Olympics London 2012

The new "Orbit Tower" in the Olympic park in Stratford, London

I have to make a confession: I didn't think I would be that interested in the London Olympics 2012. Figure skating is my sport, and being a winter sport, it's not included in these games. However...ever since I watched the (quirky but fabulous) opening ceremony I've surprised myself by being very into the games! I've been watching bits and pieces, from swimming to gymnastics to athletics. How proud was everyone watching on "super saturday" seeing Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and the other Brits going for gold! It really makes you proud of the athletes and just goes to show what we can do if we put the funding in. Seeing Australia down the medal table since they cut their funding for the athletes also really brings home the reality that athletes need funding and support from their country.

My boyfriend went off to the swimming to watch Becky Adlington and Michael Phelps in the finals. He had a great day and came back with a bag full of goodies from the Olympic park and some amazing photos. I really enjoyed editing these photos and seeing the different views of the Olympic park in the day and at night.

After the Olympics, of course, it's the the Paralympics, and we've got tickets to the Wheelchair Basketball, which should be excellent. We go to watch the basketball here in Sheffield fairly regularly, and I'd really recommend it as tickets can be quite cheap (around £5), the players are good and it's a fun night out.

I'm really looking forward to going down to the Olympic park and soaking up the atmosphere myself. My boyfriend said the atmosphere in London is fantastic. People can pay a fee to enter the olympic park and watch on the big screens, and if you have tickets to an event, before or after your event, it's a good place to relax and view other sports.

Enjoy the photos below for now but don't forget to keep an eye out for my Paralympic post in September when I'll be posting more photos and a bit about what I wore to the olympics.

Wimbledon 2012

I'm really excited to share with you my photos from my day at Wimbledon last week. Wimbledon is a really special event, very quintessentially British and it was my first time there this year.

Coat: Zara, Dress: H&M, Bag: Camden market.
On the famous Henman Hill (or Murray Mount?) with Pimms. As you can see the weather wasn't amazing, there were patches of rain and there was the usual drama over whether or not to close the roof. If you haven't been to Wimbledon before, on centre court at lot of the audience is actually covered by the permanent roof but the players are not, so if it rains closing the roof is pretty important.

One of the matches we watched that afternoon. Serena Williams (now through to the final) here playing against Petra Kvitova in the ladies quarter finals on center court. This was a fairly short game, with very fast serves and few rallys. Serena won, of course.

When we were exploring the grounds we came across number 1 seed Novak Djokovic practicing. Other matches we saw that afternoon were Angelique Kerber vs Sabine Lesiki (Kerber won) and David Ferrer vs. Juan Martin del Potro (Ferrer won).

I loved taking pictures of the grounds. The flowers were really beautiful, as you can see below and in the first two pictures. You can see more photos and view my full album from the day on my flickr here.

Have you been to Wimbledon or are you following it on TV? I'm currently typing this in front of the TV watching Andy Murray in the semi-finals...come on, Murray!

#HPMSocial : SEO for Fashion Bloggers

I recently attended my first blogging conference in the form of Handpicked Media Gets Social (#HPMSocial). The conference was a one-day event featuring big name speakers in blogging, PR and print media. The event cost £50 for bloggers but I was lucky enough to win tickets from Handpicked Media, which I am really thankful for. The train prices being what they are I could not have attended had I not won tickets.

The speakers were:
- Gary from Why Communicate on search engine optimisation,
- Rebecca Minskin from Hearst on the future of print media,
- Sháá Wasmund on following your passion,
- Mark Borkowski, PR Guru on
- Jane from British Beauty Blogger on how to build relationships with PRs and bloggers,
- Beauty panel: Fleur de Force, For the Young Dude, A Beauty Junkie in London, Lee from Grooming Guru, Emma from The Beauty Button Jenny Dickinson from Elle.
- Fashion panel: LLYMLRS, Coco's Tea Party, The Very Simon G, Angela Buttolph from Grazia Daily and Joe Barnes from FHM.

