Brunch with my blog readers.

It gives me such a buzz when people tell me they read my blog, even more of a buzz when people say they like it! (Last week at the gallery a reader said "I don't want to ruin your day but I LOVE YOUR BLOG" and gave me a hug. Could not stop giggling. So lovely. But when I meet readers in passing, there's never enough time for me to get to know them. I feel like saying "hey let's go for a drink so I can get to know you too!". And so I thought I should make this happen. For real. 

After being inspired by Fat Mum Slim's Olympus lunches (mentioned at Problogger Event) and always Josefa meeting her readers for her blog birthday, I decided to meet my blog readers this year. At the end of last year I ran a little competition - one of the prizes was to win a brunch with me, my shout!

I spent one recent Saturday morning meeting four lovely blog readers - they won the brunch in my 5th blogiversary competition. And they were the loveliest! I met Melissa, Kylie, Jess and Claire. Adam came along too.

I chose those ladies based on their entries - they wrote about what they enjoy about my blog. While that might seem narcissistic, such responses remind me why I blog. Words like “you make disability accessible” and " I start work as a doctor in the new year, and I hope to carry your understanding in with me” mean so much. It’s like the little space on the internet is creating change, bringing people together. 

When all the ladies arrived, they joked that it was like a big internet date! But it definitely wasn’t as awkward. We all talked straight away - laughing over tales of how we met our partners, talking about travel and day jobs. It was SO good to get to know them all - what interesting lives everyone leads. There was never a lull in conversation, and everyone made each other feel comfortable. Kylie even blogged about the meet here.

I was honoured that they wanted to have brunch with me - so lovely that they read here and want to get to know me off my blog. I hope that we will remain friends for a long time. 

I can’t believe I went out for brunch and didn’t take a photo of the food! (If you’re wondering, I had a salmon omelette, Melissa had lobster rolls, Clare had Philly cheese steak, Kylie had granola, Jess had crispy chicken and Adam had steak and chips.)

This is what a great blog community is about. 

Which blogger would you love to meet? Have you met a blog reader?