Museum Lates

On Friday night I went along to the very first Museums Lates event at the National Museum of Scotland. I've been looking forward to this for ages (one of the perks of working for an events magazine is that we work closely with the museums & were supporting this night), so I was delighted to see it sell out way in advance (even if that meant there was a bit of a scrambled panic for tickets when we got back from holiday!).

Museum Lates has been set up so big-kid-grown-ups like me (and you) can go along to the museum at night, when there aren't any massive groups of children taking over everything. You can explore the museum at a more relaxed pace, have a glass of wine in hand, listen to djs & bands, take part in interactive things & basically act like children (without having to embarrassingly & awkwardly push children out of the way).

(Note: this has only actually happened once. Honest. It was at the Glasgow Science Centre and there were BABY GUINEA PIGS that were being hogged by kids. It was our turn to hold them. We were just being fair. Ahem).

Anyway. It was so cool! We got in just after doors opened, so instantly went to get our faces painted while there was no queue (which was good thinking, as the queues were MASSIVE later on in the evening)...

Rae got an amazing sparkly flower thing, & I got leopard spots to match my cardigan! 

We explored loads (although looking back, I don't think we even made it to the top floor - there is SO much to see).

Went to the silent disco (my first silent disco experience!). Quite surreal dancing to Blur underneath a massive Chinese dragon...

& got dressed up in safari gear to get our photos taken as Victorian hunters...

There's an official photo of us with our elephant & gear on.. shall scan and post here soon!

It was really really brilliant - the night ended with a set from Found and acrobats magically spinning and dancing from the ceiling.

The next one is in February and will be themed around the new Egyptian mummies exhibition (as a MASSIVE Egypt/archaeology fan I cannot wait!). Keep an eye out for tickets - I highly recommend it, and it'll probably sell out in five minutes.

Not another bill

Every day at work I check my pigeon hole in the hope that some sort of "mysterious" & "fun" parcel will appear. It doesn't. I get bills and paperwork & (on exciting days) a copy of business insider. It's not enough! I think in four and a half years of working here I've received one or two interesting parcels? (Oh, wah, my life).

YUHHJZNVXNTM

Anyway - so this (and a wee moan with my colleague Amy) reminded me of an amazing looking website that I had read about aaaages ago - NOTANOTHERBILL...

Notanotherbill is cracking. You sign up and for £15 every month you'll get a surprise present that is wrapped up beautifully and sent to you. It's full of things from independent designers, craft markets, illustrators, vintage sales, cool shops - just lovely things that look brilliant!

October's present - check out the wee fox badge!

 It was set up by an art student called Ned Corbett-Winder (cracking name) who personally sources everything and packs each present! It looks like you can select what type of present to get (at least a little) by choosing whether you're more interested in a "car boot sale, gallery or fashion show", but he promises to swap it for something else if you genuinely don't like it. (I reckon if you don't like it you could save it to be a birthday or christmas present for someone else...).

It reminds me a little of the glossybox/beauty box deals that are constantly floating around on blog reviews (which I've never tried as I am happily stuck in a bit of a make up/skin care rut!), but perfect for a magpie/hoarder type like me.

You can look at more of the previous presents here & buy a subscription for yourself (or a gift for someone cool) here. There's a trial deal on the site just now offering 3 months for £30 (and yeah, it's massively indulgent but it is COOL and good and looks like fun).

Now to impatiently wait until it arrives...

Giveaway winner!

Thank you to everyone who took part in my first ever blog giveaway! I was a little nervous that no one would enter (ha) but you did, and hopefully you liked the fun things I brought back from America.

So, with a little help from random.org, I can reveal that the winner is....

(I'm a photoshop master these days).

... Rosie from a rosie outlook ! Yay. An email will be winging its way to you, and I'll send out your prize shortly.

I'm going to try and line up another one before Christmas, so keep an eye out! x

Happy thoughts

 Such a busy, busy week! I feel like I am still trying to catch up on work things since returning from holiday (which feels like years ago, sob), & there's loads of exciting ARRG business to be working on, AND I'm trying to keep up with nanowrimo (difficult start, but I am getting there, finally!).

So, here are the things that are keeping me calm and happy in the midst of all of this madness!

1. Perfecting polka dots

It's taken me a bit of practice since my first attempt, but I am finally learning how to do even and neat polka dots! I really really like them, and they are fast becoming my go to polish (which makes a nice change from the leopard print trap I was in!). I am currently wearing purple and blue varnish with white polka dots.. which makes me feel a little like I'm thirteen years old, but ah, it's fine.

The best thing I've learned is to do the dots in rows (rather than just randomly wherever) and using a nail art pen (like the one I am giving away here) really helps keep the dots the same size.

 2. Christmas treats!

 

I do feel a little dirty saying this, so let me explain. I'm not ready for Christmas lights/presents in shops/tinsel or any of that nonsense. But I do enjoy the gradual way it creeps in as shops and cafes launch their Christmas menus. What can I say... I like treats! In particular, hello there.  Mmmmm. Be still my heart.

3. Endor

I tend to get a bit obsessed with a band, and listen to them pretty much on repeat (I thought I'd grow out of it after my teenage years, but no luck). Currently I'm on an Endor kick, and I love love love them. When I'm writing (for nanowrimo) I tend to prefer something a little quieter, and they fit the bill perfectly.

They are playing in Edinburgh at the Electric Circus next Thursday (November 10th) & tickets can be bought here. Give them a wee listen.

(On a different note, I have been listening to this song loads recently, and just realised how much it reminds me of the Spill Canvas!).

p.s. I'll be picking a winner of my giveaway tonight - good luck to everyone that's entered already (and thanks for entering!). Have a good weekend.

Nanowrimo

It's November! Which means it's nanowrimo time!

Nanowrimo poster. & an excuse to post a photo of Riley.

Nanowrimo (aka national novel writing month) is just brilliant. So good. So brilliant. You can read a lot more about the what's and why's here, but the basic idea is simple: write 50,000 words in one month. It sounds hard and scary, but it really isn't. & if you are one of those people who always think that someday you'll write a book, or that you would if you could find time, then it is definitely for you.

To complete the challenge you need to write 1,667 words every day.  You'll start the process thinking hard about what to write, or how to word a sentence, or carefully musing for ten minutes on what adjective to use, but about five days in (when you are 1,000 words behind and catching up on a Saturday morning) you'll discover the simple pleasure of just writing. Your writing will be awful. You will start to spell things wrong. You will notice your characters changing as you plot scenes while writing them. You will use too many exclamations marks. (Maybe that is just me). But that is the glory of nanowrimo! It makes you write. & at the end of a (long, tiring, but massively satisfying) month you'll have a first draft. It might be the WORST FIRST DRAFT OF ALL TIME, but that is still considerably better than a non-existent first draft.

Along the way the nanowrimo website holds your hand. You get handy graphs to keep track of your daily word count. Forums where you can discuss ideas and meet local participants (although I'm always too much of a wimp to go to the writing sessions in Edinburgh). & you get pep talks from amazing authors. These are staggered throughout the month and are brilliantly timed to encourage you to keeping writing when you are making excuses to yourself and skiving (my favourites are Neil Gaiman, Jasper Fforde & Philip Pullman).

Hoodie. Mental hair. Crazed eyes. Must be November.

& then at the end of the month you'll have a book! That you can sell and gain riches (*ahem* ) or hide away and sneakily read every now and again whilst wearing your nanowrimo hoodie (which you'll buy in week three, full of love for the Office of Letters and Light). Do it! Do it do it do it!