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TV Favourites with Freeview Play

November 11, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

I was recently asked by Freeview Play to make a post about my favourite TV shows and while this sounds like a great thing to talk about (and it is!) how do you narrow it down to an actual list of favourites, when you love so many shows?

As most of you who read my blog will know, I started a small sewing business a few months ago and since then I’ve spent more time sat at the dining table, than I have in the lounge. For the first month I got really behind on all my shows, until I decided to use my iPad to catch up and then keep on top of all the shows I love. Not only that but I have been binge watching series’ like Grimm, Switched at Birth, Awkward, Constantine, Orphan Black and many more. I’ve realised that I like so many different types of genre and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a current series or an old one, I’m ready to give it a go!

So here are some of my favourites.

Currently running – At the moment I’m really into the various superhero series that seems to be popping up everywhere. I’m watching The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl (which are all DC) and though they’re not currently airing, I also love Marvel’s Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter and Daredevil. Other shows that I love and are currently airing are Once Upon a Time, Grimm (which as I mentioned I recently binge watched from series 1-4), Modern Family and Switched at Birth (another one I recently binged on 3 series of). There are of course a few other series that are between series and waiting to start, such as Game of Thrones, The 100, NCIS, Gotham and Vikings.

British TV – while most of the afore mentioned shows are US ones that we either get a day after the US or wait weeks for, there are a few British shows I love. Casualty and Holby City air every week, while X Factor and I’m a Celebrity are only on this time of year. Orphan Black is also a British show that I recently fell in love with and I’m waiting for it to start again. Though most of these shows are my guilty pleasures, I’m not afraid to say I enjoy them. We’re also watching Release the Hounds which is a recent find but an enjoyable light-hearted watch.

Cancelled shows – over the years there have been a lot of cancelled shows that I’ve loved, including Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Doll House (all Joss Whedon!). However I recently watched one series of Constantine and really enjoyed it and I started on Defiance (though I’m not sure if I like it or not) and I found out that had been cancelled too. I also enjoyed both The Following and Revolution, both of which have been cancelled and a recent TimeHop post reminded me of a series called Flash Forward which was so good and such a shame it was cancelled. Finally I’m just now catching up a the last few series of Glee. I was a hardcore fan for the first few but it dropped off and while I still enjoyed it for light-hearted entertainment, I wasn’t bothered either. Now, with my VIZIO smart tv I search for shows to watch and have plenty of series to go at, so I’m just making my way through 4-6 with the hope of ticking it off the list.

There are so many more shows I could give a mention to but I would be here all day. I hope to find and enjoy even more over the weeks to come but I’ll be sure to let you know of what I find!

Week 25 – Monday Round-up

June 22, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Last week I was late with this particular post and this week is no different either! Where Monday and Tuesday of last week were spent catching up on the decorating from over the weekend, this week has been spent catching up on catching up!

Monday I spent pretty much the whole day with Nat, after dropping the kids off at school. It was her youngest son Harry’s 2nd birthday and my gift to him was a mattress (a bed, a stairgate and a bedside…). Strange gift I know but basically Nat was wanting to move him into a big bed so I headed over there with a divan bed for Josh (her oldest son), which after we took the cot apart and put in the loft (oh I took a ladder too but that wasn’t for them to keep!) we moved Josh’s bed to Harry’s room, put the new mattress on it and then put the divan in Josh’s room. We put new bedding on Harry’s bed, added the bedside and also put up a stairgate. Afterwards Nat and I went to the tip and then Asda Living for a fitted sheet, all before I headed back to get the kids from school. The evening was spent trying to relax, even though there was still decorating to do. We did watch the Game of Thrones finale however *sob sob*.

On Tuesday Chris was off work so we made an effort to get our bedroom a bit straighter. We hoovered and tidied, moved furniture and most importantly put up a curtain rail so we could hang curtains and sleep back in there that night. We also wandered into town for a few hours to buy shelves and new curtains. We spent the afternoon finishing everything off and finally moving back into our room. It isn’t finished sadly (even now as I write this a week on) but it’s getting there slowly. I have had a lot to do since last Tuesday though so I haven’t done anything further on it.

In the evening we moved the wardrobe forward (which is so heavy we had to empty it all out first) so I could paint the last wall. Since it was so heavy and all the stuff out of it made such a mess (and I didn’t want to put it back in, only to take it out again), I spent the whole evening giving the wall five coats of paint, one every half an hour. Chris and I then moved the wardrobe back, had a sort through our clothes and then crawled into bed!

