Vegan Meetup

On Wednesday, I went to my first ever vegan meetup in Edinburgh. I've been watching NaturallyStefanie's YouTube videos for almost a year now, so it was great to finally be able to meet her.

We all met up at Juice Warrior to grab some food before going to the park. If you've not been to Juice Warrior before and live in Edinburgh, then you really need to go. It sells lots of raw juices, cakes, salads and smoothies. I went for the chocolate smoothie bowl which was one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten. I also bought some raw donuts. I never thought I'd pick a raw donut over an actual donut, but these things taste amazing!! They are a little pricey, but they are worth it for a treat now and again.

Once we'd bought lots of food, we walked over to Princes Street Gardens and sat in the sun chatting about all things vegan. I also seemed to surprise everyone by telling them I was 29. I've always looked younger than I am, but I definitely think eating healthy and hardly drinking has contributed to the fact I don't look like I'm approaching 30. I've only recently started getting to know other vegans rather than forcing my meat eating friends to eat vegan food with me. It was really nice to hang out with people who share the same beliefs, and hopefully I'll be able to meet some of them again soon.

I uploaded a quick vlog about the day which you can watch here. It was all done a pretty quickly, but it gives you an idea of what went on.

World Vegan Month: Top Vegan Restaurants in Edinburgh

Have you ever considered going vegan? Well if it's something you've thought about, then World Vegan Month is here to help. All throughout November there's lots of different things happening to educate people about veganism, and help those who want to make the transition to this lifestyle. Not only are there a growing number of people becoming vegan these days, but restaurants are really starting to cater for those people who choose to follow a plant-based diet.

Here's my top places in Edinburgh to eat if you're looking to try out some delicious vegan food.

Henderson's
Henderson's is a bit on institution in Edinburgh among those who don't eat meat. Earlier this year, its vegetarian bistro changed to become the city's first fully vegan restaurant. The menu includes Henderson's famous haggis served with potato and turnip mash and red wine gravy, as well as salads, nachos, and lots of other main courses. If you've not got time to sit down for a meal, then you can drop into the deli round to corner and pick from their selection of sandwiches, burgers, salads, or even try their new vegan scones.

The Baked Potato Shop
This tiny baked potato shop at the top of Cockburn Street usually has a queue of people out the door waiting for the best baked potatoes in town. Forget the toppings you're used to and try something different like curried rice, fruity coleslaw, chili and haggis. Plus there are lots of different salad options with avocado, quinoa and chickpeas to name but a few. And if you're still hungry after their large portions, then the shop also has a couple of cakes on the counter too.

Nova Vegetarian Kitchen
Gone are the days of ordering pizza without cheese thanks to this new Italian restaurant in Edinburgh. While the restaurant isn't fully vegan, they have a huge variety of pizza made with vegan mozzarella and different meat substitutes. There's also a great choice of pasta dishes including spaghetti bolognese and lasagne made with soya mince. And forget about only having fruit salad as an option for desert because Nova has some great cheesecakes on the menu to sweeten the deal.

Brass Monkey
Some people would argue that the best vegan hotdog in Scotland can be found in Bloc in Glasgow, but Edinburgh has its own to rival it. Brass Monkey in Leith has been serving up a great selection of vegan food for a while now including its vegan chilidog topped with bean and pepper chilli, beer soaked onions and mustard. If that's not your thing, then the menu also has vegan dishes including soup, curry, flatbreads and burgers.

BBL
Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch is a saviour for vegans in Edinburgh who don't always want a smoothie or fruit for breakfast. This city centre café, which also sells meat, is serving its own homemade vegan sausages. If that wasn't enough, they're serving both lorne and link ones. I've had a lot of vegan sausages in the past two years, but never found anywhere selling lorne ones before BBL added it to their menu. I guess that's why this café is proving to be really popular among vegans in the city.

Treacle
Situated on Broughton Street, Treacle is another Edinburgh restaurant expanding its meat-free options. They serve a banh mi with roasted cauliflower, zucchini, radish, cashews and red chili glaze, shitake mushroom noodles, and there are some salad and starter options too. They might not have any suitable desert options on the menu yet, but let's hope that's something in development to match their other great vegan dishes.

