Holdiays are coming

Despite working for an international courier company for the last 7 years, I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever got so excited about seeing a lorry before as I did this evening when our town had a visit from the most famous of them all – the Coca Cola Christmas Truck!

Yes, that’s right; the holiday’s officially came to Northampton today and parked up in Abington Street, parading itself to the locals, getting us all into the spirit of Christmas. I have to admit, it was a bit of a novelty to see the big red lorry with it’s bright lights whilst getting crushed by the mass of excited people around me. It was also tinged with a little disappointment though as they weren’t playing the “Holiday’s are coming” song, instead we were engulfed Mariah Carey. Still, I can’t complain because I ended up singing along anyway!

Although I didn’t bother to get my freebie mini can of coke because of the long queue (yes, really), and also because I knew a had a 2 litre bottle of it in the fridge at home, I did find myself thinking about everything the giant truck stands for and couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic. For me, as much as Christmas is about decorating trees, writing cards and buying presents, it’s also about spending time with friends and family.

Now I am back home and curled up on my sofa typing this, I am enjoying the luxury of my own cold glass of diet coke mixed with a rather large dash of vodka, thinking of my own friends and family. Right now, my Dad is on a flight from Cape Town to Heathrow and my friend Becky is flying in from Hong Kong, both due to arrive in the morning. My mum is spending some quality time at home with her twin, my sister is busy baking Christmas goodies, and my brother and his fiancé are most probably being entertained by my very excited 2 year old nephew! Knowing that we will all be together this Christmas means so much to me and I absolutely cannot wait until we can start the festive celebrations together!

Who would have thought I could get all of this from one lorry…I dread to think what might happen when I drive into work in the morning!

"Christmas for Two"

There’s no doubt about it, the one thing that really pulls at my heart strings is when people unite together for a good cause. As we move closer towards Christmas, the spirit of the season is becoming more apparent as panic shopping sets in with too much over spending and indulging in copious amounts of food and drink. On the flip side however, we are never far from helping someone in need and one way of doing that is through music.

Last week I was introduced to local singer/songwriter, Jamie Benkert on Twitter after he tweeted about a charity single he has put together. The Olly Murs look-a-like (oh, yes!) has collaborated with Harley-Joe Arnold to produce a song called Christmas For Two where every penny raised is going towards the Disney and Paddington Children’s wards at Northampton General Hospital.

With a little help from some friends and local drama class, The Alley Cats, Christmas jumpers were on mass as filming took place at both Northampton School for Girls and Beckworth Emporium.

On my first listen I was immediately taken by the catchy melody and of course, great lyrics. Teamed up with a great voice and those classic Christmas bells, I think it’s safe to say I have a new favourite song of the season!

You can download the track from iTunes, Amazon and Google Play with prices starting at just 79p and the single is also available to buy on CD for £2.

To find out more about Jamie, check him out on Twitter and Facebook, but in the meantime, have a listen to the song here and let’s all show our support and download a copy for ourselves!

A local affair

Community spirit was out in force last night when fans of the popular #Northantshour group on Twitter got together at the Black Bottom Club in town to help raise money for local charity, Niamh’s Next Step, fundraising for awareness to help fight childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma.

The idea of arranging the event was tweeted during one of the weekly get-togethers that take place every Thursday between 8pm – 9pm and the response was so positive that organiser Emily took it on board and with the help of local businesses created an opportunity for us to meet in person and raise some money for a good cause.

The evening opened with a welcome from Emily followed by a thank you from Chris Curry, the father of Niamh, who sadly lost her battle with this cancer on 20^th May 2012. He set up the charity in her memory alongside his wife, Sam and it is now fully registered with The Charities Commission.  

We then saw entertainment from singer Will Rogers, who did an acoustic set, described by some as sounding like a mix between Ed Sheeran and Ben Howard and apparently looked a little like Peter Crouch! He was later followed by very talented five piece band, Full Time Rookies, from Manor School in Raunds...a new, edgier (and more talented) One Direction on our hands, I think! Both kept everyone entertained with cover songs and original tracks. 

Whilst we munched our way through the buffet, scoffed down delicious cupcakes and posed like models at the photo booth, we were spoilt for choice with an extensive array of raffle prizes all of which were kindly donated by local and independent businesses, authors and poets. I even bagged myself a prize too! It definitely made for interesting viewing as each winner got to choose what they wanted so there was lots of excitement, but it’s safe to say, nobody was disappointed!  

The whole evening was washed down with a drink or two, lots of friendly chat and banter and through ticket and raffle sales a total of £890 was raised. A successful evening all round, and maybe even the first of many…

Step into Christmas

This weekend I officially declared the festive season open and paid a visit to the Frankfurt Christmas Market in Birmingham for what turned out to be a booze fuelled, food scoffing brilliant weekend! Along with my brother and his fiancé; sister and her boyfriend, we took to the City and relished in the festivities.

As soon as we left New Street station we were thrust into the masses and proceeded to walk very slowly around the market, taking in the many stalls selling a range of products from traditional handmade wooden gifts and Christmas tree decorations to the more popular choices available including jewellery and winter accessories. 

Then of course, there were the food and drink stalls. So many to choose from it was difficult to decide! Warm cider with shots of vodka or brandy washed down with a popular German sausage followed by mulled wine and Reindeer burgers (yes, really!) finished off with Baileys hot chocolate, beer and not to mention the tequila shots and tapas once we found comfort later on in our favourite spot, Las Iguana's. (I know, I know, slight detour of both venue and country, but it was all part of the plan!)

Decorated with blue and white lit Christmas trees, lots of fairy lights with an ice rink and big wheel to add to the finishing touches, the market atmosphere was thriving. Everyone was so friendly and were all there for the same reason: to have fun and enjoy themselves. It's definitely somewhere I would recommend, but if you are going, wrap up warm, wear comfortable shoes, and be prepared for the crowds!