On Wednesday I had a catch up blog day. I was so behind on posts I was supposed to write that it took me all day to catch up and I still wasn’t done. However I did manage to write about five for my own blog and two for TTM. Thursday started off with a breakfast from Morrisons as I offered to give Chris a lift to work and he treated me. When I got back home though I properly cracked on with a murder mystery I’ve been writing – a sort of gift for my friend’s birthday at the end of this current week. I made some progress but it all seemed very slow. I also accidentally loaded $100 into my Fiverr account which was a slap on the forehead moment. I worked all day and into the evening on the Murder Mystery but didn’t get all that far.

Friday was another day working on the Murder Mystery but it ended up more of a blog/internet day. I still felt so behind on everything I needed to do so I spent most of my time getting organised, but the evening spent on the murder mystery again. After that, my whole weekend was swallowed by the murder mystery and I’m not even kidding. I spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday, breaking only briefly to make tea, feed the kids, put some washing on etc. It genuinely felt like I was getting somewhere the whole time but in the same token it seemed like I had loads left to do.

In the end I could feel myself getting annoyed and snappy so I took Sunday evening off. I watched some TV and then decided to turn that off even and read a book. I read two short stories and then started on the second book in a series I’ve been reading and enjoying. I will write a review shortly of the first book – Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands, #1).

Other than that, I won’t get into my Monday and Tuesday so far but needless to say they’ve been busy again. Right now I have emails to go through and some housey bits to get done, but I’m hoping to actually see my sewing machine this evening – fingers crossed!

My Top 5 TV Dads

June 9, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Father’s Day is always a somber sort of time for me. My dad passed away over 10 years ago and since my husband and I separated, the girls don’t see their dad on Father’s Day either. As such, when I found out Curry’s PC World were hosting a competition about people’s top five tv dads, I decided it would be a great thing to do, to give some positivity to this time of year! All the terms can be found here if you’re wanting to enter. Here are my picks (in no particular order).

Phil Dunphy – Modern Family

I have watched Modern Family since it first came out and Phil Dunphy has always been one of my favourite characters. He’s so incredibly down to earth, so normal, such an idiot. He’s completely loveable and how he puts up with Claire, I really don’t know. Sad part is that half the time I think our family functions a little like the Dunphy household. That makes me Claire, I know, but it’s true! The thing I like most about Phil is that he’s just very real. TV shows us a lot of perfect people, a lot of perfect parents and very few people are actually like that in real life. Phil rocks – thumbs up Ty Burrell.

Joe West – The Flash

This is a bit of a cheat answer, because while Joe West is a dad, it’s not his relationship with daughter Iris that I like him for. Instead, his surrogate/foster dad relationship with Barry Allen in The Flash, is what makes me love him. Though The Flash is only in it’s first series, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it from start to end. I can’t tell you how many times the show has had me in tears. And, without spoiling the season finale, the last episode where Joe and Barry might lose the bond/relationship they currently share, is by far one of the most heartbreaking moments I’ve watched recently.

Marshall Eriksen – How I Met Your Mother

Now if I had to pick a best character from HIMYM, Barney Stinson would win hands down for me. However when it comes to being the best father, Barney doesn’t really come close (until the last ever episode of course). However Marshall Eriksen is awesome. He may not be the first person that springs to mind when you think of TV dads, but I think he would have been so cool to have as a father. Not only that, but with a husband/wife relationship like Marshall and Lily, what more could you want from your parents? He’s a big kid himself but I’m sure he would have been such a fun and loving dad. He’s definitely in my top five picks.

Ned Stark – Game of Thrones

As always, Sean Bean died far too early in the scheme of Game of Thrones series. However the character of Ned Stark was one of the best there has been. Though also a husband, I really only think of Ned as his role as a father. His four/five kids really did have a great role model to look up to. Even to the end he showed that honour was one of the best qualities you can have – even if it gets you killed!

Pop Larkin – The Darling Buds of May

This last choice is a little bit nostalgic as it brings back memories of weekends as my Nan and Grandad’s, watching episodes of TDBOM. David Jason has always been one of my favourite actors and I absolutely adored him as Pop Larkin. The dynamics of the family as a whole were really what made the series, but Pop himself was the core and heart of the Larkin family. To be absolutely truthful I don’t remember a lot about the series itself (I was a lot younger then) but I do know I enjoyed it a lot. I’m pretty sure I wanted to live with the Larkin’s at one stage so that says a lot for both Ma and Pop.

