Skipping the Sevens: A Postscript

I blogged yesterday about skipping the Sevens and linked to the awesome HSBC Rugby Sevens advert.  I've just seen the follow-up to this, the Aftermath video which definitely sums up how everyone's looking in the office today...

Men in Tutus: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in Hong Kong

The boys are back in town.

Or they will be in May.  And they'll be wearing pointe shoes and tutus.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monto Carlo, or the Trocks as they're affectionately known, are an all male, 14 strong, ballet company hailing from New York.  The company which has been a worldwide sensation since it formed in 1974, performs classical ballet excerpts with a comic twist.

Image via: www.guardian.co.uk

I've loved ballet from the moment that I first started ballet lessons at five.  Every Christmas my Mum would take me to the ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden where she used to work as a dresser when she was a student.  I vividly remember choosing my outfit weeks in advance, getting all dressed up and taking the train 'all the way' to London from our house in St Albans.  When we arrived at the beautiful opera house we'd take our plush, velvet seats and I'd wait excitedly for the lights to go down in the auditorium while I scoured the glossy, red programme full of black and white photographs of all the dancers.  When the lights dipped and the curtain rose, I would sit mesmerised by the ballet, the orchestra, the costumes and the way that the dancers made barely a sound as they glided across the stage.  As the first Act ended we'd head to the Crush Bar which would be smoky and noisy and the sort of place I'd never usually get to go and we'd sit and nibble prawn sandwiches, while I talked non-stop analysing every sequin and every arabesque.  Then after the performance we'd go backstage where I'd get to meet all the dancers who would be nonchalantly strolling around in various stages of undress (and often completely naked).  It was an exotic slice of a life so far away from plies in the local church hall and I adored every second of it.  We'd eventually leave way past my bedtime and exit through the stage door with armfuls of net and sequins that the wardrobe mistress had given me for dressing up and bags stuffed with pointe shoes ten times too big for me snaffled from the amazing pointe shoe room where the walls are lined with pair after pair of the block toed shoes.

Those Christmas trips got me well and truly hooked and I still love going to the ballet whenever I get the chance.  I've seen everything from the Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty to Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands.  But I've never had the pleasure of seeing the Trocks.  So I was very excited when I heard that they're in Hong Kong from the 15-20 May for seven performances at the Lyric Theatre.  The programme includes Swan Lake Act II and Raymonda's Wedding.  

And if that hasn't whetted your appetite, maybe this little snippet from the Telegraph's review will:  "Throughout this lovely show, the performance is a perfectly balanced combination of genuinely accomplished dancing and wonderfully timed comic cock-ups. From the solo dancer who moults feathers across the stage to the diminutive performer trying desperately to pick up his giant partner, the extraordinary skill of the Trocks proves that to undo ballet, one must first be able to do ballet."

Tickets are available from Hong Kong Ticketing starting from HK$350.

Skipping the Sevens

Apologies for the little blog hiatus yesterday.  The London mice were en route to Miami and I was dodging the Sevens madness in Hong Kong by heading off to Macau for the day.

For anyone who hasn't been to Hong Kong in late March, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is a seven a side international rugby tournament held from Friday to Sunday during the last week of March (it was scheduled a little early this year).  I know very little about rugby so that's really as much as I can say about the Sevens from a sports perspective.  For me, the Sevens weekend is far less about the rugby and all about the party.  While the families sit in the East and West stands and the corporates entertain clients in the boxes, the South stand is where the hardcore drinking, singing, dancing and a little more drinking happens all while wearing the best fancy dress outfit that you can come up with.  

The week before the Sevens Hong Kong gets more and more overexcited.  Flocks of tourists arrive, offices fill up with people from other offices around the world who've got really, really important meetings that just happened to fall during the last week of March, Lang Kwai Fong is jumping and Pottinger Street (which is home to wall to wall fancy dress stalls) does a roaring trade.  Since my first Sevens in 2009, I've been a Disco Diva complete with an afro wig (that lasted about five minutes before it was stolen) and mirror ball earrings; a raver who spent the Sunday painting the South stand with neon paint from a Full Moon party the month before; an M&M (a costume which got us onto the big screens); and last year, a pit girl which involved the world's most unflattering shiny, gold dress.  I've drunk countless pints of flat, warm Pimms, lost one camera, joined in with hundreds of Mexican waves and shouted along to the HK 7s anthem, DJ Otzi's "Hey Baby", far too many times.

