TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS BY DEBBIE MACOMBER

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Review by Jan Speedie

It’s twelve days to Christmas, a time for festive fun, present buying and kindness to all. Well that’s what Julia thinks until she encounters her neighbour. Once again Debbie Macomber has given us a great Christmassy story: following her Rose Harbour and Cedar Cove series fans will enjoy this fun story.

Julia Padden is a cheerful, hardworking girl looking forward to enjoying and sharing her Christmas spirit with everyone she meets. This is true until she meets her grouchy neighbour Cain, who can’t cope with Julia’s pleasant, happy nature. Having discussed the situation with her close friend Cammie, Julia decides to kill Cain with kindness. Julia also needs to secure her dream job by writing a daily blog and this is the ideal opportunity to write a blog for all to read about her kindness campaign to convert Cain. Life has a habit of changing things and bringing in the unexpected.

Read, enjoy and forget the worries of making it a perfect Christmas.

Debbie Macomber is one of today’s bestselling authors with more than 170 million copies of her books in print worldwide. She has also produced two cookery books and two books for children. In 2013 the Cedar Cove series successfully debuted on US cable TV. Apart from her writing Debbie is also spokesperson for World Visions ‘Knit for Kids’ charity initiative. Debbie and her husband Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington and winter in Florida.

Published by Arrow in paperback £5.99

Review by Jan Speedie

Read, enjoy and forget the worries of making it a perfect Christmas.

Published by Arrow in paperback £5.99

INTBAU World Congress:

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Tomorrow’s Cities: Building the Future

RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD Monday 14th – Tuesday 15th November 2016

Next week, the INTBAU World Congress, will take place. This is a biennial forum that brings together a host of international participants to debate the most pressing global issues facing building, architecture and urbanism.

In 1800 just 2% of the world’s population lived in cities. Now, some 55% of the world’s population live in urban environments. The 2016 Congress, Tomorrow’s Cities: Building the Future, explores the impact of this rapid urbanisation, one of the biggest challenges facing communities throughout the world. The Congress will highlight efforts in cities around the world to respond to issues of sustainability and good growth, heritage and identity, and the meaning of shelter.

Debating these issues will be a diverse range of established and new voices, including: Jane Duncan, President of RIBA; Leo Hollis, author of Cities are Good for You; Orna Rosenfeld, a Senior Housing Expert for the UN; Will Hunter, Director of the newly-founded London School of Architecture; and journalist, author and TED speaker Robert Neuwirth.

The Congress will be address three key questions over two days:

RAPID URBANISATION – How can our cities grow sustainably?
SHIFTING IDENTITIES – How does heritage evolve?

III. SHELTER – How can we build better homes?

Other events around the World Congress will include the presentation of INTBAU Excellence Awards at the Royal Society of Arts, and a shelter-themed Routemaster bus tour in partnership with the National Trust to explore London’s responses to housing crises in the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries.

Monday 14th –November 2016 8am – 5pm – Congress Day 1 (two sessions) Tuesday 15th November 2016 8.30am – 12pm – Congress Day 2 (session three) 7.30 – 10.30pm – Presentation of INTBAU Excellence Awards at the RSA, followed by a reception

RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD

@intbau, #tomorrowscities

http://congress.intbau.org

BEST ENDEAVOURS: Jane Cable On Her Digital Publishing Deal. Best Laid Plans 2

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Jane Cable

BEST ENDEAVOURS

Jane Cable’s blog about what happens once that digital publishing deal is in the bag continues.

BEST LAID PLANS 2

Way back when, about a hundred or so years ago, I used to work in PR. Great fun it was, except when I had to pick up the phone to some unsuspecting journalist (or anyone else, for that matter) so as I struggled up the greasy pole to the dizzy heights of account management, I needed an assistant.

Enter Lisa. A former drama student who was frankly wasted as PA to one of my clients. We worked together; lived near each other (defeating the tube strikes by driving from Wimbledon to the South Bank in my beaten up Ford Fiesta); even escaped the evil pitches we worked for together, to end up in an office above a hairdresser in Kensington with a kindly but chaotic boss who spoiled and cherished us. And we’re still friends twenty five years later.