It was really hard to narrow down my top 5 TV dads and so I want to give a notable mention to; Philip Banks (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Cliff Huxtable (Crosby Show), Luke Dane (Gilmore Girls) and Sandy Cohen (The O.C.). I’m sure there are plenty more TV dads that I love though but that’s all I can think of for now!

Who is your favourite TV dad?

In memory of the best dad – my dad.

T-Shirt Thursday

February 19, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Yet again this week I’m posting my T-shirt Tuesday on a Thursday, but this week I sort of have a good excuse! My best friend Amy (from Cocktails in Teacups) decided very late on Monday night that she was coming to visit for a couple of days and so from Tuesday to today, I’ve had her and her daughter Olivia visiting. As such I’ve either been busy or completely exhausted, with no time to make blog posts (and none pre-done as a backup!). In all honesty, all I want to do tonight is go for a bath but a guilty conscience had got the better of me. As such though, its just going to be a quickie from me tonight – just the t-shirt I was wearing on Tuesday and no project t-shirt.

This t-shirt design is called Winter is Coming and combines a Frozen and Game of Thrones crossover. Elsa is sat on an ice version of the Iron Throne, with the quote “winter is coming”, a slogan from GoT too. The design belongs to an artist known as Harebrained. If you like the t-shirt, its available in a variety of places including RedBubble, TeeFury and TeePublic. It’s one of my favourite t-shirts and also drawing styles!

Though, like I said, I haven’t got around to starting on my next project, I will give you a sneak peak. This is the design I’ll be using next time!

Week 7 – Monday Round-up

February 16, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Some weeks I really hate the fact I do this round up thing – haha. I honestly right now can’t remember what I did yesterday, let alone a week ago. I’m going to try though, but it might be brief! On Monday Chris had the day off and the girls were at school. We had a very lazy day that started with bacon butties and moved on to cheese toasties at lunch. I spent majority of the day on my computer and then rang my car insurance to add Chris to it. After that he drove us to Saxilby – which was probably the most scary experience of my life. We picked the girls up from school and this time I drove home. When we got back Chris had offered to get us Indian for dinner and since I knew the girls wouldn’t want that, I ordered them pizza and a chicken burger from takeaway instead. During the day time my order for Ravenclaw material had finally arrived and so I spent the early part of the evening, cutting out the pattern pieces. Before putting the girls to bed I read them some more of the Never Girls book and then Chris and I watched the next few episodes of 100 before then watching the new Walking Dead episode. Not long afterwards, we headed to bed.

On Tuesday I have less of a recollection for the events. I know I took the girls to school and then headed pretty much straight home. I started to sew Amy’s Ravenclaw skirt and watch TV at the same time. After I finished that, I finished my T-Shirt Tuesday project which was the Game of Thrones handbag and finally after that I took a bath, knowing I didn’t have to pick up the girls from school. Honestly I don’t remember much more of the day, though no doubt blogging about my handbag was part of the day! Wednesday I was off to London, to see the Game of Thrones Exhibit at the O2. I took the girls to school and then headed to Newark where I would be parking the car for the day and catching the train. I headed off to London and went straight to the O2. The exhibition was pretty good but doing it alone just wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped it would be. After I’d looked around the exhibit, I caught the tube to Oxford Street and did some shopping. I went to the Disney Store, Primark, H&M and Lush. After all that I popped to M&S to grab a salad and then headed back to Kings Cross. I caught my train around 6pm and was back at Newark for about 7.30pm. I then drove home to Chris who was home by then too. I snuggled up on the sofa with him but was pretty tired so we headed to bed about 10pm.

