The Bloggers’ Lounge Awards

First glimpse of my trophy

On Wednesday, I had a day off work to get myself ready for the Bloggers’ Lounge Awards. I planned to have a nice lie-in before catching up with my blog and having a restful morning. However, things never seem to work out the way I plan them.

I managed to sleep in but was so tired that I didn’t get up until late. By the time I had showered and eaten breakfast, I had to rush to the hairdressers. After I’d had my hair done, I decided to pop into town. I wanted to buy some new shoes to go with my new top and jeans. I don’t often wear heels, so I didn’t want to spend a lot, but I was quite specific about what I wanted. Fortunately, I managed to find exactly what I wanted and even better they were in the sale.

Next stop was the phone shop. I’ve been paying a ridiculous amount for my old phone that is out of contract, so I picked up a nice sparkly new phone 😀 I then treated myself to cauliflower cheese in Pret a Manger (* it’s a treat as I still don’t have an oven!) before rushing home.

Getting dressed to go out

Unfortunately, by the time I got back and hung up the laundry, it was time for me to get changed, so the blogging had to be postponed 🙁 (I don’t think that Bloggers’ Lounge advises you to prioritise laundry over blogging, but I’m sure they appreciate people with clean clothes! On a serious note, if you are a blogger and want some really helpful advice, please visit the site as it has so many fantastic tips!)

Stu arrived home and we both got changed. I spent a while putting on my make up (a hateful task – I can’t believe so many people do it every day!) and then we set off.

The journey to London

I’d wanted to go by train, but there were rail replacement buses to Basingstoke, so we decided to drive there before getting the train to Waterloo. I spent the entire journey trying to get my new phone set up, but failed miserably, which is why I took so few photos on the night.

After arriving at Waterloo, Stu and I got the tube to Piccadilly. We had a quick meal in Jamie’s Diner before heading to the Grace Bar. It was a moment of novelty for both of us when we were asked to produce ID. I can’t imagine it’s because we looked too young to enter the venue!

Mingling with other bloggers at the Bloggers’ Lounge Awards

We were given a lovely glass of bubbles and then it was time to start mingling – aarrgghh! I love chatting with people when I know what we have in common, but I’m really bad at striking up conversations for the first time. I kept looking for a moment to start talking to someone but suddenly felt completely tongue-tied. It was a relief when we were asked to take out seats.

Bloggers' Lounge Awards 2015

After a couple of minutes, I managed to strike up a conversation with the couple next to us – I think he was the blogger behind ‘Gadgety News’, but I’m so terrible at networking that I didn’t make a note :’-( [If you’re a blogger who introduces yourself to me, please do give me your card so that I don’t forget who you are!]

It was then onto the awards.

The Health and Fitness category

I suddenly realised just how nervous I was feeling when the Health and Fitness finalists were listed on screen:

Health and Fitness nominees

Then the winner was announced – ME! I got up and tried to stride to the front of the room with confidence (whilst not falling over in my heels or flashing my new blue undies). I was so shocked that I was shaking.

Rebecca presented me with my trophy and then asked me if I wanted to say a few words – I can now think of a thousand things that I would like to say, but at the time nothing sprang to mind except fear, which is odd as I enjoy public speaking when I’m prepared – my ungracious response was, “No!” If I could change one moment of the evening, that would be it!

A few photographs were then taken and I sat back to enjoy the rest of the awards ceremony.

Receiving my award

Taking it all in

When I got back to my seat, I managed to take a single rubbish photo to share on Facebook before my phone died 🙁

First glimpse of my trophy

Since getting home, I’ve read some stats about the awards: “…we had over 750 entrants, and 10,000 votes (!!) and only 70 finalists…” OMG! There were 14 winners out of 750 nominees and I was one of them!

Meeting other bloggers

Afterwards, it was time to mingle. I really enjoyed chatting with Liz O’Riordan who presented the award for best charity blog. Liz herself is a blogger (Breast Surgeon with Breast Cancer) and she’s also a triathlete, so we definitely had something in common. I really appreciate the fact that Liz came over and talked to me. I was feeling a little lost and she really made me feel more at ease.

Then I met Catherine (Not Dressed as Lamb) and Mirka (Fitness 4 Mamas). They both looked absolutely gorgeous. I need to work on looking a bit more polished this year!

Next up Stu and I had a fantastic conversation with interior design blogger Doris Lee from Laidback Living. She was so funny and refreshing… and when I finally get onto home renovations, I’ll be taking some style advice from her blog. (As a side note, I’m hoping that in a month’s time I’ll have a functioning kitchen. However, I’ll be so broke that I’ll have no money for decorating and no time with triathlon training).

Reflecting on the Bloggers’ Lounge Awards

I also managed a few words with Natalie from Fit and Gluten Free but didn’t manage to catch up with her again, which was a shame. Natalie has written a great blog post about her day at the awards.

Finally, it was time to leave. Each finalist was given an amazing bag packed with fantastic goodies from the sponsors:

My trophy

IMG_6696I can’t wait to try everything and know that the Dryu bag will be particularly useful for me 🙂

So, all that remains for me to say in this post is

THANK YOU

without your votes, this would never have happened. It has been a completely amazing (and slightly overwhelming) experience. I’m truly grateful to everyone who voted for me.


Read the official post about the Bloggers’ Lounge Awards 2015.

17 Responses

  1. It was so lovely to meet you and Stu and thank you so much for the mention. Congrats on winning the award and I just love your style of writing, it’s so enjoyable to read. All the best with your home renovation and feel free to drop me a line if you want to bounce any idea’s off. xD

  2. Massive congratulations on the award and thank you for mentioning us in your post. We hope you get a lot of use out of your DRYU bag 🙂

    • No problem. I love the bag and have already got some good use out of it – I agreed to go for brunch with friends after parkrun, so I put my tracksuit in the bag and knew that although it was raining hard I would have dry clothes to wear after. A couple of the other guys have them as they’re into sailing, but they didn’t think of using them for parkrun before 🙂

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