Plus North 2014

 

Hi!

 So, I finally made it to Plus North! Last year I missed it due to a last minute emergency hospital visit, so this year I was determined to get there no matter what!

I couldn't go to Leeds on the Friday as planned so Mr C and I left very early on Saturday. It was so early that I left the rollers in my hair thinking that no one would be out and about at 06.30am but no, our neighbour was wandering down the road so we had to stop for a little chat whilst trying to hide the rollers!

 

I was so nervous before heading into the venue, my stomach was in knots and my head was spinning. I almost asked Mr C just to take me back to the hotel to hide for the weekend. I then saw the lovely Steph and Char and it was their smiling faces and warm greetings that calmed my nerves.

 

 

After walking in and grabbing a quick drink at the bar, we wandered into the downstairs area to have a look at the various brands that were there, they included MSSVG, Ann Harvey, Yours Clothing and the lovely ladies from Curvy Kate.  There were also catwalk shows at various intervals throughout the day.

 

Upstairs there was more to see, Elvi, Betty Pamper, Bonprix, Topsy Curvy and Curvissa. My feet were throbbing by this point so I sat down with the lovely Leah for a bit to rest our weary feet and ended up recording a podcast with Jim!


 

After the event I felt so sticky and tired, so I quickly went back to the hotel got changed and dragged Mr C out the door to get food. We had a very tasty meal at Nandos and enjoyed the company of Leah and her lovely husband James.

 

 

The evening was very relaxed with drinking, chatting and for many a good old dance! We also had a quiz and another catwalk show. My evening was only slightly marred by some idiot slowing down in their car and shouting eurghhh at me as I stood by the road. I was slightly taken aback but only for a moment, I wasn't going to let some stranger ruin my night!

                                            

 

After a good nights sleep, a hearty breakfast and a chill out session at the hotel, Sunday was a chance to attend workshops, enjoy another catwalk and have a closer look at the gorgeous clothing from Elvi. I learned a lot from Debz SEO workshop which I hope will help my blog.
 

                                             

In a nutshell it was a fantastic weekend and, even though my shyness did get in the way sometimes, I managed to talk to quite a few people. It's a big step for me since going to Plus London, I'm hoping that the more I meet people the less anxious I will be about speaking to people.

 

The confidence that exudes from the women I met over the weekend filled me with happiness, society expects that because we are fat that we should hide away and not enjoy our lives. As I've been overweight since I was teen I've always done my best to hide away and not draw attention to myself, this is part of the reason why I'm so shy and is something which has often stopped me from enjoying my life. Now I'm older I no longer feel the need to hide away, I want to live my life.

 I want to say a big thank you to Emma, Gemma, Toni and Kim for organising the event and I'm already looking forward to next year!

 

Much Love

 

Natalie

x

 

Apologies for the not so great photos!