Today has been an up and at ’em day. 

I was awake before the alarm went off, I re-packed my suitcase and was out the door in my carefully chosen (for comfort) outfit by 8.30am, without stopping for coffee. 

Uh-oh, MAJOR DELAYS on my usual freeway. 

No biggie I tell myself, I’ve got plenty of time, I’ll just head over to the other freeway. 

I’d love to wear a heart monitor on days like today, because though my subconscious was giving me an awesome singalong-list, I knew I had to talk myself down from getting stressed out. 

The traffic was a bit shit, but not horrendous. 

Singalong-list did the trick – various oldies, a run at Wannabe, a ditty I made up about ‘texting guy’ in the white ute, a few stanzas of Afternoon Delight, I kept myself entertained and smiling. 

Here’s a question. 

WHERE are all those hundreds and hundreds of people going at 9.30am? 

Do that many people work school drop-off friendly hours?

Perhaps some of them were headed where I was, Melbourne Airport. 

Oh, I haven’t told you why I packed a case yet have I? 

Today was “I’m going to ProBlogger day”!!  

ProBlogger is an annual conference for, you’ll never guess… bloggers. It is a top notch event, run by a fantastic team. I’ve been to my share of big events and there’s nothing like the buzz around ProBlogger. 

Just me and 700 of my closest bloggy buddies, getting together at a fab hotel on the Gold Coast, for three nights of fun, and room service treats, and two days of blogging inspiration and information. 

My flight was great, the gods of economy class were smiling upon me – I got a window seat with nobody next to me! 

Flying is so great. It forces you to be still, in one spot. 

So peaceful. 

Being up above those beautful clouds, I could stare at them forever. ☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

The fight was peppered with bloggers, a high percentage of whom were wearing stripes, and we were tweeting like nobody’s business before we disembarked. 

We piled into a maxi cab and $125 later, we arrived at our beautiful resort. 

A quick squiz at the room, fresh lipstick and I was into the fray! 

Hellos and hugs. 

“I read your blog/follow you on Instagram!” moments. 

And “Is that Chantelle from FatMumSlim?” and “Isn’t that Sonia from Sonia Styling? Great hair!” 

And noise. So much noise!

700 ladies – okay 686 ladies and about a dozen fellas, can make a lot of noise. 

Today I got to chat to bloggers I’ve never met before, and it was so great. 

This weekend will be different for each person here. Some have specific networking goals or ideas in the works. Some are revelling in a break from the routines of motherhood, and catching up with remote pals. 

Some have thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of avid readers, some don’t have blogs at all yet. 

Some, like me, are so-not-pro bloggers, but bloggers nonetheless. 

We have all carved time out to come to the Gold Coast. We planned, saved and shuffled our day to day responsibilities. 

We will share a few glasses of bubbly, laugh together and dig deep together. 

We will hear from experts in our field. 

We will enjoy the warm weather. 

And ultimately, I know that every blogger here, no matter how ‘pro’ they are, wants to pile back into a cab on Saturday or Sunday, feeling inspired to deliver better, more creative and worthwhile content for you, the reader. 

Yep, I’m here for you guys, literally. 

Follow the ride on Instagram, Twitter and my Facebook page. We are using the hashtag #pbevent. 

 

Annette x