This weekend we went to Solita in the Northern Quarter. I’ll let the picture do most of the talking for this one, but it was awesome.

Mr. Tom and I shared a pulled pork sundae and toastie, sweet potato fries and a parmo. It’s not for the faint hearted, but it was amazing – if you get the chance to go I’d highly recommend it. It’s hard to say what my favourite bit was, probably either the sweet potato fries or the toastie, but to be fair…it’s all good.

One thing I would say, is be prepared to wait at peak time – it can be anything from 30 minutes to over 2 hours and you can only book in advance if you have a party of six or more. We went during a Friday afternoon just after lunch and it was still quite busy, but that’s the price of awesome eats in the NQ.

Don’t let that be a downer though, because it’s worth the wait! Whether you pick pulled pork and fried mac n cheese balls or go for the Big Manc, just be sure that you arrive hungry – because you’ll be leaving very, *very* full!

It was Mr.Tom’s birthday recently so we went in to town to celebrate and stumbled across the Cadbury Marvellous Creations Travelling Funfair. The Cookie Crunch is awesome, but not as cool as their website via mobile, which is a joy to behold.

Anyway, lots of things were happening and all in all it went a bit like this…

These chaps sang songs and got you to scream, “Pop!” as loud as you could until chocolate rained (read: was handed through the holes) down on the eagerly awaiting crowd.

 Then these nut cannons chucked plastic hazelnuts into the air which you had to capture in your bespoke nut catching hat and net.

The aim was to fill up your card with stamps by completing these games to get free chocolate. All in all it was good laugh and a brilliant bit of experiential marketing from Cadbury’s. The highlight in my opinion was the NFC/RFID chip on the back of your card that you could link to Facebook so all your activities and photos from the day were logged and shared on Facebook….except it didn’t work for me.

Even still, it reminds me of the Coca-Cola fun park which allowed kids to like drinks and rides via a wristband linked with Facebook. Loving the real-world/online interaction and the fun of the event – it’s only a shame they couldn’t have brought Joyville weather instead of the dreary Manchester rain!

So, today I totally ran (read: ran/walked) the Bupa Great Manchester Run. It was hot as hell, I hadn’t trained and I forgot my anti-blister stick – meaning I had blisters the size of golf balls, which had popped by the 6.5 km – but I did it. I’m not even going to state my time, as to be fair, I’m pretty disappointed. The fact remains that I did do it and I’ve now signed up for 2014 already and this time I’m determined to do it properly….I’m going for 1 hour 5 mins or less.

Had a cheeky reward burrito from Barburrito – try the new brown rice. It’s lush!

In all seriousness though, my job is pretty hectic and I don’t get to exercise as much as a I’d like; plus I have a tendency to eat when I’m stressed – a pretty lethal combination.

A recent article in The Drum said that, “70% of marketing and communications agency employees say work affects their health,” and I can both believe it and relate.

This is a promise to myself that I have to be better at this. No, it doesn’t mean that I’m never going to drink beer and eat take out again (because, quite frankly, that ain’t going to happen!), but it does mean that I’m going to have to be a better operator of the 80-20 rule AND actually get my ass to the gym/on a bike/pounding the pavement. Even if it is hard after a day at work. I think I’ve been hiding behind a lack of time for a while now and really, it isn’t a good enough excuse.

I was lucky enough to be invited to become a Ray-Ban ambassador as part of the Ray-Ban Envision Series Tour: 5 invitation only music events taking place across the UK in May & June.

The Envision Tour takes place in Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham and London. Each event is based on one of the unique characteristics of Ray-Ban’s lenses.

• - 14th May: Spector Manchester ‘Long Lasting’
• - 25th May: Theme Park Bristol ‘Impact Resistant’
• - 6th June: Splashh Leeds ‘Anti Glare’
• - 13th June: Willy Moon Birmingham ‘Built to Move’
• - Special London Event ‘Outshine’

You can win tickets to these events by sharing your vision on Ray-Ban’s website. I was unfortunately unable to make my way down to see Spector due to other commitments, but it sounded awesome.

