Blognhagen: 1 Day in Copenhagen

In case you missed the memo, Blog'nhagen was first in a series of blogger meet-ups that was held on July 3rd in Copenhagen. Brittany Watson Jepsen aka The House that Lars Built and Maria Helgstrand Laursen created it to bring online creative personas together in real-life while they explore the best of the best of each city. The day was so full it took me awhile to wrap my head around everything and get around to posting. I put all my best photos of the day on Facebook, so you can check them out there. I'm working on a little video from the day too – a new experiment – so stay tuned for that too. Thanks so much to Brittany, Maria, JJ and all the sponsors for a super fun day!
The key to any successful event is having awesome people. The first ever Blognhagen crew was amazing, because it was an international bunch of creative design bloggers. From left to right we are: Emma from Emma's Design Blogg, moi, Thea from Sister Mag (who I met in Berlin), Ashley from Chasing Heartbeats (an American in Berlin), Brittany of The House that Lars Built (and co-founder of the event), Annaleena of Annaleenas Hem out of Sweden, Isabelle & Jenny from the Swedish blog Dos Family, and Maria from Wallnut (and co-founder of the event). {photo by JJ on Isabelle's camera}
Technically the first stop of the day was to pick up the Copenhagen By Cart carts, but Thea, Ashley and I got a little lost and almost ended up hitch-hiking. Luckily we found the others! The carts were so-so fun (and great for people like me who aren't very strong on a bike). And the balloons totally made the day even better! Here you can see Thea and Liv (whose video of the day I can't wait to see!).
Our first official stop was Meyer's Bageri to pick up breakfast to go. These cinnamon rolls were seriously amazing (the Danes do bread really well), but it made extra sense once we learned that the guy behind the bakery is also behind Noma, which is considered one of the best restaurants in the world.

We then made our way to Maria's flat to actually enjoy these yummy treats. It's always such a pleasure to get to see inside the homes of people when I travel. The Danes have amazing style, and I loved every element of Maria's style. The table captures everything pretty well from the Royal Copenhagen plates (which we painted our own - see below) to Brittany's hand-made flowers.
Back in the carts onto our next stop, we of course had to do a drive by of the changing of the guard taking place (see top image too).

The next thing we knew we were inside a ship having a lesson about the origins of Brown Prince Jewelry. The line combines the traditional carving traditions and materials of Burundi, with the style and finesse of Sacndinavian design. They use the umukoko nut which has the same sturdiness and finish of ivory, which makes it a more sustainable option. Oh, and by the way, that's the Prince of Burundi telling us about the work!

Then we were off to baum und pferdgarten a beautiful Danish clothing line that plays with the mix of masculine and feminine and clever patterns (like Vespas!). The Swedes definitely picked up a few pieces before we headed out. Great style.

Royal Copenhagen is one of those things I grew up around, as my parents have collected their signature blue Christmas plates for years. So it was a real treat to get invited to paint my own plate. Incredible to think that all their plates are hand-painted (well, with the exception of one new design they recently introduced into their collection).

I love any hands-on activities so this was definitely one of the highlights of the day for me. It was really relaxing, but I also gained a real appreciation of the artists who actually know what they're doing.

Here are our final works of art! Note, that plate painting isn't offered to the general public, but rather on a small group basis. Definitely look into it to see if you can make it happen.

After a full morning it was time for lunch. Thankfully it was just next door at The Royal Cafe. They're best known for their sumshi - an open faced sushi/sandwich, which are so popular they even published a book about them. Apparently they're a bit hit, and you can now find The Royal Cafe in Japan too!

It's only appropriate that The Royal Cafe uses Royal Copenhagen plates (in fact, it was one of the first experiments in product placement for a restaurant). The desserts were a-mazing, and nice to enjoy them in the courtyard (the interior was really fun though too).

Then it was time to zip to Vipp.

I always love hearing the story behind good design. The Vipp story was a sweet one – as told to us by the granddaughter. In the 1930s Holger Nielsen became interested in medal. He decided to create a pedal bin (such a more glamorous name than trash can, no?) for his wife's hair salon. The practical design became a huge hit, especially by doctors and dentists, not to mention in home use. Vipp has since expanded their line, and most recently includes some really beautiful steel kitchens.

Here's Brittany with the special Vipp collaboration with Collete Paris. (By the way it comes as a stylish icon for your computer too!)

After the early start and all ready full start it was nice we had a stop off at The Coffee Collective. I hadn't realized there was something such as "direct trade" but the way this place gets their coffee cuts out the middleman. Also, I of course loved the map charting the locations.

We got a quick lesson, and even I – the never-drink-coffee gal – really enjoyed the brew. My friend Joyce had responded to the Instagram pic I posted, and agreed this is one of the best coffee places ever. Then it was next door to Agnes for a cupcake.

The traveling bloggers were all lucky enough to be put up in the beautiful Kong Arthur hotel. It's part of the larger Brochner hotel group, which include Ibsen's which was a design hotel we visited (and conveniently served our "breakfast in a cup" the next morning - so good).

I totally love all Danish style and this room inside the Ibsen's only supported that love. (The beadspread is by HAY, a Danish brand).

As if we hadn't been fed enough all day, at least our next stop A XOCO involved working before we got our treat. Jesper Rahbek was our teacher and master chocolate guru at A XOCO. (He offers chocolate classes!)

I'm not sure that my pictures capture the sheer delight of making "foam kisses," but making them was just as fun as eating them. Basically they start with a marzipan base, and then we learned how to make the meringue/marshmellow-like filling. Final step? (not pictured here) Dip them in chocolate. Jesper was seriously awesome and so generous with us.

As I've already said, the Danes have great style. Anton Dam is a really great design shop. It was nice to stroll and have a seat in rooms like this.

Our final event of the day was a blogger meet-up at the park with locals bloggers/businesses/social media types. It was a fun close to the day and a nice way to unwind. But of course we needed dinner, so thanks to Sticks'n'sushi for that.

For more on our big day, here are some more posts you can check out from the other bloggers:

• Jenny & Isabelle from Dos Family here & here
  
• Thea from Sister Mag here & here
  
• Ashley from Chasing Heartbeats here
• Annaleena from Annaleenas Hem here
  
• Emma from Emma's Design Blogg here
  
• My pics on Facebook
• The Twitter & Instagram #blognhagen streams are highly amusing too, and there is more to come so keep checking!
  

Blognhagen wouldn't have been possible without these sponsors. While this was a sponsored trip, these are all my own, genuine thoughts.