A Day of Olympic Proportions....

Okay, so I hinted before that we'd had a bit of an Olympic Day in May Here it is in all its glory. As you know, I live near the spendid City of Bath, and a couple of weeks ago the children were given time off school to go and see the Olympic Flame as it made its way through the city, we were also given the opportunity to take part in a World Record Attempt to form the World Largest Olympic Rings. We were assigned Blue and along with Nanny, we headed off to the Victoria Park! 

The day was fantastic, amazing blue skies, and such a relaxed family festival type feel. The children were great, there was ALOT of waiting around and practising, so we climbed trees and ate picnics. 

You can see a time-lapse video of the whole thing here

So that was the morning...we headed over to the Guildhall and claimed our place to watch the torch go past later. We were so lucky and had a spot quite near the front with a stunning backdrop of the Abbey. Finally when we had sat through all of the sponsors vehicles, the flame arrived!!

All in all and spectacular day I'm glad we took part in!! How about you, did you see the flame?

Friday Night Comedy

Last week, on Friday 13th, the weekend of the titanic's sinking centenary, in a rainstorm, we dressed up and went out for a meal on a boat....

And thats where the comparisons stop.

The 'Penny Lane'

Our trip out was to the premiere of the 'River Giggle' an Evening of Comedy on the River Avon. The format of the evening, run by promoter and gangster character act  Sal Monello, is simple -  a three course meal followed by 4 comedy acts. The venue, aboard The Penny Lane River Cruiser , gives a nice twist to the evening.

The evening was an absolute blinder, with some great comedians and  delicious food! Luckily we had a great crowd on our table so the banter over dinner was fun too! Unfortunately the rain put pay to any photos, so you'll have to imagine  how fabulous we looked!!!

They are looking to run this regularly the 2nd Friday of the month, if you're near Bath  its a great night out, you can book here. And Sal holds other comedy nights around the area too, if boats aren't your thing!*

*The boat is moored for the evening so no sea sickness to worry about!!

The artist And Vintage Mondays

Last week for a special pre birthday treat, hubby took me to see The Artist. I was so excited! I'd wanted to see this film since I first saw the trailer. A double super thrill was that he was taking me to see it at the Little Theatre in Bath for one of their Vintage Monday showings!

Creative Bath write up
Bath’s Little Theatre Cinema will shortly be inviting the public to take part in a time travel experiment. Although we’ll be showing the same brand new films as usual, we’ll be turning the clocks back around the cinema, back to a time of gentility and refinement. Staff in old-fashioned uniforms, ice cream tray sales, intermissions – you thought these were things of the past, but on Monday nights from 16th January, the Little is bringing them back and resurrecting the truly great days of cinema.

Martin Jennings-Wright, manager of the Little, said: Lots of our customers miss the days when a trip to the cinema was a real event, and we are delighted to revive that atmosphere. We hope we can jog a few older memories, and perhaps open a few younger eyes to how cinemas used to be, at the same time as playing the latest films via state of the art digital projection.

Customers turning up in 1940s or thereabouts costume will be treated to free refreshments on the night!

Little Theatre Website

Usherettes, ice cream trays, the sound of the wurlitzer... every Monday from 16 January, come along to the Little for what made cinemaging in the 1940s and '50s so great.
You can even spend the intermission enjoying an in-cinema cigarette (of the sweet variety).
We'll be showing the same line-up of films as during the rest of the week, but all done with nostalgic flourish.
Do come in your best period outfits - if we like the cut of your jib there'll be ices or refreshing drinks on the house.

When we arrived, we were very pleased with the entrace - red carpet no less!! But unfortunately  thats where the magic stopped for us...

All the props were there but there was no feeling or sparkle.  Maybe we'd hyped it up in our heads too much? Maybe it was just the service that was lacking. To me there was no atmosphere of the 40s, Noone make the evening feel special, I had too call the usherette back for my order because they didn't ask our row, and repeat my choice twice to her before I got it. And no, even though we were head to toe in authentic and reproduction 1940s garb we did not receive it free! The cinema itself was very comfy and the building was cute. But I don't think we'll return unless its the only place showing a film I like. We'll be heading back to the westway in frome for our Independant Cinema fim watching. 

The Film was AMAZING and eclectic ephemera has done a great review here you can read. I loved every minute of it and really really hope they make more of this type of film.

New Year Celebrations!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a fantastic time celebrating last night? We had a meal out with family in Bath. 

A first for us we dined at the Cosy Club. I hadn't been there before so had been umming and aahing all week about what to wear!!

Looking at the website they described themselves as a modern day gin palace and the interior sounded fantastic...

"The bar area comprises of an Art Deco-inspired snug & a roomy bar area, which is dominated by an impressive gin-palace-style bar. The look is completed with leather club chairs, sink-into sofas, Art Deco coffee tables, velvet pouffes, chandeliers, & a pair of feature Art Deco uplighters (from the set of Jeeves & Wooster).
The dining area has seating for up 110 guests & a further 66 guests on the balcony. The interior is an eclectic mix of reclaimed tables, old leather dining chairs, reclaimed railway waiting room benches, old lab stools, Victorian lampshades & Eastern European factory lights. On the raised area, complete with a couple of feature antler chandeliers, the walls are adorned (literally covered) with old oil paintings & prints."

Mum & Dad

After searching online all week for a 20s dress , I gave up! Luckily I found a cute 50s style dress at 20th Century Foxy that I thought would be fun for New Year Eve. I added my enormous coral petticoat and voila, a fun but  dressy yet casual outfit for new year!

The meal was lovely, the food excellent.....

 

I did have a gorgeous Winterberry Eton Mess for dessert but scoffed it too quickly for photos! 

I could have easily sipped more of these devine Trifle Martinis instead though.....

Yum Yum

Of course I've saved the best til last..... the perk of having a dad who owns a wedding car company means that our lift for the evening was extremely stylish (even if the setting of a carpark wasn't !!)

Happy new Year everyone!!!!

So long 2011, and welcome to the new year!!

Oh folks, what a good year 2011 was for us! I can hardly believe this time last year I didn't know so many of you, and hadn't entered the world of vintage as I know it today!

Thank you for journeying along with me, for the advice and support and for the lovely comments along the way!

I'm wishing you all a happy new year today as...

We have plans tonight to have a very lovely evening with family here.

Which I am sure will be very civilised...

but hopfully will end a bit more like this!!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful night tonight and that 2012 brings you all that you wish for!!!