TGI Friday's: Cocktails, Tapas & Art ♥ @TGIFridaysUK

On Wednesday night, I had a text from one of my now best friends Rachael (who I actually met through blogging) asking if I wanted to be her plus one to a bloggers 'Live Art & Cocktails' event the next day at @TGIFridaysUK in Manchester. It was a night to celebrate their new range of cocktails - '100 cocktails as 100 unique works of art' as well as their tapas menu and of course I'm not one to turn down free tasters and, most importantly, free cocktails so I jumped at the chance!

I've only ever been to TGI Friday's once before and although the food was great, I have experienced the place it in a whole different way! We were firstly led upstairs to a bar where we were introduced to the event and were told how "they wanted their attendees to represent the cocktails as pieces of art."

Right from the start, Rachael and I could tell that these bartenders weren't just there to serve people their drinks and that be it.. they all had their own cheeky, fun sides yet were hugely knowledgeable about the drinks they were serving and it was a night that they could share their passion. We learnt very quickly that the bartenders know how to mix around 700 different cocktails.. amazing!

TGI's motto // Complimentary Cocktails Card // Popping Candy Strawberry Margarita

The evening was especially to showcase their newer cocktails inspired by American sweets and desserts: Popping Candy Strawberry Margarita, Passionate Rose and Lemon Meringue Pie. We were each allowed three complimentary cocktails and were also told to challenge the bartenders in our choices.. no mojitos! The first drink we both had was the Popping Candy Strawberry Margarita.. who in their right mind would refuse a drink like a strawberry margarita that included popping candy?! It was delicious and I suggest you all try it! - A winner right from the start! We were then told by people walking round to challenge the bartenders as much as we could and this made me realise how much they really know their stuff. The second and third time we were served drinks, I just mentioned some spirits I liked, and got given the most amazing cocktails! Rachael even saw some chocolate flakes behind the bar and her words were "I want something frozen, fruity, with tequila and a chocolate flake!" Amazingly, our barman @fastraksteve managed to come up with something! 

Popping Candy Strawberry Margarita // Fruity Frozen Cocktails (Can't remember the names!!) // Peach Crush

Throughout the evening, we were being served samples from TGI's new tapas menu alongside the cocktails. I would never have thought to go there for tapas but how wrong I was... the food was amazing and I can't wait to go back! - (It's a shame we had to share the food with other bloggers at the event as I'm sure we could easily have filled ourselves up all evening!!)

In between trying to keep myself from eating all the food, we wandered round the event to visit the artists that were there, each producing their own style of art to represent the three newer drinks on the menu. There was Caroline Dowsett, who painted a portrait inspired by the Passionate Rose drink, Millie Connors who made a lemon meringue pie from felt (of which we could take away packs to make a slice!) Lastly, there was Erin Echo who created illustrated Polaroid portraits for the guests based on their Twitter photos! 

Erin Echo // Caroline Dowsett // Millie Connors

As if that wasn't enough, the hugely talented bartenders from TGI's were also demonstrating their talents to the bloggers. A couple of them spent most of their evening showing off their flair bartending skills, of which Rachael had a go and was actually pretty good! Another of the barmen / waiters, Ron, was a magician.. you can find him on twitter @Ronismagic and he completely and utterly stunned us with his magic! I have never been more amazed by a close up magician before and will be telling everyone I'm photographing weddings for to get in touch with him... I just can't even explain how good he is! - You need to see it for yourselves!! (We even got his autograph for when he becomes famous!)

@RonisMagic magician // Rachael & I being wowed by Ron

I just want to say a huge thanks to all the TGI staff & guests for such an enjoyable evening, but also to everyone who organised it. Most of all thanks to Rachael for asking me to be her plus one! I had such a good evening and what I loved most was the genuine care the bartenders had for their guests, that they just wanted us all to have a good time and I loved that their passion for the cocktail menu utterly shone through!

Rachael & I with our first cocktails

I will certainly be visiting TGI's very soon for some more yummy food and cocktails, what a great place!!

(All photos are my own apart from photo of magician - some photos can be found on my instagram - search georgina_balmer_photography)

Tangle Teezer Review

Back in June for my birthday I asked for a Tangle Teezer as had wanted to try one out for ages. Let me tell you.. having naturally curly / wavy hair could be great but I have battled with many a severe tangle my whole life. I have quite thick hair very very prone to tangles.. I literally can wash my hair and by the time it has dried it has knotted all underneath. My hair has always been like this, no matter what silky soft conditioning treatments I use and after hearing about the Tangle Teezer, I had to try it.

(All photos by Georgina Balmer Photography - Please ask for permission to use)

Product Description:

Ask yourself - are you a hair criminal who is repeatedly guilty of torturing your hair with inappropriate brushes or combs that only tug, tighten and tear tangles from your hair? If the answer is yes, help is at hand. Hair rehabilitation is painless and easy with Tangle Teezer.

Change your hair brush not your lifestyle. A Tangle Teezer hair brush will break the cycle of broken hair and give tangled hair the brush off. A revolution in detangling hair, it has the ability to flex and not pull upon contact with tangles, gently and effortlessly delivering smooth and shiny hair in an instant. The result? Hair perfection.

