I Could Drink a Case of You Darling, Still I'd Be On My Feet

Last Monday I started my latest work experience placement with The Spirits Business Magazine in London. As ever, first day nerves were rife but I swallowed my worries and tried to walk into their offices as confidently as I could.

This was my first bit of experience writing for a publication with a very specific target audience. The magazine focuses on all things spirits; vodka, whisky, gin, new releases, competitions, the works. What surprised me even more was that deputy editor Becky was pretty much running a one woman ship. I was told the editor contributes various pieces but overall, she was the editorial team wrapped up in one.

Teamed with the knowledge that I was their first student in for work experience the pressure was really piled on for me. I knew I had to step up to the mark and make sure that I got to grips with the publication's style and (to an extent) the spirits industry as quickly as I could. One of the first things Becky asked me on my arrival was what did I want to get out of this week? I knew the answer right away - as many bylines as possible to add to my portfolio, and that is certainly what was provided.

My first task was to compile the monthly round up of the 'top 10 spirits' featured in the previous month's publication. Now, I like a drink as much as the next person but I would by no means consider myself to know anything about spirits. Cue frantic Googling and searching their archives for any scrap of information I could lay my hands on. However, I managed to meet the deadline which I am hastily learning is crucial in this industry.

In the days to follow I was sent an abundance of press releases to write into worthy news stories, I searched the web to find new stories that had not been sent through to us and learnt the basics of photoshop. (I don't mean to brag but I'm now a dab hand at cropping photos.)

Friday was supposed to be my final day however, due to a cancelled work placement I was able to stay on for another week at the Spirits Business with the added bonus of working from home (allowing me to save some much needed pennies.) Friday afternoon certainly came with its perks including a trip to a local pub, being gifted with a bottle of vodka for my contributions to the website and a cheeky cosmopolitan in the office.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Spirits Business Magazine and would definitely recommend it to anybody looking to build their experience and portfolio. It was certainly challenging at times but help is provided on tap and what I have learnt over a short amount of time will undoubtedly prove useful in the long run.

We Grew Up At Midnight

Goodness, I didn't realise it had been so long since my last post, and there I was pledging to be a better blogger post exams and what not... However, I do have lots to tell. It has been a wonderful couple of weeks since then, that I think it best for us all if I break it up into bite size pieces for y'all. 

#1. On the 2nd June, I attended what was sadly my last ever summer ball at Kent uni, *sad face*. It was such an enjoyable evening. We were lucky enough to have Noah and the Whale headline who were brilliant. I heard part of their set at Bestival last September so had quite high expectations for their performance, and I thought they were great. The Saturdays, meh...A let down. Easy on the eye but harsh on the ear drums, so thank goodness that Annie Mac could be relied upon to finish the night in style with a fantastic DJ set. It was a shame that the bumper cars closed so early as that would have just been the icing on the cake, and boy do I love cake.

Noah and the Whale

#2. On the 6th of June I turned 22 BUT IT'S OKAY because I still look 12. Well, my height says 12 anyway. However, I do still get ID'd everywhere I go and as long as that continues to be the case I shall be a happy bean. My birthday was lovely, despite the weather raining on my parade (read: barbecue) in the evening, but nevertheless I had a wonderful day. A long awaited game of Articulate later and we were ready to dance the night away. My house mates bought me the best pen ever (the flower winds up), an introductory book to journalism (so thoughtful) and the most beautiful diary, which I am too scared to write in as of yet! (Such a neat freak when it comes to diaries and journals... anyone else get that?) I also received my first ever 'for a special auntie' card from my niece and nephews which I am going to keep forever!

#3. My siblings bought me an awesome present, which was to see The Maccabees at Alexandra Palace in London last Friday. OH GOD. So good. They were just amazing, so incredibly on the ball live and with the perfect mix of old and new songs. I was pretty blown away that they would have thought to get me a gift like that and Rob and I had the best time. It has been forever since I went to a gig and it makes me ever so sad that I don't have a festival to go to this year due to my limited funds; the first time in four years, I'm not quite sure how to handle it. I did not want the gig to end, I could watch and listen to Orlando Weeks forever. The support act, British Sea Power, were awesome as well.