 Ray-Ban are also running an Envision competition, where you can win your dream vision becoming a reality. Describing it they say:

The first step to realizing your vision is to share it. Ray-Ban wants to reward the world’s most daring visionaries by making their dreams come true. Read the How to Enter section for details on submitting your dream to the Envision Platform. From the submissions, we’ll choose the wildest, most original demonstrations of spirit and authenticity and help turn them into reality.

People’s visions vary from becoming an international photographer, a famous musician or visiting Australia to see the Northern lights.

As part of becoming an ambassador I also received a gift pack, as you can see below, including a canvas bag, deck of cards and a beach towel. Perfect for the trip Tom and I have planned in June!

I’m a massive fan of Ray-Bans, I actually have a pair of their RX5225 frames for my day-to-day specs which I love dearly – they go with pretty much anything and the first pair of glasses I don’t mind wearing ‘out-out’.

Summertime is here (or should be, I do live in Manchester after all!) and I am all over these XCVB sunglasses! So much so I’ve bought them in both black and tortoiseshell. I had a pair in black last year and they’ve gone walkies, but they were perfect and went with everything. I got lots of compliments and most people couldn’t believe they were only £25 as the attention to detail makes them look a lot more high-end. I just hope they’re the same quality as last year.

…but what colour to choose?!

These lovely beauties are Rabeanco Tbc Laptop Bags screengrabbed from Fab.com. In the end I plumped for the green, but it was a hard won decision. 

And here it is! While I love the bag on their site, I must say I’m a bit disappointed with the colour compared to the above image, it’s a lot less vibrant! Not only that but the tag seems to be an entirely different shape. It’s such a shame as the bag on their website looks amazing.

The other one I was considering is the Zookie Castle Rock Laptopbag Grey 15″ also lovely and about a third of the price, although the straps don’t look too sturdy! In the end I think I may trade in my Rabeanco for this one.

Or perhaps this beauty the Zookie Far Away Brown Laptop Bag as it has a bit more room for cables and accoutrements.

You know when you see something and you just think, “perfect”. Well, that’s how I felt about these Gauge nyc monogram necklaces. It came to my attention via a Refinery29 post on Facebook and it’s a beaut. I love the simplicity of the design and the 18″ length means it’ll fall nicely over a variety of tops or dresses. The awesome blend of quirky, wearable and cool.

You can buy said lovely from Gauge nyc Etsy shop for $80. It’s not cheap, but their handmade in Brooklyn, so I’m assuming/hoping they’ll last. When looking at the shop if you’re confused by the typeface variations – some are serif and some are sans-serif – you can request the style you prefer, as they described to me over on the Gauge nyc Facebook page. For me it has to be serif all the way and apparently they agree.

What with the featured image being a J, it’s like fate’s telling me something – surely, it’d be rude not to…?

A few months back I went to London with the other half; we stayed right by Earl’s Court tube station, ate at Bodean’s BBQ (if you haven’t been you should), went up The Shard (if you haven’t been you should) AND stumbled across a TARDIS.

Ok, ok, so it actually looked more like this…

But me being me, endlessly fantastical and quite the Whovian (especially the Tennant years), naturally couldn’t resist a quick cheeky pose and the opportunity to pretend I was about to be whisked away to a ethereal realm far away from spreadsheets and slides [insert whimsical sigh here].

Yay, team me. Anyhoo, a few things have reminded me to get round to drafting this Doctor Who post. Numero uno, the most recent Doctor Who episode The Bells of Saint John - they actually reference Ye Olde Police Boxe of Earl’s Court with the following line, “Are we sure this time? Earl’s Court was an embarrassment,” which they proceeded to post on Facebook.

I also saw an article on Zooey Deschanel and Co.’s blogazine Hello Giggles called “The Doctor Is In: Why You, Too, Should Be Watching ‘Doctor Who’“. It looks like, not only has Doctor Who penertrated the US, but it’s even creeping it’s way, inch by inch, into The Zeitgeist of cool.

For a more detailed examination of the box itself, one that the dark and several glasses of wine didn’t permit, take a gander this review of the Earl’s Court Police Box. If you’d like to take your very own snap next to a TARDIS during your next visit to London, then check out The Londonist’s comprehensive guide, although some of the exhibitions may now be out of date.

