Today I did a grown up thing, and went to London. For the day. On my own, without any children at all. I’d been invited by the lovely ladies at AzariaPR to be a VIP blogger at the Baby Show and while I’d had some qualms in the first place (to be discussed later) I’d decided that I was going to go.
I am so glad I did. I had the most wonderful day out, even though it felt very odd that I didn’t have Smallest with me as I usually do on these outings. And tbh, she’d have had a great time too – she could have had two hours free in the fabulous Fisher Price creche. We peered through the window at it, and it was strewn with great toys, and staffed by lovely calm ppl who seemed very in control. But at the same time it was very nice to not have to worry about catering for her, and let’s face it, it’s going to be a while before I get to go out baby free again ๐
The drive down wasn’t horrendous. I did obviously manage to miss one turn and spent an anxious couple of minutes wondering if I was going to accidentally drive into the congestion charging zone, but I made it OK, though rather later than planned. And then I wandered around lost looking for the blogger crew for a few minutes, but hooked up with them eventually. The thing I missed was the chat with the show manager, which was a shame, as I’d had some questions prepared, but hey.
We started with a trip to the Superdrug beauty parlour, where various souls braver than me had their eyebrows threaded, and I got a manicure. I’ve never had a manicure before. And I had a lovely chat with the lady doing my nails while she was working. Then we broke for light refreshments, before having a tour of some of the bigger exhibitors, including Mamas and Papas and Britax. I should have taken notes, tbh, as I’m really not sure who we talked to.
I snuck off briefly to talk to Baby Calm classes, who had the most gorgeous hybrid stretchy wrap that I just want for bump. I might have to splurge. It was beautiful. Luxurious. And came in the most wonderful colours.
I picked up cards from lots of ppl, so I’m hoping to follow up on a few things. If buggies are your thing there are some absolutely fabulous ones there – particularly liked anything that has one handed fold up, as that leaves a hand free for hanging on to the toddler you’ve just got out.
And it was great to meet ppl behind twitter accounts. Like Elena from Contented Calf – who actually recognised me when I handed my card over and we got to chat in person the way we chat on twitter ๐ Hadn’t realised she’s only two weeks behind me in the bump stakes though ๐ It just doesn’t show online.
Other stands I stopped off at – Snugglebundl – and now that I’ve actually seen it in action, I get it! (And I have one to review, so in a few weeks time, I’ll let you know how it goes properly.) And I was drawn in by a manduca structured carrier (you may be noticing a theme ๐ ) as well as stopping off to have a look at the new Stokke carrier.
I tracked down Cheeky Wipes – washable wipes to go with washable nappies, though didn’t catch up with my Emma’s Diary friends from Bambino Mio. Or indeed the Emma’s Diary ppl themselves. I did make a point of popping over to Pregnacare to thank them for controlling the twitchy legs issue – since I started taking the supplement six weeks ago, I haven’t had a single night of twitchy legs. That can’t be coincidence.
I was fascinated by the bunk bed cots from Shanticot – honestly, I know it might sound like a weird idea, but in the flesh they looked great. And I can imagine Smallest might really enjoy a bed den under a cot ๐ And I stopped off at Morrck and now have a hoody to review – bizarre coincidence it’s in exactly the same rainbow spot fabric as the bundl I’ve also got!
And I’m sure there was more, but that’s all I can remember right now.
I had the most fabulous time. I didn’t see a tenth of the ppl or things that are there – if you are going, grab a show guide, look at the exhibitor list and be methodical! There are some brilliant offers in show for baby shopping, you could come away with rather more than you’d planned to. And make sure you’ve got plenty of time to wander!
If you find any fantastic bargains or innovative products that I’ve missed out, do feel free to let me know in the comments. There were a bunch of other bloggers there too, I’m hoping to crosslink to some of their posts as they put them up, so do check back for updates.
Oh, and just to crown my day? I got listed as BritMums blogger of the week. It’s a fabulous write up which I must thank Karin from Cafebebe properly for some time, and proved an excellent icebreaker in conversation ๐ Thanks all for a really lovely day out.
Other baby show posts: Danielle from Blog by Baby
Jo from Spendless Mummy
Jenny from Edspire
Liz from Me and my shadow.
Melaina25 says
I can’t believe you’ve never had a manicure before!
Jax says
As the nail woman said, I am a blank canvas in these areas ๐