Tag Archives: The Hive

The Hive 2014

26 Mar

**UPDATE** the person who will receive my ticket for The Hive Blogging Conference is Anastasia from the blog Stilzitat.  Hope you have a great time and make sure to take lots of IG photos so that I can follow along!

Website BannerFor the past few years I’ve had the pleasure of attending The Hive Blogging Conference in Berlin (see my posts here and here).  It’s a yearly event, held in May, that brings some of Europe’s most successful and creative bloggers together to learn, network and just have an amazing time together.  On top of these week-ends being inspiring and creative, it was also my one week-end alone (sans kids and husband) in a big city.  So I can’t even explain to you how beneficial it was on so many levels for me personally.

I loved spending those week-ends listening to and learning from some of the most influential creatives in Europe and, most of all, meeting like-minded people.  Some of the ladies I met at The Hive have become good friends and who I keep in contact with, collaborate with and even meet up with in person.

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This year The Hive decided to change things up a bit and host the event in the city famous for it’s gorgeous and modern design aesthetic, Copenhagen. After seeing photos of the beautiful venue, the list of talented speakers (Gudy from Eclectic Trends, Anne from Anne’s Kitchen and Allan from Bungalow Five to name a few) and the events and courses that are offered I think it’s going to turn out to be a pretty amazing week-end.hivespeakers

Back in the fall the conference’s founder and organiser Yvonne asked me to be The Hive trend-blogger for Italy.  I loved sending off those monthly reports on what’s hot and what’s not in the Italian blogging world.  And I have to admit that I learned a lot and discovered so many amazing Italian blogs, bloggers and creatives in the process.

Unfortunately this year I won’t be able to attend The Hive and I’m absolutely crushed.  I have my mother coming overseas from Canada to help me celebrate the fact that I’ll be turning….drum roll please…..40.  Yep, trying to keep my head high and my thoughts positive on that one.  I know it’s going to be a great new phase in my life (right?!).

So because I love The Hive and because I am entering my 40s I’d really love to give away my ticket (which I received in return for my trend-blogging work) to the 2 day conference that will take place the 17th and 18th of May (airfare, accommodation and other travel expenses are obviously not included!).  All you have to do is comment below and let me know why you’d like to attend.  Is it the networking, the workshops, the talks or the parties that attract you the most?  For me personally I’ll miss the opportunity to meet and chat with some favourite bloggers and participate in the calligraphy workshop run by the talented Betty Soldi.

Follow The Hive’s Facebook page to learn more about what’s happening in the coming months.

Hive Header 2014I’ll announce who will receive The Hive conference ticket next Wednesday on April 2nd (comments will close on Tuesday evening at 9pm Italy time!).

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This and That

22 May

I don’t know about where you are in the world but here in Italy it has been one of the greyest and rainiest springs I’ve ever experienced.  Usually by the end of May the weather around here  is already scorching hot and the kids are in the lake swimming every day.  Not this year.  This past week we’ve actually had temperatures under 10 degrees and rain and hail storms that made me want to hide under the table.  But I have hope for better weather soon.  At least all this rain means we won’t have to water our gardens in secret past midnight due to water bans this summer.  IMG_8389-001

In a few days I head to Berlin to attend The Hive European Blogging Conference.  I attended the first one last year and had a great time, learned lots of new bloggy-things and, most importantly, met some fantastic people whom I can’t wait to see again this year.  My week-end is already packed full of lunch dates, museum dates, dinner dates and lots of talks and workshops.  Oh and a hotel room to myself where I can watch mindless TV and order roomservice.  Nice.

IMG_8153I don’t know if any of you know but I am a HUGE fan of Instagram (follow me here).  So you can imagine how excited I was last week when I received these Instagram prints in the mail from Origrami.  I absolutely love this small Sydney (Australia) based husband and wife run business.  The photos are great quality, it’s very reasonably priced and they arrived in record time (considering Posta Italiana was involved).

The photos come in a super stylish cardboard box and have Instagram information on the back (if desired).  On my photos I can see a map with the location where it was taken, the date and number of likes it got.  Now I’m trying to figure out what the best way is to display all these great shots.IMG_7889I can’t wait for the weather to improve so we can enjoy our Wednesday evening picnics with a group of our closest friends here.  This photo was shot on our first (and only due to bad weather) picnic this year.  Us parents kick back on blankets beside the lake while the kids run and play in the fields around us.  Photo is of the sweet little Patagnoma.  
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I received this lovely painting above from one of my daughter’s for Mother’s Day.  This girl knows me well.  I love everything about it (and her).

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I have been passing this little church at least four times a day for the last decade and I finally stopped the car and got out to take some photos.  There are so many of these lovely little spots that I get to see on a daily basis.  Lucky me.

That’s enough random thoughts and photos for today.  Happy Wednesday everyone!

Hiving Fun in Berlin

27 May

Last week-end I had the pleasure of attending the first ever The Hive European Blogging Conference in Berlin, Germany.  I had a wonderful week-end full of meeting new friends, learning the ins and outs of the blogging world and listening to some very inspiring women talk about their blogging experiences.  Unfortunately I didn’t take too many photos during the week-end because I was so concentrated on getting around to all the presentations and workshops and chatting with new friends but here are a few.

Presentation by Sister Mag.  These two women are so well spoken and inspiring.

 I was also lucky enough to participe in a really fun  food photography workshop by Anne from Anne’s Kitchen (who is the human equivalent to a cupcake…extremely sweet!).

We had a great selection of props, materials and food to work with. 

One of my favorite items from The Hive goody bag was this wooden USB stick from dawanda.com.Jillian in Italy name cards.

Thanks to all The Hive organisers for such a great week-end.  I’ll hopefully see you in Berlin again in 2013!

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