This is a post I’ve been reluctant to begin (despite having ideas and words swirling around my head since arriving in Christchurch on Friday afternoon) purely because it means a most anticipated event has now been and gone. Ever since I first caught wind of Around the Table, I’ve been hanging out for it, hanging out to meet loads of lovely people I’ve stalked gotten to know through their blogs.
And now the weekend has been and gone, and my memory bank and happy tanks are full. Full of superb conversations, beautiful and friendly faces, haunting and emotional sights, warm and welcoming hugs.
There were so many women I was excited about meeting. The most brilliant part was that most of these lovelies exceeded my expectations of what they’d be like (including being even more gorgeous in real life!), and every time I spoke to them I was inspired by their sheer awesomeness.
And surprised when virtually everyone I met said they thought I’d be taller! Just so you know, I’m 5’2″.
There were a handful of moments where I felt slightly overwhelmed (60+ women in one room? You know that’s gonna get craaaaazy.), but none where I truly felt out-of-my-depth. I may have been a little shy when it came to speaking to some people, but I had so many interesting and varied chats with others. There were some people I’d have loved to spend more time with (Deb – the world’s most amazing hugger, seriously – and Talia spring instantly to mind here), but it was never going to be easy getting enough time with everyone.
I even learned some stuff, and came away brimming with ideas and plans and hopes and new knowledge.
On Sunday, after breakfast at C1, the others climbed to the roof to enjoy the view. In the sudden silence, with a sleeping baby in my arms, I took a moment to let it all sink in.
What a weekend.
A huge THANK YOU to the lovelies who made it all happen – Juliet, Miriam, Sophie and Treena-Marie – and an especial thank you from Pickle to Melissa and Leonie for all their lovely cuddles (and from me, for a little bit of breathing space!) xxxx
And and extra thank you to Sophie….lovely, adorable, beautiful, genuine, generous, amazing Sophie….thank you for opening your home to us and for making us feel like we were stepping into the home of old friends. You are a true gem xxxx
Ahhh, it was SUCH a good conference! And I echo your feelings, my number one wish was that we could have hung out more! xo
π Next time: you, me, your new one (squee!!!), hot chocolate date!
love love love!! It was so good wasn’t it?
And there goes Pickle, photo bombing our lovely photo with his eyes closed :p
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Yep. Yep, it was.
And it was either the photo with my eyes closed, or him. I couldn’t be bothered trying to crop ‘im out.
I’m glad he’s there π x
So wonderful to have met you!
It was wonderful meeting YOU! You are so interesting, and I adore your Supper Project xx
it was so awesome to meet you – shame we didn’t get to chat more but next time xx
Likewise…everyone wanted a piece of you, lady, so I was prepared to share…but next time, mwahahaha!
Great to meet you Ange – it just seemed to all go so quick didn’t it. Till next time xx
It was lovely meeting you – next time, I’m hoping I can join in on that wine you and Jess shared π
There is so MUCH awesomeness in that wee 5’2″ package – and I am so privileged (golly me I typed that word 6 times before I got it right!) to call you FRIEND xx
Right back at you! xxx
Now…to meet in our own city! YUS! Let me know when you’re up to it! We are bug-free and brimming with a full uterus, bring it on!
I know, right?! It was a long drive to meet other bloggers π
beautiful photographs! it was a great weekend and remarkably child friendly-yay for that x
I was so thankful for that – and I’ve been telling the pregnant lovelies that they’ll be able to bring their babies next year! xx
I loved meeting you Ange, and your darling little guy! for the record, you were exactly as Id imagined! Looking forward to next time x
Thank you Leonie – we loved meeting you too xx I hope your return home was lovely – I bet they missed you so much!
Sounds like a wonderful event π
Lovely post! So great to read how much fun you had! It’s a little wild when any group of woman over 5 come together! The more, the crazier! Also why is “stalked” striked through? π Stalking is a way of life now! π
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