As for the Earl’s Court Police Box, it’s the only one left in London. The last of it’s kind…which is quite fitting that it’s similar to a certain Time Lord in that respect!

Yesterday we went to see Christopher Sergel’s adaption of Harper Lee’s novel at The Royal Exchange. Special thanks go to the lovely Phil and Pam who were able to get us some tickets!

Max Webster directs the play and the Manchester Evening News describes him as imbuing the screenplay with, ”pace and inventiveness”.

The Public Reviews gives the production 4.6 out of five, with Jim Gillespie’s review saying, ”This is a great story and a very good adaptation, there are some excellent performances, and it is well directed.”

I concur, it’s brilliant and here’s ten reasons why:

1. The Royal Exchange as a venue is great, as well as aesthetically different from traditional theatres. One of my friends described it as being, ‘like a Lunar Lander” which I think is pretty apt, especially if that Lunar Lander has come to rest in a Grade II listed, former cotton exchange.

2. The entire cast gave stellar performances, I was so impressed by the emotion they conveyed, especially given how close they were to the audience. Special hat tips, bows and curtseys to Rupert Simonian (Jem), Shannon Tarbet (Scout), James McConville (Dill), Joy Richardson (Calpurnia), Scarlett Brooks (Mayella), Okezie Morro (Tom Robinson) and Nigel Cooke (Atticus).

Photo by: Jonathan Keenan / Credit: Royal Exchange Theatre

3. If you’ve never been to the Royal Exchange before, it’s a circular theatre with a number of entrances around a central stage, as you can see in this panoramic shot. Really clever use was made of the space with actors entering and exiting through the various doors to generate a bustling atmosphere, as well as use of the main stage, additional floors and a balcony.

4. The production was very engaging; we were in the banquette seats at floor level with the actors, I could have reached out and touched them, which made you feel involved in the performance. I even had to move my legs a couple of times for fear of tripping them up! Actors walking off the set would even mumble or curse in character as they walked past you.

5. The production values were so high and the performance so intimate, you felt like you were inside a movie. This is in no way a slight on plays as a format, simply a testament to the actors and production overall that it had a finished feel that seemed over and above what you may ordinarily expect of a live performance.

6. The musical arrangement, costume and set design was brilliantly thought through; simple props and techniques were used cleverly and innovatively to make you feel like you were sat in Maycomb, Alabama.

7. They made it rain inside. Seriously.

8. It kept pace. The entire performance was a little over two hours including the interval, in the wrong hands the novel had the potential to be a long-winded and stagnate, but there was never a dull moment with passing time or seasonal changes depicted in dynamic and movement-filled readings supported by the rest of the cast.

9. Harper Lee’s moving tale of injustice, set in an era of racial inequality and told through the eyes of the loveable and innocent Scout, is known for being engrossing, thought-provoking and emotive. As a fan of the novel and 1962 film I was once again mesmirised by the story in this performance and genuinely moved by the court scene.

10. It made me think. It’s been a long time since I’d read To Kill A Mockingbird or seen the film and perhaps I’ve matured a little more as a person, but the injustice of Tom Robinson’s fate, the vicious, madness of the mob and the story’s poignant message stayed with me. When I got home I read through the programme, which featured a timeline of Harper Lee from her childhood to the present contextualised by the history of African-Americans struggle for equality and it filled me with sadness. It seems unbelievable now that some of the horrors that occurred back then ever did; and also quite incredible is the relatively short time that all this has happened in, less than a lifetime ago.

I went on to watch Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, which seemed more powerful and stirring then ever before. I think it’s really important we don’t forget what has happened in the past; and – whether it’s Harper Lee’s novel, Wilfred Owen’s poetry or this brilliant performance – works like this ensure that we don’t, while striking a emotional chord and generating a level of understanding for an era that no textbooks or history lessons ever could.

In short, if you have the opportunity I would highly recommend you go and see it! To Kill a Mockingbird runs till 30th March 2013. For tickets: Box office: 0161 8339833. Website: www.royalexchange.co.uk