except, i'd started my version of the 5:2 diet this week, and my first 'fast day' was tuesday. i had prepped myself and knew what i was eating so i wouldn't have to worry about that. i drank loads of water, kept myself occupied, but... it wasn't going well. by 11, i had a cheeky banana. then a black tea. then at lunch, after my miserable watery soup and lame bread, carmen felt she had to re-feed me ryvita and cream cheese. by 5:30 i was tucking into my 600th calorie for the day, already having failed. oh, and did i mention the bubbly? still, less than 700 in a day, i only failed slightly.
earlier in the week i 'met' yessi (it's a soft 'j'.. seriously) on twitter who had been to the last cosmo event, so offered to be my babysitter for the night. i met her in the pouring rain out the front of the library before making our way inside and straight to the bar. there, while we chatted, i got a tap on the shoulder. "are you erica?" yes. "i thought i recognised you! i follow you on twitter!" oh?.. this was jade, who had travelled all the way from cardiff from the event, and who had also found me on twitter (albeit only earlier that day, so not an actual stalker).
together, we chatted for awhile before making our way into the auditorium where the panelists had us note-taking for the next hour and a half. there was some really interesting information, and some not so interesting information. i think i had other ideas about what i might take away from this session; i thought it would give me some insight into how to use my blog to build a career, but what i found was that it was more focused on how to make your blog a career. i don't know that anyone - least of all me, is ready for that.
kat and emily had some really excellent stories to share about their time moving up into the super bloggersphere, and i was lucky enough to meet kat after the event and we chatted idly about floral crowns and pink dresses, and then i went home happy.
regardless of whether or not i really took anything away from the event, i had a great time, and got to meet some new people. and this decent goody bag. i shall notch that up as a partial win.