"There's excitement in the air!"

We have been to some awesome LEGO events over the last few years and each one that we have attended has left us with huge smiles on our faces. When you love a product like this as much as we do then you can imagine the excitement of feeling like a VIP at these brick related soirees. Despite all of the previous events being amazing, there was something extra special about our recent invite. It's not every day we get invited to a LEGO store opening and if that wasn't exciting enough, also the biggest LEGO store in the world.  The countdown to this amazing day, for me, was more exciting than the build up to Christmas.

 

 Opeie and I traveled to London in a bit of a giddy mood, We were looking forward to visiting some great museums in London but the main event was definitely what was keeping the Cheshire cat grins on our faces. Opeie had come up with a great idea a couple of days before our trip to make LEGO name badges for the event so that people knew who we were, So we had some fun on the build up.

 

After pottering around the Museum of Natural History for a couple of hours we headed towards Leicester Square. It was exciting to see the escalators at the tube stations advertising the new store and the excitement almost tipped us over the edge. We were definitely ready for some LEGO action. The store location really couldn't get any better, we could see the bright yellow store covering that was up for the official store opening that following afternoon from quite some distance and the surrounding area of Leicester square was buzzing with street entertainment and people enjoying the sights.

 

Being able to see the store before it was opening was really special for Opeie and he loved that we had to enter behind the huge LEGO covering hanging over the store, he said he felt like we were important, which I loved. The store is AMAZING and we were greeted by the happiest group of people, who were clearly loving being there. There were loads of LEGO staff around waving at Opeie and coming over to talk to us, it was a really amazing experience.

 

 

The Leicester Square flagship store seems to have every LEGO kit available at the moment and they were also offering the chance to buy the new Architecture kit the day before it was officially released. This was made even better by the fact that the creators were in store that evening and we got to chat to them for a while and they showed Opeie how Big Ben worked. The guy that created the enormous Big Ben in the front window was also in store and we got to chat to him about building on a bigger scale which was really interesting.

 

 

What I loved most about this bright colourful store was that everywhere you turn there is somewhere amazing to take a photograph. With Big Ben, a Tube carriage, Phone box , Lester (the store mascot) and the feature wall, it is like one huge eye-catching backdrop. Aside from the amazing Staff and people to talk to, the thing that stole the show for us was the Mosaic Maker. On arrival we had both been given a scratch card to win a prize. Opeie had scratched off a LEGO mosaic and I had no idea what it was. While we were chatting to our friend Sophia she filled us in and was really excited for us. The Mosaic Maker is the first of its kind, a photo booth that takes your picture, turns the image into a LEGO guide for a Mosaic and then prints out the large image along with the bricks to build it. We couldn't have asked for a better souvenir for our visit to the most exciting store in London. 

The whole experience had me and Opeie excited and chatting all the way back to the hotel that night and the following morning Opeie couldn't wait to look at his new (very special) LEGO kit. There is something so magical about those amazing bricks and they have been the reason for countless hours of bonding with the boys. Our visit to the Leicester Square store reinforced even more why LEGO is such a huge part of our lives

"Maybe this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now. Maybe this, right now, is making me a better person."

Well i finally took myself out of my comfort zone and attended a blog event on my own (which until now has been unheard of). No Mrs M bigging me up to people and no adorable boys breaking the ice with their awesomeness. Last week i was invited by Netflix to the launch party for Orange is the new Black season 3 in London and after battling with my insecurities i decided to just bite the bullet and go. I know that probably sounds a little crazy but I've not really been away from Opeie since he came along and that on its own was almost enough to keep me home but i know i need to do these things and of course, i love the show.

The 4 hour drive there was fine and after 45 minutes driving around Waterloo i managed to find somewhere to park, It was time to party. I was so nervous about walking in but luckily i was greeted at the door when my name was heard, having an obscure name always works out well for me because people never seem to forget it.

The venue was kitted out like Litchfield penitentiary with some of Litchfields finest inmates in orange jump suits handing out drinks and canapes. Before i could get in though i needed a mugshot. I was probably the hairiest inmate in there.

Thankfully as expected my phone did all the hard work of breaking the ice for me and within minutes of being in the place people were snapping away, phew! I know hiding behind a chunk of LEGO seems insane but without this in your face accessory i find initiating conversation difficult.

That said though this event really helped me to come out of myself a little and when all the photos had stopped and people had moved on i found myself standing on my own. 'Cue phone call from Mrs M' Who always knows what to say to me to give me that little bit of extra confidence. She believes in and promotes what i do so much more than i do. After the phone call i just walked up to the two friendliest people i could find and said hi (and clearly i am a great judge of character). AK (My Buggy Junction) and Lauren (Mummy is a Gadget Geek) turned out to be the best of company and really made my long journey down to London.

After chatting and finding out about each others blogs we got to watch the first two episodes of OITNB season 3 before tbeing aired the following night. I was late to the Orange is the new black party and was introduced to the show by my friend Chris when series two came out. I was hooked by the first episode and me and Mrs M ploughed through both seasons so it was really exciting to now be a part of the UK launch party.

Being at the event and watching the episodes seemed to fly by and before i knew it it was time for me to make the lengthy drive back to Shropshire. Being out of my comfort zone really paid off, i had a great time and i felt privileged to be a part of it. Most importantly it made me realise that there are other great bloggers out there to chat too and maybe being the blogging hermit that i am a lot of the time isn't always the best way to be so thanks girls.

Orange is the New Black series 3 is showing on Netflix now and although i am only 4 episodes in i know this is going to be another great series. Put your feet up and go and watch some great TV.

P.S I couldnt wait to get back to this little cutie!

It's a metaphor you potato with eyes"

It seems to be all about the events at the moment and I'm loving every minute of it. The blog has opened so many doors for us as a family and being able to work with companies I love has been a dream come true. It seems that before attending these soirée's I have made accessorising my phone with a relevant theme my thing and this weeks event is no different.

Since trading in our depressing TV license for a much more entertaining Netflix subscription many years ago my evenings have been filled with all manner of great shows, documentaries and countless movies. Having that sort of choice at my fingertips and not having to channel flick to find it means my evenings are so much more relaxing, whether I'm fully concentrating or just have it on in the background while I write.

The list of Netflix originals has been getting bigger and bigger over the years and we're hooked on quite a few of them. The new series of Orange is the new black starts this week though and after being glued to the first two seasons I've been really looking forward to it starting. As I said at the start of the post it's been a week of events and after being invited to the Orange is the new black launch party it was clearly time to to start creating my accessory. After my dinosaur case this weekend I was looking forward to building something colourful, clearly the colour scheme was obvious.

Most people that know me wouldn't believe this but I'm quite a shy person at these events. The phone cases serve as a bit of an ice breaker, although this is the first I've made for a none LEGO event. It'll be strange not having my other accessory with me this time though, Opeie (my wing man). I'm not used to this whole 'doing things without the boys' so it's going to be interesting.

Anyway Orange is the new black series 3 starts Friday and if you haven't watched it yet it comes highly recommended.