Having brunch with The Makeup Fairy was an inspiration! The ITWBN (Into The West Blogger Network) organized the event at The Ardiulaun Hotel, Galway. The hotel grounds were stunning.
This was my second time attending an ITWBN event. The first event I attended was afternoon tea with Retro Flame, click the link to read about it! I’ll admit that I was a little nervous attending the first event because I didn’t know anyone there & I didn’t know what it would be like. This time, I was confident walking in & immediately met new bloggers & reconnected with ones I had met at the last event.
Here I am with some lovely ladies. Starting at the top Left, going clockwise: With my fellow fairy, Joanne Lary – The Makeup Fairy. With Kerrie from Bella and Vogue. With Sandra Harty from A Modern Mommy’s World. With ITWBN co-founder Saibh Egan.
We enjoyed some stylish & tasty mocktails in the beautiful surrounds. I found an ITWBN Goodie Bag on my chair, packed with lovely things – yippee! I won “best selfie” at the last event & my amazing prize, a Clarins hamper courtesy of McSharry’s Pharmacy, was also waiting for me on my chair.
We sat down to enjoy tasty treats & blogging chat. Everything was beautifully presented. It was so nice to connect with fellow bloggers. Everyone was so friendly & helpful. Like at the last event, it was fun to be in a room where everyone’s snapping photos, taking selfies & tweeting! lol
Joanne told us about herself & how she started out with her blog. She described her excitement with the first product she was asked to review – a Sure deodorant! It made me smile because she started off the same as the rest of us! She has achieved so much success, has worked with lots of top brands & has a book coming out soon. Listening to her talk was really inspirational. She works so hard. Joanne was kind enough to answer all our questions after her talk.
I’m wearing: Handbag by Marc by Marc Jacobs (my fav), Heels by Paolo, Tops by AX &
American Rag Cie, Jeans by Rant & Rave, Coat by Dunnes.
Joanne emphasized the importance of your blog’s layout, branding, consistency & having a signature way of speaking & stylizing across all of your social media networks. She advised having a media kit & rates card. I have lots of work ahead of me! I have to admit, after meeting Joanne, I’m slightly obsessed with her on Instagram & Snapchat (themakeupfairy) – she’s really fun to follow!
Below, top image is my “best selfie” Clarins prize & below it are the lovely things from my ITWBN goodie bag – minus the Propercorn & Broderick rocky road as they were devoured as soon as I got home.
I thoroughly enjoyed brunch with The Makeup Fairy – seeing fellow bloggers, making new friends & listening to Joanne’s talk were truly inspirational. There were also some lovely brands represented at the event so I was able to do some networking too. I’m looking forward to the next ITWBN event already!
I’m sharing with these lovely linkys: #HappyDays | #ShareWithMe | #WAYWOW