BabyMac Long Lunch: The Debrief

Firstly I need to apologise for the fact that this post has been so long coming! All of you have been very patient waiting for it…but it’s here at last!

It’s been over a month now since I held a BabyMac Long Lunch to celebrate 10 years of the blog and took the chance to host a lunch praying that someone other than my mates would turn up! I remember mentioning to my agent that the anniversary was coming up and she really put a rocket under me to make me do something to mark the occasion. Blogging can be a lovely business at times, me and my laptop on our dining room table most days, hanging with a baby and then kids, I would have been waiting for some time for “the BabyMac team” to get me an oversized novelty card or pick up a sponge from the bakery to celebrate.

So I decided to put on a lunch in my home town. Open the doors of our little village to whoever wanted to come and spend a few hours with me, drinking, eating having a laugh and connect with other likeminded people. I was thrilled that the 50 tickets that I had sold out (!) in just 6 hours and completely overwhelmed by the day.

To get a chance to put faces to names and Instagram usernames. To get to hug (sorry to all, yes I am a hugger) and chat and have photos with and hear the stories of all these fabulous women? Women that had travelled near and far? It was very overwhelming to me to say the least.

So here are some shots of the event. As you will see it was a dead set perfect Highlands winter day. The sun was shining, the Prosecco flowing and the noise levels HIGH.

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I got to greet everyone as they walked up the wonky stairs of our General Store Cafe. And yes, hugged you all. I hope that wasn’t weird? I was just a little excited to see that ACTUAL people were there! That ACTUAL people read this blog. And not just any people! Fabulous people! Smart and funny and business savvy and quiet and loud and everything in between. So, so SO lovely to meet you.

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I was loving the overuse of selfies. Boy do I get it. It was an internet safe zone where everyone completely got it.

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So many lovely women who either came alone or in groups. If they were alone it didn’t take long to make friends and sit next to a complete stranger and instantly make friends. You have got to love that about women…the ability to connect…it’s what this blog is all about. Much like comment threads on Facebook or on a post will go, this was the real life version of that. With babies to cuddle!

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The Burrawang General Store Cafe did an amazing job with setting up the lunch – fabulous table scales, food and staff that all did me SO proud. You know how important that stuff is it to me and they surprised me with just how much they went above my expectations. Thank you Erica!

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I have to thank Nikki so much for all she did – MC’ing the event and holding a great Q&A session with me which gave me a chance to share some stuff with everyone in the flesh (I did not shut up in fact). Thanks to Kayte for helping out too as well as my family and local mates who all provided familiar faces for me to look at in see in the crowd. Thanks to Wendy for her wonderful impromptu stand up routine and for all the amazing prizes that I had donated from some seriously good friends and businesses. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

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On the day I tried to share a little about how important this blog is to me. How there’s nothing that special or unique about me. My story is not one of hardship or fighting the odds. It’s a very small and very simple space in which I share a little of myself every day. If we were to meet on the street, at a park (except you wouldn’t because I fucking hate the park) I would be the same oversharing loser, telling you my secrets and asking for you to share yours with me. That’s just who I am and I can’t change that. This blog has allowed me to share myself, my story, my simple and often mundane parts of my life and connect with people like you, and you, and allow us all to see that despite all our differences, the world over, we are all the same.  we all want the same things.

I think that the special and amazing people are YOU guys. The single working Mum who is raising kids by herself. The corporate hardworking single woman or Mum who juggles days care and work and family life. The stay at home Mum with 1 kid or 7. All of us who are raising children, being good partners, working our arses off in this fast paced thing we call adult life. WE ALL are the ones who are doing amazing things, small things but significant things every single day. The fact that MY blog brings a little joy, some food for thought, a recipe or entertaining idea or a really big idea like having another baby, or making a tree change, well that’s just so cool. Don’t think I take it for granted. Ever. Thank YOU for being you and doing what you do and for being here. BabyMac would be a pretty boring place if it was all about me. It’s not. It’s bigger than that now. And this long lunch allowed me to see that.

It’s just taken me a while to process that.

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And to all those that I got to meet and hug on the day, thank you for coming and for being there for me. It was one hell of an oversized novelty card and shitty supermarket cake. And I am SO glad that I did it.

And for those that missed out…I hope I can run some more seasonal events both here at home and even around the country…if only I could make THIS my job!

