Candid Article 58

Sofar Sounds, Manchester

For my latest Candid article on the Sofar Sounds event I went to in Manchester with my sister last week, click below:

http://candidonline.com/live-review-sofar-sounds/

Weekly Update!

JAWS, Steak, Sofar & Slow Cooking!

I've had such a fun week! Monday started off well with a trip to the Deaf Institute with Laura to watch JAWS for a Candid review (see previous post). We had free press tickets so got to smugly walk past the huge queue of freshers waiting to get in! They were really good, and I particularly enjoyed watching the support band Fickle Friends, it's always great to discover some new music.

On Tuesday I had an awesome steak at the Country Club, accompanied with bacon wrapped asparagus, and on Wednesday I went to the freshers fair with Mo, where I got loads of free goodies - from Rimmel nail varnish to vodka and Domino's pizza! I babysat that evening and Emily came round for a quick coffee as she had just got back from Turkey. On Thursday Jasmine and I went to an event called Sofar Sounds (see next week's Candid article) which was an amazing experience - you find out the venue the day before, and turn up in someone's living room where four bands or artists play all for a small donation, wicked!

On Friday during the day I went to the Trafford Centre with Mum and Jas for a wander around, and we had a takeaway curry in the evening as Mum and Dad had just got back from their holiday in Zante. I went to John Lewis with Mum yesterday and we got some coffee and cake in the cafe, and last night we predrank at Emily and Smeed's place before going out for a few drinks in Didsbury. It was my first evening out there and I really enjoyed myself; we had a cocktail in The Violet Hour where Laura works, then moved on to M Tiki which is more clubby, but really small so after one we left and got cheesy chips!

Today I met Mo to go and do a food shop ready to make something in the slow cooker. We prepared it all and then went for a drink in the newly opened Heald Green pub round the corner. The weather was actually quite pleasant so we sat outside, and when we got back the moroccan lamb we'd set going had made the whole flat smell delicious! It tasted really good, and there was plenty for us both to have seconds, and now we are lounging around feeling very over indulged. It's been an action packed week, just how I like it!

Candid Article 57

JAWS

For my most recent Candid article on the JAWS live show I went to on Monday, click below:

http://candidonline.com/live-review-jaws/

Candid Article 56

Rachel Foxx

For my latest Candid article on up and coming singer/ songwriter Rachel Foxx, click the link below:

http://candidonline.com/new-music-rachel-foxx/

Weekly Update!

Partying With Freshers & Hospital Visits!

To be honest, this really isn't going to be a long post as I've had a pretty boring week! I ate at the Country Club with Aum on Tuesday and had the crunch roll as fancied an old favourite. I went for a nice run on Thursday and then in the evening met up with Rick for a few drinks in Manchester. We started in Cane & Grain, a new bar in the Northern Quarter. It was quite expensive, but then everywhere in that area is, and the inside was nicely decorated in an industrial style with skateboards on the wall! It had three floors but we just stuck to the one, apparently each is themed differently though, and the food coming out of the kitchen looked good.

We then moved on to Dry Bar, where I had a very fortunate text saying I wasn't needed for the school run in  the morning - dangerous when I'd already had three drinks. We hit the jaegerbombs and decided to stay out and go to 42s after a quick last one in Night & Day Cafe. 42s was full of twelve year olds (we'd forgotten it was Freshers Week!) but the tunes were awesome as ever, and drinks were ridiculously cheap. I eventually got a taxi back to Mum and Dads at 3am, and was suffering for it all day Friday!

I had a quiet weekend; on Saturday I tried Crossfit for the first time which I really enjoyed, it is a shame most of the classes are in the evenings or I would seriously consider joining with it being so close to my flat. The rest of the day I spent in Altrincham Minor Injuries unit after my finger had become infected after Tough Mudder! It was fine though, and then Mo came round in the evening to chill. Today I've done lots of work including writing an article and am enjoying a relaxing Sunday evening before work tomorrow.

Days Out...

Tough Mudder!

On Saturday I completed the special forces created obstacle course called Tough Mudder with my friend Laura. We entered into it quite spontaneously, and it was only after forking out £96 and looked at the overview that I actually realised the extent of my commitment!

It is basically an 11.2 mile track which can be taken at your own pace, it is heavily repeated that Tough Mudder is NOT a race. Throughout the route, there are 26 obstacles, of varying difficulty both in physical skill and mental grit. A map is released a week before detailing all of the obstacles, as they vary from site to site. Our event was at Cholmondeley Estate in Malpas, Cheshire, about an hour away from home in Manchester.

