Cumbria Bloggers Meet| Part 2 at I Love Cafe

On Sunday I visited Carlisle to see family and friends and to catch up with my little blogging family; Cumbria Bloggers (We even have our own hashtag #cumbriablogger). You may have seen my previous post on the first meetup that we had a few months ago, you will remember how incredibly nervous I was about meeting bloggers in real life, well thankfully my fear has dwindled and has been replaced by enthusiasm and excitement. Our Cumbria Bloggers family has grown from 7 members to 24 in a few short months, who knew there was so many of us!

On Sunday we arranged to meet up, have tea and chat at I Love Cafe in the courtyard behind Mcdonalds in Carlisle. The cafe is incredibly tiny and cute, but very welcoming and homely thanks to the gorgeous Sophie who opened up especially for us bloggers. There was 10 of us at this meetup, 5 of the girls were new to me so I was able to find out about new blogs, which is always great! Between us we blog about such a wide variety of topics; crafts, cooking, fashion, mummy blogs, beauty and lifestyle, so being able to chat to bloggers from different specialities only adds to the interest. We all sat and enjoyed various flavoured teas, and yummy, scrummy cakes of a wide variety… I obviously went for a cupcake!

At the meet we decided that the meetups would become a regular event and we plan on holding a larger event during May/June and get local brands, businesses and other bloggers involved. Many people overlook Cumbria for events because we are “rural” however Carlisle is the perfect location for events as it is central to Scotland, the North East, Lancashire and Manchester… it’s only a few stops on the train! Helen, Amanda and I have already been networking with businesses on Twitter during the #cumbriahour chats so things are slowly but surely taking shape. I’m just excited to have met such a wonderful, talented group of girls and bloggers who blog about their passions, I’m in great company and am really excited about what us #cumbriabloggers will achieve in the future.

Please take a look at the other wonderful girls and their blogs. You may find your new favourite read amongst them. 

Anna from The Dusty Attic | Jen from Jenny and the Magic Feather | Jo from The Perfect Hiding Place 

Sally from Sallytangle | Amanda from Amanda Uniquely | Alice from Tea and Lead 

Caroline from All About the Girl | Ann from Prattle and froth | Sue from Sooz In The Shed

Do you have a similar group of blogger in your area? Or have to been to a meetup recently? Aslo if you are a Cumbrian blogger and want to join our little family, let me know!

Be sure to check out my blogger of the week and fellow Cumbria Blogger Anna from On The Dressing Table. She has the most amazing beauty blog, full of insightful and honest reviews, plus she is the sweetest girl!

My First Blogger Meet| Carlisle Blogger Meet

 

As much as I love blogging, it can be a lonely hobby. Yes I get to talk and meet hundreds of like minded blogging girls on twitter, but most of my blogging in real life is confined to the four walls of my bedroom. I have a number of friends and family who know about my blog but I end up boring them chatting about it continually, so very often my blog is neglected in my day to day conversations. My family and friends often don’t know what a blog is, don’t understand the appeal of it, think it’s a bit self obsessive and wonder why the hell anyone would care about what I have to say. For these reasons I have been desperate to go on a Blogger Meet, and Helen from Pierre Le Cat must of heard my cries and invited me along to the Carlisle Bloggers Meet last Sunday.

We arranged to meet up at Thin White Dukes in Carlisle city centre, which turned out to be a great location and a new favourite of mine. I was unbelievably nervous before going as I was the only one going who hadn’t met any of the other girls in person. Thankfully after thinking of cancelling multiple times, I plucked up the courage and went. I had described what I was wearing to the girls before hand as was more nervous of not actually recognising anyone and going up to a complete stranger and asking if they were a blogger! Thankfully as soon as I walked in the door I was met by Jo’s smiley face who recognised me. I sat with Jo and her sister Jen for a little while before everyone else joined us. At first the conversation was a little forced I think, as it always is when meeting new people but after the first drink everyone loosened up and we were sharing joke, stories and blogging experiences as we would with friends. We sat for nearly 3 hours, drinking eating and chatting and I left feeling like I had made 6 new friends. We now have a Facebook group that allow us to chat often and we are already thinking or organising the next meet. So as I have made 6 new friends I want to introduce them to you!

Amanda- Uniquely Snowflake

Amanda is a crafty and creative blogger. She has her own shop which she creates one of a kind jewellery, homeware, accessories and children's gifts.She is also a popular mummy blogger. Her blog is a mixed bag; full of interesting posts, crafts, fashion and life.

 

Anna- On The Dressing Table

Anna is the only other self confessed beauty product lover! Her blog is full of honest, detailed product reviews, and pictures of her adorable dogs! Like the rest of us she dabbles in some lifestyle blogging by sharing pictures of her life and personality throughout her posts. She is also to credit for the photos as I was too nervous to take any!

 

Helen- Pierre Le Cat

Helen has been my blogging friend for a long time and even helped me with my dissertation. She has such an interesting blog. A fashion and true lifestyle blogger her blog is pack full of unique online boutiques and fashion stores, creative photography and her latest post on her love of old people was so beautifully written it has been very popular.

 

Jen- Jenny And The Magic Feather

Jen is a lifestyle blogger who is amazing at blog designs, she actually helped with a few of the girls mentioned blogs. She is a creative and crafty girl who’s blog is full of baking and cute pictures, especially of her little pet Degus… you have to go see how cute they are!

 

Jo- The Perfect Hiding Place

Jo is a super crafty blogger who is a self confessed Pinterest addict…love this! Her blog is like mine, a mixed bag; full of life, crafts, and lots of nails! She is a super creative girl with a friendly blog with great photographs! I love her mix of topics.

 

Sally- Sally Tangle

Sally is a fashion blogger who dabbles in lifestyle posts. you can tell she’s a fashion blogger as she looked amazing when I met her!  Her blog is so pretty and I love her pictures, her writing style is personal, relaxed and a great read over a cup of tea.

 

I hope you go and check out these girls and their amazing blogs, and find some new favourites amongst them. If you are a Cumbrian blogger leave a comment below and we can invite you to our Facebook group and keep you informed for the next Bloggers Meet.

How was your first ever Blogger Meet? Were you are nervous as I was? What did you gain from it?