Showing posts with label events. Show all posts

Leeds Light Night




Hi,guys!

The last couple of weeks-what am I even saying, months- my schedule has become hectic. I've been working non stop for at least 12h/day and weekends included.If I think about it, in the last half a year I've had max 3-5 days that were my selfish days,meaning I would just relax and forget about the things that need doing,so having a day off was a complete luxury.Anyway you can read more about what I've been up to with Nick Calini Photography over here.
So thinking about all the hard work that I've put into our business I've decided that enough was enough and  that we should have a date night, out in Leeds.
Friday night we've been fortunate enough to catch the last day of Light Night. If you've never been to Light Night,please go next year, it's an absolute treat for your little one and a delight for adults as well.There are different locations throughout Leeds City Centre where you can see different shows, loads of good food and just good vibes all around.










This was for sure the best night that we've had in a long time.
If you follow me on Instagram,you might have noticed that...I have not posted anything about it,and it's not because I didn't want to.
Why didn't I post anything ? Well...this makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, but the truth is...
I am on a pay as you go sim card,sometimes it works for me , but every now and again I just run out of credit without warning. I've been going on like this ever since I came to the UK almost 6 years ago.
When you are on a pay as you go sim, sometimes you realised you just run out of credit in the most important moments...when you have to make an important phone call, when there's a special event, when there's an emergency...

when there's an emergency...
For the last couple of months I've had to speak with our clients and having a business there's always something to sort out,so having unlimited data, unlimited texts and unlimited minutes is a must.

Trying to fix this problem I've started to look for unlimited sim only deals, and after doing my research I found out that it would only cost me a couple of pounds extra per month to benefit from …let’s call it a stress free , peace of mind mobile plan.

There are so many network providers offering good deals ,I haven’t changed mine since coming to the UK, and I was so happy to see that 3mobile network is also offering the unlimited sim data.
The price range is between £18.75 and £44 per month, so there’s a package to suit every pocket.

Now, talking from a blogger's point of view, I remember a very famous blogger/vlogger saying about events ' if you're not posting in that exact moment and you're not letting your audience know about it you're irrelevant' . These exact words went through my mind on Friday night, at Light Night in Leeds.


Now tell me, what are your thoughts on this?Have you ever been to Light Night Leeds? 😊

Ps: You can see my Last Minute Christmas post here.


eShores Event




Not long ago I was kindly invited to the eShores event,which took place in Leeds City Center, at the Lambert's Yard where we got a bit of a taste of what the USA feels like. Personally, I have never been to the States, so this event sparked my curiosity .
I have arrived at the event with my fellow bloggers Lucy and Emma and we also met there the lovely Mr. Luke Christian. 






The evening started with some delicious cocktails all inspired by San Fransisco and made by Anthony from Mix & Twist.These were:


  • Wall Banger – Vodka, Mango & Pineapple Juice, Mint & Galliano
  • San Francisco – Vodka, Cherry Brandy, Lime & Sugar
  • Pornstar Martini – Vanilla Vodka, Lemon, Pineapple Juice & Passionfruit syrup
  • Californian Ginjito – gin, Mint, Apple Juice, Lime, Sugar & Soda

My favourite ones were Pornstar Martini and Wall Banger.





The food was inspired by Los Angeles and made by Bears Pantry.For the starter I had the vegetarian Tacos and this was the first time that I had jackfruit.And I liked it! :)
We continued with a fried chicken sandwich and the incredible Vegas Greek Yoghurt Martini. Amazing dessert, especially for the summer time.
I do want to mention that I have stopped being gluten free for a few months, but I want to go back to the gluten free lifestyle.









Inspired by Las Vegas, we were entertained by Sebastian Walton, a very talented magician and the main photographer of the event was ElouisaI just love participating at these kind of events as that's the perfect occasion for a fun day out,have new experiences and also meet new bloggers that can end up becoming your friends. :)


eShores are offering you a £100 discount when you are booking a holiday with them, how amazing is that?! All you need to do is quote “USA/LeedsEvent”. They are offering tailor made itineraries, so there's a perfect holiday for everyone, just make sure that you will contact them to find out more.

Tell me, have you travelled to the USA ?

Moonpig #MerrierTogether Event


'It's the most wonderful time of the year'-I find myself with this song stuck in my head, repeating over and over again.I really hope that you are just as excited as I am for this period of the year.

With Christmas just around the corner, Moonpig invited me for a fun filled day at Revolution,Electric Press ,in Leeds City Centre,to celebrate Christmas together .



















