'St Ives' by Me

Photo credit: PhotoPuddle on Flickr

This summer we went on holiday to Cornwall. It was our second holiday there and I loved it just as much as I did when went last year. In fact I think I fell in love with it even more. I hope we can manage another break away down there next year. It's hard to explain why exactly but the place has really captured my heart. It's still in England but feel like a million miles away. It's just so beautiful and I love the relaxed atmosphere. As you can imagine I took one or two photos so I had better start sharing them here. Here is Porthminster Beach at St Ives. It is such a lovely sandy beach I could stay there all day. Sigh... Cornwall I miss you...

'My Britmums Live photo that has nothing at all to do with Britmums!' by Me

My Britmums Live photo that has nothing at all to do with Britmums!, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

So this weekend I went to BritMums Live and I can honestly say it was amazing. I wanted to write this post yesterday but spent the day just processing the whole thing in my head. This was my first blogger conference and I think it’s fair to say the whole thing was rather overwhelming but totally inspiring. I met some amazing, inspirational, talented and genuinely lovely people.

I have no idea exactly how to write this so I thought I would go with the bullet points I jotted down in my notebook on the way home on the train. So in no particular order here are my thoughts on the conference.

Not all of the sessions felt particularly relevant to me or my blog but I loved the two photography ones I attended. I am now in love with iphoneography thanks to a great presentation by Richard Gray so expect a few Smartphone pictures to appear here in the future.

My last post was all about decluttering. Well that’s all gone out of the window thanks to the massive amount of freebies I brought home with me. Seriously I must have looked a sight carrying so much stuff through London. I was close to getting myself stuck in the barriers of the tube station at one point.

Bloggers are amazing people and I wish I’d met more of them and been a bit more vocal. Because I’m a tad on the shy side and it felt like no one had really heard of me (having an anonymous blog doesn’t help with this) I didn’t really make as many new friends as I would have hoped. I’m much harder to shut up on Twitter though so I’m sure I will chat with people from the weekend on there instead.

I got a feeling not a lot of people actually read my little blog but that’s fine. I honestly do blog just for me and if anyone else reads this it’s a bonus. I did give out a few business cards though so hopefully a few people will come over here for a visit.

I missed my family like crazy, especially my two children as it was the longest I’ve ever been apart from them. I definitely got the “me time” I’ve been craving for a while though which was fantastic.

There were some fantastic speakers. Katy Hill is hilarious. I love her openness and the way she is a self-confessed over-sharer. I will definitely be following her new blog. And Katie Piper is an inspirational woman. I met her when she signed her book and thought she was lovely.

And finally this weekend was really special for me as I got to finally meet my good friend Heather from Stay at Home Mum Loving It. We’ve been friends for a while now but had never actually met until this weekend. And I am pleased to report that she’s just as lovely in real life as she is online! It feel like we’ve know each other forever and I’m sure we’ll be friends for life. I now need to convince her to come and move to the south east of England as we live just too damn far apart.

I had no idea what photo to put with this but I figured it should really be one of mine. I hardly took any pictures at the event itself so here is a picture of beach huts in Cornwall. I figure this might be the first post some people read of mine so I should make it known from the start that if you follow my blog there will be beach huts!

'Mugs at the Eden Project Cafe' by ZedBee | Zoë Power

Mugs at the Eden Project Cafe, a photo by ZedBee | Zoë Power on Flickr.

Today should have been a perfect summer day. The sun was shining and it was warm outside. When I went to the shops to buy lovely summery things like fruit and flowers I got stopped by lots of people - including the local vicar - to tell me how lovely my baby was. But I am feeling blue because my little boy is sick. Don't worry it's nothing serious. He's been checked by the doctor and it's just a common cold but I can't help feeling rubbish about it. I hate seeing him suffer when he's still so little. And I know it's irrational but I hate how I've not been able to protect and keep him safe from nasty germs.

Therefore I need a quick fix of a photo that made me smile today. This one is great. In my head I imagine it was taken at a cafe in New York. I don't know why. It was actually taken at a cafe at The Eden Project in Cornwall. I love the colours and the sparkle and whilst writing this I have actually smiled a little bit.

'Sky Sea Land' by Andy Beez ☽☼☾

Sky Sea Land, originally uploaded by Andy Beez ☽☼☾.

When I first saw this amazing photo I thought it was somewhere really hot and exotic. I especially love all these fantastic blues. However, I was rather surprised when I read the desciption that it wasn't somewhere in the Indian Ocean but St Ives in Cornwall. I've always thought I'd quite like to go to Cornwall on holiday but this confirms it. Anyway, who needs the stress of a long haul flight when you can pop in the car and be somewhere like this in just a few hours!