Early

I was off to the Institute of Fundraising West Midlands' annual conference today, which started at 9am in Brum, so of course I was in Town by 7:40am! I decided to go for a nice huge coffee, a cheese and mushroom breakfast toastie and a spot of Pokémon Go-ing before the conference. The Costa I was in was so weirdly lit by the constantly changing eye display at Grand Central station, but is right in between 2 pokéstops so it's my favourite one! 

The conference was really good, even though I spent most of it as a little ball of anxiety. I absolutely love fundraising but networking, meeting new people and spending a day with no-one I know to help me out is just a nightmare for me. My imposter syndrome really kicks in, especially during networking because I don't feel like I have anything to offer the folks I'm networking with... Still, despite this (and a frankly bizarre opening plenary), I definitely took away a lot of good ideas, picked up some excellent advice, and generally felt better for going. 

I don't think my nerves were helped at all by the fact that I've been feeling inexplicably down for the past few days, crying at stupid stuff and lacking energy. I'm hoping it's down to my impending period and nothing more stressful. Rich did help tonight by suggesting we go to Wagamama for dinner. I love Wagamama!