Welcomed with mulled wine and warm smiles,  Moonpig put our creativity to the test for activities such as : drawing on our own tote bags, making our own cocktails, making Christmas wreaths and creating our personalised photo cards.We even met Santa!
I was so happy to see known faces but also to meet new ones, I feel that the lovely ladies that organised this event did the best job at  bringing the blogger community together.
We even made our very own personalised Christmas Cards on the Moonpig website, which I received in a couple of days and it looks fab!
I gave my Christmas Card to my mom ,and she was so happy as I will be far away from her this year,but I will meet her again in late January.My Christmas card included the lovely Mr. Luke and Emma.



It was such an interactive day, I had the best time,I think that you can see that from the pictures,thank you for inviting me ! :)

For me ,Christmas is the time to be grateful for all that I have, to be more forgiving and selfless and to help more the ones in need.

All the photos are taken by Matt at the Moonpig #MerrierTogether event.

You can also find here a post about Christmas presents without breaking the budget: https://www.cupcakesplendens.com/2018/12/christmas-presents-without-breaking.html

Gin Club Tasting Event in Leeds



The first time that I have tried gin was actually quite recently, more exactly one year ago. I quickly got the taste of it ,I felt that it was a bit similar to vodka.
When Ellie, from MacComms, told me that she will organise this exclusive event to celebrate the new Gin Club Menu for Victoria Gates Casino  and she invited me and Nick, I didn't even wait for a minute to answer the email,it was a big yes from us.


I arrived there not knowing a thing about gin, but that was about to change very soon.

For example,I had no idea that gin was made with juniper seeds. Also,one of my favourite stories was about the first vending machine invented,that was giving the Londoners... gin!
Because of the Gin Act in 1736, which pretty much prohibited the sale of gin, people had to be creative. Shaped as a cat, the Puss and Mew machine, had a pipe under a paw and whenever someone wanted to buy gin,if the seller had some to sell, he would say 'Mew' .This is when the buyer put a coin in the mouth of the cat, and gin would come out of its pawn.




At the event, we tried 4 types of gin paired with 4 different tonics,but firstly we tried plain gin, with a couple of ice cubes.
It surprised me how much of a difference can one tonic make and how nicely it can compliment the gin flavour.

We had such a great night out and enjoyed the company of the people present at the event.Ever since, I found myself ordering gin& tonic when going out with my friends.
It's worth checking out Victoria Gates Casino's new gin menu,which includes 19 flavours of gin.

Tell me, do you like gin? What's your favourite combo? :)

Leeds Indie Food -The Festival Foodies Shouldn't Miss



We were so blessed with nice weather lately, I feel so grateful to be able to chill for a couple of hours in my backyard, swaying in my hammock while reading a quality book...I feel like I'm on holiday!
With such weather it's a shame to spend time indoors and if you are looking for things to do in Leeds ,let me tell you about Leeds Indie Food .

Leeds Indie Food Instagram Page

For the third year in a row, with over 80 events and 150 collaborations, Leeds Indie Food Festival comes back this year to bring you all things eat, drink and do.

Festival Passport owners ( you can buy them on their page ) will be entitled to big discounts and exclusive free passes and tasters during the event.
Many activities are sold out,so people are loving them,but you can still find loads of activities and even more are announced every day!
From learning how to make truffles to eating brunch ice cream, pizza and prosecco there is an option for everyone.
The last day of the festival will be on the 28th of May, so this seems like a fun little activity for the bank holiday weekend. Make sure that you will bring your family and friends, they will love it.


Tell me, will you be attending the food festival?


Spend or Save ?





I remember my teenage years.I used to tell my mom that I can hardly wait to grow up so I can be independent, have my own money and live by my own.
Well, when this actually happened it wasn't exactly what I've imagined it to be.
Me and Nick moved to the UK with lent money and it was just enough  for rent and food for a month and that was all.We had to figure it out from there and damn,that was tough.
Going from staying at my parents house straight to being on my very own felt like a slap in my face.
There were so many things that I didn't know about paying bills, managing my finances and I had to learn the hard way through my own experiences.








Pictures by Matt Chappell

Two weeks ago me and Nick were invited to Giffgaff's Spend or Save event. Basically, we had to play a game that is about saving money but also spending it wisely.It's exactly like Monopoly, but instead of buying properties you buy Life Goals .( Saving's Account, Buying a Car, Getting Married, etc)

It's crazy how I've almost gone broke at some point and managed to win the game at our table at the end .It's exactly like in real life isn't it?You never know what comes your way.The money that I've managed to save for my retirement sent me on the second place with the most money after retirement.
For this I've won a 250£ towards a charity of my choice.

We've had so much fun, it felt like a night in with our old friends and new friends while drinking prosecco and eating gluten free pizza.
I had the chance to hang out with my fellow bloggers Sarah, Bridie , Luke ,Nick and Steve from Giffgaff as well,  so thanks to Giffgaff  and Jennie for inviting us,we had a blast.


