Blogs

52 weeks in Brum

Emma Victoria Stokes

  • Menu Review at The Black Swan – Henley-In-Arden
    by emmastokes on 19th September 2023 at 4:55 pm

    Henley-in-Arden has a new gem in its crown: The Black Swan. Nestled on the visual feast of a high street, in one of the prettiest towns in England, this Grade II listed pub with a tudor history has been given an extensive refurbishment whilst retaining many of its original features. The pub’s iconic black and ... The post Menu Review at The Black Swan – Henley-In-Arden appeared first on Emma Victoria Stokes.

  • Menu Review at The High Field – Edgbaston, Birmingham
    by emmastokes on 22nd June 2023 at 10:37 am

    The High Field is no doubt one of the best places to dine in Edgbaston. Serving up fantastic menus at an attractive location, The High Field also provides a superb range of hot dishes and is truly a family- friendly establishment. The pub has undergone some impressive renovations and it’s now even more tempting to ... The post Menu Review at The High Field – Edgbaston, Birmingham appeared first on Emma Victoria Stokes.

  • Valentine’s Day in Birmingham – takeaway options in the West Midlands
    by emmastokes on 3rd February 2023 at 10:27 am

    This post about Valentine’s Day in Birmingham is a complete contrast from the previous one I wrote back in 2021 during the pandemic. Remember the time when we couldn’t leave our houses? Or sit on a bench with loved ones? Absolutely wild… This year, it’s wonderful to see various people excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day ... The post Valentine’s Day in Birmingham – takeaway options in the West Midlands appeared first on Emma Victoria Stokes.

  • A Surprise Proposal at Five Star Hotel Gotham | Manchester
    by emmastokes on 1st February 2023 at 12:55 pm

    On 4th November 2022, I got engaged at Hotel Gotham, Manchester. What was (or so I thought) a pre-booked babymoon getaway, suddenly turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of my life – and I couldn’t be more grateful that it happened at one of the best hotels in the UK. Hotel Gotham ... The post A Surprise Proposal at Five Star Hotel Gotham | Manchester appeared first on Emma Victoria Stokes.

  • Hotel Indigo Chester | A boutique getaway
    by emmastokes on 12th December 2022 at 5:37 pm

    Ad-press trip | Set in the heart of historic cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England – the surrounding area oozes charm and is the perfect place to relax and unwind. When searching for highly-rated hotels in Chester, it comes as no surprise that Hotel Indigo ranks as one of the best. With its ... The post Hotel Indigo Chester | A boutique getaway appeared first on Emma Victoria Stokes.

The Thing Thang

  • The ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack to making polish last (ad•gifted)
    by Ting on 14th April 2021 at 6:30 am

    There is something a little bit throwback about the ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack. I first discovered it years ago before gel nails became my go to. I’m hard on my hands so finding ways for nail polish to look good beyond two days is a challenge. With the ongoing pandemic restrictions, I’ve rediscovered the ‘sticky sandwich’ nail hack as a way to make regular nail polish last. The basis of this technique is to sandwich your colour nail polish between layers of a ‘sticky’ base coat. I love to use the Orly Bonder Rubberized Base Coat (£14.99). This works with any brand or colour […]

  • Pixi Beauty Rose Bodytreats (ad•gifted)
    by Ting on 26th March 2021 at 7:30 am

    I am a huge fan of the Pixi Beauty Rose range of skincare. It’s hydrating and caring for my dry and dehydrated skin. Excitingly, Pixi Beauty have brought out a range called Rose Bodytreats. This is what my skin needs in the lead up to spring. It’s a time when I might dare to put away those winter woolies and reach for the lighter layers instead. The first Rose Bodytreats product is the Pixi Beauty Rose Body Cleanser (£18). This is a nourishing cream body cleanser . The formula is rich in flower oils so it gently cleanses skin whilst also hydrating and softening. I found this rich cream […]

  • Dermalogica Hydro Masque Exfoliant (ad•gifted)
    by Ting on 18th January 2021 at 7:30 am

    There’s nothing more satisfying than finding a decent face mask to pep my skin during all this time at home. It’s so important to use a good exfoliating product once or twice a week to remove dead skin cells. This helps active skincare products to absorb better into skin, helps makeup apply better and improves the general health of bare skin. I have been using the Dermalogica Hydro Masque Exfoliant (£55) in my Sunday self care routine for the past few months and loving it. The Dermalogica Hydro Masque Exfoliant is a hydrating and exfoliating mask treatment. It suits all skin types but […]

  • Little Blackwood bao at home | pandemic life
    by Ting on 14th December 2020 at 7:30 am

    Trying to arrange a birthday celebration during a pandemic is challenging. Our usual celebrations involve meals and possibly drinks out with friends and family. Maybe even multiple outings depending on the occasion. With the current pandemic, we are adapting so we marked my husband’s birthday with a Little Blackwood bao takeaway. We had some good fortune that Little Blackwood were doing their bao specials at the right time. It’s not their usual offering but with covid19, businesses are doing what they can to adapt to ever changing guidelines. We ordered a Family Bao Box (£79), with 20 […]

  • The ethical Christmas jumper to wear all year round
    by Ting on 7th December 2020 at 7:30 am

