If you follow me on Twitter you will have seen that the last few months I have been talking non-stop about the #PLBSlumberParty, basically a weekend sleepover for bloggers with Sykes Cottages. I am so sad that it’s almost over as I have had the best possible weekend, with some of the most amazing people I have ever met.
I’ve had such a lovely time at Double Tree House in Wells, that I thought I would give you an insight into what we did and the generous brands that were involved with making our weekend special.
Friday
On Friday I got up early to make the long train journey to Salisbury to meet Adele so we could pack up the car and make our way to the cottage. When we arrived we quickly unpacked everything and cracked open the bubbly while waiting for everyone to arrive. Once Ami-Rose, Sara-Jane and Laura had arrived we started making dinner (chipotle tinga fajitas) which were kindly supplied by Old El Paso. We all sat around the table talking all things blogging and getting to know the people we hadn’t met before, it was the perfect start to an amazing weekend.
We also had everything we needed to make an ‘Ocean Punch’ cocktail and Sangria using Kool Aid from Candy Hero. The Ocean Punch tasted absolutely amazing as I love sweet cocktails.
After we’d had a few more drinks and cleaned up, we all sat down to watch a film and do our 7th Heaven face masks. I chose the Banana and Honey mask which wasn’t what I expected, but it still left my skin feeling super soft. We also looked at some goodies from Mantelpiece PR. We all got to take on thing home so I chose the Shampoo and Conditioner by Galvin and Galvin.
To end the night we all went up to our own rooms (in our new PJ’s from Jimmi Jamms) to have a look at our goody bags, including a party box full of goodies from Prairie Charms, which I’ll post on later on this week.
Saturday
Saturday morning started well with bacon and eggs cooked by Adele. Afterwards, we all took advantage of the amazing cottage and took loads of blog photos. There were so many cute places to use as blog back drops that I am convinced I need to live in a cottage and blog all day.
We also had a selection of different fragrances to look at that were given to us by the amazing Library of Fragrance, including Egg Nog, Pomegranate, Oud, Paperback, Orange Blossom, Patchouli, Jasmine, Moonbeam and Vanilla Ice Cream. I loved getting the chance to try so many different scents from their range, my favourites being Egg Nog, Moonbeam and Oud. We all got to take one home too, I chose Oud as I thought it was really unusual.
Hannah from Pull Yourself Together arrived around 1pm, so it was nice to finally have the whole group together.
Next we made some peanut butter and chocolate brownies using Reece’s Peanut Butter Chips and Marshmallow Fluff from that were gifted to us from Candy Hero. I couldn’t resist and ate one of mine as soon as I had finished making them.
In the afternoon we made a quick trip to Tesco (to get more alcohol…) and then headed back to the cottage to set up our Christmas Buffet. We had so many different things including spring rolls, tomato mozzarella bites, chicken bites and mince pies. Buffet’s are my favourite and it was a great meal to eat while watching X Factor and judging everything – I swear we should be on Googlebox!
We had two cocktail kits from Taste Cocktails to try, including a Manhattan Kit and Margarita kit. As I used to be a cocktail waitress I appreciate a good cocktail, however these were way too strong and the recipe’s were not well thought out.
After X Factor we started our ‘Candy Hero Movie Night’ complete with an Pic ‘n’ Mix of American candy including Reece’s Pieces, Sweetarts, Flipz Pretzels and Nerds. We all had our own bags and filled them to the brim with the different sweets and popcorn, the perfect snack to eat while watching our movie of choice – Friends with Benefits.
Sunday
Sunday morning was a relaxing start with eggs and toast and more blog photo taking. After breakfast we made our deserts ready for after dinner, Banoffee Pie, using Bonne Maman Caramel Sauce. We made them in cute little jars so you could see the layers, it tasted gorgeous and I am so pleased with how mine turned out. I will be posting on this later on in the week.
We had a relaxed afternoon too, watching Pitch Perfect, blogging and eating snacks. We then cooked the most amazing roast dinner while drinking Prosecco, which made me feel really festive and happy. Dinner was absolutely gorgeous too!
After Dinner we had some goodies from Sweet Cecily’s to make, including Mojito and Christmas Cookie lip balms. It was so fun to be able to make our own beauty products and with the awesome kit’s Sweet Cecily’s sent to it was super easy. I’m going to be doing an in depth post on this as it was really enjoyable and because the lip balms are so cute.
Sunday night consisted of movies, X Factor and a hot chocolate bar courtesy of Choc Shots (and biscuits from Border Biscuits). We had marshmallows, chocolate chips, candy canes, cream and chocolate. It was AMAZING. They tasted really good and got me feeling even more festive. So cosy!
This weekend has been one of the most amazing weekends I have had in a long while and I am about to get super soppy as it’s almost over. I haven’t even been blogging a year yet and I have honestly met some of the most amazing people ever, people I know I will be friends with for life. This weekend has definitely shown me that.
I can’t wait for the next Pretty Lovely Bloggers weekend away! If you’d like to sign up for more info and receive an invite to any of our events, sign up to our database here.
