Author Archives: Catherine Balavage

The Widow’s Guide To Sex & Dating Carole Radziwill | Book Review

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The Widow's Guide to Sex & DatingThe Widow’s Guide to Sex & Dating is not a guide. But if you thought it was then don’t be bothered, because, actually, it is a rather brilliant novel. Full of funny moments, great characters and wisdom filled ‘rules’ dotted throughout. Rule #29 says: A boy says, Have a good trip. A man says, Call me when you land. Wise words indeed.

Carole Radziwill has herself been widowed. She was married to ABC News producer Anthony Radziwill. He died of cancer after a five year battle at the obscenely young age of 40. Her book on the death of her husband, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love, became a New York Times bestseller.

Which leads us on to The Widow’s Guide to Sex & Dating. The novel follows Claire, wife and then widow of sex writer Charlie. When Charlie was alive Claire lived in his shadow, now he is dead and through the shock and grief she has to find herself again, and, possibly, love.

Claire is a brilliant character. Widowed at only 32, she is talented in her own right but sometimes finds it hard to blossom. Her group of friends are funny and have her best interests at heart. Claire struggles, she even has a second opinion therapist, but will she find her way and true love?

Finding out is fun. I loved this novel and found it hard to put it down. It is a must read. I cannot wait for the TV series that Radziwill has in development. TV is something that she should know about as she is also a cast member of The Real Housewives of New York City.

The Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating

Brugal Rum Cocktails | Cocktails and Rum Review

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Brugal Rum is the Caribbean and Spain’s No 1 selling rum. High praise indeed. It is 100% Dominican and has 80% of the market in the Dominican Republic. I received some bottles of the beautifully packaged rum; The Brugal Aňejo (RRP £20.29) and the Brugal Especial Extra Dry (RRP £20.27). I mean, look at it, if this bottle of rum was a model it would be Naomi Campbell. I love the rope detail. It just looks beautiful. But beauty alone does not make the world go around and taste is what really matters when it comes to rum. So let’s make some cocktails….

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Brugal Especial Extra Dry with Lemonade. Delicious. Just a great mix. These two clear liquids work well together.

The Brugal Aňejo with Ginger Beer. Rum and Ginger Beer is one of my favourite drinks. It is just a classic exotic drink.

I decided to make my own cocktail called Fruity Brugal. The ingredients are Lemonade, orange juice, lime, lemon, sugar and Brugal Especial Extra Dry.The Fruity Brugal. Cocktail created by Frost Magazine.

Put the rum in first. You need a shot of rum. Squeeze the lemon and lime in.
Add orange juice and then add lemonade.
Add a teaspoon of sugar and stir. Serve over ice.
Yummy.

I love rum and the amount of drinks you can make with it is vast.

Add your own cocktail recipes below.

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The Young Airhawk | Wine Review

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The Young Airhawk 2011 pack shot (LR)The Young Airhawk is a very interesting wine. In fact it is different from most other wines I have tried. It is a dry wine. Very much so. It also makes you want more. It tastes expensive, fresh and crisp. It also has a running taste of oak, but not too much.

I loved how fruity it was. It has a great, notable taste of peach, some lemon tones, green fig and a unique taste of asparagus. Which I don’t think I have ever tried in a wine before. This is a great wine full of a lot of great different flavours. A unique mix that really works. Fans of dry wine will especially love it.

Although this wine is priced at £14.99 from Morrisons I do think it is worth it. It tastes much more expensive.

The Young Airhawk – This wine is made entirely from barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc. Bouquet: Layer of green figs, asparagus and minerality, very well integrated with wood. Fresh, crisp and zesty with creamy texture.

The Young Airhawk, a fresh, crisp and zesty wine with a creamy texture made entirely from barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, pays tribute to Nederburg founder Johann Graue’s son, Arnold. Arnold Graue loved speed, action and adventure and showed his bravery from an early age by signing on as a trainee air gunner with the South African Air Force.

Like his father, Arnold was renowned for his winemaking prowess, winning many wine prizes, but sadly after hiring a light aircraft to celebrate a perfect spring day his life was tragically cut short in a fatal collision with another aircraft. The Young Airhawk Wooded Sauvignon Blanc captures the spirit of this professionally driven young man with a huge appetite for life.