    Trying to dress more sustainably for me involves thinking about all the ways I can utilise what I have. I don’t want to keep buying things for one specific occasion without considering longevity and cost per wear. Given that most of my clothes are currently in storage whilst I await my house move, I was considering how I was going to dress for the colder British winter – and Christmas. I found a few great options but this ethical Christmas jumper (£34) from Rock on Ruby is perfect as it works all year round – not just the lead up to 25th December. Firstly, the slogan speaks to my […]

The Gastronomic Gorman

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Strangeness & Charm

  • Can you take sex toys on a plane? The best toys to take on your travels
    by Hayley on 24th August 2023 at 3:22 pm

    Whether you’re off on a romantic weekend away, or you’re taking yourself for a solo trip, one thing you won’t want to forget is your sex toys. You may be wondering if you can take sex toys on a plane. You shouldn’t worry about being embarrassed about taking them in your suitcase, airport security will have seen it all before. Your checked in luggage and hand luggage will go through scanners, but only the staff on the scanners will see the contents. If you’re only taking hand luggage, then don’t worry – you won’t have to take them out of your bag when going through security. […]

  • 5 Things To Do in Venice, Italy
    by Hayley on 13th August 2023 at 3:34 pm

    I visited Venice in March 2020, just before the first lockdown. In fact, I was there on the day that Italy went into lockdown. As you can imagine, Venice was very quiet at that time, there were only 21 people on our flight and a lot of places were already starting to close. Luckily, we still found plenty of things to do in Venice before everything shut down. Take a Ride on a Gondola The first of my suggestions of things to do in Venice is a gondola ride, which may seem obvious. However, before we got to Venice, we had already decided that this was something that we weren’t too bothered. As […]

  • A Jet2 City Break to Prague
    by Hayley on 9th August 2023 at 12:05 am

    Disclaimer: I was invited to spend a weekend on a Jet2 city break. Jet2 provided the flights and the accommodation, but everything else was paid for and arranged by myself.  Since I first visited Prague in 2018, I’ve been desperate to return. The capital of Czechia just completely captivated me like no other city has. Like many other Eastern European cities, the architecture in Prague is breathtaking. Everywhere you turn, there’s colourful, ornate buildings and the cobbled streets just add to the fairy tale. Why choose a Jet2 city break? Apart from my trip to Florida in 2016, I’ve […]

  • Visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mine from Kraków, Poland
    by Hayley on 4th July 2023 at 10:28 pm

    One of the things I didn’t get to cross off my bucket list the first time I was in Kraków, was a visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I had heard a great deal about it, but I didn’t have enough time for another day trip. When I visited Kraków for the second time in November 2021, we made sure to put aside a day to visit the mine. There are a lot of places offering tours from the city centre, but I didn’t want to get ripped off. Public transport is really cheap in Poland and easy to navigate. With this in mind, I arranged everything myself like I did with my trip to Auschwitz and […]

  • Things to do in Bucharest, Romania
    by Hayley on 27th June 2023 at 4:30 pm

    Bucharest, the capital of Romania had been on my travel bucket list for a long time. I was drawn there thanks to the amazing architecture of the Palace of Parliament and the churches. However, I didn’t really know of many other things to do in Bucharest. Finding things to do in Bucharest I booked flights to Bucharest as it was the cheapest European city on my list during the weekend we were looking at. Our flights cost £119 from London Stansted to Bucharest OTP and then flying back in to Heathrow. Unfortunately, during this period, there were issues with BlueAir, the airline we’d booked […]

Digital Birmingham

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John Tyrrell

  • DE-COLONISING EDUCATION: EMPOWERMENT PROJECT. D.E.E.P.
    by John on 17th April 2021 at 6:21 pm

    ISSUES & RESOURCES Sign posting human & multi-media resources to schools & beyond to combat inequalities, racism and injustice arising from our colonial experience.  ISSUES Introduction A group of teachers working through 70s, 80s and 90s, much of the time in Birmingham, are responding to requests for help and support in the present climate when

  • The Sewell Report
    by John on 14th April 2021 at 9:51 am

    2021 and another report on racism. Following on Black Lives Matter and the inequalities laid bare for all to see by Covid 19 and once more a disproportionate proportion of the burden on the Black community, particularly those working at the front line, in hospitals, in the care services. This latest report requested by the

  • Black Lives Matter. Implementing Rampton and Swann
    by John on 4th March 2021 at 7:30 pm

    In 2020 Black Lives Matter became a universal cry after another death of a Black person, George Floyd, caused uproar re-opening the Civil Rights’ Movement action 4 decades earlier. At the same time the pandemic, Covid 19, also laid bare gross inequalities, not least Black people, many of whom were prominent on the front line

  • Marketing Covid 19. Why testing won’t work in the UK
    by John on 17th September 2020 at 11:47 pm

    Testing for the presence of the Covid 19 virus was put into private hands like everything else in the world of neoliberal ideas – more or less dominating the whole of planet Earth. Questions were asked from the very beginning why Serco should be entrusted with tracking and tracing when they have shown themselves to

  • Re-opening schools
    by John on 26th May 2020 at 9:53 am

    The Socialist Labour Party issued the following statement from its Leader, Arthur Scargill on 2nd May, 2020 No Schools, Colleges or Universities should be re-opened until there is a drug to cure anyone infected by the virus or we have a vaccine to prevent it. In the event that a decision is made to re-open

Kristy Marie

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