Citizen M Bankside Hotel

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited down to London for an event with citizenM hotels. I love any excuse to go to London and the event sounded fantastic and nothing like I'd been to before, so I hopped on the train and got my little self down there for the day. 

First, I'll just talk a little bit about the hotel itself. citizenM wasn't a hotel chain I was familiar with but after spending an evening there, I know the next time I stay in London, I'll be looking into staying there! The decor is so modern and quirky, with bright colours everywhere and futuristic lights and ornaments, along with a huge bar right in the centre of the foyer. The floor was covered with comfy, squashy pouffes while an array of different types of lights covered the ceilings. All in all, the interior was lovely and although we didn't get to see the rooms themselves, I'm sure that judging by the rest of the hotel they'll be fab. 

When we'd all arrived, we were taken up to a little conference room (which was, of course, decorated with beautiful modern artwork) and were treated to little nibbles and drinks. I love any event that puts on a spread of nibbles (isn't tiny food just the best?!) and best of all, the buffet had cheese, and lots of it. That's me in heaven right there. Anyway, we were then introduced to the guest speakers who we had gone to meet at the hotel: James Warner, GQ's senior art director, and Hope Lawrie, celebrity stylist. 

First up, James gave us a little talk about what his job entails and my god, does it sound amazing. Basically he's in charge of all of the ads in GQ magazine and as I'm sure you all know, ads in magazines like GQs aren't just normal ads and are so well thought out and photographed that you can easily mistake them for being part of the magazine itself. His job sounded so exciting as he gets to go on and organise shoots all over the world, working with amazing brands and designers who want to buy spreads in GQ magazine. 

Hope Lawrie then gave us a little talk about her job, which sounded equally amazing (jealousy wasn't the word let me tell you). As a freelance stylist, she styles celebrities and models for various shoots ands brands and spends a lot of her days attending showrooms to look at the latest pieces from brands, in order to pick out her samples for her next model. She's styled so many huge names from Lindsay Lohan to Sam Smith to Noel Fielding to Nigella Lawson to name just a few, and has worked with a long list of magazines and newspapers. Currently she's styling Caroline Flack for the X Factor - how bloody cool?! Basically her job is a dream.

After the talks we headed back down to the bar for a cocktail. As you know I don't drink but I did allow myself a few sips of a mojito because, y'know, cocktails are just like drinking pop they're so nice. I met some amazing bloggers including Katy, Jodie, Livvy and Anoushka. That's one of my favourite things about blogger's events; not only do you get to meet amazing people like James and Hope, but you also get to meet other bloggers who you may have been virtual friends with for a while but have never actually got the chance to meet. It's amazing!

Overall it was a fantastic event - thanks citizenM!

Amy x