Year: 2016

Day 29: Ely Christmas Cracker

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For a festive hit in mid-November, there are few places better than Ely Cathedral. Their annual two-day Christmas Gift & Food Fair is an event attended by people from all around the country. In contrast, the #ElyChristmasCracker was all about local people.

Since the Cambridge blogger community – CambMeetUp – began in March 2015, there have been a number of local meetups around Cambridgeshire, and when Lauren decided it was time that Ely held one, I was more than happy to help organise. On Day 29 of #100DaysNoTV I co-hosted a blogger event for the first time!

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Day 28: Macmillan Coffee Morning

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The last couple of months have been all about spinning plates – this post has been sitting on my To Do pile since September…my bad. I’ve been looking forward to writing it, because it’s about two important things in life: cake 😉 and charity. On Day 28 of #100DaysNoTV I hosted a Macmillan Coffee Morning at my place.

Macmillan Cancer Support held their first ever Coffee Morning way back in 1990 and since then they’ve raised a whopping £138 million. Little wonder it’s known as the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning! If you’ve never been to one, look out for one local to you next September; it’s easy to search using your postcode on their website. There are bound to be a few near you run by local groups, or you could host one yourself!

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Day 27: Talking Blogs

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For Day 27 of #100DaysNoTV I did something I never believed I would (or could) do: I gave a talk about my blog to a group of people I’d never met before. To say I was out of my comfort zone is a massive understatement! But, I survived and, for many reasons, I’m so glad I went through with it.

I was invited to give a talk at a Mummas & More event, and Emily – the brains behind it all –was so lovely that I felt I couldn’t say no. When I told Rob about it, the fear set in: I would be speaking aloud, publicly, about myself. That’s something I tend to steer well clear of!
In a heartbeat Rob said, “Do it. It’ll be good for you.” It was the little nudge that I needed.

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Day 26: Cambridge Wineathlon

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I’m not a serious runner but over the last year or so I’ve become more committed, taking part in the Cambridge Race for Life 10k and the Grand East Anglia Run 10k. My Strava app records every run I do, and last November I joined Run Mummy Run (RMR): an online community of mummies who like to run and support others. This group organised last December’s Advent Streak. 🙂 On Day 26 of #100DaysNoTV I ran in my first team event with some RMR girls.

The Cambridge Wineathlon was a not-at-all-serious 10k run through the pretty villages of Foxton, Fowlmere and Newton. I signed up with a couple of RMR girls and our group grew from there. Where’s Wally? is a staple uniform at some local parkruns, so it was the natural choice for the Wineathlon too! Don’t we look good?! 😉

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Day 25: Six New Things

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If you’ve been following my #100DaysNoTV project, you’ll know that I like to try new things and have new experiences. And, I can be pretty flexible about when I have my next ‘Day’. So, I have ultimate respect for my blogger friend, Maria Wylie. As of today she’s managed to try something new for 258 consecutive days. Yes, something new every single day!

Maria also challenges friends to complete a week of new things: a monthly Challenge Week. She offers a theme or two to make it easier to think of something cool to do. I took part in the August challenge: Eco-friendliness & Creativity. On Day 25 of #100DaysNoTV I completed a week of new things!

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Fashion: Emily and Fin at Lilac Rose

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It’s rare that you get a chance to browse in shops after hours so it was a real treat to spend an evening at Lilac Rose in Cambridge. It was a chance to reacquaint myself with their shop on Bridge Street: one of the prettiest areas of Cambridge city centre.

Lilac Rose have been in Cambridge since 2010 and describe themselves as “. . . an independent fashion boutique selling women’s clothes, jewellery and accessories.” After a quick browse it’s clear that their handpicked dresses have a real emphasis on colour and print (they definitely don’t do plain!) and what might not be obvious at first, is the importance they put on the way the dress fits and feels; I’d say they have their priorities right!

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Day 24: iPhoneography with Sara Tasker

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I have an iPhone. I have an Instagram account. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about using my iPhone to take amazing photographs, other than the basic techniques. Or rather, I didn’t, because I recently attended an iPhoneography Workshop with Instagram queen, Sara Tasker.

Organised by Shutter Hub as part of their OPEN 2016, Sara – of Me & Orla – travelled down from Yorkshire to NOVI in Cambridge to teach us some of the tricks that would help us to take better photos using just our smartphones.

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Day 23: Cocktail Masterclass

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Life has a way of taking over sometimes, doesn’t it? Where’s the Pause button when you need it? It feels like forever since I was able to write a blog post. However, I’m back now and excited to share my stories with you again. 🙂

Every once in a while it’s great to get some friends together and try something a little bit different. I had a special birthday this year, and that seemed to me like a perfect time to do this! Day 23 of #100DaysNoTV was an excuse to get dressed up, meet with a group of girlfriends and spend a lazy Sunday afternoon at a Cocktail Masterclass.

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Skincare: Neal’s Yard Remedies

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The wonderfully named Bee Lovely Hand Cream is the only product by Neal’s Yard Remedies that I had ever used and, I have to admit, that was a freebie! (It was in my goody bag from the CambMeetUp bloggers event last March.) So when I was invited to their press event in Cambridge I used it as a chance to really get to know the brand better.

They held the event in their little shop on the city’s beautiful Rose Crescent.  At the time I posted a photo on Instagram with the caption: “Neal’s Yard is possibly the prettiest shop in Cambridge”. It’s absolutely true, and Cambridge isn’t exactly bereft of beautiful shops. 🙂

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Day 22: Gin Festival

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Gin + Festival + 8th April = Birthday present perfection for my mum. As soon as this event appeared on Facebook I went to Eventbrite to book two tickets. And, thank goodness I did. The event sold out in just a few days. On Day 22 of #100DaysNoTV the Cambridge Corn Exchange was the venue for Mum’s 67th (ssh, don’t let her know I told you!) birthday celebrations.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from a festival of gin in the heart of Cambridge. I’d been to plenty of beer festivals but this was always going to be a totally different experience! I imagined it might be more like a food & drink festival, with lots stalls offering tasters and selling their wares. In reality, it was a lot more sophisticated than that.

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