It was Lisa who sent me the original tiny silver seahorse featured in the story, wrapped up in tissue inside a birthday card. And even more surprisingly, this year she sent me an improved model on a chain, together with matching earrings. Because she’d seem them and thought of me. They arrived just days before Endeavour made their offer on the book.

So who but Lisa would I turn to for the PR expertise to launch The Seahorse Summer? She did a fantastic job for me on The Cheesemaker’s House, and this time it should be just a fraction easier. Why? Because even in these enlightened days there are a great many newspapers and magazines who won’t touch independently publisher authors.

To be honest we spent most of our meeting at a mutually convenient motorway service station catching up on family news. For a few years in our twenties we lived in each other’s pockets and while distance and circumstances don’t exactly separate you, they do drive a wedge into your understanding of the everyday aspects of each other’s lives. But when you actually meet, it all falls into place again so easily and trust is instantly restored. I drove away thinking there’s a novel in that somewhere.

But as usual I digress. This blog is meant to be about planning a PR campaign. The objective is very much to get reviews. It’s hard to think of a big enough hook to make this a news story, so the book is going to have to stand or fall on its own merits. But stand or fall, it needs to stand out from the crowd. And we did come up with a couple of potential ways to achieve this.

The next most important thing is targeting the right journalists and this will be Lisa’s next task. It isn’t as easy as it was in the 80s when you could just phone the magazine and ask. There wasn’t such a thing as email and everything had to be sent snail mail. Or in our case, packing Lisa into a taxi filled with goodies and sending her off to spend the day at ICP towers, chatting to writers and distributing her loot. In 2016 she probably wouldn’t even get past security.

Jane Cable is the author of two independently published romantic suspense novels, The Cheesemaker’s House and The Faerie Tree, and a sporadic contributor to Frost. The Seahorse Summer tells the tale of how two American soldiers born sixty years apart help forty-something Marie Johnson to rebuild her shattered confidence and find new love. Discover more at www.janecable.com.

Stepping Out: Review

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Vicky Edwards

Stepping Out

In rehearsals for Stepping Out

At Chichester Festival Theatre until 19 November (Booking: 01243 781312; www.cft.org.uk)

At the Vaudeville Theatre, London, 1 March – 17 June 2017 (Booking: www.nimaxtheatres.com)

Directed by Maria Friedman

Cast: Amanda Holden, Angela Griffin, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tamzin Outhwaite, Nicola Stephenson, Judith Barker, Rose Keegan, Sandra Marvin, Jessica-Alice Mccluskey, Dominic Rowan, Janet Behan, Emma Hook, Katie Verner and Nick Warnford

A weekly tap dancing class in a community hall is the setting for a story that follows the lives of a group of ladies and a solitary man. Like many adult education classes, all human life is here.

Boasting a cast that includes several popular faces from television, Tracy-Ann Oberman is on superb form as wise-cracking Maxine. Glamorous in a wardrobe of nearly new and knock-off, the more-front-than-Brighton exterior conceals a tender and vulnerable heart. Tamzin Outhwaite as is also touching in her role class teacher Mavis. With her dreams of being a dancer dramatically reconfigured and an unhappy relationship to cope with, teaching is both her salvation and a constant needling reminder that she never quite made it. Amanda Holden as posh but tactless neat freak Vera delivers some of the production’s funniest moments, admitting only towards the end that her perfect life isn’t quite so perfect after all.

Everyone, in fact, has a secret to reveal, but the audience is short changed; what the final outcome is for each of the characters is anyone’s guess. Pace, too, is a frustration. A lethargic beginning gives way to a gentle potter before coming to a rather abrupt and inconclusive ending.

But the dialogue is sharp enough, the performances are (largely) accomplished and the familiar theme of trying to get along with people with whom one has little in common will surely resonate. Touring prior to the West End next year, hopefully the tempo will pick up and settle along the way. Then, no doubt, Stepping Out will be packing ‘em in.

I like a good Panto – Oh no you don’t. Milly Adams

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Scrooge and the Seven Dwarves

A festive treat for those who don’t want to get stuck in the past…

Award winning Sleeping Trees who have had sell out success with Cinderella and the Beanstalk, are returning to Theatre503 with the world premiere of Scrooge and the Seven Dwarves – a fizzing cocktail of everyone’s favourite pantomimes, directed by highly acclaimed Simon Evans (The Dazzle, Bug, Silence of the Sea).