On Thursday I managed a lay-in as the girls had stopped at Grandma’s and she was taking them to school. However as Chris wasn’t at work till late as well, it meant I didn’t get much of a sleep as sadly he wakes me! We eventually did get up and lounged around for a while, before heading out to take Chris to work. I was due to go around to my mum’s to get our electronic registration for visas done but as she wasn’t in, I popped into town for an hour first. After that I went to my mum’s and spent the afternoon there until going to get the kids. We then came straight home and hung out together for the evening. Just before bedtime, Megan started to feel unwell and so it was decided if she didn’t feel great the next morning, she wouldn’t go to school. I also realised that if Megan didn’t go, Lily probably wouldn’t want to either. Anyway in the morning neither girl felt well and so they didn’t go to school. Chris went out on his driving lesson and then straight to work afterwards and so the girls and I spent the day together. We popped out to the shops to get a few bits and pieces but for the most part we spent the day chilling out. We did have to make some Disney inspired food but that was pretty good fun. After the girls were in bed I spent the evening on my computer, watching TV and waiting for Chris to come home. When he did get back though I was so tired that we pretty much went straight to bed.

On Saturday morning the kids woke us up at about 9am with cards they’d made for us. We all got up and got dressed, heading out for “all you can eat” breakfast. After that we dropped Chris at the station and headed home. The girls got changed into fancy dress and we all watched a movie together as our Valentine’s treat. At 3.30pm the girls got changed again as Lily was heading out to a party. We dropped her off at the leisure centre and then Megan and I got some dinner and went for a coffee. Afterwards we went for a wander, in and out of shops, before heading back to get Lily and then go home. We then settled down to watch another movie together before the girls went to bed. On and off during the day I managed to sew Megan’s Ravenclaw dress and a Villains skirt for Lily too. Chris was home for 10pm and we watched a bit of TV before heading to bed. Finally it was Sunday and we had another fairly full day planned. We headed out to take Chris to work at 11.30am but we had to have so much stuff with us, that we spent most of the morning getting organised. We dropped Chris off at work and headed into town for a while. Lily bought a Tsum Tsum as they were released in the UK that day and then we all went to BHS for lunch. It was a bit of a bust AND we were late back to the car and I got a ticket.

We then went to my mum’s for the afternoon and despite planning to watch a DVD there, that didn’t work out either. At 3.30pm I had to take Megan to a party and then pop to Grandma’s to pick up a bag I’d left earlier in the week. I got caught chatting for a while but then got back to mum’s. The girls’ dad let me know he would be having them overnight and so I went to pick Megan up from her party and when I got back to mum’s, he was just arriving there too. I saw both the girls off and then stayed at mum’s for the evening to save on petrol and picking Chris up from work. At 9pm I went to get Chris but we popped back to mum’s as I’d offered up Chris’ services for fixing the pipe under her sink. After a quick look and removal of a few pipes, we headed home and sat together to watch some TV. We eventually headed to bed, to end our week!

That sums up my week haha. I’m sure I missed stuff but that’s the general jist. As usual these days, it was a good week and I look forward to the next one!

T-shirt Tuesday

February 10, 2015 by Bel 1 Comment

Hello hello! It’s late on, on Tuesday, but I didn’t forget my T-shirt Tuesday post. As normal, I’m going to showcase the tee I wore today, as well as update you on last week’s project tee.

This here is the t-shirt I was wearing today. The design is called The Fandom School and its by someone called saltnburn. You can find the design for sale on Qwertee. It’s a very clever design, featuring fandoms of Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Hunger Games and of course Harry Potter. The slogan at the bottom is J.R.R. Tolkien. I love this t-shirt as its just a combination of geekiness.

And then onto my project…

Last week I told you about this t-shirt called Throne Fighter. It’s by DrewWise and can be found in various places such as Red Bubble, Ript Apparel and TeePublic. I decided since I didn’t like the fit of the shirt (I love the design) that I’d upcycle it into something new and with the Game of Thrones Exhibition tomorrow, what better time was there? Since I made a dress last time, I wanted to go for something different. As such, I made a hand bag this time and this was the process.

First I cut off the sleeves and then I cut slits into the bottom of the t-shirt. After that I pulled on each slit, making a sort of noodle out of each. Finally I tied each tassle in pairs, front and back, in a double knot. This gave me the basics for the bag. After that I just made a few alterations to the sleeve holes and the straps, adjusting it to look right. This is what I finished up with!

And here it is, my completed Game of Thrones back which I will be taking with me to the O2 tomorrow. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and I can’t wait to try it out!

Pop back next week to see another showcase tee and I’ll pick out my next project t-shirt too.

T-Shirt Thursday

February 5, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Okay so its not Tuesday, its Thurday… but what’s a few days between friends? This week on Tuesday I a) didn’t wear a t-shirt and b) ended up out of the house far too long to actually get around to making this post. As such I decided that I’d push it back a few days and bring you T-Shirt Thursday!