Radio Forth Awards

In 2004, I remember going to the Radio Forth Awards in Edinburgh. It was a much smaller event back then, and I was only there to help out with some of the charity aspects of the day. I was also only 17 at the time, and never thought I'd be back there 11 years later as a guest on my own table. 

This year's event started with a fantastic three course meal. I'm always sceptical about what the vegan option will be at events like this, since I've been served fruit salad as a starter and dessert at several before. It's almost like people think you won't notice if they serve the same dish on a different plate.

I forgot to take a photo of the starter which was a roasted vegetable and pastry dish, but I did get a photos of my other courses. The main course was a stuffed mushroom served with potatoes and roasted vegetables. It was really nice, even though I don't like anything to do with mushrooms, so that was left in the middle of the plate.

For dessert, I got a some kind of jelly, fruit, and cream dish which not only looked like the dessert everyone else was eating, but it was the first time I've not been served a fruit salad at an event like this.

The awards were presented by Arlene Stewart and Grant Stott, and given out to local people who have done great things and those in the entertainment industry. The Edinburgh Playhouse sponsors the Icon Award which this year went to Travis. We also managed to spot our front cover photo from my Priscilla photocall on the big screen at one point during the show.

And here's a Playhouse team photo from the end of the event when we're all still look relatively fresh!

#WTFringe Week 1

So that's the Fringe back for another year. 

We kicked everything off at The Edinburgh Playhouse on Tuesday when we got our Fringe branding up and our Flaming Galah pavement stickers down outside. On Tuesday evening, we hosted our Press Launch which you can read all about on the Edinburgh Guide website here.

On Wednesday, I went to the Assembly Rooms Press Launch Gala which was hosted by Fred MacAulay and included spots by Tom Stade, Detention, Joanna Neary, The Last Laugh and Worbey and Farrell.

On Thursday, I went to Seymour Mace at The Stand Comedy Club. I'm a little bit bias because he's one of my favourite comedians and all round awesome person, but his show was hilarious and I pretty much laughed the whole way through it. I would 100% recommend you go see it while you can, so click here to buy tickets!! 

I decided to skip my favourite venue launch party at night, and head up to The List party at Summerhall for some photo booth action instead.

On Friday, I braved the madness of the Royal Mile at lunch to take some photos of our Fringe act Robert Hoffman on one of the outdoor stages. 

Then THE BEST THING EVER happened when I met Genevieve The Owl further up The Royal Mile. And yes, it was totally worth £3 to hold her for a few minutes.

So that pretty much sums up my first week of the Fringe. This week includes Get Your Own Back, May I Have The Bill Please?, Ed Gamble, Tony Law and plans to see many more.

The Songbook of Judy Garland

There's nothing better than opening up the The Scotsman to find that interview you organised  with Lorna Luft is a double page spread in the paper. 

Flat warming party!

Here's to the last ones standing at my flat warming last night. 

I had the best time last night with some of my favourite people. There was vodka, balloons, food, lots of good music, and even some Buckfast. I also discovered my garden is perfect for those people who want to smoke, and it's going to be great in parties in summer.

I guess it's time to start planning party number two! 

Playhouse Party Times!

So this is what an Edinburgh Playhouse night out looks like. We had food and lots of drinks in Basement, and then headed to Three Sisters for lots more drinks, dancing and even some karaoke. I've pretty much avoided karaoke my whole life, but last night I really enjoyed it. I think I may have my found my calling in Spice Girls karaoke tracks. 

The whole night out was great though, and I'm really lucky to work with such an amazing group of people. And this weekend, I get to celebrate moving to Edinburgh with them all over even more drinks and dancing at mine. 

(Thanks to those people who took photos last night

so I could steal the best ones from Facebook for this post)

MOVING TIMES!

So I have officially moved to Edinburgh!!

I moved over a week ago, but I've not really had any time to do any blogging since I moved all my boxes in.