The first talk was very technical, and aimed at bloggers and website owners who want to learn tips and tricks about driving traffic to their site. Below are a few notes I took from Gary's speech.

 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Bloggers

1. The images you use in a blog post can be a good source of traffic to your blog. When you post, for example, about a new fragrance from, say Marc Jacobs, name your image appropriately so that when people search on Google Images for 'Marc Jacobs fragrance' they find your image and click through to your blog.
2. Include alt tags in your image for the same reason. These are really easy to include and image hosting sites like Flickr already include them in their image codes. Sometimes images don't work in some browsers or mobile sites so label your image so that people understand what it is supposed to show.
3. Having a blogroll is good for SEO. When people search for X blog they may find a link to X on your blog and stick around.
4. Make it easy for people to subscribe to your blog through different mediums e.g. Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin, RSS Feed and by email. Don't make it hard work for them to subscribe- they probably won't bother.
5. Make it easy for people to share posts they like, e.g. through twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, etc.
6. Pay attention to your post titles. Don't use poems or song lyrics- they may be pretty but they don't help people to find your content in Google.

Gary talked about a lot more, including Google Analytics, which was really helpful. His presentation, as well as being really interesting, gave a number of tips which as a blogger I can put into practice right away.

amazon.com

The presentation just before lunch was by Shaa Wasmund. Shaa was due to speak on how to utilize free web tools but she said that as Gary had covered a lot of this, she would speak on the fly about how to follow your passion and make money doing it. Shaa's aptitude for public speaking is very impressive. She is an incredibly motivating and inspiring speaker to the point where it's hard to actually relay the content of what she said because it's her energy that is infectious. Shaa spoke about her experiences in business and investment, her mistakes and what she does well. Everyone came out of the lecture theatre buzzing with excitement ready for lunch and the afternoon sessions. Shaa was also giving out copies of her book Stop Talking Start Doing. I was really disappointed to see they had all gone after her lecture, but you can read the first chapter for free online here which will give you a taste of what Shaa is all about.

There was a fairly long break for lunch which allowed us time to network and browse the 'bloggers bar'. I chatted to Sam from Silverbean and Polka Dot Lighthouse, browsed the perfume counter, and had my hair done by Hershesons blow dry bar. I also snapped up some water from Feel Good drinks who had a stand- thank goodness for you ladies when I was parched during the afternoon sessions!

The first speaker after lunch was Mark Borkowski, famed PR Guru, speaking on what PR is, does and what its future might be. Mark was a great speaker and his use of visual aids was very effective and helped keep us engaged. He used controversial examples from history and religion such as using quotes from Goebbels, Nazi propaganda as PR, and PR being a story and Jesus as a great storyteller. Mark also came out with very quoteable gems such as "Everyone in this room would rather have the story than the truth" and "PR is now about public conversation not just public relations".

Jane from British Beauty Blogger

Rules of Engagement for PRs and Bloggers

The next speaker was Jane from British Beauty Blogger speaking on how to build relationships with PRs and bloggers. I think what Jane spoke on should be essential knowledge for the fashion/beauty blogger/PR! She put across so clearly the problems that bloggers and PRs face.
- Many PRs don't understand bloggers- they don't understand how personal your blog is to you. Likewise, sometimes bloggers don't understand PRs- they don't realize that the only reason X PR is being so friendly is to see their brands on your blog and to drive sales for that brand.
- If you don't get invited to an event that you would love to cover and think that you fit their brief, there is no harm in dropping the PR an email. You could say that you enjoyed reading about the event, and that you would love to be considered for the next one. You could also say why your blog is relevant to the event. The PR/brand simply might not be aware of your blog yet.
- When pitching to PRs as a bloggers remember your readers are already engaged. For example, if you have a beauty blog your readers come to your blog for a specific reason, therefore posts with beauty content or beauty ads will be highly relevant to your readers. You can use this to judge your worth/value when pitching to PRs.

Beauty panel: Fleur de Force, For the Young Dude, A Beauty Junkie in London, Lee from Grooming Guru, Emma from The Beauty Button Jenny Dickinson from Elle.