One cold Christmas Eve, Santa and his elves are preparing for another busy night. The reindeer are ready and the sleigh is packed. There’s just one problem; the sleigh won’t start because the Wicked Witch has stolen all the Christmas spirit. In his desperation, Santa looks to the most unlikely of heroes to save the day… the terrifying Ebenezer Scrooge.

The performers recreate every character you’d expect to meet in a pantomime, as well as some you might not. With Scrooge, Snow White, the Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, the seven dwarves, Harry Potter and, of course, Father Christmas, the questions on everyone’s lips are… will Scrooge manage to change his ways and save

Christmas? Will the boys make it to Hollywood? And what do the Seven Dwarves have to do with ANY of this?

Sleeping Trees are a comedy trio blending the classic elements of a well-loved pantomime with an astonishing range of fast, physical and bare-knuckled comedy. With live music, and plenty of mess, the Trees sing, dance and fight their way through ninety minutes of panto pandemonium with on-stage musician Ben Hales.

Enjoy, and don’t forget to ‘look behind youuuuu.’

The production is funded by Arts Council England.

Tuesday 22nd November – Saturday 7th January. Please check performance times and matinee dates carefully on the Theatre503 website. 90 minutes running time.

@wesleepingtrees, @theatre503, #Scrooge503

Suitable for ages 6+ (babes in arms under 24 months also welcome)

Theatre503, The Latchmere, 503 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 3BW, https://theatre503.com/

Tickets are available priced £15 (£12 concessions) Family ticket £40 (two adults and two children or one adult and three children)

Available from Theatre503 Box Office and https://theatre503.com/, 020 7978 7040.

Christmas Gift List For Mum

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Frostie

Christmas gifts for mums. Because they are AWESOME.

Fluffy dog slippers

We love these cute and comfortable slippers. They keep your feet warm. Babies love them too. Batting away at them with glee.

Slip your feet into the ultimate in warm, fluffy comfort with these super-cute dog slipper socks. One size fits most feet up to women’s size 7. PVC sole with multi grip for slip resistance.

Total Price: £14.99

Woodland Bear Candle Tin

Cute and smells great. We really loved this.

Long lasting and highly concentrated woodland spice scented candle with aromas of cedar, ginger, clove and cinnamon. 100% soy wax infused with pure beeswax, a natural ioniser. Lead free, double wick that leaves a clean even burn. Burn time 70+ hours. Presented in a gift tin with a bear illustration. Size: 92 x 92 x 50mm. Total Price: £14.99.

Sparkling Jewellery To The Moon And Back Necklace

Perfect for telling mum just how much you love her. From www.sparklingjewellery.co.uk

Cashmere Me Warm Hug Comforting Candle

A beautiful and comforting candle. Smells great.

Fake Bake Cashmere MeWarm Hug Comforting Candle, £20.00

This comfortingcandle with its double wick, creates more than just a scent, it creates an inviting ambience that envelops the senses, giving that warm hug feeling that’s like being wrapped in cashmere. Relax, unwind and take some time out.

SensatioNail Gel Starter Kit

Because mum is too tired and too busy for manicures and this lasts for up to 2 weeks.

Sensationail gel polish starter kit is available here.

Michael Bublé By Invitation

Stunning and elegant. A crisp floral oriental fragrance. Has top notes of red fruits and bergamot followed by notes of lily of the valley, elegant rose, wild jasmine and spicy peony. Base noted are sandalwood musks mixed with vanilla praline.

Michael Bublé By Invitation is available here.

Toni & Guy Style Fix Straighteners

A brilliant little straightener that is perfect for travel. Fits in a handbag. A great space saver. The style fix collection also has a waver and a curler.

Brand New TONI&GUY style fix appliances are available here and from boots.com

True North Cosmetics

Scandinavian skincare brand. The True North Cosmetics philosophy is to offer high quality products for those who desire a straightforward skin care program that delivers impressive results regardless of age or gender. Prior to your bespoke skincare prescription, True North Cosmetics offer a detailed skin analysis using an innovative biometric measuring tool, which gives a valuable insights into your skins need, such as skin moisture level, oil production, skin sensitivity and number and depth of lines and wrinkles.