We set off from home at 10am, and luckily the weather was on our side. We had been recommended to arrive an hour before our start time (which was 12pm) but due to traffic, we actually signed in at 11.40am, however this wasn't a problem - in fact nobody seemed to be bothered about checking the start times anyway.Parking was £10 per car on the day, and as there was only two of us doing it, plus Mo spectating, we only had to take the one. We were told to draw our participant numbers on our foreheads and either an arm or a leg, and were also given a paper version to pin on, though mine fell off on the first obstacle!

After a quick warm-up and some motivational banter, we set off, jogging to begin with. The first obstacle we encountered was wading through a river upto our chests (Creek Crusade). Luckily as it was warm the cool water was actually quite refreshing, and nobody seemed to have any problems with it. As there were so many obstacles it would take me forever to list them all, but others included wriggling through mud trenches on our bellies (Trench Warfare), swimming underneath a tyre in a shipping container filled with ice (Arctic Enema), jumping Takeshi's Castle style across floating 'islands' on a river (Island Hoppin'), climbing (or being pulled) over 8ft wooden walls (Hero Walls) and having to run up a vertical wall to the top (Everest). The course was completed by going through a section where 100 volt electric cables were dangling for you to be hit by - and they packed quite a punch!

I kept catching my microdermal piercings, and Laura injured her knee, so we had to stop at First Aid a few times, and eventually ended up walking the majority of the course, taking us an incredible 5.5 hours in total! I felt pretty sorry for Mo having to wait around for us, especially as he had no idea whereabouts we were so didn't even manage to see us do much, but he got a great video of me doing Arctic Enema which was cool.

We were rewarded with our prestigious orange headband and 'Finisher' T shirt at the finish line, and a much deserved pint of Grouse ginger beer, which was so tasty, we bought another. We headed home at around 6.30pm, so I was glad I hadn't arranged to do anything else that evening!

Weekly Update!

Sushi, Sin City 2 & Tough Mudder!

I felt pretty refreshed this week after a four day weekend, and Aum being back in school means I have plenty of time free to do my Candid job and get back into the gym, which has suffered over the last few weeks. I managed to get a workout in on five days this week, one of which was Tough Mudder, which I think made up for the two days off!

On Tuesday I had dinner at the Country Club, and had some sushi as I had a real craving for it. I have been through the menu now and still love the prawn crunch roll, but today I opted for the dragon roll which is eel and salmon, and had a side of green vegetables with it. Mo came to stay afterwards, and then the following day we went to see Sin City 2 (see next week's post). I ate at Mum and Dads that evening, but was up until 1.30am when I got home writing up an article, and then still had to get up at 6am the next morning to finish it!

I managed to drag myself to spinning which knackered me, and I did Body Combat on Friday as well, before chilling out that evening with a lovely homemade chilli and having a bath to try and ward off a horrendous cold - great timing! Saturday I was up bright and early as I was picking Mo and Laura up at 10am ready for the hours drive to Cholmondeley Estate where Tough Mudder was held (see next week's post for a full account!). It took us 5 hours as Laura hurt herself, but was so much fun, and very muddy! It was great to enjoy a couple of pints afterwards before Mo kindly drove us home.

We got a Chinese at mine and chilled out, and were in bed for 11pm - such a tiring day! Today I had a lie in, then Mum and Dad have just been round for an Indian, samosas and onion bhajees followed by Mo's chicken biryani which is delicious. They are off on their holidays tomorrow to Zante (very jealous) so was a sort of farewell meal. Now we are just chilling out before heading back to work in the morning!

Candid Article 55

Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2014

For my latest Candid piece on the nominations for the Barclaycard Mercury Price 2014, click the link below:

http://candidonline.com/barclaycard-mercury-prize-2014/

Candid Article 54

Ella Martini

For my latest article on singer/songwriter Ella Martini, follow the link below:

http://candidonline.com/new-music-ella-martini/

Weekly Update!

Burgers & A Four Day Weekend!

This week has been quite exciting as I started a new role at Candid Magazine. I am now their Online Music Editor, so it is my job to source all of the material for articles from press releases I am sent, and then find writers for them all. It has been hard work as there have been lots of introductions to be made and stuff to learn, but I find it really enjoyable and it means I get to stay on top of loads of fab new music!

