I write this with my feet soaking in a bucket of salty water, cursing the blogger who suggested heels were a must for the Fridaynight. After a slight detour around the city of London I eventually found The Brewery and by the time I got there the damage had been done. My tootsies were bleeding and I knew I had another 8 hours of wearing my killer Boden heels, at the very least. I was very tempted to snaffle a pair of jelly numbers from the Crocs stand, but fashion will out and after a few glasses of Bibs party prosecco, the pain was becoming bearable.
There will be hundreds of posts going out about Britmums this weekend. It was trending on Twitter before it even started and there was an article about it in the Guardian yesterday. So I am going to merely give you a list of my good bits.
Britmums Highlights
- Being there. As me – not a mum, not a wife, but me Sarah Miles. Blogger.
- Meeting some gorgeous bloggers but especially Knackered Mother, Party of Seven, Diary of the Dad, City Girl at Heart, Older Single Mum, Life with an Autistic Son, Baby Loves Porridge, Older Mum, Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron & Dad’s Cooking Tonight.
- Bibs Awards – I didn’t win in my category (no surprise though), but it was a great celebration of some excellent bloggers and I thought Katy Hill, who presented it, was lovely. It was very refreshing to see her back on Saturday joining in the workshops just like any other blogger.
- The speakers. Ruby Wax, Sarah Brown and Cherry Healey were all excellent. Eloquent, funny and earnest.
- The WordPress workshop run by Julie Hall of Women Unlimited was brilliant. I only wish it had been longer. Julie spoke with infinite knowledge, but kept it simple. She gave some invaluable tips about Google and which plugins to have on your site.
- The goody bags. OMG, I never realised you got free stuff! My kids were besides themselves when I arrived home last night laden with freebies from Disney, Lego, Warner Bros to name but a few. Then there was the Britmums goody bag given to us as we left. Well, all I can say is a big THANK YOU!
- Bloggers’ keynote. I was very honoured to have been asked to read out my post ‘The Downstairs Loo‘ at the Bloggers’ Keynote which concluded the conference. And people actually laughed! Hurrah! It was a real joy to hear the other bloggers too, reading their posts in their words. Some of the posts were funny, some were devastatingly sad. There were tears. And I am humbled by the struggle some people have gone/are going through.
So, there you are. I should have taken loads of pictures, but didn’t. I decided not to take my camera and relied on my iPhone which did not like the lighting at all.
I have come away inspired, elated and really wishing I had an iPad…..
Loved your reading, and great to hear you read a post which I remember reading, if that makes any sense.
Just a shame I didn’t get to meet you.
Glad you had a great time.
Thank you, means a lot. Wish I could have met you properly too! It was a manic couple of days!
Was lovely to meet, albeit briefly. Sorry I kissed the keynotes as I had to rush off to meet some people.
It was great to meet you too! What a fab weekend!
Loved your keynote, such good writing and well delivered too. Says a lot about parenting too in a really effective way.
Glad you had a good time and ouch to the feet – we have all done it but this time I went for flats from the start through bitter experience. Agree with you about all the celeb input. Sarah Brown my fave followed by Ruby Wax. See you next year?
Thanks so much for your comment! It was lovely to chat with you over prosecco! I shall definitely be returning next year and definintely be wearing flats! x
Loved your keynote and have now subscribed to your blog… have no idea why I hadn’t already!!
Thank you and thank you! I think we shared a table on Friday pm but didn’t really get to say hello.. You were giving the panel a run for their money :)
You read beautifully! Well done and glad you came and had a good time. I hope to see you back next year.
Definitely. Thank you for such a wonderful, positive experience. :)
ah thx for the mention, it was so lovely to meet you and make a dent in that bottle of pinot together. I thought your keynote was brilliant. Well done you. Hope we get to see each other again soon x
Ah, yes…that bottle of pinot! Brilliant night x
Just home myself, back in N Ireland. Loved your Downstairs Loo post – I have a son who still has trouble with the wipe, flush and wash steps! All appear to be optional in his mind!
Observing my husband, I don’t think he’s going to grow out of it either! x
Don’t tell me that!!! I live in hope….. thinking of making a sign!
Really enjoyed listening to your keynote, completely felt your pain re the pot potpourri.
I bookmarked your blog the moment you read your piece and frankly am a little peeved off at myself for not following it sooner lol.
Hopefully bump into you at Britmums next year!!
Aw, what a lovely thing to say! Thank you x
Loved hearing your Keynote Post, wish I’d had the chance to meet you and say hello… next BritMumsLive eh!
Definitely! Who knew my loo would take a starring role….! ;)
Lovely to meet you and thanks for the mention! It was a great event with a high concentration of awesome people; will definitely be going next year. See you and your flat shoes there!
Great to meet you too! I will be there – sans heels!
I loved hearing you read your post. Sorry I didn’t get to meet you but glad you had such a great time. I’m still on a buzzy high from it all.
Thank you! I loved it – feeling a bit of a come down now though :(
We met briefly and it was great to say Hi. Keep up the good work
Thanks – was great to meet you too!
It was lovely to meet you. Wasn’t it a ‘huge’ weekend in every sense of the word. The post you read out was great – very funny and you read it so well. That was a great summary of the event.
First of all, GORGEOUS shoes! 2nd of all, so sorry about ouchie feet! Perhaps we should get Compeed to sponsor next year?! Your post was hilarious and very well read. Sorry I didn’t get to speak to you but am so pleased that you enjoyed yourself. See you next year for #BML2013
Will definitely be there next year! The shoes ARE fabulous – I have them in a raspberry colour too, but should not be worn barefoot or for prolonged pounding of the streeets of London! Damn google maps…..
Hi Sarah – clearly you saved lots of money and did not need to pay anyone to laugh – as your tweet implied. What awesome comments. Am feeling smug that I’m an “old” follower. Hope the feet recover. Sophie xxx
Thank you my lovely! Toes are looking pretty grim….at least the weather forbids sandals…xx
Oh I’m glad I’m not the only one who did my feet a big disservice by wearing heels the first day. To be fair it was the seam in my tights that rubbed and made my feet bleed, but I felt like a right wally!
I am now permanently in birkenstocks! Still hurting! x
Right just stop bloody talking about it! I’m RAGING I missed it but delighted you had a ball my lovely! It sounds like great craic and it must be brill to meet everyone IRL! Next year I’ll be there so save me a seat, emmaxx ps well done for reading and well done for being a finalist too- you rock!
You MUST come next year! Still hoping to come and buy you a drink when you’re over for the Mads! xx
After CyberMummy last year even flats posed a problem so I cannot imagine how sore your feet were! Sounds like you had a fab time – hopefully I will get an opportunity to be there! :O)