Work was pretty busy at the start of the week with Spamalot. We had the press night here last Monday, and the show ended up getting lots of 4 and 5 star reviews. I took a couple of days off work after it so I could finish moving the rest my stuff through from Polmont, but I ended up getting really, really sick and spent two days in bed. It also meant I missed the eclipse, work and a birthday night out. 

I spent most of last weekend recovering and sorting out my flat in preparation for my flat warming party next week. 

All I need to do now is adjust my body clock so I don’t keep waking up at 7am, and I think I could be pretty happy in Edinburgh. 

February Times!

I feel like I haven't been blogging nearly as much as I'd like to, even though it was one of my resolutions for 2015. So I figured I would just do a little February update, and then try to blog more throughout March.

This month, I signed the lease on my new flat in Edinburgh. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to finally be moving in a couple of weeks. It's something I never thought I'd want to do, but now I can't imagine moving anywhere else. The best thing about the flat is that it's only a 10 minute walk from work. In theory, this should mean that I look better for work, but I have feeling I'll still be sleeping in and rushing around.

Things have got  a lot busier at work now that our 2015 programme has really kicked off. We had Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in for a week with Amelia Lily, Lloyd Daniels and Matt Lapinskas.

I only managed to catch the last 10 minutes of the show, but it got some good reviews and gave me my first cover of the year -

Last week, Dirty Dancing opened for a three week run. We had STV down filming for The Fountainbridge Show, and then we took the main stars from the cast onto the roof garden of The Glasshouse Hotel for some photos for the Evening News and Herald.

So that's my update for February. I'm sure it could be longer, but I'll have a lot more to say next month.

So I guess this is how 2015 is shaping up so far at work. Wicked is still here until the first week in January and then we've got some great musicals over the year like The Bodyguard, Shrek and Dirty Dancing. There's some really good music gigs too with Paul Weller and Nick Cave both performing here in the first half of the year. And I still get to work on comedy shows because Alan Carr, Billy Bailey and Kevin Bridges are all making an appearance.

It’s a new soundtrack I could dance to this beat, beat
Forevermore
The lights are so bright
But they never blind me, me
Welcome to New York
It’s been waiting for you
Welcome to New York
Welcome to New York

When I told my best friend I was seriously thinking about moving to Edinburgh she told me it would be my 'Welcome to New York'. And I kind of have to agree. After all, I do pretty much think every situation in my life can be summed up by a Taylor Swift song. 

Moving to Edinburgh is not something I thought I would be thinking right now, never mind actually saying out loud to people. But the more I think about it, the more I really want to do it. 

I never intended to be nearly 28 and still living in Polmont. I moved back here a few years ago because I was living in Glasgow and had just been offered a job in Edinburgh. Back then, the thought of moving to Edinburgh terrified me. If I'm honest about things, then it still does. The reason I didn't move all those years ago was because Polmont had much more appeal back then. My brother was just about to get an operation, and I really wanted to be close to home for his recovery. I'd also just had my heart broken and I just needed my family and best friend around. But a lot can change in three years. My brother is healthy and at uni now. My heart, while pretty bruised, has certainly healed from that situation. And that friend who I had known since primary school is no longer in my life. 

It just seems like the perfect time to start a new chapter. I'm going to be 28 in January and I think it's finally time to grow some balls and do something that scares me. Something that will make 2015 the best year yet. 

What A Wicked Week It's Been!

It's finally happened. Wicked has arrived in Edinburgh. I figured with that in mind, I should try do a post about what actually goes on the average week of a Press Officer. I say average, but I've never actually had a week like this before. And if I'm honest, I don't know when I'll have a week quite like this again. 

Wednesday night was opening night, and we decided to turn the area around the venue into our own little Emerald City. 

So with opening night out of the way, it was time to focus on Thursday's press night. The day started really well when we discovered the photocall from the day before had made lots of the papers, including some nationals and the front of the Edinburgh Evening News. 

The press night itself was the usual type of thing, just on a much bigger scale than I'm used to. We ended up with around 80 press and celeb guests, so we had a lot of tickets to give out and lots of journalists to meet. It was also a good chance to catch up with some people I haven't seen in a while too. 