The last few hours of the day were spent asking questions to the fashion and beauty panels. I found the fashion panel really interesting as the different fashion bloggers on the panel all had very different blogs. A 'fashion blog' can mean very different things now; celebrity, personal, designer, high street. Lily made a really good point that her blog is part of the new generation of personal style blogs that are very different to the 'aspirational' blogs like Fashion Toast, that verge on almost magazine-like photoshoots. I think sadly that some people in the audience didn't understand this, judging from something I overheard while the fashion panel were speaking.

Sitting behind me were two older women, probably in their 40s (I won't name them, but they weren't bloggers). Lily was speaking about her blog and saying why she isn't interested in PRs pitching to her about items worn by celebrities, as her blog is about her style only. The women behind me basically started mocking Lily for her blog being all about her. This, all too clearly, sadly illustrated a point that Jane previously made about PRs not understanding bloggers and how personal their blog is to them.

Lily from LLYMLRS, Angela Buttolph from Grazia Daily and Joe Barnes from FHM

LLYMLRS, Coco's Tea Party, The Very Simon G (sporting some nice Versace for H&M)

We also received a generous goody bag full of products I'm looking forward to trying out, including NCLA nail wraps, Lipcote and Shu Uemura body cleansing beauty oil.

Batiste XXL Volume, Kiehl's coriander body cleanser, Shu Uemura body cleansing beauty oil, KMS hot flex spray, Vivo blusher, Lipcote, Green people vitaminfix 24-hour cream, Nail Couture Los Angeles nail wraps, Beaubronz tan + tan removing scrub, Forest secrets travel size set, Primavera hand cream samples, China Doll Boutique necklace, Jean Paul Gaultier classique perfume, Jimmy Choo perfume.

It was a really interesting day- I learnt a lot and met some lovely people. Thanks to Handpicked Media for a well-organised and very informative day! To read more posts on the day, check out Handpicked Media's link round-up post here and follow the HPMSocial hashtag on twitter.

Did you attend HPMSocial? What did you think of the day and who were your favourite speakers?

London Christmas blogger meet (Ldnxmasbloggermeet)

On Saturday I headed down to London to attend the London Christmas Blogger Meet at the Warwick bar. The meetup was organised by Law and Emma, and hats off to them for doing a brilliant job! The downstairs of the bar was hired out so we had a space all to ourselves. It was a great opportunity to chat to bloggers and meet sponsors and check out their products.

The interior of the Warwick was gorgeous, I adore the bird cage lamps on the lights and the bird stencils on the wall.

The afternoon consisted of talks from sponsors Lush, Maggie Angus and Wired Jewellery. Sarah talked about the history of Lush and passed around their christmas products. I love their new Magic Wand bubble bar, which comes with a little wand and a bell. It is the solid version of their popular Snow Fairy shower gel, which we recieved in our goody bags. As Lush fans will know, their scents are usually very strong and one thing I love about Snow Fairy is its staying power- when you're done with your shower, the smell permeates your bathroom so it smells nice for a few hours after. :)

Magic Wand bubble bar

(r-l) Snowcake soap, 9 to 5 Cleansing lotion and Lil' Lush Pud.

This is the lovely jewellery from Maggie Angus that Anna put on display for us to see. Anna gave us a really interesting talk about starting her own business and the experiences she's been through. In our goodie bag she gave us an adorable fox ring, which was featured on Little Mix of the XFactor last week. It was really inspiring to hear Anna, and Faye from Wired Jewellery talk about their respective jewellery businesses, as it was really obvious that both ladies are passionate about what they do. As a blogger it makes such a difference to meet the people behind the brand. I feel a lot closer to both brands now, especially Wired Jewellery, as I spent a lot of time talking to Faye who is lovely, by the way! ;) So if you are a business thinking of sponsoring a blogger meet, my advice would be: don't hesitate- it is a great way of meeting people, making new friends and introducing your brand.

