Dear Diary,
I wish I had kept a real-time diary of the first day I actually started to feel like a “blogger”. What does that even mean? Like, I guess getting a bunch of stuff in the mail, having a handful of video and photo equipment, when I actually got paid for my work/hobby… these are just some of the things that made me feel like: “okay, this is my title.”
Let me first say, “Hi, welcome to my Toronto Blogger Chronicles diary.” Just a messy free form of me writing out my thoughts, as raw as it can be. So if I have any grammatical errors here, and if it grinds your gears, let me know in the comments below and I’ll make sure to edit it, just for you Mr/Mrs Fancy Pants.
So my first blogger event that I went to was actually in 2017. This was a big year for me. It was my second maternity leave and it was a lot easier than the first one. I knew what was up and I was able to focus A LOT on my blogging -career. Yeah, I think I’ll call it my career now. It feels a little weird to say that though because I think of it more as a hobby. Let’s put a pin on what to call it. It’ll come to me.
The first handful of events, I would go to and converse with a few people and then leave as soon as possible because my all-time shyness would kick in. Believe it or not, I’m not a social person, with strangers. But if I’m in my comfort zone with my friends, I’d like to think I’m super social. But I’ll let my friends tell you that.
Toronto Blogger Chronicles [Day 1] – First
Blogger Brunch
The game changer for my shyness was when I went to a bloggers brunch. It was at a place I was really looking forward to going, but I knew no one there. Oh, and I was also pregnant. Very pregnant. I stepped into this place and to my surprise, there were two extremely friendly bloggers who signaled for me to come over to them. I got super nervous because I knew who they were. The “popular bloggers”. They introduced themselves confidently and immersed me into their “popular circle” by introducing me to their friends and then we even sat together and made jokes and conversation as if we knew each other for years. So you can imagine, I was sitting there, hearts in my eyes, thinking, wow. God bless you guys. I also made a mental note, that if I were to ever get to that point in my blogging career journey, then I would never change how kind, real and friendly I was. Talk to everyone, not get cliquey. Which now takes me to some of the other experiences I had in 2017.
READ MORE: FLOWER MARKET PR EVENT
The blogger world can sometimes feel like you’re back in high school. I’m not kidding! There are some bloggers who really think highly of themselves when they have a certain amount of followers or sponsorships or if they’re managed by someone. But let’s get real, we all started somewhere and there should be a lot of humble pie being passed around. At all times. It’s not hard to see who those people are. You can tell even by how they engage with others online-
1. They watch all of your stories, all the time and don’t ever like or comment on your posts
2. At events, they give you the silent treatment as if they don’t know you at all.
3. They only start to talk to you when you’re on the same campaign together
4. They only message you to ask you how you got a collaboration or what PR you’re working with
…and if you see them at an event and you say hi or even try to introduce yourself they may give you a quick hi and an odd look but quickly enthrall themselves into their clique. But that doesn’t bother me. It actually is a great indication of whether this person is really who they say they are online. Ugh, but the bittersweet part for me is even if they decide to change and be nice, I’ll be there with open arms.
I started to think, maybe these bloggers are afraid to open up. Maybe they’re super shy, just as I was. I always give everyone the benefit of doubt. It’s just so much easier and happier to do that than to think negatively of someone. Anywho, I’ve got some cleaning to do, and I’m starting with the kitchen. So until next time. Toodles! 🙂
used the peel pad from this line and applied this moisturizer I saw instant radiance in my skin. Is that even possible? Well, it has been “revealing brighter skin” as promised. But I’m not sure if it’s because of the amount of glycolic acid and pro-retinol or if it’s the mica. For those of you who don’t know, mica is an earth mineral included in products to give them sparkle and shine. It’s usually found in make-up. The reason why it’s called dual moisturizer is because it is one side serum and one side moisturizer. With one pump, you get an even amount of both to apply all over your face and neck. Because this product has 4% glycolic acid and pro-retinol I started using it on my neck only to see if my skin reacts to the combination. So far no reaction. Just brighter and moisturized skin! I’m also a firm believer of not mixing skincare steps into one. I like using my serum first, waiting 30 seconds and then applying moisturizer on top. Also don’t believe in 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner products. But so far the results have been great so I can’t complain. Would I use this again after I finish this bottle, probably not. I like to mix and match different brands and favourites. Having my serum and moisturizer in one, doesn’t allow me to do that. I would recommend someone trying glycolic acid or retinol products for the first time to test on the neck or the inside of the their wrist before applying all over their face. Not everyone reacts the same to skincare, better to be safe than sorry. Also, you won’t always get lucky and get both treatments in one pump. I had to slap the bottom of the bottle to get the serum to pump out. So as you see in the image, the moisturize to serum ratio isn’t always equal.
