The Bloggers Blog Awards 2015

(Photo: C/O HelloApril)

Hello my lovely readers! After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, last Saturday was (finally) the day of the Bloggers Blog Awards ceremony - organised by the lovely Hayley of Tea Party Beauty. I don't think I ever actually mentioned it here on my blog, but I was actually nominated in the Best Up and Coming Beauty Blogger category! Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in a room full of some of my favourite human beings, so I immediately RSPVd to the invite! 

(Photo: C/O HelloApril)

The event was held at Lamberts Yard in Leeds, and I've only recently found that this place existed! I really wanted to come and see the Humans Of Leeds exhibition when it was on earlier in the year - but I never got the chance! So I was delighted to hear that it was the venue! I met up with Lucy in the train station and together we managed to find it without much trouble, and when we arrived I was amazed by how beautiful the industrial decor was! We were offered Prosecco, but unfortunately for me I was driving (DAMN UK WITH THEIR NO DRINK DRIVING RULES LOL)  or as Joe called me 'A bad student', and were given a quick tour round their clothes shop (they have some gorgeous pieces in if you're ever in the area!). Although I've been to a few blogger related events, this was my biggest yet and the first one I've gone to alone (without dragging a mate along as a plus one haha) so I was incredibly anxious! Within in moments of arriving, bloggers starting pouring into the room in groups and conversation was soon flowing! 

One of the only photos I actually took myself AHAHAHAHA #badblogger

All being bloggers, everybody had something in common and so you could start a conversation with literally anyone in the room and it was absolutely brilliant! We mingled for about an hour and then we took or seats ready for the winners to be announced! I sat with three of the loveliest bloggers (Ana, Sam and Amy) that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting (see next photo) and we spent ages chatting (mainly about shoes but that's what bloggers do best!). When flicking through the event programme, we discovered that myself, Ana and Sam were all nominees in the same category! Which was lovely as we were rooting for each other! Ana was awarded Highly Commended and the winner of our category was Lily of Pint Sized Beauty. 

Sam, Ana and Amy! (Photo: Ana of Ravishing Roses)

Once all the awards had been dished out, it was time for the raffle in aid of Alzheimer's Research UK. And OHMYGOD it was the best raffle I have ever seen in my life! There were prizes from the likes of Pandora, Magnitone, TheBalm and Jurlique - amongst many others! As always, I didn't win anything! Although Sam was getting really excited whenever the colour of my tickets were called out hahaha! A few of us joked(!!!) that it was rigged as Jemma seemed to win almost everything ;)

Afterwards, most of us headed over to The Black Swan on Call Lane for some dinner! The staff were absolutely brilliant and seated over 40 of us and served us with no complaints or issues. We filled over half the restaurant, and the food was absolutely delicious! I got one of their sourdough pizzas and it was  soooo tasty! I had to dash off for the train towards the end, but I had a massive grin plastered across my face the whole way home. I met lots of lovely bloggers and I can't wait to see some of them again soon!

Group selfie! (Photo: @lovedbylaurac on Twitter)

I would just like to thank Hayley for organising such a brilliant event and I think she really did herself proud! I'd also like to thank all the bloggers for being so lovely and to you guys reading as I'd never have got there if it wasn't for you!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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Cocktails and Canapés: Revolution Relaunch Party

Hello everyone! Last week I was invited down to sample the new food and drink menu at Revolution in the Electric Press, Leeds. They have just reopened with a brand new look and a revamped food and drink menu. I like to drag my friend Fern (Hi Fern!) along as my plus one to these events as (honestly we just like the free cocktails) we use them to catch up with each other! 

When we arrived, it was absolutely chaos! Aswell as it being a press/blogger evening, it was also open to the general public. They had what I understood to be a designated area for those, like me, sampling the new menu - but were so many people crammed into this area that it soon became difficult to move around. It was also a Friday night, so everyone (and I mean everyone) was out! Once staff had realised, they began asking people to leave their tables so they could be packed away. Meaning there were no seats for anyone. Fern and I eventually found a table with a lovely couple sat at it, and they offered us the spare seats. Once we had found somewhere to sit, we began sampling some of the delicious cocktails on offer. 