Your perfect hair care partner, Tangle Teezer Original is a gentle pain free hair detangler that has been referred to as the miracle brush that detangles like nothing else. Its secret is it allows you to manage and style your hair as never before, transforming tangled hair into stress free, style-able hair and encouraging your hair’s natural shine and thickness to return.

In all honesty, I was a little wary about how something so little could work like a dream, but how wrong I was! The Tangle Teezer is so small it fits snug in the palm of your hand, with bristles that come in varying lengths. The bristles are short, very flexible and don't tear at your hair like many other brushes.

For me, this doesn't smoothly cut through the tangles, but it does work like a miracle compared to any other brush I have EVER used. Literally. I can't believe I hadn't tried it sooner!! No longer do I have to grab hold of my hair tightly for it to not sting my scalp.. I can run this through my hair with no pain whatsoever which is a dream for me! Admittedly, I have to run it a few times on the underneath of my hair, but it is nothing compared to what I used to have to do before it was in my life.

The ONLY downside I have to it, is that as I use it in the shower, it gets a little slippy, but there is also one now with a handle and I chose not to have that one as I wanted one I could closely grip.
All in all, the tangle teezer is worth every penny. It has drastically reduced the time I take to get through my tangles, and to have something that doesn't tug, pull or hurt in any way but still has the same outcome, is a life changer for me. I couldn't be without it now!

(`Please note: These photos are of the Tangle Teezer after 4 months daily use, hence the curved bristles - obviously they do not come like this!)

This miracle item can be found in Boots stores but also on Amazon and many other stores for around £9-£11. Enjoy!

Has anyone else tried them out? What are your thoughts? 

Sheffield Meet Up ♥

So after attempt 1 of this huge post, I managed to delete it all :( so here goes attempt number 2!

Warning: Text and photo heavy post!

For anyone who follows me on Instagram or Twitter, you will probably know that I went to Sheffield Meet Up last Saturday, which was hosted by Rachel, Caroline and Charlotte. Rachel asked me if I'd take some photos of it, which is the reason for so many photos on the blog today!

I met up with Caroline, Charlotte and Fran at Manchester Piccadilly, and we all caught the train together to see Rachel. Here, I was introduced to Claire and we all begun to help set up. Lots of companies had donated so many products and I just couldn't believe the amount that kept appearing out of nowhere to be added to the goody bags. Charlotte had also been very busy and spent hours hand making personalised name tags to attach to each of the bags.. as I am like a magpie, the glitter and hearts were amazing..!

The event was hosted at The Handmade Burger Co. in Meadowhall and they let us have a whole half of their restaurant! They were amazingly generous and provided us with a meal, of which I chose the cheese & bacon chicken burger. We also had a side each, but after the burger, Rachel and I could only manage to share our chips as the portions were so big! We even had bottomless soft drinks for the whole time we were there and I cannot wait until they come to Manchester (apparently in July - eek excited!) Thank you for an amazing meal!

Once we had finished our food and got rid of our food babies, it was time for yet more goodies in a giveaway. My name was drawn out of a hat bag and I was lucky enough to win a Pore Essential product from DHC worth £28! I was amazed as I never win anything! Charlotte won the Paul Mitchell hamper which I will admit, I'm sure along with everyone, I was a teeny bit jealous as it looked SO amazing!!

Some of the prizes and Charlotte's hamper

Giveaway time, bloggers, inside the bags

Other bloggers at the event

After delicious food, more goodies and chatting away to friends, old and new, it was time for us to split into smaller groups to visit the Lush store. As a newbie to Lush and only popping in when I've had to drag the boyfriend in (hence, spending hardly any time in there,) I'd always thought they just sold bath time products...how wrong I was! Each group had the chance of spending time looking at new products, interacting with them and testing them out. Our group consisted of: me, Claire, Rachel, Charlotte, Stacey and Kerys. The first product we had a play with was called 'FUN.' This is a play-dough like product, that can be used for bath bubbles, as soap or even shampoo and was in fact so much fun! (See what I did there?!) We are all such big kids and the toy element had us hooked! - Stacey more than some, as she kept playing with it the whole session we had in the Lush store!! ;) 

Next, we moved onto looking at their 'Emotional Brilliance' makeup range which I did not know even existed! Here, everyone could test out which products they were most suited to. They did this by closing their eyes and pointing to the three colours they were most drawn to. This equated to a colour and keyword, such as pink = passion, and a certain type of makeup: lipgloss, mascara etc. It was a great way to get involved and to see what type of a person you are!

To end the session, we had a little play with some ingredients that go into lots of the products and were given a wealth of information. After that, we were given yet another goody bag, with a few products to try out..including some makeup! I just want to say a huge thank you to Lush for having us, being so enthusiastic and teaching us so much about the products in the shop. I will definitely be back!

We all then went off in little groups to complete shopping lists, but Caroline, Charlotte, Rachel, Fran, Claire, Stacey and I all happened to meet back in Primark... However, we were all so zonked from the busy day that we didn't buy much..makes a change for me!! Here we gave Claire a little present for her wedding this weekend (eeeeek!) which so very nearly made her cry!.. and we said our goodbyes to everyone.

I had such a fantastic day and made so many true friendships that I just want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to all those involved! I can't wait for the next meet up and to see everyone again :) 

(By the way, congrats if you managed to sift through all of this!)

(All photos are my own. Please do not use without asking for permission)