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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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