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Thank you x

Comments

  1. I love everything about this. Lunches are SO my thing these days. How can you be tucked up on the couch with a red at 8pm if you go out for dinner? I can’t believe I missed the 50 tickets. How did I miss that? Please pretty please put on a seasonal something something and I will be there. Even if I have to ride my scooter up the Hume.

  2. Jen Quirk-Moss says

    Oh BMac, it looks like such a wonderful day! Still bitterly disappointed I couldn’t go. Would be totally on board when you do host another one. Congratulations again on 10 years. Please keep doing what you’re doing. J x

  3. I look forward to reading your blog posts so much, Beth. Don’t ever stop, I would be lost

  4. Katie Elliott says

    I have been waiting for this Beth!! It was such a lovely day. Delish food, fantastic prizes and lovely connecting with other like minded lovely ladies (say that 3 times fast!). Thank you for doing such a great job of organising it!
    P.s I will just put it out there that I can TOTALLY help organise any future events you want to do. I am an event organising machine ?

  5. Looks like a fun day. And your words about your blog – really cool. Motherhood can be so many things – amazing, hard, messy, funny, frustrating, lonely – and it’s like your blog is a hub that connects us all and represents us all. Wonderful. X

  6. Beautiful words by a beautiful woman. xx

  7. Wow, wow, wow!!!
    Please host one in Melbourne. I think you should tour the country with these. What a fabulous celebration of all the good stuff in life xx

  8. Thank you for being YOU.
    I’m so happy that everything went off with a bang for you Beth. Everything and everyone looked absolutely beautiful. Congratulations again on ten years of blogging xx

  9. It was such a wonderful day. Your readers are simply gorgeous xx

  10. I was so disappointed that for whatever reason i missed this. I check your blog DAILY and i somehow missed it and it was gone….

    sigh.

    next time!

  11. How lovely- the food looks delicious too!

  12. I am so bummed I wasn’t able to make it ! I will definitely make it to the next.

  13. ” If we were to meet on the street, at a park (except you wouldn’t because I fucking hate the park) I would be the same oversharing loser, telling you my secrets and asking for you to share yours with me.” This is me too Beth & it’s one of the reasons I love you & your blog so much. Even though your life is different to mine you are still completely relatable. Don’t ever change xx

  14. So glad it was everything you hoped for and more Beth. I hesitated too long to grab a ticket and missed out sadly. Next time!
    I suspect I waited because I wondered if I’d be the oldest gal there. I thought I would have been able to have a great chat with your Mum. 🙂 (mid 50s, if you must ask)
    But, judging by your fab photos, the my-kids-are-a-bit-older group was represented there as well.
    I think I relate to you because you remind me of myself about 20 years ago. Muddling through, working hard, loving hard and shedding a few tears along the way. 🙂
    I so enjoy your musings and my 82 year old Mum reads your blog avidly as well.
    See? You transcend all age barriers!

    • Janey I reckon about 30% or more of my readers are over 55! Definitely would have fit in – next time (of which there most definitely will be one)

  15. Can’t believe that I miss tickets to this! It looked like an amazing event and I shall definitely be quicker on the uptake when tickets for the next one come up {even if I am breast feeding a little one – hope that’s okay}.

  16. So coming to the next one 🙂

    xx

  17. Kate Eastwood-Connelly says

    Looks like a beautiful day had by all. Funny thing about you is that we seem to all be able to relate to you in some way or another. Life is not all sunshine and lollipops, a new baby & breastfeeding isn’t always like a Kleenex commercial – and you never portray that life is 100% perfect. We can assimilate with you at different stages, the good and the bad. One thing I love is that you do mention the not so good bits which could really help a struggling mum on a bad day or simply throw us an easy recipe just when we feel we cannot seriously cook one more meal.
    I do believe everything good that has come your way and is coming your way, is well and truly deserved. You are amazing and I’m not sure you realise the impact you have on your cyber friends!
    P.S – your mum inspires me too. When I’m a little older and heaven forbid I may become a grandmother ( ? ), I want to be just like her – she’s my grandma goals! Stylish, engaged in current events, a doting grandma and a beautiful home maker.
    Love and light BabyMac xx
    PPS – please come to Melbs and host a lunch.

  18. Cassie Webster says

    Oh Beth….please, please do a lunch in Noosa! You have many fans here xx

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