On Friday evening, Queensgate invited me to a rather exiting event they had planned for myself and a group of bloggers' and put us to the test with some fun tasks in the shopping centre.
We were all set tasks that were tailored to our blogs so when I saw Paperchase was part of my assignment, my inner crafter leapt with joy! But before we went on our spree, we were filled in with all the exciting things that are coming to Queensgate very soon, whilst we sipped our cokes in what was actually a pretty nice meeting room! Well done Mc Donald's.
We have a NYX coming to Queensgate on 26th June so keep your eyes peeled for that as I've been told there's a pretty exciting opening happening! There's also rumours of MAC coming too which I know will excite a lot of you.
If you're a foodie, you'll be pleased to know there's also a food court coming, which fills me with pure delight. My ever growing food baby will be most pleased and I can't wait to try ALL the foods!
Another thing to note is that late night shopping isn't just on a Thursday, it's Friday too! Plus parking is free after 5:30 pm so winner winner for all of us office workers.
Anyway onto the tasks at hand.. My first stop was Paperchase, to find out all the best selling summer must haves.
There were so many beautiful themes for Spring summer like this Wild Blossom collection that was so romantic and dreamy!
I then stumbled across the Lets Squawk collection and was instantly drawn to the Blogger's Journal that has everything a blogger needs to organise their schedule, post ideas and more. I so have to go back and grab this!
Another lovely theme was Get Away which instantly made me think of holidays and the seaside. Paperchase have certainly upped the anti this year with lots of homeware included in their range like candles and cushions.
The straw that broke the camel's zebra's back for me was the Serengeti range. I mean, who doesn't want a zebra stapler in their life!? The lovely sales assistant Jack and I were both swooning over the scent of the black amber candle and how we basically wanted everything in the shop!
I spent far too long in Paperchase but with zero regrets and have to say a huge thank you to Jack for showing me all the wonderful ranges in store. Paperchase have just started doing their own craft workshops which is super exciting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they hold one in Queensgate for us all.
Next up I was challenged to find three summer essentials I couldn't live without and made a b-line for Oasis.
I'm soon heading off on my holidays and when I saw these block heeled sandals I thought they'd be perfect.They're just the right heel height to transition from day to night and are super chic, going with pretty much any outfit. The mirror detailing on the inside of the heel gives them a great edge too.
Swimwear is another must have essential for any summer holiday and I fell in love with the print of this bikini in Oasis. The palmhouse bandea is the perfect beach bikini and paired with this matching jumpsuit I've since found on the website, it makes for a perfect holiday outfit.
Running low on time, I popped into Marks and Spencer's for my final summer essential which just had to be this bag. Taken from the Indigo Collection, this duffle bag is the perfect companion for a summer traveller. Teamed with a straw hat and some denim, this bag is just gorgeous and I've been lusting after it ever since! Everyone needs a great bag for summer and this is the one for me.
Before I knew it, the clock had struck eight and like Ciderella, it was time to leave the Queensgate ball. There were so many other shops I would have loved to venture into like Tiger, Accessorize, Lush and River Island but time ran away with me.
I met up with fellow bloggers Laura, Sophie and Emily for a late dinner at Handmade Burger Company with complimentary vouchers*.
We'd all been to different shops, so it was exciting to hear what everyone else had got up to during the event. The burgers were well received as this was the only time we stopped the chatter!
We finally parted ways at around 10:30 and all agreed it had been a fantastic event but the excitment didn't stop there as we had been very kindly gifted a goody bag each from various Queensgate retailers.
I received so many lovely goodies from the likes of Tiger, Carluccio's, Lakeland, Body Shop, Boots, Paperchase, Lush and more. I can't wait to try them all out and feature them in future blog posts!
So that leaves me to say a HUGE thank you to Queensgate for inviting me to their event, it's one of my favourites I've attended and I can't wait to see what's in store next for the shopping centre!
I also vlogged the event so be sure to check out the video for more insight on how the evening went!
Are you excited for the new stores coming our way?