This year I decided that I needed a year off and so the anti-sevens plotting began... I was very nearly thwarted when Sevens fever really began to hit last week and especially after watching this amazing advert from co-sponsors, HSBC.

I remained strong though, and yesterday morning I headed over to Macau with a little group of other Sevens dodgers for a day of alternative Sevens fun.  For non-Hong Kongers, Macau is a peninsula on the edge of the Mainland which, like Hong Kong, is a Special Administrative Region of China.  Formerly a Portuguese colony, it's now known as the Monte Carlo of the Orient with its 33 casinos and is the world's top casino market surpassing even Las Vegas in gambling revenue.

We started with a big Portuguese lunch at Fernando's where we ate far too much food and drank even more Sangria.  This was followed with pina coladas at the Hard Rock while the boys played volleyball, a little light gambling and we finally finished up with some champagne in Macau's finest nightclubs (full of poles and girls without many clothes).  Today we headed back to Hong Kong island where we blew away the cobwebs with a big barbecue lunch in the sun and a bit of chilling out on a friend's speedboat.  All in all a pretty perfect weekend.  

Tomorrow I'll try not to be too smug when I arrive at the office and am surrounded by green-faced, Sevens weary colleagues because Macau was lots and lots of fun but the lure of the South stand will very probably get me next year...    

This Week the Mice have mostly Been...

OMG what a week...totally and utterly jam packed and I am one exhausted mouse!! No hangover in sight this week (gold star for me!) but there's still time to change that this weekend in MIAMI....! Work has been crazy, the gym has been a must in an emergency bid to get that bikini body and then of course tonnes of blogging, prepping and packing for holiday!! I am tired just reading all of that but nearly there and then it's HOLIDAY TIME...good God do us mice need it...not only for ourselves but to report back to all of you of course!! 


So....this week the mice have mostly been....

Preening as much as humanly possible...we don't want to let the side down so outfit building, trying on sessions and beauty treatments have been going down in East London! So far we've been most impressed by our Shellac nails. Middle mouse got a hot red on all 4 paws and I went for a bright coral...so far looking good and super duper shiny! We'll report back after 2 weeks of partying, suncream and sand and see if they go the distance! Eyelash extensions are up next and scheduled in for tomorrow night....ekkkk, I am a little scared! However Big mouse's post a few weeks back makes me excited! Bring on the transformation of my skinny stumps to long whispy lashes, ideal to flutter over a martini or two....! 

Watching... The brand new series of Apprentice, even though it's cringeworthy watching try-hards squabbling and boasting to Sir Alan, I still love it! So far I haven't learnt any names but the right girl definitely went ("There are definitely lots of boutique shops just down here, right by London zoo?!" REALLY?!). I can also tell you now that there are no hotties to get you through the Wednesday viewing (unless you're a guy, there are a few hot'ish girls!) and I'm totally against that purple eyeshadow - not a good look!!! Here's to 11 more weeks of catfights, back-stabbing and brown nosing....I can't wait!


On that note check out this oldie but goodie You Tube video...it's hilarious esp from 3 minutes on, well done Cassette Boy it never fails to make me laugh...

Listening to... I'm afraid (well actually I'm not!) it's another Live Lounge but I just can't stop pulling these ones out of the bag!! I've even got my friend, Kitty, at work on it! She actually dug this bad boy out...Florence covering 'Take Care' by Drake ft. Rihanna. Ignore the strange chat at the beginning and enjoy my friends.....

Lusting after...these fabulous Givenchy 100mm glitter Buckled Sandals. I loved Miu Miu's glitter boots, Topshop's version with their Astrid Boots (I snapped up a pair for Middle Mouse) and now these beauties...! I think every girl needs some glitter footwear in their life...don't you?? (Slight glitch, they cost £655.00 BUT pay day is super soon!)

