Last month we went to Berlin for the week of my Birthday. I thought I'd write a quick blog post and share a few of my favourite photos as I took a break from social media while we were away for a change!

When we were planning our trip we were mostly excited about food as Berlin is known for being super vegan friendly. We had found loads of places that we hoped to go including Veganz (the vegan supermarkets) and Brammibals doughnuts. 

We were very lucky with the weather as it was mild and dry the whole week, which was perfect for exploring the city. It's definitely somewhere you need to make the most of public transport as Berlin is giant! We managed to find a few flea markets, lots of vintage shops and so many lovely cafe/bars with vegan cake. There are so many different areas which are great to wander around as there's such a mix of things to see that you never know what will be around the next corner.

We've been spending a lovely relaxing week off on the Isle of Lewis. It's been an interesting mix of weather, to say the least, but with a wood burning stove in a wonderful cottage with panoramic views, it's certainly been cosy! Lots of beaches, amazing (rainy, windswept) walks and hygge time for books. I picked up a cute wee book about Sheds in Ullapool before we caught the ferry which has gorgeous photos of cabins and studios and reminds me of a project I did back at art school.

I've also taken a little of the time off to think about Christmas plans for JillyJilly, do a bit of work on our upcoming Etsy Made Local market and get a couple of odd jobs ticked off the list. We have new eco-packaging starting next month so have had to adjust our prices a little to reflect this but it's been something that's bugged me for a while and I know it's worth fixing so hope you'll all understand.

After setting up the Dundee Etsy Team I was delighted to be able to attend my first Etsy Team Captains' Summit last weekend! I know I've been to Etsy HQ in London before, but this time it was a completely different atmosphere as the team put so much work in to make it an inspirational weekend for all of the guests. 

We were all booked into the same hotel near HQ so it made it feel a bit like a school trip or something! On the Friday evening, some of us got together for dinner then bright and early on Monday the weekend itinerary began. We had so much amazing food, including breakfasts each day at 'Eatsy' and everyone was well catered for. We all had lovely goody bags and a summit notebook to help process all of the talks and panels, there were lots of opportunities for discussion and idea sharing so those who have been running their teams for a while could share their experiences for us newbies to learn from. The Saturday night was a fab Captains' dinner at the postal museum with a ride on the underground 'Mail Rail' and cocktails. Wow!

I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the of the information and activities and people I met but I'm also so excited to get started on working out how to make things happen with the Dundee team to build a lovely community here.