#SCOTBLOGMEET

Disclaimer: a long post awaits you ahead, so anyone reading might want a cup of tea or coffee!

When Charlotte of Colours and Carousels announced in June that she would be hosting a Scottish blogger event I surprised myself and jumped at the chance to meet other local bloggers. Yes I know, meeting up with a room full of strangers and feeling excited about it. Who am I? As the date of the meetup got closer I began to get very nervous but decided I wouldn't let my anxiety talk me out of going, and I'm so pleased that I went.

The event took place in Darcy's in Princes Square. Charlotte had organised for different activities to take place; a raffle, three talks, some bites to eat with a glass of prosecco, and a corner with bare baroque jewellery tattoos that even Beyonce herself would feel glamorous wearing - she has been rocking the metallic tattoos as of late. Phew! what a busy bee Charlotte must have been setting this all up for the rest of us to enjoy. 

Everyone who attended the event received free goodie bags that were insane. They were packed full with goodies that I am excited to try out - watch this space for numerous reviews! There was a corner with Yelp Glasgow to make-your-own goodie bag, I managed to bag a pair of glasses and a bottle opener that I am more than pleased with. (And yes there was a tipsy train home selfie with the sunglasses on)Then there were the amazing lust-worthy raffle prizes to help raise money for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH). My eyes were set on the flamingo necklace, the pink crochet elephant and the Magnitone lucid cleansing brush. To those that received them I'm happy for you, but I'm also well jelly. Although I missed out on the raffle prizes I managed to win the Instagram challenge, and received the blogging puns pencil set & the cute rose gold bracelets and silver ring from the pictures above. How quirky is the packaging from jewellery box?! I love the little-coloured pegs. A big thank you to Charlotte and companies that donated items for the meetup, as we managed to raise £320 for SAMH from the ticket sales and the raffle. How rad is that?!

Although it was fun receiving goodies and participating in the raffle the best part of the day was the part I was most nervous about beforehand - the meeting and greeting. It was really nice to put the faces to people behind the blogs. Many of the lovely people I met I have been following over on my bloglovin' account. So it was fantastic to finally meet other Scottish bloggers. Everyone was so friendly and supportive which is one of the best things about blogging - the community. The community is not at all how I imagined before I started up Lady Ellumina. Although the community is mainly composed of females, in opposition to stereotypes there's no bitching, and high-school drama, or even making others feel unwelcomed. The wonderful part of the blogging community is that we are all out there doing our own thing and encouraging others to do the same.

This brings me to Lynsay of Miss West End Girl. She started the day off with an inspirational talk about blogging, she mentioned why she loves blogging and the importance of community. My favourite quotes of her talk include "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door," which is so relevant when it comes to blogging as we are all putting ourselves out there online, and what makes it so great as an outlet is that "we make the rules," as there is so much freedom in writing about what we love. Lynsay was truly on point during the talk as she stated the greatest thing about blogging is the community and I agree. According to her, Sopranos & blogging have something in common i.e. "This little thing of ours,".

Lis of Last Year's Girl concluded the talks of the day. She spoke of humorous stories from her experience of growing up online. She started off her blogging journey writing an online personal diary, then created Last Year's Girl originally as 'music' blog but soon found out the mistake of confining to one category. She prefers to have the freedom of writing about an assortment of subjects. Nowadays she works at the Glasgow Herald as a freelance writer - an opportunity that came about from blogging - and as a legal journalist. 

Finally, I'm going to talk about the important topic of the day Mental Health. We were lucky to have Anne from the Scottish Association for Mental Health visit us at the meetup to talk about the importance of mental well-being. The prevalence of mental health problems is greater than many would think - 1 in 4 people experience poor mental health in their life. Yet the section of mental health in the NHS is most underfunded. This is why the work that SAMH do is vital for those experiencing mental health problems and their families. 

Mental health is a topic very close to my heart and I am proud to be part of a community that wants to break the stigma and talk about it. My personal aim on Lady Ellumina is to share more often about mental health as both a student of psychology and a person that has had my fair share of mental problems. I have previously written a post about coping with panic attacks.

I hope to attend another Scottish blogger event soon, but this time we will hopefully have a team to set it all up instead of almost breaking Charlotte! 

Have any readers attended a blogging event before? What was your experience like?