True North values results and common sense above hip ingredients as they truly believe this creates positive long-term results for everyone. We love their De-stressed Day Fluid 7.1 SPF 30, De-Stressed Mask 6.1 and their De-Stressed Day 2.1 all with `aloe vera balancing complex. Highly recommended.

Available at Harvey Nichols and at leading spas and salons nationwide www.harveynichols.com

The Career Code by Hilary Kerr & Katherine Power

A great career book for mum with a side of life advice. Great book to give mum inspiration for her next career move.

The Career Code is available here.

Embryolisse Lait-Créme Concentré

Embryolisse Lait-Créme Concentré is a celebrity staple, this wonder cream tackles dehydration with ease using its combination of ingredients of natural origin, it has been a favourite of dermatologists, beauty professionals and makeup artists for decades, famed for its multi-purpose properties.

A great multi-functional nourishing moisturiser. Makes a great make-up primer.

Embryolisse Concentrated Lait Cream is available here.

Makeup Obsession: The Makeup That Lets You Personalise Your Palette

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

I went to the launch of Makeup Obsession recently and now I am a huge fan. You buy one of the empty palettes and then you fill it with your own personal eyeshadow, blusher and highlighter. You can buy one that holds six, or one that holds twelve. The refills are only £2 each and can be interchanged and replaced at any time. There is a huge, great collection so you will definitely find the colours and solutions that you want. I rarely buy palettes as some of the colours always go unused, with this, you design your own palette from scratch. It is such a great idea I can’t believe no one has thought of it before. When you buy a new refill it just clips in. So handy and so easy. It also keeps your makeup fresh. Very important as old makeup harbours bacteria, causing spots and even illness.

The most important thing is the makeup of course. Is it any good? Thankfully, yes. It is highly pigmented and long-lasting. Frost loves.

#shareyourobsession @LL_obsession

Had an excellent time last night checking out the #makeupobsession range. Personalised my own palette. What a brilliant idea. #makeup #beauty

A photo posted by Catherine Balavage (@frostmag) on Oct 7, 2016 at 12:53pm PDT

Frost Loves: The Cadbury Christmas Chocolate Range

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Frostie

At Frost it is known that we love chocolate, and you cannot beat Cadbury when it comes to chocolate. We reviewed the new range for our readers. Hard job, we know.

There are much-loved favourites and new and exciting products this Christmas. These novel and fun products are sure to be a winner with the family.

NEW FOR 2016

Cadbury Dairy Milk Snow Balls

As Christmas approaches, this brand new product is sure to get families across the country in the mood for the festive season. These Cadbury Dairy Milk Snow Balls are the ideal treat to share and come in a pack of four. Simply crack open the top of the Snow Ball and use the spoon provided to scoop out and enjoy the fluffy mousse centre. Yum! RRP £2.99

This is novel, tasty and fun. You eat the middle out with the spoon enclosed. Very festive.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Santa Gift Box

Another new product for 2016, this Santa gift box – filled with delicious chunks of Cadbury Dairy Milk – is the perfect stocking filler. To spread the excitement and magic this Christmas, why not treat a loved one to this cheeky chappy and tuck into the delicious delights from Santa’s sack. RRP £2.99.

Gorgeous Dairy Milk chunks in a fun santa.

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar, the best way to count down to the most magical day of the year. If you can’t get enough of the delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, this advent calendar will keep the festive excitement growing this holiday season. Complete with a tantalising assortment of milk chocolates, and milk chocolates with vanilla flavour fillings, everyone will want a piece. 200g RRP £4.99

If you can’t get enough of the delicious CadburyDairy Milk chocolate, this advent calendar will really keep you wishing away the days to Christmas. Open a door to reveal a delicious piece of Cadbury Dairy Milk every day until the big day. RRP £2.19

A must for the Christmas season. A tasty chocolate for each day.

