Hi Everyone!
Last Sunday I attended an 'Into The West Blogger Network' (ITWBN) event in Glenlo Abbey Hotel in Galway. Where we had afternoon tea with Erika Fox who is the blogger behind Retro Flame. This was my fourth event and as always Sinead and Saibh the bloggers behind this network never fail to disappoint. I did a full review of Glenlo Abbey Hotel last week, which you can read here. Believe me the hotel really is as luxurious as it looks in pictures.
I was so excited when I first got my invite to this event, not only because Erika was going to be there but because this event seemed to be a little bit different to the others I have attended. The 'itwbn' girls always have a trick up their sleeves with something extra special to add to each event. Every event I go to an event I always think it was the best until I go to the next. They always put so much thought in attention to detail.
The first thing I thought when I got the invite was what on earth will I wear, because I knew it would be a super stylish event. But little did I know how stylish until I was at the hotel and saw how gorgeous everyone else looked, I felt like I was in the middle of New York Fashion Week! (I wish!) As I was registering Kieran from Fear Nua Blog told me that I was sitting at the 'Coco Chanel' table! All the tables were named after designers such as Louis Vitton and Christian Dior. What a nice touch!
As all the bloggers gathered we mingled in the French Reception Room drinking fruit punch and taking hundreds of Instagram worthy pictures until everyone arrived. Once everyone had arrived we went into the River Room to have afternoon tea. We were served coffee and Solaris Tea. We then got the choice of the most prettiest desserts. I felt like I was in a scene from'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.
Dessert Menu
Lemon & Poppyseed Cake (White & Pink Icing)
Carrot Cake with Orange & Cream Cheese Frosting
Guiness Cake with Baileys Buttercream
Rosewater & Raspberry Macaroons
Salted Caramel & Popcorn Macaroons
Gingerbread Men
Snow-cone Cupcakes
After we had had afternoon tea it was time for us to get a little insight into the life of one of Ireland's leading fashion bloggers - Miss Erika Fox aka Retro Flame.
Erika Fox is an Irish girl from Kerry. Living the dream in New York City. She created her blog Retro Flame four years ago and since then turned it into a very successful business. Juggling a full time job as Social Media Manager at Vince Camuto and running a successful blog. She shared her story on how to make it happen. Erika is the perfect example of someone who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. She gave us loads of advice about all of her expertise from her big move to New York City, cracking the fashion industry and working with Whitney Port and Olivia Palermo, to making your blog a full time career all while staying true to yourself, genuine and so down to earth. I've followed Erika for three years and after meeting her in person last Sunday I love her more than ever.
Erika has worked extremely hard to get to where she is today, she loves keeping busy and believes 'the busier you are, the more productive you are'. This is definitely true in her case. If you follow her on snapchat (retroflame1) you will see that she is ran off her feet, but she wouldn't have it any other way. While Erika was home in Ireland for the month of September she also took part in the Young Entrepreneur competition where she attended a number of boot camp classes and a lot of hard work behind the scenes making business plans etc. How dedicated is she, even when she's on 'vacay' she continues to learn and push the boundaries. Erika did so well in the competition that she actually went on to win two awards for 'Best Established Business' and 'Kerry's Best Young Entrepreneur', you go girl! So well deserved.
Once Erika had finished her talk, we got to have the chats with her and take a few selfies and outfit posts, in the beautiful surrounds of Glenlo Abbey. We then got networking with brands such as Solaris Tea, Design House Barna, Inailz and St. Moriz. By this stage it was getting late so we went downstairs to check out the bars and restaurants - fabulous! We stayed for a while chatting and catching up on the excitement from the day. Everyone had a really good day and felt so inspired from the day. That's the thing when you go to these #itwbnbloggerevents, they give you so many new ideas for your blog and you just want to do it more.
When we first arrived in the River Room there were 'Bloggers Goodies' placed on the seats at all of the tables with our names on them. We did have a little peep when we first arrived but we waited until we came home to have a proper look. The brands were so generous with what they gave us. I will try out each product and do full reviews over the next coming months filling you in on what I thought.
As you can see we were very lucky to get so many goodies. I can't wait to try them all out. I can such a good time at this event, learnt so much and meet really nice bloggers that I now call friends. If any of you reading this are bloggers living in Ireland and are thinking about going to one of these events seriously go. You wont regret it. I know it can be scary not knowing anyone but it really makes you braver and more confident. I will definitely be going to the next event so if you want to go you can contact me and we can arrange to meet before hand so you wont be going in on your own and have a friendly face on the day. I would be more than happy to hear from you!
"Luck is when hard work and opportunity meet!"
Until next time...
Yours Stylishly
Kerrie x
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