Image via www.luisaviaroma.com

With that i am off to join the Glitterati in Miami (see what I did there!?) and I will be back soon to report back on all my exciting adventures. Have a good couple of week my micey friends....

Memories that last Forever: 5 minutes with Wendy Harrison of LetterFest

My good friend and colleague Lucy Mayo, recently introduced me to Letterfest and it is now my latest obsession! The charming company specialises in bespoke gifts with heartfelt meaning. 

Wendy Harrison, the creative brains behind the brand specialises in personalised gifts, keepsakes and art. The company is based in North Devon and was set-up just over 3 years ago. launching on a  local level initially, Wendy decided to expand the business by working with notonthehighstreet.com which is where I found her. Since joining the site, demand rocketed from 10 commissions a week to suddenly over 90 a week. Since then, the company has steadily grown year on year in profit and in product range. So much so that in 2011, Wendy and her team were awarded the notonthehighstreet.com Award for Creative Business of the year and were the first partner to exceed a million pounds turnover - impressive or what?!

I'm constantly looking for new and quirky present ideas for friends and family and Letterfest embraces that. There’s nothing more touching than receiving a gift from a friend that you truly love and especially one that has personal sentiment and meaning to it – it shows that they really know you and have thought hard about what would make you smile.  

Letterfest specialises in a number of bespoke products which are definitely going to become my go to gifts for special people to mark Birthdays, weddings, babies and anniversaries.  My absolute favourite Letterfest products are Wendy's gorgeous hand painted illustrations.  Starting from just £30, Wendy will sketch or produce a detailed illustration from a photograph that you provide of a house, favourite place, pet or car.  If your best friend has just got engaged under the Eiffel Tower, send one of her snaps from Facebook to Wendy and you have the perfect engagement gift.  If your Mum reminisces about the holiday cottage in the Lake District that she spent every summer in as a little girl, send Wendy a copy of the curling photograph she has of it and she'll have a perfect piece of nostalgia to hang on the wall.  

The illustrations can be ordered framed or unframed from either the Letterfest website or notonthehighstreet.com and the ordering process is really simple:

1. Order your print on either website. You can also request that your illustration features a message printed below the drawing which gives it that extra special personal touch
2. If you order via the Letterfest website you can upload your image as you order.  If you order via notonthehighstreet.com, once you've ordered, send a photo of your chosen subject (pet, car, place or house) to info@letterfest.com quoting the name used on your notonthehighstreet.com order and you'll get a response within 48 hours
3. Choose a graphic background of red, blue, green or yellow, or natural (sage green grass, stone grey path, duck egg blue sky etc) to compliment your illustration. Maybe select colours that go with a particular home decor colour scheme.
4. Your beautiful illustration will wing its way to you in seven to ten days or if you're in a mad rush opt for express delivery and it'll be with you in just three days.

We caught up with the talented Wendy and asked her a few questions…

Tell us what inspired you to start 'Letterfest'?
I'm a graphic designer who loves typography and wanted to set up my own business with products I've designed myself. I wanted to use local materials and craftsmen where possible, yet bring these traditional methods such as stone carving up to date with clean, contemporary design.

What is your motto in life?
One bottle of wine is never enough.

What advice or words of wisdom would you give to an aspiring business entrepreneur looking to set up a business?
Research your product and intended market - are you producing something new that isn't available elsewhere? Where will you sell it? How will customers find you? Think national, global, then worry about how you can fulfil all the orders.

What three things could you not live without?
Frizz-ease shampoo (for living by the sea), my apple mac and my husband (he'd kill me if I didn't say that!)

What's your biggest extravagance?
Travel

What's the best advice you've ever been given?
Have a go!

If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would do?
I think I'd give all the girls that work with me a holiday then fly to Sydney to see my best friend who's just had her second baby.  

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive) who would it be?
Caitlin Moran  - I've just read "How to be a Woman" and thought it inspired.

You can check out Wendy’s unique product range here...

Images via: www.notonthehighstreet.com