First let’s get around to the t-shirt I’ve been wearing today. It’s one of the ones I’ve owned for the longest and I love it!

Today’s tee is a nice bright red one, that crosses Disney’s “The Incredibles” with the Princess Bride and its well known expression “Inconceivable”. The design is by ZombieDollars and is called, surprisingly, The Inconceivables. I originally bought it from Qwertee, way back in September of 2012. It is currently for sale in a variety of places including TeeFury and TeePublic. ZombieDollars is also know as Nik Holmes and you can check out all his designs on his website www.nikholmes.com (I definitely recommend you do!)

After that, we move onto this week’s t-shirt project. If you’re new to T-shirt Tuesday or even my blog, I’ll quickly fill you in. A few weeks ago I went through my mountains of tees and picked out a few that I didn’t really wear for one reason or another. I have decided to up-cycle and re-purpose some of them, blogging about them here on a Tuesday (or in this case Thursday!). This week’s project is Game of Thrones themed, as next week I’m traveling to the O2 in London, to see the Game of Thrones Exhibition.

This tee is a cross between not only Game of Thrones, but also computer games such as Street Fighter or Tekken. The design is called “Throne Fighter” and I loved it from the moment I saw it. However I don’t really like the t-shirt I bought it on, so I’ll be recycling it this week into something else I can use! Check back here next week to see how I’ve got on…. *hint* it won’t be a dress this time!

Day 2: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

July 16, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

Yesterday when I started my post about LFCC, I had fully expected to write about all three days in one post. However the more I wrote, the more I realised it would be better as separate posts. So if you’d like to read about my Friday, and Preview Evening at LFCC, you can read my Day 1: LFCC post here.

Today I want to focus on the Saturday – by far my favourite day of the whole weekend. The five people in our group, had all agreed to dress up. As Amy had decided to be Ariel, after much thought, I decided to go as Vanessa – Ursula in disguise. My brother and his girlfriend decided to go as Han Solo and Princess Leia, while my partner Chris went as Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist.

I got up at 7am and jumped straight into the shower. I knew it would take me a while to get ready and we wanted to be out of the Travelodge around 8am. Once I was showered, I got straight into my costume and this is pretty much how I looked:

Next I moved onto my makeup. Since Vanessa doesn’t really wear makeup (or at least she doesn’t seem to) so I kept mine fairly basic. I’m not really one for lots of makeup anyway to be honest, so I preferred it that way.

Once everyone was ready, we set off for Hounslow again. While we waited on the platform, we took a group selfie. When we got on the tube, we took another. It was actually great fun, getting on the tube all dressed up – especially as no one really batted an eyelash.

On the next carriage over, there was another group of cosplayers, all dressed up in DC Comic themed costumes. There was The Joker, The Riddler and Harley Quinn. When we arrived at Earls Court, the first thing that hit us was just how much busier it looked today, than it had the night before. As we walked towards Earls Court 2, the queues looked huge (and chaotic) and we knew it was going to be some time before we actually got into the building! However Optimus Prime and all the other Transformers were outside the building and this time I wasn’t going to miss photographing them!

Eventually we found where we were supposed to queue. We had Early Bird tickets and the queue ran up one way and then back the other, but it didn’t seem so bad. We started to queue at around 9am but it soon became obvious that we would be queuing a long time. Though it had appeared to be a short line, the queue in actual fact went right around the building, way further than you could see. It was actually about 10.30am before we got inside of the convention hall. Even then, it was obvious to see that it was much busier than the night before, so we quickly wandered around to see whose autographs we might want, grabbing a VQ ticket. I got 176 for Anthony Head and 726 for John Hurt. Chris also got one for Casper Van Dien. I would have loved to also meet Jamie Bamber, T.J. Thyne, Edward James Olmos, Jenna Coleman, and Milo Ventimiglia, but unfortunately funds couldn’t run to that! Instead we then wandered off around the stalls, popping back every now and again to check what numbers our VQs were at.

The rest of the day isn’t so much of a step by step guide, but instead a vague relay of what happened. Chris met Casper Van Dien, we both met Anthony Head. Our group split up for the majority of the day, but every now and again, especially when it got too warm in the building, we’d all meet up outside and sit in the shade for a while. We had lunch, we checked out the West Brompton building and then we wandered around some more. There were definitely parts of the day when I wished we could go home and change. I loved my costume but it was just such a warm day that I wanted to trade it in for my jeans and a t-shirt. We also had to hang around for the Game of Thrones screening and commentary at 7pm, so it did feel like a bit of a wait at times.

