Mamma Mia! Here I Go Again.

So I've officially joined the dark side and moved back into the crazy world of reviewing. I started reviewing music gigs for my local newspaper, The Falkirk Herald, when I was 16 and spent all my time at university reviewing gigs for various websites and small publications. I even did a stint reviewing Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows for ThreeWeeks during one summer break.

However, it's been a good few years since I put on my reviewing hat. It was much easier when I lived in Glasgow because there were usually a handful of great shows on every night but I struggle to find a handful of shows I want to see in Edinburgh in a month. I also couldn't really review any theatre since I was working as the Press Officer of the biggest theatre in the country.

Things are different now though because I'm in a brand new job which has nothing to do with the arts. So last night, I returned to the Edinburgh Playhouse to review MAMMA MIA! for the Southside Advertiser. I worked alongside the publication for years, so it was really nice to be asked to start writing for them.

You can read the review here.

Enjoy!!

What I Eat In A Day ft Christmas Market & New Job News

I finally picked up my camera again after a couple of weeks of being too busy to film anything. I want to get into the routine of filming a couple of times a week, but I'm waiting until Santa brings me a new camera before I do start doing that. Luckily he knows I really want to film my holiday in Copenhagen so he's letting me have me present a couple of weeks anyway.

I hope you enjoy the video, and hopefully the quality will improve with my new camera soon.

OneKind - Mountain Hare Rally

There's just a few days to go until I officially start working at OneKind, but I joined the charity on Thursday for a rally and mass lobby at the Scottish Parliament against mountain hare culls.

Each year around 25,000 mountain hare are killed in Scotland. I still have no idea how we can possibly live in a country that allows this to happen, so it's great to join a team who can hopefully put an end to this barbaric practise for good.

A huge number of supporters turned out and a few MSPs made speeches too including Roseanna Cunningham who is the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. I also bumped into a few photographers I knew during the photocall, and ended up with my hare covered face in the Edinburgh Evening News and Scotsman.

The Next Chapter

So the time has come to wave goodbye to the Edinburgh Playhouse. If you don't already know then I should probably tell you that I've been the Press Officer there since 2014. The theatre, which happens to be the largest in the UK, has been an amazing place to work. However I need a new challenge and I could not be happier to have been offered a job as a Campaigner at OneKind. Animal welfare is something I'm really passionate about, and this job is pretty much perfect for me.

That doesn't mean that I'm not going to miss the Playhouse. The best way to describe the past two and a half years is a rollercoaster ride. I think it's safe to say there's been some pretty major dips in the journey, but there's also been some amazing highs. I've been completely overwhelmed by the messages I've received since word got out that I was leaving. I know I get along well with the majority of the press, but I've been really taken aback by the lovely messages I received and how highly people thought of me and the work I did. I guess sometimes you don't know what people really think of you until you say goodbye.

I'm leaving with lots of good memories, so here's a few from the highlight reel -

1. WICKED
I don't think anything will ever beat working on this show. It was the biggest show I worked on, and I was really proud of the coverage I got for it.

2. JASON DONOVAN

One of my highlights was definitely meeting Jason Donovan. I used to own ALL this records when I was younger, so I was beyond excited when I found out he was coming to the Playhouse in Annie Get Your Gun. I only got the chance to meet him briefly at a radio interview, but he returned in Priscilla the next year and I got to hold a rooftop press event for the show. If you'd told my 5 year old self that one day she'd be running his press day, then she would never have believed you in a million years.

3. SHREK PHOTOCALL

I used to get the worst anxiety over photocalls. You never know if any photographers are actually going to turn up, and it's one of the worst feelings in the world. Luckily that's never actually happened to me, but it's still an ongoing fear that will probably never go away. I've lost count of the number of photocalls I've done, but taking the cast of Shrek to Edinburgh Castle in their full costume was definitely my favourite one.

4. EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

You can only really see my shoe in this photo, but this was one of the funniest things that happened all year. We were so late to the opening gala of the Edinburgh International Film Festival that we don't notice we were sharing the red carpet with Kim Cattrall.

5. FRIENDS

I couldn't find a photo of everyone in my office, but I do love this photo of my best friends. I seriously would have been lost without Audrey and Catherine, especially since we got really close over the past 12 months. We went to early morning gym classes, work lunches out, late night trips to Ikea and had sleepovers. Audrey also very kindly treated us to food when it got to the end of the month and we'd run out of money. There's been a few times when they've really had to pick me up, and I can honestly say their friendship is the best thing to come out of my time working there.