Faye gave us each personalised jewellery sets in our goodie bag and in mine I received an adorable chalkboard ring with a piece of chalk to draw with. I think these are great as not only can you completely personalise the ring, you can wipe off the design and change it any time you like. As you can see I drew a heart on mine, but it would look just as lovely with a star, diamond or initial. Also included was a glasses necklace which I absolutely love, I think it's really versatile and different. Faye's jewellery is really affordable too, with the ring below at £6. Faye has also kindly provided a discount code, so for 10% off Wired Jewellery use the code WELOVEEVE (aw) at the checkout.

Fox ring from Maggie Angus, Chalkboard ring from Wired Jewellery

As you can see we were completely spoiled by our lovely sponsors; Lush, Very.co.uk, Maggie Angus, Bang on Vintage and Wired Jewellery. Stylesuzi from Very gave us a set of Love Label cheek tint, highlighter and lipgloss, as you can see above. Bang on Vintage kindly gave us a discount code to use on their entire shop, so for 15% off Bang on Vintage use the code: XMASBLOGGER11.

Lush gave us some of their christmas range: Superstar bubble bar, Snow Fairy shower gel, Pow Wow Lip Scrub, Chilli Tingle Lip Tint, Snow Fairy Lip Tint and Golden Wonder bath bomb. The lip tints and lip scrubs are new to me, so I'm looking forward to trying them out. The lip scrub smells amazing and I love the colours of the lip tints.

^ All the ladies at the meet. I'm not in the photo as I took it, but you can see me on the other posts about the event. To check out more posts + info on the meet, follow the hashtag on twittter: Ldnxmasbloggermeet and check out Law's post for the link roundup- she even has a little video! Here's to the next meet up! ;)

BINTM Live

This weekend was Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model Live. I was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets from RachelPhipps.com but was unable to attend myself as I had food poisoning(!) so I sent my sister off to report back. She attended BINTM last year and really enjoyed it. I'm sad I couldn't make it myself!

Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model Live is a fashion, beauty and shopping event held every year to celebrate the winners of the TV show Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model where the judges and all the contestants, including the winners, will be in attendance. The event was hosted in London's Excel centre, which is a huge conference centre with its own train stop.

BINTM Live also hosts daily catwalk shows with live music and dancers, exhibitions and demonstrations from womens magazines and fashion and beauty retailers. Also in attendance was Amy Childs of TOWIE fame, who was debuting her first clothing range 'The Amy Childs' Collection'.

At the same time as BINTM Live the Excel centre was also hosting ComicCon. For those of you who aren't a big geek like me, think The Big Bang Theory. I've been to a few conventions in my time so secretly I might have enjoyed ComicCon as much as BINTM Live but sh! don't tell anyone.

Did you go to Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model? If so, what did you think of the event? For more BINTM Live news follow the hashtag on twitter or follow BINTMLive.

The Look Show AW11

Last month (I can't believe it's October already!) I was fortunate enough to attend the Look show for the second time, courtesy of Miss Selfridge. I was really looking forward to attending as every Look show seems to be different than the last, and I was excited to see what this one would bring.

Look's VIP area, post-show

Westfield Stratford City
The show was at the newly opened Westfield Stratford City in London. I might have made a massive faux pas in initially going to the wrong Westfield *facepalm* but despite this my boyfriend and I got to Westfield Stratford City on time. Westfield Stratford City is insane! As a shopping centre I think it is brilliant- huge stores, big and beautiful window displays (I love a good window display) and an incredibly tasty food court. But- and it's a big but- if crowds bother you, don't even think about going there on a Saturday! It might calm down in the future, but I don't think I've ever been in a busier shopping centre, ever. It took a long time to walk a few feet due to the amount of people behind, to the side and in front of you. If you're planning a shopping trip to Westfield make sure you wear something loose fitting and cool, because the glass ceiling makes it hot! I understand why there is a glass ceiling, as it is nice to give the impression of a natural environment and it makes the centre feel larger, but I think the heat might cause problems for some people- time to turn up the air-con I think! Also, speaking of a 'natural environment'- outside there were speakers on top of lamposts which emitted bird noises(!)