The Young Airhawk is available from Morrisons for £14.99

Toulouse in Instagram Pictures Part 1 | Travel

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I am fresh from a trip to Toulouse, I explored the wonderful city in the South of France, visiting hotels, restaurants, markets and tourist spots. All for my wonderful readers, It was hard, but someone had to do it. We are going to be doing a series of travel guides on the area but here is the first of Toulouse in Instagram Pictures. Our Toulouse Travel Guide is here.

Train to Birmingham Airport. Here is the shuttle to the airport.

Shuttle to Birmingham Airport.

No 1 Traveller Lounge at Birmingham Airport. A truly VIP experience.

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BMI Regional plane to Toulouse Blagnac Airport. We flew business class and were looked after by the amazing Michael Love.

BMI Regional plane

G & T time. When in the sky….

Gin and Tonic on BMI Regional flightView from the sky.

We stayed at the Citiz Hotel. A very stylish four star hotel. I loved my room.

Citiz Hotel

Dinner at J’GO Toulouse. The best pork and chips I have ever had in my life.

J'GO Toulouse

While we were having dinner a brass band started up outside and played ‘Funky Town’.

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It was Special National Music Day. The day that all of France get together and party. It was a lot of fun.

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My hotel room is top left. Needless to say there was no point in getting an early night. So we partied.

National Music Day in Toulouse

The next day we went to the Cite de l’espace. An amazing space museum and theme park. I saw rock from mars and the moon, saw astronauts suits. I also experienced walking on the moon thanks to the Moon Runner. I also spent some time in a Space Capsule and saw a great temporary Mars exhibition, With David Leach-Davies of 69 Magazine.

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Part 2 is here.

Part 3 is here.

Have you ever been to Toulouse? Make recommendations below.

About No.1 Traveller – fast facts

· No.1 Traveller specialises in premium hospitality and provides a complete ‘driveway to runway’ service – smart Chauffeur-driven airport transfers, express train tickets, airport parking, airport meet-and-greet and airport lounges (No.1 Traveller’s own collection, plus associate lounges abroad)

· It works with airlines, businesses and individuals to offer a convenient and comfortable service to take the stress out of going to and through airports – the smart traveller’s choice

· No.1 Traveller can be booked by anyone at www.No1Traveller.com or passengers can make their way to the reception of the airport lounge on the day

Airport lounge: Birmingham

· Opened October 2012; the first of No.1 Traveller’s lounges outside London

· Accessible to all passengers travelling through the airport

· Open daily from 0430hrs – 2030hrs; facilities include a range of seating areas across two levels, fully-tended bar, bistro area serving complimentary hot and cold dishes, complimentary newspapers, magazines and internet access

· Entry £27.50 per adult at reception, for up to three hours access (children £17.50 each), £22.50 if booked in advance (children £15)

BMI regional operates over 450 flights a week throughout the UK and Europe with one way prices starting from £59. bmi regional flies from Aberdeen, Antwerp, Bristol, Bremen, Billund, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Gothenburg, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Esbjerg, Frankfurt, Hannover, Hamburg, Lyon, Milan, Munich, Norwich, Manchester, Toulouse and Zurich. All flights include complimentary food & drink on-board, free 20kg hold baggage allowance and 30 minute check-in. bmi regional is the world’s most punctual airline having recently been crowned the title for the 8th consecutive year.  For more information, visit www.bmiregional.com.

How To Make Kale Chips

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How to make Kale Crisps.
If you are one of the few people who have not heard of Kale Chips then you are in for a treat. Mix this healthy vegetable with a little decadence and you get a delicious snack.

Just take some Kale, cover it in olive oil and add some salt. Then put in the oven for 15 minutes at gas mark 6. Cook for longer if you feel they need it. There you have it: delicious, crispy kale chips. Yum.

5 Tips To Keep Your Computer Secure

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slipup1) Have an antivirus. You will need antivirus software. This is the best thing you can do for your computer. It will block viruses and stop you losing all of your data, or having your identity stolen through your data on your computer. Make sure your antivirus is scheduled to download updates and does a daily scan of your computer.

2) Keep your hard drive clean. There is software you can download to do this. Check out Cleaner. Also try and keep your digital life tidy. Go through your computer and delete things you do not need anymore. You can run a disk cleanup to remove temporary, unnecessary files. You can also run disk defragment about once a month. You do not need to overdo it.  Remember to empty the trash too.