I only managed to see the last 15 minutes of the show while we were waiting with the photographer to do the curtain call photos. I missed 'Defying Gravity' earlier in the night, but i got to see 'For Good' and I think that might actually be my favourite song of the show. After the show, it was straight backstage to do some photos with Susan Boyle for the Friday's edition of the Edinburgh Evening News. 

Once the photos were done, it was straight up to the Assembly Rooms on George Street for the after show party. 

Most of the night was spent making sure all the cast photos were taken when they arrived. We did manage to get good photo of the old/new press and marketing department and then stop just before midnight to celebrate Pam's birthday. I ended up leaving the party at 1am, which is pretty early by my usual standards, to catch up on sleep ahead of Friday's Wicked meeting and STV coming to film for the News at Six.

(Me, Pam, Alan, Audrey, Sam and Catherine)

Bye Bye Fringe

So that's the Fringe over with for another year. It ended on a high because I got to meet BJ Novak aka Ryan The Temp from The Office. His show was fantastic, and it was pretty surreal to actually be in the same room as someone who is in a show you're completely obsessed with. After it, he did a signing and was just as lovely as I hoped he would be. He asked where I worked and thanked me for coming along and then went on to meet the hundreds of other people queuing up to meet him.

The actual Fringe ended on Monday with the annual Stand wrap party. I was really close to turning round on the way there and going home, but being a grown up I decided to listen to everyone who seemed to be looking forward to me being there. The party had moments of being really great, but also had moments of being awkward and horrible at all once. Once we left the main crux of people and headed to a couple of bars via a flat to refuel on vodka, the night got a lot better. I tend to feel a lot more comfortable around smaller groups of people I know, rather than huge groups of people I don't. Even though a surprising number of people I'd never met came up to me to say they liked what I was wearing, I'm still too socially anxious for those situations. The night ended in the best possible way it could, so I guess I did make the right decision to go after all. 

FRINGE TIMES: WEEK THREE

The third week of the Fringe was considerably quieter than the first two. I had to go back to work, so that alone took away a lot of my availability to see shows.

On Tuesday, The Edinburgh Playhouse hosted the launch of a new comedian photography exhibition. It’s a series of black and white portraits of the comics by Matt Crockett including people like Tony Law, Vic Reeves, Harry Hill, Josh Widdicombe and Matt Lucas. I was meant to be running the launch, but by the time I got to work I had pretty full on stomach cramps and was feeling sick, so I was back on the next train home for a day spent lying in bed.

I was back at work and feeling 100 times better on Wednesday, so I was there for the girls afternoon out to see The Other Guys. I say afternoon out, but we really just walked down a set of stairs and watched them in The Boards. The Other Guys are this great all male a cappella group from St Andrews, who known for their music parody songs like this one - 

On Friday, The Playhouse team got to leave the office at 4pm to begin a night out of Fringe fun. We headed to the the Crowne Plaza to celebrate their 1st birthday with drinks and food for everyone who could eat it. Then it was Basement for more drinks and some food I could eat, before we headed back to The Boards to see Miss Hope Springs. 

On Saturday, I managed to fit in my 3rd show of the week which was A Split Decision at Assembly Rooms. It's a really good show, and it was nice to catch up with some of comedians from The Stand and some fellow ex-employees. I spent Saturday night at Summerhall celebrating Alan's birthday with his Buffer friends and some other guys from The Playhouse, before spending most of Sunday lying around and hanging with my family.

This week I'm going to see BJ NOVAK!!!!! I also need to squeeze in some other shows, try karaoke for the first time, have a few nights out and try to spend as little money as possible. 

Fringe Times: Week Two

Having a week off during the Fringe is a luxury I could get really used to, and it's definitely going to put me off working for a Fringe venue again any time soon. 

My Fringe week started with an Edinburgh Playhouse trip to see Buffer. The play, which was written by our colleague Alan, was fantastic. It's hard not to be a little bias when your friend has written it, but it really was a great piece of theatre.

On Wednesday, I headed into town for some veggie lunch at Henderson's with Seymour Mace before going to watch his show and Simon Munnery. Simon's show was good, but I think I set my expectations too high going in, and that only led to me feeling a little let down by it.