Aum has been off school for half of this week, so we had a chilled day on Monday, then went to Applejacks Adventure Park on Tuesday (see previous post) and on Wednesday we met Abi for some lunch at Gastronomy. I had eggs pesto which were delicious, and then in the afternoon we got Aum's hair cut and uniform ready for his first day at Manchester Grammar School.

My workload was really building up at this point, and I was getting a little stressed, but then luckily I had Thursday and Friday off as his mum wanted to take him and collect him from his first couple of days at his new school, so it gave me time to catch up. On Thursday afternoon Mo and I went to the Trafford Centre for a mooch around, and then he stayed afterwards. He went home the following morning, and then we met up for a late lunch at SoLIta in Manchester. I had the KFB which was a beef burger with Monterey Jack cheese, bourbon barbecue sauce and Kentucky fried bacon, and was supposed to have jalapenos on too but I chickened out and asked for it without! In the evening I had an article to write so had a quiet one and chilled out.

Yesterday I cleaned the house, and then in the evening Ellie, Emily and Laura all came to mine for some predrinks before we went out in Manchester. We went to Terrace in the Northern Quarter, which was a cool place, if rather expensive (£7.40 for a double!). Music was good, and we stayed until half 2 before getting taxis home rather merry!

Today I got ready and have just been shopping in Stockport with Mum, got a few much needed bargains from Primark (a white dress, two going out tops and a cute knitted top for work) and then I came home ready for Mo to come round for some dinner and to stay. Very much enjoyed my four day weekend!

Days Out!

Applejack's Adventure Park

Yesterday, Aum and I went to Applejack's Adventure Park, just off the M56 in Warrington. We arrived at about 1pm, and it was a gorgeous day so everything was accessible. We started with a walk over to what was called 'The Eliminator', which was a Gladiator style inflatable where four people stood on plinths and used a big blow-up ball hanging from the middle to knock each other off!

We then went over to the shooting range, where you could fire rubber balls out of air pressurised cannons onto targets, it was so loud! We stopped for some lunch (I had a jacket potato and cheese, Aum had a hot dog) and then afterwards Aum went on the jumping pillow - literally a huge yellow inflatable submerged into sand that could fit 25 people on at once. We then went rollerskating in the mini rink, which I was very impressed at my abilities on!

There was a little wooden maze which we attempted, but it was ridiculously muddy so we ended up going back on ourselves to come out. We then went to the Ball Blast - a big netted tent where you shoot sponge balls at each other from behind barriers, like a children's version of paintballing I suppose. Then we tried archery (I was hopeless) and ended the day on the huge zipwires which were big enough for adults, before Aum did a few things for the kids only - electronic go karts (£1 a ride) that were like tractors, and he also climbed to the top of the Haystack Mountain, fairly self explanatory!

There was also a full maize maze, and a tractor and cart ride you could go on around the outskirts of the park, but we didn't have much time left - I was surprised at the amount of things to do so hadn't planned a full day there! Aum loved it, and it was £9 for kids and £10 for adults, and food was very reasonable, so I shall definitely be taking him back sometime, probably with a couple of his friends too!

Travellers' Tales...

Lancaster

Continuing on from the last post, on Saturday we had a big cooked breakfast and Anna arrived ready for us to go out for the day. We walked up to Williamson Park and Ashton Memorial; it was a lovely day so we worked up quite a sweat going up the hill! The boys struggled to say the least, so we left them at the bottom of the memorial to walk up to the top. Afterwards we stopped for a well earned pint in The Borough, where I had a tasty cider.

We walked through the city centre and up to The Merchants, which was really busy outside due to the sun being out. We sat inside and the three girls shared a bottle of wine, and then we all walked home stopping off for some fish and chips to eat back at the house. We got on the jaeger bombs and got ready for a night out, then got a taxi to Dalton Rooms. We played a couple of games of pool and had some cocktails (2 for 1!), and then the boys went home and left us girls to some shots and dancing! We weren't out much later to be honest (we got back at 1.30am), but it was good fun, and meant it wasn't a crazy late night.

The following morning we all had a lie in, and then went for a Sunday roast at The Chophouse on Church Street, where two courses are just £10.95. I chose a main and pudding, and got roast pork, which came with root vegetables, yorkshire pudding, mash, roast potatoes and loads of crackling! For dessert I got the sticky toffee pudding with ice cream, which was delicious. The others headed home straight from town, whilst Mo and I went back to the house for a last minute scour before setting off ourselves at around 4pm. A really great weekend with lovely friends!