weekend in Leeds. I did mean to get this post live a lot sooner but last week I not only got struck down with a nasty fluey cold, but I also tragically suffered the sudden loss of my beautiful rabbit, Lola. People who don’t or have never owned animals, will never truly understand the hole they can leave and while some will say she was only a rabbit, Lola was my world and my daily companion and I miss her terribly. So, to distract myself from this recent sadness, I thought I would cast my mind back to a happier weekend at the end of April where I got the opportunity to finally re-visit my old haunt, Leeds and attend my first official blogger event.

*Probably worth making yourself a brew as this could be lengthy*

Back in early March, I was contacted by the lovely Emma at Icelolly.com, a holiday price comparison site, inviting me to their Blog at the Beach event in Leeds. While some would see the location as a bit of an obstacle, I jumped at the chance and confirmed my attendance almost straight away.

The event was to be a Mexican Fiesta with three speakers and an opportunity to meet and network with other bloggers; it sounded great! Owing to the distance Leeds is compared to my home in the south east, I decided I would travel up on the Friday night so I was there in good time, and would stay a second night in case there was an opportunity to socialise after the event; it would also give me a chance to reacquaint myself with the city before having to rush home again.

Aside from the hotel which I’ll tell you about later, I had a couple of hours before the event to explore the city and aside from walking around for a bit, I made a deliberate trip to Mrs Ather’s, a café situated just behind House of Fraser.

Mrs Ather’s Cafe

Before arriving to Leeds, I did a quick Google to see what (if any) cafes and restaurants there were that were vegan friendly and I was actually pleased with the amount of options that came up. As you guys know, I try to achieve a 90% plant-based lifestyle and while I allow myself the odd treat (hence the 10% freedom I allow), I feel so much better when I know I’m keeping within my limits. Of all the options, Mrs Ather’s café came up as a highly recommended option and so I decided that I would venture there for my breakfast on the Saturday morning before heading to the Blog at the Beach event.

Sometimes it’s all too easy to stick with the established chains for food and drink but when you have independent options around you to explore, I don’t know how you can justify not doing so. That being said, independent or not and no matter how amazing the food and service is, I won’t line up outside queuing and I try to avoid really intimate spaces.

Mrs Ather’s is split into two levels, upstairs while reasonably small, is open and fairly evenly spaced out, whereas downstairs is dark and you really are crammed in so for me this wasn’t that comfortable. I ordered the vegan avocado on toast and a soya cappuccino; the coffee I wasn’t wild about but the food was incredible and very, very delicious. Because of the popularity of the place, certainly when I visited which was about 10:30 ish, you do feel fairly rushed to finish your meal/coffee etc. and free up the table for the next person/people, so if you have time to kill, maybe seek somewhere else.

If I find myself up in Leeds again though, I would definitely revisit Mrs Ather’s because the staff were very friendly and welcoming, and I want to try some of the delicious cakes they had on offer!

Blog at the Beach –

I arrived at the White Cloth Gallery shortly after midday (always a dilemma if you turn up on time or play it fashionably late) to find the place already busy with bloggers. I was warmly greeted and given a lanyard with my name on, and two drinks vouchers -1 alcoholic, and 1 soft- and then I was presented with the problem of finding myself in the middle of the room, overwhelmed. I had two choices, either I busy myself in a corner by myself, or I take the plunge and start talking; I did the latter! Social anxiety aside, a room full of people you don’t know is daunting to even the bravest out there and it can take a lot of confidence to make the first move and say hello to people, so I was quite proud of myself.

At 1pm the event kicked off with a mariachi band who got us in the mood for our Mexican Fiesta before we settled for an afternoon of speakers and more opportunities to network. First up was Kirsten Thompson from Kooky Traveller who spoke to us about protecting our brand and reputation, talking through ways of securing our blog and online identity. I think nowadays, we live so much of our life online that we forget how hackable we are if we don’t take the right precautions.

After a short lunch break, Mi Elfverson from The Vlog Academy took to the stage, talking to us about vlogging and how we should all be doing it. While I completely agree as there is no doubt video content is the way forward, not just in the blogosphere, actually finding the confidence to put yourself in front of the camera for some is still a challenge, myself included. But Mi made and shared some excellent points and advice so I think you should watch this space!

What makes you so damn special?

After another short networking break, the third and final speaker for the afternoon was Sabina Trojanova from Girl Vs Globe, who presented a Frozen themed talk on building a social following. She opened by asking how, with an estimated four million blogs published daily, do you make yourself stand out? What makes you so damn special? She made us all question our own spaces on the internet and identify what makes us each unique and different?

I got to thinking about ClaireySweetie and while I totally believe that I still have a lot more work to do to achieve the right level of exposure, I am confident that what I am doing, has created and is creating my own special following –agree? While I don’t overshare, I am honest with you all and my mission is to write with a transparency so you feel that what I write, is how I would talk if we were in a room together. I like to feel like I am your big sister and ClaireySweetie is a place to come to for some advice and chit chat that covers a multitude of topics under the lifestyle umbrella. I hope you feel I am on the way to achieving that and if not, please tell me how I can improve as I always welcome feedback.

Sadly, before too long it was time to wrap up the event and say our goodbyes. Unfortunately the girls I had been talking to until that point all had to dash off so although I knew of some people going out afterwards, I made my way back to my hotel for the evening.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel –

For both nights I was up in Leeds, I stayed at The Cosmopolitan Hotel, a short 5 minute walk or so from Leeds Station. I arrived in Leeds about 12:30AM and with my bearings a bit out of place, I did lap the lower end of Leeds a couple of times before locating the hotel.

The hotel is quite quirky, and while it’s nicely decorated, each floor seems to have its own thing going on. I stayed in a single room (with ensuite) on the second floor which was perfectly comfortable and ideal for what I needed it for. That being said, while the bed was very comfortable, it wasn’t anchored to the floor so every time I turned over, I had to be a bit careful that I didn’t keep bumping the headboard against the wall.

The 2AM Orgasm

This however didn’t stop a couple in a neighbouring room from having a late night (2am ish) love making session whereby the headboard kept beat of movements, and the walls thin enough for me and probably most of the other guests to hear the chap orgasm very loudly. How people can be so blatant is beyond me so yes, if you’re looking for a romantic weekend away, I probably wouldn’t recommend The Cosmopolitan just because I don’t think it offers much privacy… if you know what I mean! That all being said, it gave me something to talk about at Blog at the Beach event! Ha!

The Restaurant

Service wise though I found all the staff very friendly and on the second night, I ventured downstairs to the restaurant as I was in real need of a hot meal. I was prepared to sit at a table on my own with the other diners, however the waitress that served me offered me a table in the lounge area so I could read my book and eat my dinner more privately. I didn’t catch her name but that really was excellent service from her part and very appreciated by me.

In Summary

On reflection about the weekend overall, I should have known myself enough to know that staying on after the event and socialising was going to be unlikely, so while I think travelling up on the Friday night was worthwhile, I should have just headed home on Saturday evening rather than stay the additional night. However, had I done that you can be sure as hell I would have made some pals and then been gutted to miss out on their social plans afterwards.

Overall though, I was so pleased to have attended the Blog at the Beach event and although I struggled a bit socially, I was still proud with my efforts. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to attend more events in the future where I’ll get the chance to build my confidence, and expand my network.

What are you top tips for being confident at events?

Until next time x