Seymour's show on the other hand was pretty damn good. The guests change daily, and I picked a great day to go because his guests were Josie Long, Michael Legge and Robin Ince. It's on a Stand 5 for another two weeks so that gives you plenty of time to go and see it.

Thursday was my only non-Fringe day in Edinburgh. I took Rebecca for some cocktails to celebrate her getting into Stirling uni to study nursing at All Bar One. We decided against venturing into any Fringe venues and hung about the shops instead, obviously spending more money than I actually have in my bank account.

Friday night was the start of my Fringe weekend. It started with Simon Amstell, who as expected was one of my favourite acts of the Fringe so far. He also made some good points about being vegan. He talked about how often people ask him about his protein intake, so that definitely helped win me over . After Simon, it was a quick dash to the Assembly Rooms for Very Best of the Fest with Jo Caulfield, Danny Bhoy, Robin Ince, Rob Rouse and Andrew Maxwell. Then despite it being 2am and being shattered, it was time for my first ever trip to the Jazz Bar sponsored by lots of vodka and red bull to keep me awake until the first train home at 5.30am. 

Saturday was spent feeling pretty tired having only slept for about 3 hours. The first show of the day was a Best of the Fest show up at Assembly George Square with Gareth Richards and Andrew Ryan. Then it was some drinks in the sun at St Andrew Square before a trip to Assembly Rooms to see Aye Right? How No? with Keir McAllister and Vladimir McTavish. Next it was up to Pleasance Courtyard to see Pete Firman. His show was really good, but the venue didn't really accommodate his magic show well, as lots of people who couldn't really see everything he was doing on stage. Since the show started late, it meant I couldn't get to another venue to see Damian Clark in time. Instead a girl who was flyering recommended we go see David Trent. He turned out to be fantastic and the show would probably make it into my top 3 Fringe shows I've seen so far. 

I slept in for Bridget Christie and Tony Law on Sunday, so the first show of the day was Boxman at 4pm. Since he's friends with one of my friends, we managed to get ourselves into the artist bar at Gilded Balloon so we could shelter from the rain and get introduced to quite a few comedians I didn't know.

The final shows of the weekend were David O'Doherty and Frank Skinner at Assembly Theatre. I've never seen either of them live before, but they were both really good. David O'Doherty turned out to be my favourite show of the festival so far, and I also think I may want to marry him a little bit.  Frank Skinner was also really funny, although some parents took their really young kids to the show which was pretty weird.

As we enter another week of the Fringe I've realised that there's still LOTS of shows I want to go and see. But since I can't afford to actually buy many more tickets, I think it's time to try and scam some free ones for the rest of the week.

Fringe Times: Week One

So I guess the Fringe is finally here. After three years working non-stop during it, I can actually spend some time seeing shows, drinking, and hanging out with friends this year. 

Since I couldn't really go to The Stand launch party this year, I went to catch up with some people I haven't seen in a while before it. I went to have a look round the new Stand 5 venue before visiting with some of the guys at Stand 3 and 4. Then I went for some tea (or juice if you don't like tea) and catch up with Seymour, Gavin and Kate. 

I'd managed to get some free tickets through work for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo so I spent Thursday night there. I'd never actually been before, but it was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was press night, so it was a little ruined by the photographers running around and getting in the way of the performers. At some points the dancers couldn't do their routine properly because they just stood in their way. The whole thing made me feel really proud to be Scottish. If Alex Salmond wants to get more yes votes, then he really should do some campaigning when people are leaving the show. 

Despite my reservations about the big firework display at the end of the night, it was actually a really great show. I don't think i'll be rushing out to see any again soon, but maybe next time I see some I won't be having an anxiety attack about fireworks next time I see some.

On Friday I finished work at 5 and went to meet up with Cara and Emma for our first night of proper Fringe shows. We went to Espionage first to catch a free show before going up to the BBC village and then onto see The Axis of Awesome. 