At around 5.30pm, after checking John Hurt’s queue loads of times, it was finally my turn to queue! It felt a little rushed and almost like we were being herded into the autographing area, but at that point I didn’t care. I was about to meet Mr Ollivander!

I have to admit I went a little fan girl after meeting John Hurt! It was a long day and he wasn’t personalising autographs, but I still got to say how nice it was to meet him and he said it was nice to meet me too and then we shook hands. I almost skipped out of the signing booth!

By that point, the convention was starting to wind down for the day. Amy and I ran around taking shots of all the different celebrities, as the queues to meet them died down. Afterwards everyone had to leave the hall, but we re-queued as we needed to get back in for the GoT screening. Again it was another long queue and while it was supposed to start at 7pm, it was actually 7.30pm before everyone was even seated.

Even then it was 7.45pm before anything actually got started. We watched an episode of GoT, with a commentary from Finn Jones, Kristian Nairn and Daniel Portman. It was pretty fun but at the same time there were moments that just felt a little awkward. I also thought it was a bit of shame that Showmasters had advertised a Special Guest and then it was just a Joffrey piñata. That said, it was an awesome piñata and now I want one!

The screening finally finished around 9pm. We had friends waiting outside for us – two of which had been to the Harry Potter Studio that day, the other of which had caught the train up just to meet up with us. We all headed back to the tube and then back to Hounslow. There we got Pizza Hut and KFC for dinner before heading back to the Travelodge. Outside the hotel, we got chatting to someone who was running a stall at Comic Con. We also saw Optimus Prime in the car park again! Finally though, we all headed to bed, knackered from an exhausting day and ready for another the next day!

Day 1: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

July 15, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

Although I want to carry on with my #LincsBlogMeet company focus posts, I am absolutely desperate to tell you all about my amazing weekend. The weekend just gone was London Film and Comic Con by Showmasters and I really had one of the best times of my life!

Many months ago, Amy and I decided we wanted to go to a convention, largely to dress up. When looking through all of the available options, LFCC stood out the most, due to its sheer volume of celebrities attending. Not only that but it was the furthest one away, datewise, and still had more people listed than some conventions that were happening only a few weeks away. We also noticed that over the weeks that passed, more and more celebrities were added to their “attending” page and this totally sold it for us. On top of that, Stan Lee would be attending and he has long been my hero. It was also to be his last European appearance and so if there was any doubt, this sealed the deal!

We booked our tickets, way back in February and they arrived in April. I was so super excited to actually receive them – tickets for the whole weekend and a photo shoot with Stan Lee. Originally the weekend consisted of myself, my partner Chris, Amy, my brother Chris and his girlfriend Erika. However over time it developed into being Tom and Nat for the Sunday and then eventually even our friend Jon for the Sunday too. In all honesty, I know a lot more of our friends would have liked to come but there are only so many people you can fit in a car!

In order to keep things cheap, we booked a Travelodge at Heston, planning to catch the Underground into London each day. When the numbers grew, we also swapped from taking my own car, to taking my mum’s car, which I think is slightly more fuel efficient. On top of that, we spent months planning what costumes we may or may not wear.

Finally the day was here and though I was working until 1.30pm on Friday 11th, I was so excited to finish and get on our way. We left Lincoln at about 2pm and arrived at our Travelodge around 5.30pm. We checked in and stayed only briefly, before heading to Hounslow where we would catch the Tube to Earls Court. We paid for 3 days car parking there, topped up our Oyster cards and then we were off. The car journey had been only myself, Chris, my brother and his girlfriend, as Amy was arriving a little later. When the four of us arrived at Earls Court – left via the wrong exit and walked all the way around – it was about 7.30pm and so we got straight into the convention. My brother and I headed straight over to where the Stan Lee photoshoot was as we both had tickets, but our partners went off for a walk while we were queuing.

The wait wasn’t really that long and we managed to find plenty to talk about while we queued. My brother and I were really excited to finally see Stan Lee, even though we knew it would only be for a few seconds. Just as we were about to head into the photoshoot area, Chris and Erika joined us again, both having found where the programmes were being sold. They waited though while my brother and I went in for the photo and while it was literally only 2 seconds with Stan Lee, it was actually awesome.