3) Be careful what you download. If you are unsure then do not download anything. If someone sends you a link with nothing else in the body of the email, or just a link on Twitter or Facebook, then do not click on it. They have probably been hacked and the link will not be genuine. Be aware that the link will be designed to get you to click on it. For example it might say ‘check out this funny picture of you’. Don’t believe it and don’t click.

4) Use a secure website brower. I am a Mac person and use Firefox (you can also use Firefox on a PC) or Safari. For windows Google Chrome or Internet Explorer.

5) Set up a Firewall. Firewalls control the information that goes in and out of your computer. This is essential for keeping out hackers. They also prevent Malware. PCs and Macs come with a basic Firewall installed so make sure it is turned on.

And finally….

Have a good, strong password.

What do you do to protect your computer and make it secure?

 

 

Scottish Festivals Goers Find Recycling Happiness with Coca Cola

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Coca-Cola-personalised-bottles-mainCoca-Cola has brought recycling fun to Scotland this month, introducing its Happiness Recycled initiative at two festivals; RockNess and the Royal Highland Show. I love Coca Cola but I always make sure I recycle my old bottles.

The campaign engaged people to recycle by bringing fun to the process, disposing of empty Coca Cola bottles at the two events in a variety of interesting ways. Including interactive bins, games and performers. These included a a giant flower pot and the chance to test their shooting skills in a game of basketball.

Recyclegoers also got to watch fun ‘Flash mob’ performances from the Coca Cola Enterprise cheerleaders. 20,000 people attending the Rockness festival with several thousand receiving photos and recycling themed tattoo. Sounds like lots of fun.

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Celebrities Who Lie About Their Age: Is It Ever Okay To Lie About Your Age?

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Jessica ChastainWe live in a society where (some) people are obsessed with age. In fact it is one of the questions people most ask when they meet me. I find this annoying and rude. As my friend Jack Bowman says, ‘Ages and wages are never discussed’.

Although I find it annoying being asked how old I am I would never lie about my age and I certainly don’t have an issue with it. Even though I seem to be marching through my twenties pretty fast! The problem I have with being asked my age, especially in a social situation, is because it is rude, and why does that person want to know? Getting older is actually a blessing. I have a friend who died when she was 16 and another when he was 22. They would have loved to have grown old. I also believe that life gets better the older you get. When I was a teenager I never felt I fitted into my own skin.

It would seem that not everyone agrees with me on this, especially celebrities. Even though actresses in their 40s are not only still being employed, but thriving, some are still lying about their age. Or being very vague about it.

I have to admit, as an actress, I sometimes think I might be wrong. One of my favourites actresses, Sandra Bullock lied about being younger!: “I lied two years ago to get this part in Love Potion #9. They said, ‘We want an older scientist.’ I go there and I say I’m 29. After a while, you have no idea how old you are because you’ve lied so many times. I always said I would never lie, but one time, when I didn’t it worked against me. So I figure you just keep them guessing.”  Nicki Minaj, Rachel McAdams, Nicole Scherzinger and Jennifer Lopez have also been caught lying about their age by a few years. Which makes me wonder what the point is.

In fact this magazine was the the first to notice that Paloma Faith was lying about her age, and this even resulted in her real age being reported in a recent interview with the ES Magazine. Congratulations on coming clean Paloma. Doesn’t it feel great?

Other celebrities who are lying about their age include:

Agyness Deyn knocked six years off her age: “When I decided I would really do modelling I was like 18, and I think at the time that was quite old for a new face, so we knocked off a few years,” she admitted to The Guardian in 2012. “I’m 29, I feel like that’s the age when you start to think about life. What is this all about? Who am I?”

Jessica Chastain is incredibly vague about her age as this article in HuffPo from 2011 states:  “Chastain, who is about 30 but will not disclose her exact age, grew up in northern California and dreamed of becoming an actress from about the age of 5.”  Chastain herself says, “I don’t like revealing how old I am. I played a teenager in a movie recently and Brad Pitt’s wife in another so I like to think I can be any age I need to be.”

I do get her point but actors do look a certain age, and it is usually around their own. A bit of googling reveals Chastain is 36. As beautiful and stunning as she is, she does not look 16 and could not realistically play a teenager.

It is not just women lying, rapper Eminem knocked two years off his age when he was interviewed by Howard Stern. James Blunt also knocked two years off his real age and Nelly took three years off his.

Researching this article has made me feel that if I had to lie to get a part then I would seriously consider it, otherwise: what is the point?

What do you think?