So that's my short and sweet highlight reel. I could post photos all night and talk about everything good that happened, but I should probably save some stories for another day.

Munro Bagging | Ben Lomond

It feels like it's been ages since I did some hillwalking, but I got out this weekend to bag my 7th Munro.

I wasn't exactly feeling the walk when my alarm went off at 5.45am, but after a train ride and a drive, we arrived at Ben Lomond ready to make our ascent. It was a beautifully sunny day, even though it was FREEZING cold. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my hands felt like they had frost bite more than once while we were out. We also found some ice on the walk up too, so I guess it was really, really cold!

We reached the top of Ben Lomond around 1.30pm but it was so windy that we only stayed there for a few minutes before moving down to safer ground. It was the sort of wind that could easily have blown us over, and I'm surprised that it didn't.

The walk back down seemed to last a lot longer than the way up, and there was a huge cow blocking the path at one point. Luckily he was chased off by a couple of dogs, and we were able to get back to the car park for food before taking our tired feet back home.

So that's 7 Munros down, and only 275 to go!

Vegan Food Haul UK

It's Sunday and that means it's time for a new video. I'm trying to stick to uploading once a week for now, or until I at least get a new camera.

This week I thought I'd do something different and share my weekly food haul with you all. I generally try not to spend more than £30 a week on food, and this shop came in at around £25. I generally shop in Tesco or Lidl because they are the closest big supermarkets, although I did go into Sainsbury's and Holland and Barret for a couple of things this week.

Enjoy the video!

Vegan Pizza

One of the best things about living in Edinburgh is that there's a restaurant and takeaway that serves vegan pizza, and it's only a 5 minute walk from where I live.

I created my own pizza at La Favorita with vegan cheese, peppers, broccoli and courgette. I could eat broccoli for every meal, so I love it when you find restaurants that over it as a pizza topping. If you've never had it before then you have to ty it.

The takeaway offers delivery service or you can sit in the main restaurant too. So if you're in Edinburgh and looking for some vegan pizza, then I'd definitely recommend you try La Favorita. 

What I Eat In A Day - 9

I've filmed another What I Eat In A Day video. I'm actually really enjoying filming, but I am looking forward to getting a new camera for Christmas so it'll make the whole process a bit easier.

 This was just a ordinary Monday in Edinburgh eating awesome vegan food and going to work in the theatre.

Enjoy!!

London - NFL, Vegan Food & Sightseeing

I was down in London last weekend with my brother to watch one of the NFL games at Wembley. While we were there we did some shopping, ate some nice food, did some sightseeing and obviously visited the Harry Potter shop at Kings Cross before we came home.

Hope you all enjoy the vlog.

Eating Out - Hendersons Pumpkin Pie

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that until last weekend I had never tasted pumpkin pie. It's just something I never expected to like, so I didn't bother trying it. Then I was in Hendersons in Edinburgh with my mum having our usual vegan lunch and this happened...

It might not be the best photo, but OH MY GOD it tasted so good!!! It came with coconut whipped cream and two flavours just worked so well together.

If you're in Edinburgh soon, then you really do need to stop by and try it. Just don't eat too much or they won't be any left for me.

Follow Hendersons on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Eating Out - Vegan Platter

You know vegan food is becoming more popular when there's a bar just five minutes from your home that has its own vegan platter on the menu.

Leith Depot is a restaurant and bar with a live music venue upstairs, and this is their vegan platter (excuse the photo but the light inside wasn't too bright).

The platter has stuffed vine leaves, mixed olives, smoked tomato hummus, sweet potato wedges (they were more like fries), beer battered pickles, vegan cheese on toast, chimmi churri pesto, bourbon bloody mary ketchup, olive oil and balsamic. It was also came with some extra bread and crackers.

Overall, the platter was delicious and more than enough for two people. I don't really like olives or pickles, so my friend enjoyed them while I ate my way through the vines leaves and sweet potatoes. I also cannot explain how excited I am to see vegan cheese on toast on a menu. I have a feeling I'm going to end in Leith Depot a lot especially since you can order it on its own too.

The only downside is the kitchen gets busy easily so you can't always order food straight away. The first time I tried to get food, I was told there was a 30 minute wait before I could even order anything so we ended up eating elsewhere. Then when I was in having the platter, we had another 15 minute wait before we could order even though the place wasn't too busy.

It's definitely worth a visit if you're in Edinburgh and it's not far from the town centre. Just make sure you leave enough time in case there's a wait for food.

Follow Leith Depot on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.