STOCKING FILLERS

If you are looking for a sweet stocking filler for the kids, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Hollow Santas are just the perfect reminder that Santa will be on his way soon. A quirky twist on the classic Christmas traditional icon, these Santa’s are made from delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk, a supremely scrumptious Santa if we ever saw one! 50g RRP £1.49, 100g RRP £2.99

These hollow Santas are perfect for Christmas.

For a jolly way to treat family and friends during the festive season, Cadbury Dairy Milk Jolly Santas are perfect as they come in packs containing five pocket sized Santas, each presented in fun wrapping. Santa has had a makeover and there are now seven cheerful looks to be discovered. Kids will surely love them! RRP £2.99

These are so jolly and awesome. We love them.

There is no better feeling than opening your stocking on Christmas morning. Here to put a smile on the faces of every chocolate lover, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Faces Tube is bound to be the kids’ favourite. The festive tube is packed full of cheeky choccy pieces, with Freddo pulling a range of playful faces to entertain the little ones. RRP £1.42

These were a huge hit. Our new favourite. So tasty.

For a timeless treat that will be well received by kids and grandparents alike, slip a tube of Cadbury Dairy Milk Button in the stockings. The classic bite-size button shapes of solid Cadbury Dairy Milk come packaged in an exciting festive tube that will bring joy to everyone. RRP £1.42

A classic chocolate in great packaging. We love the owl.

If you know someone who really cannot get enough of the delicious Cadbury Wispa we have the perfect gift for them, the Cadbury Endless Wispa. The classic and much loved Bitsa Wispa now comes in a giant Christmas stick, so why not impress your friends with the gift that keeps on giving. RRP £2.49

How much Wispa is enough Wispa? This almost gets there, but not quite. Perfect for Christmas.

DECK THE HALLS

Add a touch of Cadbury Christmas purple to your tree, or surprise your relatives by gifting them with the new Cadbury Dairy Milk Baubles. These spectacular supersized baubles are available in two different varieties. Cadbury Dairy Milk Oreo Baubles are filled with Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates complete with a vanilla flavour filling and Oreo biscuit pieces. Cadbury Dairy Milk Snow Bites Baubles includes 4x34g bags of Snow Bites; Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate balls encased in crisp sugar shells and dusted with delicious icing sugar. RRP £4.99

These are just the most perfect thing ever. A great invention and so tasty.

Make your tree even sweeter with Cadbury Dairy Milk Tree Decorations. There are different designs and shapes for everyone in the family to leave their sparkly mark on this year’s decorations. Available in both 84g (RRP £2.13) and 144g (RRP £3.46) packs.

Yummy and look perfect on the tree. Just keep them away from the lights.

FAMILY FAVOURITES…

Everybody loves classics at Christmas and there is nothing more classic than Cadbury chocolate during the festive season…

Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Edition is made up of mini white and milk chocolate tree-shaped chunks, perfect for also decorating your Christmas cake. You can break them apart and share with the family for an instant taste of Christmas joy. RRP £1.42

So festive and is both white and milk chocolate. What more could you want?

The irresistible Cadbury Dairy Milk Snowman will bring you the joy of a snowy Christmas day regardless of the weather. Available with chocolate mousse or vanilla mousse, the Snowmen are encased in a Cadbury Dairy Milk shell, with a light and fluffy mousse centre that tantalises the taste buds. Whether you choose a vanilla or chocolate mousse is up to you! RRP £0.65

Very yummy. The mousse is great. We loved these.

PERFECT FOR SHARING

Everybody loves a selection box at Christmas time.Cadbury selection packs comes in two sizes, small and medium. The smaller selection pack enables chocolate fans to enjoy all their favourite Cadburyclassics as they count down the days until Santa arrives! There is a bar for each day with CadburyChomp, Cadbury Curly Wurly, Cadbury Fudge and Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo. The Cadbury Medium Selection box contains a mix of favourites, such as the Cadbury Double Decker, Cadbury Crunchie and Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons. 81g RRP £1.09, 180g RRP £2.99

The Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo selection box is a fun sharing box with a sweat treat for everyone in the family. For extra fun, each pack contains a voucher for free child entry to Cadbury World. Classics include Cadbury Crunchie, Cadbury Chomp, Cadbury Curly Wurly and Cadbury Fudge. RRP £2.99

Christmas is not Christmas without a selection box. This Fredo one is full of the classics.

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