Cara and Emma have been fans of them for years now, and they really didn't disappoint at all. It's weird how much you miss when you're working so much. I did feel like a bit of a traitor for hanging out at other venues, but it's also nice to actually explore the Fringe a bit more. 

On Sunday I headed back to The Stand to hide out in the tech box with Will and watch a couple of shows. Stephen K Amos was fantastic and I would recommend him to anyone who hasn't seen him before. I also stuck around to watch Rob Rouse for the first time. He was great too, but I really wish there had been more people in to watch his show.

Next week I'm planning to see lots more shows including Buffer, Simon Munnery, Seymour Mace, Bridget Christie, Simon Amstell, Damian Clark, Tony Law and then dance the night away in The Jazz Bar for the first time.

I'm also planning to sleep for more than three hours a night. Bring on week 2! 

The Fringe List: Comedy Edition

For the first time in three years I won't be working during the Fringe in Edinburgh. This means i have weekends off, only have to work eight hours a day, and I can see as many shows as I can blag/afford to go to. Sure there's a few shows at The Playhouse, but there's only five different shows all month and not the usual 40 shows a day i was used to at The Stand.

So this morning I made some vegan waffles and sat down with the Fringe brochure. I went straight to the comedy section and highlighted all the shows below. There's people I've seen before, people i know from The Stand, and others like B.J Novak that I've never seen.

I still have to work my way through the other sections of the brochure, but after some of the listings for the Traverse and Summerhall i'm pretty sure i'll be adding lots to it.

Alfie Brown: Divorced from Reality (and My Wife)
The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society
The Axis of Awesome: Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas
Aye Right? How No? The Comedy Countdown to the Referendum with Vladimir McTavish & Keir McAllister
Barbara Nice: Squirrel Proof
B.J NOVAK: ONE MORE TIME (clearly this is the show i'm most excited about)
Bridget Christie: An Ungrateful Woman
Cardinal Burns
Damian Clark: Go Ahead, Make My Damo
David Kay
David O'Doherty Has Checked Everything
Eleanor Morton: Lollipop
Fred MacAulay: The Frederendum
Frisky and Mannish: Just Too Much
Gary Little: The Thing Is
Henning Wehn: Eins, Zwei, DIY
Jack Dee's Help Desk
Joel Dommett: Finding Emo
Josie Long: Cara Josephine
Katie Mulgrew: Happily Ever After
Kerry Godliman: Face Time
Kraken
Lloyd Langford: Old Fashioned
Lost Voice Guy: Laughter Is The Worst Medicine
Robert Newman's New Theory of Evolution
Seymour Mace presents Questionable Time
Tony Jameson: The Rules of Engagement
Simon Amstell: Tour Previews
Stewart Lee: A Room With a Stew (Work In Progress)
Tony Law: Enter the Tonezone
Zoe Lyons: Mustard Cutter

Life Update: The Spring Edition

My first official week working at the Edinburgh Playhouse is over. Well i say week, but my new job gives me Bank Holidays off so i only worked four days. I think since it's taken me to the age of 27 to find a job that includes them, i'm going to be enjoying every single Bank Holiday so much more.

So far, everything has been great. I'm really excited about the different aspects of the job, and i'm working with a really nice group of people. We've got some great shows coming to the venue this year, so the plan is to try and see as many as possible. If i had to pick one that i'm most excited about, it would definitely be Wicked. It was fantastic when i saw it in New York in December, and it's coming to The Playhouse for eight weeks at the end of the year. 

I've started writing a bit more recently, and i did my second piece for The Huffington Post too. I wrote a blog about the some of the media assumptions that were flying about after Peaches Geldof died, especially the link to her liking Suicide Girls on Instagram. It's on The Huffington Post website, so if you want to read it then click here. I'm also trying to do as much as i can for The Banter at the moment, so you can also read my review of the new Kaiser Chiefs album here. 

The other areas of my life are going pretty well, or at least have some promise. I guess that's code for i can't really write about on here in case those people read what i'm saying. I also burnt my thumb really badly earlier tonight while i was taking some kale our the oven, so everything from this paragraph has had be to typed with one hand, while the other is stuck in a cup on cold water.