The City Girls Leeds Blogger Event

#TheCityGirls Leeds Goodie Bags

Lately I’ve been feeling horribly busy with work (juggling analysis, writing and mini-conferences in the run up to a major conference) and as a result of this, blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat. Thankfully things are on the up again! The major conference is out of the way now, and in spite of being exhausted and sleeping through my alarms (!) Saturday brought the event to end all events, the most highly anticipated event of recent months – yes, I’m talking about #TheCityGirls Leeds.

#TheCityGirls Leeds

Following a very successful launch event in Sheffield a while back, the fabulous bloggers Lorna (Life By LDE) and Holly-Lucy (Tea and Blush) brought their brand of blogging magic to Leeds for an afternoon of cocktails, cakes, networking, fundraising and fun with a variety of brands. As The Liquorist was our home for the event, and we were kicking off *technically* in the afternoon, it would have been morally wrong NOT to have a strawberry mojito on arrival – right? I told several people it was a breakfast mojito, practically a smoothie or fruit salad in fact. I think they believed me.

The Liquorist Leeds - Strawberry Mojito

After a brief introduction from Lorna and Holly-Lucy, we were handed over to Suzie from the event’s affiliate charity, Leeds Women’s Aid. Suzie told us all about the incredibly valuable work Leeds Women’s Aid do, supporting those affected by domestic violence and domestic abuse – YES. It’s so good seeing such a strong feminist organisation being supported by this kind of event, in terms of signal boosting and fundraising. Feminism is NOT a dirty word people!

Leeds Women's Aid

After the speeches were done, it was time to unleash the bloggers! We were free to mingle and browse the stalls where various brands were waiting to chat with us. The event had a really informal feel because of this set up, with everyone wandering around with drinks in hand, socialising and generally having a lovely time. I especially enjoyed chatting with the ladies from The Body Shop about their upcoming lines – in particular the Italian Summer Fig fragrance. I’m loathe to use such clichés but seriously, that stuff is like summer in a bottle. Fruity, light, crisp and somehow addictively sweet without being sickly, they’re onto a real winner there. It was really good chatting with Manuka Doctor about their bee venom products too, as I was concerned about whether or not the bees were harmed – nope! It turns out their bees are free to buzz around quite happily, and the venom collection process is detailed in a video on their website. I picked up a few of their products and I’m excited to see how they perform.

#TheCityGirls Leeds

Although I missed out on getting my nails done by the fabulous @Nails_By_Ivy, I did manage to sneak in a cheeky bit of purple eyeliner and coloured mascara fun with Benefit courtesy of @melissareg_. I have to say though, some of the nail art designs being done on the day were absolutely amazing!

#TheCityGirls @Nails_By_Ivy

We were thoroughly spoiled by the brands who (very generously) donated products for the event – several tables were laden with gifts for us to take home, such as these beautiful Can’t Sleep Colouring Books.

#TheCityGirls Leeds Colouring Books

In total we managed to raise a superb £240 through the raffle, which is being matched by Aviva for a final figure of £480. I have to admit, I did pretty well out of the raffle, but that’s what having a slightly over 10% share of the tickets will do… statistics and all that… I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to write a few posts just to show off my winnings!

#TheCityGirls Leeds Women's Aid Raffle

I’m sad that I didn’t get better pictures of the cakes, but just LOOK at these cupcakes and brownies… I had an amaretto pecan brownie and it was the richest fudgiest most incredible thing I have tasted in a while. I can highly recommend Brown & Blond for all your brownie related sexual fantasies. Mmm mmm mmm.

#TheCityGirls Leeds Cupcakes & Brownies

As it was time to say goodbye we were given absolutely fantastic goodie bags – again, this is going to need a separate post because it was literally overflowing with gifts! After my raffle success, I actually had to call Dan to get him to pick me up from the venue because there was no way I could have managed my prizes and the rest of my things on my own… the shame!

#TheCityGirls Leeds Goodie Bags

Thank you so much to Lorna and Holly-Lucy for organising such an amazing event, and all the lovely and friendly bloggers I got to hang out with – familiar faces and new friends alike! Lorna has set up a handy little list of us all on Twitter, so do go check out some of the incredible ladies who were in attendance on Saturday. Also check out the hashtag #TheCityGirls on Twitter and Instagram – we managed to get it trending in Leeds, how cool is that?

Stay tuned for more posts – the goodie bag warrants a thorough exploration, and some of my raffle winnings are particularly exciting… watch this space!

Comments

13 responses to “The City Girls Leeds Blogger Event”

  1. Lorna avatar

    Hi Jess, thank you so much for a lovely blog post! I love your photos as well – and I cannot wait to see what you have to say about the contents of the goodie bag (and your amazing raffle wins of course!!) Was lovely to catch up again, can’t believe it’s been so long since the Ladbrokes event! Hopefully catch up again soon 🙂 xx

    1. Jess avatar
      Jess

      Thanks Lorna! I can’t get over how much fun I had – thank you so much again for all your hard work, it was an amazing afternoon 🙂 xxx

  2. xclaireabella (@_xclaireabella) avatar

    Awesome post Jess!!! It was great seeing you again… And your recommendation of cocktails! I know where to come next time. Can’t wait to see your prizes!! Bless Dan for coming to pick you up!! That’s so funny 🙂
    Claire.x
    http://www.xclaireabella.blogspot.co.uk

    1. Jess avatar
      Jess

      He’s a good lad, isn’t he? 😀 Glad I could lead you astray with the mojitos, haha!

  3. Lauren avatar

    Great post, it was such a good day. Shame we never got to have a natter. Hopefully will do at the next one xx

    1. Jess avatar
      Jess

      Absolutely! I’m sure our paths will cross soon enough 🙂 x

  4. Donna avatar
    Donna

    Fab post! Thanks for sharing your brownie with me ???? xxx

    1. Jess avatar
      Jess

      Thanks Donna – and thank YOU for saving me from a certain sugar coma! That brownie was amazing but faaaar to rich to finish! 🙂 xxx

  5. Holly avatar

    Lovely post there Jess! Cant wait to see what you thought of all the prizes you won.. you lucky thing! xx

    1. Jess avatar
      Jess

      Thanks Holly – and thank you again for organising such an amazing event! xxx

  6. Kelly McKenny avatar

    Looks like a great event – can’t wait to see what you won on the raffle!

    1. Jess avatar
      Jess

      Soon! I’ve just posted my goodie bag haul, the raffle prizes will be next up 🙂 x

  7. […] Leeds a couple of weeks ago, or following the noise on social media, or if you have read my post about the event then you will have seen that I did very well for myself in the charity raffle… The affiliate […]

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