Note: This is a press review for the 2021 tour of Rock of Ages.
Following a sell-out UK tour in 2018/2019, musical comedy Rock of Ages returned to the Alexandra Theatre. A jukebox musical featuring over 25 classic 80s rock anthems including Here I Go Again, Can’t Fight This Feeling, Wanted Dead or Alive and Don’t Stop Believing, Rock of Ages has become a global smash-hit, with sold-out seasons on Broadway, the West End, Las Vegas and spawning a Hollywood movie in 2012.
Rosies – a brand new super club – opens its doors this weekend on Broad Street, Birmingham and I was invited along to the preview night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go, so I sent a couple of more-than-willing participants to learn about what to expect from this exciting new venue in the city!
This is the VIP launch weekend and as we walked up the red carpet leading toward the door, we were greeted with the offer of a mystery cocktail or a glass of champagne. The staff were all very friendly and hospitable, particularly the bar staff who were incredibly down-to-earth and accommodating, even offering to make tailored cocktails based on our preferred tastes. Continue reading
A little while ago I told you that my youngest sister is pregnant with the first grandchild in the family. She’s currently at 26 weeks, and thankfully both mum and baby are doing well.
I was delighted when I was contacted by Motherly Love, a company that specialises in oils for pregnancy and beyond. Founded and created by Jan, a mother, grandmother, midwife and nurse of over 40 years, all of the oils contain natural products and are made in the UK and the packaging is 100% recyclable. Continue reading
In all honesty, I don’t cope well with spicy food, so aside from the occasional poorly-executed take-away I haven’t had much experience of Indian cuisine.
However, earlier in the week I was invited by East Village PR, along with thirty-four other bloggers, to try the new menu at Itihaas, a prominent Indian restaurant in Birmingham, and I was intrigued.
We were immediately greeted with champagne and a warm welcome, being given the opportunity to mingle and take in the beautiful decor in the Maharaja Suite on the ground floor of the restaurant, during which we sampled an enormous amount of canapes and cocktails. There were Spiced Paprika Tempura Cod with a tomato relish, Deconstructed Mini Potato Cakes with curried chickpeas, yoghurt and mint tamarind chutneys, Smoked Salmon and Goats Cheese in a filo pastry, Chicken Tikka in a Naan Wrap with spicy mayonnaise and green salad, Pastry with Gram Sev, onions, boiled potato and pomegranate and Spiced Lamb Meatballs with mint, coriander and toasted sesame seeds.
Wow.
This is the view from the harbour, just outside the cottage. Gorgeous.
Those of you who have been following the blog over the last few days will know that The Bloke and I are in Scotland on a long overdue holiday. We’re staying in the beautiful little fishing village of Johnshaven, about 30 miles south of Aberdeen, and we’ve been incredibly lucky to find Creel Cottage as our accommodation for the week. Continue reading
Those of you who follow the blog regularly will know how seriously I take my ‘me time,’ so you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to try out a new floatation spa in the Jewellery Quarter at the weekend.
The Floating Spa is the brainchild (and obvious passion) of Naveed Ladha, the owner and manager. It officially opened it’s doors on Saturday, but I was lucky enough to attend the launch party on Friday evening, where I was warmly welcomed and given a tour of the facilities.
It’s a clean, well-designed space. There’s a reception area, a relaxation lounge for use before and after a floatation session (complete with chalkboards to write messages on), a massage room, a chiropractic room, lovely changing facilities and in two specially-designed, private wet-rooms are the floatation pods.
These pods are fantastic (and look rather space-age too!). They’re used as Restricted Environmental Stimulus Therapy (R.E.S.T), allowing the user to float weightlessly. They’re filled with Epsom Salt water, heated to 35.5 degrees to match the skin temperature perfectly, and there are options of lights or darkness (you can completely close the lid of you choose), music or silence during a session. Each experience is unique to every individual – by cutting off the senses and allowing complete relaxation, the mind and body has a chance to de-stress. Continue reading
Like most people I know, my phone has become almost an extension of myself. I use it to plan my day, keep track of upcoming events, keep in contact with my friends and family, blog, tweet, pin, stumble and share… and I’ll occasionally make a phonecall with it too!
However, the thing that is used the most on my handset is the camera. I’m obsessed with photography, and I’m always keeping a record of where I’ve been and who I’ve seen in the photographs that I take. So, when Three Mobile contacted me and asked me to test the new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (which was only released last month), I was ecstatic, particularly so I could try out the camera function! Continue reading
When it comes to Tapas, The Bloke and I are particularly enthusiastic, so when we were invited to go and sample the dishes on offer at El Borracho de Oro in Birmingham, we were delighted.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I know, it’s a tough life.