You can find here more details about the event.






Pictures by N. Calini

Holiday Feeling and Celebration





This week got me thinking about my upcoming holidays.It's crazy how time flies, so here I am leaving all the planning last minute making sure that my week is going to be a busy one but at least I've done my final shopping before going abroad.Also, last week I've celebrated Nick Calini (Happy Birthday baby! ) and we've also celebrated MacComms, a PR agency based in Leeds.



Last Thursday I've been invited to MacComms third year anniversary and it was so much fun! I met so many inspiring  people ,had a couple of cocktails with them, ate some cake and laughed until my cheeks hurt.
Congrats to Ellie and her team for smashing it ,winning award after award and working so hard to make their clients happy.









Also,talking about holidays, I've been gifted two snorkelling kits by  https://www.simplyscuba.com/  , one for me and one for Nick and let me tell you how excited I am for this!
There are two major reasons why I'm so excited .The first one is that whenever we wanted to go snorkelling on our holidays,we always had to schedule this activity a couple of days before and sometimes the agencies schedule wasn't on the same track with ours.Therefore,sometimes we had to cancel it or we had to skip other activities in order to go snorkelling.
The second reason is that snorkelling is a bit expensive. Every time you want to go snorkelling for two hours or so you will most likely pay from your wallet anything between 30 to 60 euro per person .
Having my own kit means that I can use it whenever and wherever I want ,at no extra cost.
Also,my kit fits in my carrier bag , so I cannot wait to take it with me on my next adventure and to share my experience with you!
You can find here their range of snorkelling kits and many more: https://www.simplyscuba.com/collections/snorkelling .

So tell me,have you ever gone snorkelling? Did you like it? Would you recommend it to anyone?





Celebrating 40 years of Jukeboxes with Leisure Sound



PRESS PLAY



No matter how tired,annoyed or bad I feel,I know that the right song can put me in a good mood. Let me take you back to last Thursday.I had 'one of those days' and I thought that taking a short nap will sort it out.Two hours later I woke up, not feeling my best and I realised that we were already late to Sound Leisure's event in Leeds. 'Damn it' I thought.We are already so late,'Should we still go?'. My desire of seeing Jukeboxes overtook my bad mood, so I quickly grabbed some clothes and rushed out the door.
When we arrived at Victoria Gate Leeds, almost everyone left , but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing because we had more time to chat with Ellie,Emily,Tom, Chris and his wife.


You can visit the popup store at Victoria Gate until the 18th of April, where you will be greeted by Chris Black,the managing director of Sound Leisure.
Ask this man everything about Jukeboxes and he knows it! His father started this business 40 years ago and it is a family run business with over 100 employees. 
His company produces them from scratch and they are the world's only manufacturer of vinyl jukeboxes.Did I mention that they are producing them in Leeds?




The Jukeboxes are of the highest quality, with different designs and features.
It was extremely hard for me to pick a favourite one,but I was already imagining the white one in my makeup room. Nick's favourite one was Rocket .


You can also admire the Rocket Jukebox in the newest trailer of Jurassic World 2 .
You can get your very own personalised Jukebox from Sound Leisure, so feel free to contact them.




Maybe it was the atmosphere,maybe it was talking to inspiring people, but I've learned my lesson.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and always show up!

The Fear of Speaking In Public and How to overcome it





I always admired the extroverts.I  felt that they had that something which I couldn't master because I was always shy and quiet ,so I stopped myself from expressing my opinions in public.
Throughout my childhood and even in my teenage years it was hard for me to make friends and to open up to people.
It has all changed when I met my husband .He had so much patience with me and understood my needs and strange ways , but I still cannot say that I've changed completely.




A couple of weeks ago I was invited to the Public Speaking Academy's course which took place in Leeds , on a Saturday morning.
There were two stages of the course.The first stage started at 9:30 AM and the second stage started at 1 PM and it finished at 5 pm.
We arrived late and I was so embarrassed . I've told you before that I am really bad at managing my time efficiently .When we entered the room people were already chatting in groups as part of the first exercise and we had to blend in quickly.
 Lee and Andrew were our coaches and they shared with us their years of experience and their energy was  contagious.
The course is so diverse, it covers a wide area of interests, from speaking in public to actually promoting yourself and your business.You can also opt for one on one coaching which can be very helpful for some.






I am not exaggerating when I say that this experience changes your way of thinking and perceiving things.Everyone who attended was just lovely , the course was very interactive and fun and at the same time you felt safe and that nobody is judging you.
Did it help me?It actually did, and I've seen improvements when I'm trying to approach new people .

Have you ever attended such a course?