​You know that phrase "up and coming". Well I have never really been able to use it about somewhere I know, until now. This weekend we stayed in Southbourne, near Bournemouth, which, when I first visited at just 4 weeks old, was bursting with charity shops and a few tea shops.

Now the charity shops are nestled between boutique cafés, independent fishmongers and coastal art galleries.​

The high street is lined with alfresco dining chairs and tables but the heart of Southbourne shines through. My favourite haberdashery is thriving (it's been in the high street 80 years) as is the butchers and the bakers, Elizabeth's, where, without fail we but a poppyseed plait and a cottage loaf. ​ If only there was a candlestick maker!

I adore the greengrocers, but mostly for the amazing flowers which almost out do the fruit and veg! 3 bunches for £5 - amazing!​

Luckily Mum offered to play with the boys at our family flat, which meant that I got to potter in my most favourite shop. Coastal Creatives. The passion of two wonderful women who remember me when I visit and who have built up a boutique, seaside wonder! Not only do they stock the most curious handmade and beautiful unique gifts they have an envious hire business of the most eclectic and superb ​wedding props for the ultimate seaside wedding extravaganza.

As we pootled up the high street (my sister is 9 months pregnant and waddling) we found Love Fish. An enticing fishmongers with colourful bunting and sweet styling. Selling everything from fish to popcorn there is something for everyone. I loved the local produce section in their deli range.

​We tried to get into a new bistro The Larder House but they were fully booked! I had a sneak peek at the menu (oh how cute is the rolling pin) and put it straight on our to do list for the summer. We are back for a week in August with baby b for it's first holiday!

If you get the chance to visit his quaint little town, snap up the opportunity! We have seen it grow into a thriving town with equal amounts of retired seniors and young pups sipping cappuccinos and glasses of red at 3pm! ​

I did pick up a couple of bargains in the charity shops, but I will save them for next week! ​

​This is a very special week. Due date week. 

Next month my blog is going to be bursting with photographs of a beautiful new baby. I'm going to be an Auntie! ​

For now, we all have our homemade badges made by Natalie. I just love my sister.​

​Excuse Ollie's rather strange pose, we took this the second before we rushed out of the house to get off for Southbourne! So it had to be a one take wonder! But I love the blurry background effect - depth of field is my friend at the moment.

Join in with our Me and Mine Family Portrait Project by showing us you and yours! You can see what we dreamt up last month for our family photo here! ​

Scoot on over to Chloe at Chloe Witters to see her sweet family photos! My favourite post this month was about how Chloe works from home. It was like looking at my working day and I totally understood how isolating it can feel sometimes. 

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Tots100 Blog Summit Bristol 2013

One for the bloggy readers today! Things I learnt in no particular order:

• The best time to tweet your posts is between 2pm and 4pm.
• Post titles - don't be scared of long titles. Think search engines, can they find your post? Does it relate to what you have written? I know my posts sometimes have anecdotal titles, nice for readers, bad for search engines.
• If you have children, make sure you list their ages in your About Me page, and if you don't have one set one up. This helps companies who may be interested in you working with them and their products assess whether your family is suitable. (I also think it helps to know their genders too even if it may be obvious from photos as lots of bloggers use code words or funny anecdotes instead of their real names.)
• If you don't use Pinterest you should! I wrote a post a while ago here which may help. Have a board just for your blog and keep it at the top of your boards page. Then repin to others that are suitable so you are the original source.
• Keep your photos for Pinterest Portrait style and use text on the image to let people know what they are viewing, no matter how obvious it may seem. They are far more likely to be viewed this way as they are easier to navigate on someone's mobile phone feed.
• Use Pingraphy to auto post your pins to Pinterest. The majority of users are in America and view their news feeds when we are asleep. Pin what is topical even if it's from a long time ago. Now is the time to repin those Easter ideas!
• Fritha is someone I want to be best friends with.
• Annie is not in the least bit intimidating. Considering her profile in the blogging community I thought it would be impossible to say hello, I couldn't have been more wrong.
• Jess has the most beautiful eyes. Like stop you in the street beautiful.
• Give your Facebook readers more than just your post links. Lots of Facebook users don't use Twitter and don't have a blog. Ask short simple questions to encourage group discussion so your page is somewhere more than just a blog post list.
• Post a large photo to Facebook rather than just the link to the post which will only include a small excerpt picture. Make sure in the photo description and first comment you link to the post url address.
• Alex has a textbook round bump and was head to toe in stripes, I knew we would hit it off.
• Tom, Becky's husband is an excellent presenter and not in the least overwhelmed by a room full of women like I'm sure some men would be.
• Don't be shy. Everyone no matter how many readers or followers you have is in the same boat. I sat at the front with Emily and Jo and even if I came across as a little keen I didn't care! Introduce yourself! You only have about 3 minutes to chat to anyone anyway in the breaks, so what terrible thing could you possibly say in that time?!
• Watermark your photos. This is something I don't do, but I might come up with a smaller logo rather than a long text line.
• White balance. Use the features either your camera or your editing program gives you. Take your orangey evening photos to daylight wonders.
• Give feedback. The only way these events are well attended, respected and get better is by giving constructive feedback. I was disappointed so many bloggers didn't turn up on the day. I see lots of tweets about bloggers who cannot afford to go to the paid ticketed events so take advantage of the free ones! 
• The informal yet formal style of presentations with everyone encouraged to chip in with questions worked really well to relax the atmosphere and create discussion and debate. 
• My tip - don't forget anything you write on the internet can be seen, by anyone. If you are hoping to work with positive parenting brands be positive! 
• Follow or no follow links. To be perfectly honest at the end of the session I still was thinking of saying "Erm sorry I don't follow" even though the presenter spoke very eloquently. Find the Tots100 guide here.
• My tip - be yourself. Smile and clap, loudly. It shows your appreciation!

Blog Summit Bristol 2013

Blog Summit Bristol 2013

  Find out more about

Tots100 here

  Don't forget you only have until the 26th March to vote in the MAD Blog Awards,

click here to vote

(psst I'm in Best Craft and Best Photography).