For a little while I walked around like a giddy girl, chuffed about how Stan Lee had said “Hi” to me as I stood beside him and how I had said “thanks” after the photo was taken. I was also incredibly pleased for how the photo came out, half expecting to look fat or be sporting a double chin.

The four of us then wandered around the convention hall, seeing who was there to offer an autograph that evening. Many people were saying it was the best time to meet people and get their autographs as they had a lot more time on a Friday night. This was true about a lot of the things that evening to be honest. We soon spotted the Game of Thrones, Iron Throne. There was absolutely no queue and so we all jumped in to get a picture!

Again, I was really pleased with the photo, thinking it came out pretty well. Everyone else seemed pleased with their photos too. The rest of the evening we spent walking around the hall, up and down each aisle, looking at all the stalls. We were well behaved and didn’t buy anything, knowing we would have a proper look over the next few days.

Amy text to say she was outside and actually the evening was drawing to an end anyway. I was excited to get outside and photo the Transformers who had been outside when we arrived. However when we got outside, the Transformers were gone. I was really disappointed but I figured they’d be back the next day and would just be sure to photograph them then! We met up with Amy and caught the tube back to Houndslow. There we decided to get food, some of us getting kebab and the others getting KFC. We ate outside on a wall near the station, before finally getting in the car and heading back to the Travelodge. There we got a wonderful surprise, spotting Optimus Prime parked in the car park!

We spotted him out of the window and quickly stopped to take some photographs. However I knocked my can of coke over in the car and since it was Mum’s car, we all panicked a bit, parked up quick and cleaned up the mess. Once we’d all dropped off our stuff in our rooms, my brother and I headed back outside to take a few more photos. We both took pictures in front of Optimus Prime, just to prove we were actually there!

Finally we headed back to our rooms and all just went straight to bed. It had been a long day, I was tired from work, the driving and of course heading straight out to comic con. We were all really excited for the next day, as it felt like it would be the main day of LFCC.

Come back tomorrow for Day 2: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

My First “Nerd Block”

May 27, 2014 by Bel 3 Comments

Have you ever heard of Nerd Block? Well if not, you’re missing out! Nerd Block is the brain child from the owners of Shirt Punch – an awesome t-shirt site, located in Canada. I have bought many of their one-a-day t-shirts, but until this month, I’ve never bought their Nerd Block box! I’ve been dying to try it, but sadly with the International postage its a little bit costly. However, this month I gave into temptation and this is what I got!

For $19.99 a month, plus postage you can subscribe to this “Nerd Block – Classic“. There are other options too, such as “Nerd Block – Horror” (also $19.99), or even ones for kids with “Nerd Block – Boys” and “Nerd Block – Girls” (both $13.99 instead). I know my partner was really tempted to try the Horror box and next time I might even swap my subscription to the Girls one!

Inside my box, I got a collection of random nerdy things. This particular box seemed to have a sort of Star Wars theme to it, though there were a couple of other things too.

The Star Wars papercraft playset looks great, but sadly neither of my kids are into Star Wars. This particular item will probably get put away for now and given as part of a gift to someone who will love it! The Darth Vader plush is incredibly cute, so that was instantly passed to my partner Chris, who has a collection of random nerdy stuff on his desk. The t-shirt was in my size (something you select on signing up to subscription) but sadly I’m not into Star Wars either and I can’t give that to Chris as its in the wrong size. I’m thinking perhaps Amy might like it though, or if not then maybe Rhiannon! Its such as a shame as I love GoT, the cross-over reference it also contains.

Other than the Star Wars stuff, there was a Mario Bros. dangler (that turned out to be Luigi), a Spider-Man comic (which I intend to give to Nat as I know she desperately wants to own a comic!) and a Stick-It Pad – basically a sort of silicone sheet which you place on your dash (or anywhere else) and can place things like your phone on it so it won’t slip.

I absolutely love the idea of a Nerdy box, but sadly I’m not a nerd of all genres! While the stuff in the box is great and definitely worth the $19.99, none of this particular box was really for me. I’ll stick it out for at least another month and see how I get on, perhaps even move to a different themed subscription after that… however for anyone who is a nerdy to the extreme, I would definitely recommend these boxes.

Sadly, as it comes from Canada, there is one definite downside and that’s the customs label. Talk about a spoiler before you even open the box!