As soon as we walked though the front door, we were given the choice of two different cocktails (sorry, they were inhaled before I had the chance to take a photo). I opted for one with strawberries and gin (GIN ALL THE WAY, AM I RIGHT?), which I believe was called 'Gin N Juice'. We decided to buy a cocktail each as it was the end of happy hour with two-for-one cocktails. We both got a 'Bramble' (see first picture), which I ended up drinking both of because Fern gave up! We were then brought a shot glass sampler of the 'Caribbean Passion', which again, I drank both of. That was it really for cocktails, we had both had enough, especially considering that we had taken up on the two-for-one offer at Slug and Lettuce on the walk up from the train station! #cocktailaddict

 The food was absolutely delicious! I didn't realise that Revolution did food, but I will certainly be popping back after sampling some delicious items of the menu! One of the first things we tried, were these little goats cheese balls with red chilli and cucumber. We had quite a few of these as they were so yummy! I wish I had caught my reaction of eating the chill, I really didn't expect it to be so spicy! I believe they are a side to some of the new main dishes on the menu, but I'm not entirely sure!

Mini hotdogs on sticks!

The mini hot-dogs (I think they actually called them dough-dogs), were my favourite! At first I thought it was a spring roll (stupid Charlotte), so when I bit into it I was both pleasantly surprised and disappointed at the same time. All of the things we tried we part of some new sharing platters, the 'Deli Crate' and the 'Street Food Crate', so I know what I'll be ordering next time! Whilst we were eating, a lovely gentleman came round and asked if he would be able to draw us. My first reaction was 'Oh God, how much is this going to cost' but to my surprise it was free! He was so lovely and we noticed a couple of people going round with rolled up drawings. I thought this was a lovely touch, and a bit different from the usual nightclub photographer. I'm not sure if he goes regularly, of if he was just there as a one off. But his drawings were hilarious! I loved them!

Also! I attempted to vlog the evening! So if you fancy watching it….

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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OOTD: Birthdays and Balloons

Hello everyone! I hope you are all well! Now if you couldn't guess from the post title, or my ravings on every social media platform in existence, it was my 19th birthday yesterday! Ugh I'm starting to feel old now! I had a lovely, fairly chilled out day and then went out for a nice meal with my family. Unfortunately for me, I had to go into work on my birthday - although it was made slightly better by a 12 year old serenading me with Taylor Swift songs. As it was like a gazillion (*31*) degrees yesterday, I decided to opt for a nice floaty dress to try and keep me nice and cool throughout the day. This particular dress is a monochrome patterned shift dress from ASOS. Its is make from a soft jersey material and is sooooo comfy it's unreal. This style of dress is so perfect for every situation! I wore it to work without a jacket or anything, with some black ankle boots and my big black tote bag from my last OOTD (read it here…). Then when going out, I swapped out my boots for some white wedged sandals with gold detailing from Forever 21. I also swapped out my massive bag for my little Carvela by Kurt Geiger bag as I didn't need to lug around anywhere near as much stuff. Incase it dropped chilly whilst I was out sipping my daiquiris, I took my ASOS leather jacket - which I did actually end up needing as Leeds can get pretty cold during the evening! To complete my look, I chose to accessorise with my necklace from Miss Selfridge and my ring from ASOS! And before any of you ask, my incredibly chipped nail polish is the cult favourite Bikini So Teeny from Essie! And my balloon is from Clintons I believe ;) Also, I seemed to have found a good tactic for taking blog post photos and ditched my tripod for the roof of my car haha! Even if it means my sister running out to photo bomb my photos!    If you're interested, she is wearing a baseball jersey from New Look, Jeans from Miss Selfridge and a Vans plaid shirt from a recent vintage fair in Leeds. 

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x
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One Year On

I've thought long and hard about what to say in this post and even now whilst writing it, I'm not sure if what I'm writing is enough or even right! I would have loved to do some sort of giveaway or something, but yanno poor student over here. 

A lot can happen over the space of a year. Some things you plan, and some things you don't. One thing I certainly didn't plan on doing was starting a blog. I had contemplated starting blogging for a while and finally dipped my toe into the water as a summer project. I can hardly believe that it has been one whole year since I set up my blog and started this whole thing off! 

Back in June 2014 I hit publish on my first post, and since then I've had over 25,000 page views with hundreds of new visitors popping up every day! If you'd have told me that I'd still be doing this a year later I'd probably have laughed in your face. But now you'd be the one that was laughing in my face as I'm still here! And honestly, and think that's all down to you. So I just want to say thank you for sticking around and reading my silly ramblings. I'm so grateful for everyone that has followed me, commented on my posts or got in touch with me. 

The last few months have brought me so many amazing opportunities! From being sent to samples, to getting to go to fabulous events. I never even dreamt that this would happen! But even just the little things have had the biggest impact on my everyday life. I'm happier, my confidence has grown massively and I've met some truly wonderful people. 

I hope the next year brings as much as the last and I hope you continue on the journey with me!

Thanks so much for reading!

Love Charlotte x
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