What struck us both as soon as we entered the restaurant was how great the atmosphere was. We visited Barcelona in September last year (and had a fantastic time), eating at several little restaurants away from the tourist areas in the city, and I was instantly taken in by El Borracho’s open space and authenticity, from the decor to the music. Everything was beautiful – even the water glasses were interesting (and The Bloke has made it his mission to find and purchase some). The glamorous Emma, the co-owner, went out of her way to make us feel welcome and recommended particular dishes that she thought we might enjoy based on our general food preferences.
We were given a huge variety of tapas to choose from.
We started with the Catalan-style Pan Tumaca – toasted bread rubbed with Raff tomato. This was then followed with a whole host of dishes, that were brought over in stages rather than piling everything onto the table all at once. Continue reading
I’m going to send you an email.
In that email, I’m going to give you a theme. It could be about anything – a time or a place, an event, lifestyle choice, food or a holiday that is approaching. I’m then going to ‘invite’ you to write a blog post about that theme, and ask you to return my email if you’re interested in doing so.
When you reply, I will ask you to include a link to my blog in your post. I’m going to give you absolutely nothing in return, but I may offer you a vague indication that your blog post will possibly be featured on my social media pages. However, I won’t commit to anything – my focus is that your blog post includes information about me.
Would you do it?
To be fair, some of my readers probably would – I’ve known them for a number of years and value their friendship very much. I love promoting other bloggers, and I do so on a regular basis both on the blog and my social media. I don’t expect anything in return when I do this – I love the community and if I can help another blogger I will.
But if you didn’t know me or anything about my blog, I can pretty much guarantee that you’d ignore my email or tell me to get lost. Continue reading
Huawei E5330 Mobile Wi-Fi device
I’ve started to try and be a little more tech savvy over recent years (encouraged by my partner who is an IT Technician), so I was delighted when mobile company Three asked me to test out their Huawei Mi-Fi (Mobile Wi-fi) device.
I’d never heard of Mi-Fi up until this point, but I liked the concept – customers can use this device to access the internet regardless of where they are. It also allows for multiple connection of wireless devices all at once, allowing the opportunity for different tasks to be completed at the same time.
I was quite surprised at how small it was when it arrived, being the same size as a credit card, but found that it is perfect for storing safely in a pocket or handbag. It comes with a charger that allows for charging via a plug socket or USB port and I found it relatively easy to set up, simply following the instructions in the ‘Quick Start’ guide. Within just a few minutes I had connected my iPhone, iPad and The Bloke’s android phone to it. It all worked perfectly. I loved the design, being sleek and a plain white colour, and the control display on the front was clear and easy to understand.
The Bloke did a Wi-Fi analysis using an app on his phone to see how strong the signal was from the device, and when in close proximity it was clearly stronger than all of the others in our local area, including our own broadband.
The signal in red is the Mi-Fi signal
However, the signal drops quite quickly the further away the device is, so it’s useful to stay within a close proximity to it at all times to use at it’s most effective.
Furthermore, we both downloaded the app, which we both found to be quite useful. It tells you:
It also allows you to share things between the devices (I particularly loved this), allows you to reboot or power off the device from the app and allows you to change the settings and passwords of the device remotely.
A nice little device
If I’m being honest, The Bloke and I have wireless broadband, so wouldn’t have a use for it in the evening at home. However, my iPad does not have a sim card or data package so cannot be used outside of my house or my workplace. The perfect opportunity to test it arose when stuck in traffic the other day. I powered the device up and connected my iPad easily, allowing me to catch up on some blog comments while we were waiting.
I can think of lots of situations where this sort of device would be useful in different areas of my life – sitting on a train (as I invariably do every other month at the minute), and visiting my mother (who absolutely refuses to get any form of internet connection in her house, leaving my sisters and I extremely frustrated at the lack of wireless every time we visit). And as a blogger, it would be nice to take my iPad or laptop out somewhere without needing a wifi point and use it to write a post without having to use the small screen on my phone.
Want to know more? Three offers a number of deals for Pay As You Go and Contract, ranging from 1 month to 24 months and offering from 2GB to 20GB. Honestly, I found it to be a useful and aesthetically pleasing little device – go and check it out what Three have to offer!
*Disclaimer: I was provided with the device and a preloaded Sim with 1GB of data, valid for a month. However, it was stipulated that a review had to be completed within 10 days of receiving the goods, which didn’t give me as much time as I would like to test out it’s full potential. All opinions are honest and my own.
Suzie Speaks 
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