#4. The following day, I was lucky enough to have some friends from home come and visit me in Canterbury. We got very merry and once again set out to dance and sing our hearts out! It has been a wonderful couple of weeks filled with some amazing music and company. I will be ever so sad to say goodbye to it all this coming weekend, when I have to leave this beautiful city.

I have had some truly lovely comments on my blog as of late and I feel awful for not having had the time to reply to them yet, but this past week has just been so crazy! I promise that I am going to do that right this minute, just bear with me because I really do appreciate the time that is taken to read and comment on my posts. 

Finally, I know that it is a week and little bit later than I said that I would announce, but the winner of my Delialah Dust give away is Lucy from Slices of Style! I will pass on your details to Antonia and get her to post your bracelet to you!

Attend To The Tale Of Sweeney Todd

It's the third and final instalment of my London trip today! I hope I haven't bored you to tears by rambling on too much. As you will know if you have read my previous two posts, Rob and I went to see Sweeney Todd at the theatre on Thursday. Now, I love the theatre. Seriously. Somebody please let me get on a stage and sing my heart out. (Always how I feel after leaving a show).

Now, I haven't seen the film Sweeney Todd, you know, the one with Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter, so I really couldn't say how alike they are. But the musical was fabulous. Brilliantly witty and the actors and actresses were just ridiculously talented. Sweeney Todd was played by Michael Ball (although, had I not known from the programme that it was him, I would never have guessed!) The lead female role of Mrs. Lovett was played by Imelda Staunton. I had no idea that she could sing, but she can and is brilliant at it.

The musical is about 'the demon barber of Fleet Street', Sweeney Todd, who murders his clients by slitting their throats with his razor. The bodies are then handed over to Mrs. Lovett, his accomplice who grinds the bodies up and bakes them into pies, which she sells in her now booming café.

The story is quite dark, but comedy genius at its best and it really is impossible to tear your eyes away from the lead characters. The story is complete with a beautiful damsel in distress, a young orphaned boy, two evil perverted old men and the man from the 'Go Compare' advert (spitting image!) I won't give away the ending of the story. but I implore you to go and see it. Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton were just flawless and it was a thoroughly enjoyable three hours of entertainment.

Have you seen anything in the theatre recently? What would you recommend for my next visit?

Promises, Swear Them To The Sky

The second day of our London stay saw clear blue skies and more wonderful sunshine. It also saw us checking out of our beautiful hotel, sigh. With out bags put away, we hit the streets in search of some brunch, and  little Googling from Rob led us to Lantana Café. It is an Australian café and they served the most delicious salads, fresh juice and coffee. The quiche tarts that had just come out of the oven looked incredible as well, and the rest of their menu left me more indecisive than usual. I would definitely recommend checking them out should you be in the area (they're just off Goodge Street down a pretty little lane).

With our salads in hand, we chose St. James' Park to bask in the sunshine and soak up some rays. The park was bustling with people sunbathing, enjoying picnics and feeding the ducks. (I didn't get to feed any ducks unfortunately, I was too pre-occupied with stuffing my own face). 

Afterwards we crossed the bridge, and headed for Oxford Street to have a quick mooch around Selfridges and sigh over how we could afford nada! One day, perhaps... 

All too quickly it was time to catch our train home. London really is wonderful in the summer; it's easy to forget that there are beautiful bits of greenery like St. James' Park hidden amongst the hustle and bustle of the busy Londoner's life. It was good to step away from London's chaotic streets for a few hours and relax in the summer heat. A wonderful second day to end our trip. 

Let This Part Of Me Remember How Lovely We Are

I have been one incredibly lucky girl this weekend. Last Wednesday I finished my last ever university exam and with a huge smile on my face and the sun beaming down gloriously, I made my way home. Not knowing what belated anniversary plans had been made for the next two days, I was one incredibly excited bean. 