Our discount booklet on the train home

The Look Show
We went to pick up our passes and had a little browse around the shops before we went to the VIP champagne reception. This was different to Look's spring/summer show and was more an opportunity to socialise. We were offered canapés, presumably from the eastern food court, which were delicious! Then at 4pm we were directed upstairs to the show space, which was really nicely set out. My boyfriend and I were lucky that we were seated in the main area as I know some others were above by the balcony and didn't get as good a view. On each seat was a very generous goody bag which I loved exploring on the train home. As we filed into our seats there were more Look ladies handing out mini M&S pink champagne with straws.

We were seated on the back row near the screen and had a great view. We were also seated next to two hilarious asian guys; guys, you made our show experience that much more enjoyable! With other shows at fashion week the atmosphere is a lot more reserved but what was nice about the Look show was that people cheered during the show at looks they liked, when Sarah Harding of Girls Aloud appeared as did supporters of the other models.

Sarah Harding opening the show in a dress from Warehouse.

I loved the show itself, it's such a departure from fashion week not only with its atmosphere but also with its attitude. All the pieces on the catwalk were ready to wear and ready to buy- when we were checking the high street shops out after the show, we noticed in shops like Miss Selfridge the items that were on the catwalk were marked with a bright label. Another thing I loved about the Look show was its inclusion of curvy models that aren't your runway size 0. Look shows yet again that you don't need models that skinny to sell clothes. I mentioned above that the audience clapped and cheered for their favourite looks, and this was no different with the curvy models; the entertaining guys I sat next to loved the M&S monochrome dress pictured above.

Halfway through the show Dionne Bromfield came out and performed. She's a little thing with a big voice! It's hard to believe she is only 15! She was a great performer and asked us if we were having a good time. She is a prodige of Amy Winehouse and was her goddaughter.

My video of the end of Dionne's performance

The Looks
There were so many looks from the show that I loved but to avoid making this post too epic I'm just going to post a few of my favourite looks. When I first saw this coat from Urban Outfitters I loved it, and now looking back on the photos I love it even more. I think it might be my perfect coat- great for winter with a faux-fur collar and cuffs, and good for an hourglass figure with the nipped in waist. And pockets! My dream coat.

The red dress below is from River Island, and what I love most about it (apart from its Gucci-esque shoulder embellishments) is the way it moves. It's so stunning and glamorous, especially paired with the gold cuffs (also from River Island) yet it would be so comfy to wear, not constricting your legs at all.

I also loved this dress from Oasis, it looks like it might be really flattering for pear shapes and the print reminds me a lot of Mary Katrantzou. I also adore the last look from Urban Outfitters, it would be perfect for wearing to lectures. I'd have a hard time pulling off those trousers personally, but the jumper is so perfect for autumn/winter.

Urban Outfitters coat

River Island dress

Oasis dress

Urban Outfitters shirt, jeans, jumper and shoes

After the show we went back to the cloakroom and had a flick through our discount vouchers. We discovered a lot of them were only available to spend in Westfield, so we did a bit of shopping. We nipped over to River Island to collect our free piece of jewellery from a bucket for all Look Show attendees. Then we headed over to Next to spend our free £5 voucher. I got a lovely gold ring and my boyfriend used the voucher to buy some PJs at a discount.

H&M scarf, Palmers body butter, Label M curl spray, Burts Bees moisturising lip balm, Look's own makeup range: double hit lip and eyeshadow, Next perfume, Monsoon bangles, Kleenex tissues, Fizzy Popov pocket mirror, Make Believe facial tan

Last week Look had a special edition of their magazine which included all the fashion, beauty, celebs and gossip from the show. But if you didn't manage to pick up last week's Look, you can view their Look show special mini-mag online here.

You can also watch Look's own highlights from the show here:

To see what I wore to the Look show, click here, and to see my posts on last season's Look show, click here and here.