So, Thursday swiftly came around and still clueless as to what the next couple of days had in store for me, Rob and I boarded a train to London Victoria. An hour and a half later and all surprises were revealed...

Rob had booked us a night at the Savoy Hotel, which is just the most beautiful hotel I have ever seen in my life. The building was gorgeous and the staff treated us like the most important people in the world. 

(I jumped on the bed before I got to take  picture of it in pristine condition, it didn't come wrinkly, honestly!)

Our room was amazing. After oohing and ahhing over its magnificence for quite some time, we decided to take advantage of the complimentary use of the gym and went swimming, being fortunate enough to have the entire 5 star pool to ourselves! Post swim, we crossed the street to a lovely little Italian restaurant where we feasted on their delicious cuisine before we pottered slightly further along the road to the theatre for phase two of the surprise: Sweeney Todd!

I cannot gush enough about how much I adore the theatre, and this show was just incredible. (I'm going to review it in a separate post). With our eyes and ears both equally satisfied, we went in search of a bar for a few drinks and finished the night off in Be At One cocktail bar. They played some great music and had a never ending selection of delicious cocktails and topped all this off with some extremely enthusiastic bar tenders getting a bit excited to one particular song, removing their shirts and dancing on the bar! 

It was such a lovely day and I am so grateful to Rob for organising it all; a truly wonderful way to unwind and celebrate after these past few weeks of dissertation and exams. Day two was just as wonderful but that's for another post...

I Love London

After a week of frantic essay writing, this weekend could not have come soon enough and was well worth the wait. On Saturday, Rob and I ventured to London with excited hopes of hanging with the celebs in all their wax work glories in Madame Tussauds. Alas, our dreams were soon quashed by a sign at the end of the queue reading '2 hour wait from here.' So with dismayed hearts, we headed to Eat. And boy did we. Then with fully fed yet dismayed hearts we hopped back on the tube and allowed our feet to lead us to Harrods. Welcomed by the beautiful lights decorating the exterior and the glorious smells of the perfume counters, (which I shall one day own), we were like children in a toy shop. I reckon we could have quite easily made a whole day trip out of Harrods, I can't recall the last time I 'oohed' and 'ahhed' so much. And this was only increased by escalators leading me to the Harry Potter section and then to the Christmas World.  One day, I will be rich enough to afford a box of 6 crackers for £600 and all of my Christmas guests shall go home with sterling silver zircon earrings and Swarovski crystal USB flash drives.  

But we didn't allow ourselves to enjoy the day away inside a department store, so a few more tube stops later, a barely there queue and we were aboard the London Eye. Now, Rob has a terrible fear of heights but some mind lapse lead to him forgetting this until things were in full swing and we were rising to some 135m (443ft) in the air. (Google is so very, very clever). So sitting on the bench with sweat beads dripping from his brow, our romantic trip was somewhat different to how I had imagined it to be. London looks beautiful at night though and I only wish I had remembered to bring my camera so that the photos could do its views some justice. But my 5MP Blackberry camera will just have to suffice for this post I'm afraid. 

We then found the most amazing Chinese Restaurant, Canton, after stumbling into China Town and once we were full enough to roll ourselves back to Charing Cross, we did. The rest of the weekend was spent in what turned out to be a very sunny Canterbury. But yet again, no camera bad blogger. It has been so nice to have a weekend not worrying about deadlines and reading. The next 4 weeks leading up to the end of term are set to be jam packed with deadlines and tests but I'm a bit more ready for them than I was this time last week so I'm hoping to be able to blog more frequently nonetheless.

In other news, the Motel Dress that I chose arrived but was just a tad too small so once a replacement has been sent I will share it with y'all. Also need to start getting some Christmas related posts in the pipeline. Has anyone else seen the Coca-Cola advert yet? I caught it today and jumped in excitement. And it's only mid-November!