Leicester Blogs: A night out with Leicester’s finest

The beautiful Hollie, from Hollie Rose blog

This time we had arranged to meet for dinner at Cosy Club, but as a couple of our number have been having a bit of a tough time recently and missed some other events I decided to try and call in a few favours and organise a few extra surprises for my favourite online writing ladies.

The first surprise was a trip to friends of the blog, Danique Hairdressing. You may remember I got a fabulous cut when we Met the Boys at the beginning of the year at Danique and also took a friend back for a finish later on (Danique’s birthday = I get a restyle, woo hoo!) and I went on and on then about how lovely the Danique team are. They really do treat you like an old friend and the bloggers got nothing less on their visit.

Lianne (sorry, I know she doesn’t like this picture, but I do!)

We were greeted by Keri and her team with a delicious peach bellini and settled into the comfortable salon chairs to receive a masterclass on the new Fashion Fixes from label m, which were launched at London Fashion Week (which of course Danique went down to play a part in!). These are deceptively simple hair fixes that allow you to dramatically change your look without taking any dramatic steps with your hair. We saw their model being transformed from the textured rope braid into the nouveau knot in a matter of minutes.

I was amazed at how easy Keri made it all look. She assured us that you can do all of these looks at home, especially if you buy the kit with all the products and accessories you need, but I think I’d rather pay the £25 and get it done in half an hour in the salon! I may love art and craft, but when it comes to hair I am a ham-fisted Epsilon-minus semi-moron. Sometimes it’s just worth paying to save yourself the time and this would be an efficiency in my case!

Next up was Hollie from Hollie Rose blog being the willing volunteer to have her hair transformed into the retro Americana style. This fix is great because it’s a real transformation that is even suitable for people with long hair like me, as all the extra hair is tucked away around the back. It makes a massive statement with its ruched volume and asymmetric sweeps.

Yep, that’s a photo of me, taking a photo.

Every moment of the evening was meticulously documented!

After that we said our goodbyes and were presented with amazing goodie bags (expect more posts in the fuure about the contents of that!) and we made our way to dinner. We had booked a table at Cosy Club, which was my inspiration for using the evening to showcase some of the great offers available on Leicester’s Highcross Street, an often overlooked area due to its proximity to the Highcross Centre and High Street.

Danique and label m Goodies!

At the Cosy Club I unveiled my next surprise – goodie bags for all of the bloggers. These contained special treats from a number of local businesses. The first was Zig Zag Photography, a superlative studio who take beautiful pictures and are full of bubbly fun. As well as providing delightful surprises for the bags, they also sent along the effervescent Sammy, who took us a set of beautiful images of our evening. Had you noticed that the majority of photos in this post so far are much nicer than my usual fare? Sammy. She’s awesome. More about them when I go and test their studio photography services for myself… (you see, this blogger’s night has given me endless fodder for future posts!)

Along with this, there were goodies from Birstall furniture and home store Blue Sun Tree. I visited them last week, again post to follow soon, and was blown away not just by their beautiful shop front but also the amount of high-quality furniture that they sell which is designed and made in Leicester. They are incredible ambassadors for talent in the city. More on them in a future post.

Next they had a little gift from one of our own number, poacher turned gamekeeper or beauty blogger turned Avon representative, Hollie. She has just started working for Avon so she added a catalogue and perfume samples for everyone to try. She can take orders for people around the country, so don’t worry if you’re not in Leicester, you can still get in touch with her for top quality advice and to place an order.

And finally, they had a little Leicester-themed gift, and it was all in a special tote bag. Special in the ‘not quite right’ sort of way, because they were all lovingly sewn by yours truly. However, typically, I was so busy making the darn things that I forgot to take any pictures of them, so you’ll just have to use your imagination there.

That was when Cosy Club gave me a little surprise of my own, by presenting our table with a lovely bottle of Prosecco, which is always wonderful to add a little sparkle to any occasion! We all ordered some food and had a good old natter while we ate. I really enjoyed my Chicken Po’Boy, which had a touch of spice in the mix which really complemented the crispy chicken breast and creamy avocado. Most delicious.

And of course, at this point it was time for pudding and so on to my final surprise – cocktails and hard shakes at the relative newcomers to Highcross Street, the delightful Meatcure. I visited Meatcure last just a couple of weeks ago to see an awesome acoustic set from the Hoosiers over a lunchtime, so you can see, they are attracting all the hoi polloi!

Here we were treated to the most amazing boozy concoctions. I can happily say that my White Russian was the best I’ve ever had, by a country mile, and I’ve sampled a few. We’re nihilists, we believes in nothings.

Along with their swanky new cocktail menu, you can also treat yourself to a hard shake – a milkshake crossed with a cocktail – giving you an extra adult hit of tipsy with all the creamy deliciousness of everyone’s childhood favourite. The ‘Dirty’ shake was a big hit amongst the bloggers – a vanilla milkshake mixed with oreo cookies and Disaronno. I am happy to report that it is absolutely sublime, while the dark crumbs of oreo in the frothy top help the glass to live up to its name!

We also tried the ‘Beige’ – another vanilla combo with rum and maple syrup, which had just the right mix of sweetness and alcoholic kick. And of course there were regular milkshakes for those that had had enough to drink – I spied a peanut butter milkshake that found itself a very good home.

Beige. No really, that’s its name…

So all in all, a cracking night. Leicester’s Highcross Street is no longer just a thoroughfare but very much a destination in its own right. Thanks to everyone who helped to sponsor our wonderful night – Danique, Cosy Club and Meatcure, as well as our goodie bag supporters, Blue Sun Tree, Zig Zag Photography and Hollie Rose Avon. Finally, extra special thanks to Sammy, the Zig Zag photographer who gave up her evening (and much more editing time besides) to make us such an awesome record of the evening. I can only apologise for the poor state of my own snaps in this post, sullying your work.

And of course, tip of the cap to our Leicestershire bloggers. Go and check out their work for yourselves, you’ll find a great mixture of topics, passions and local knowledge covered!

The Brunette Says…

Love group shot taken on Steph’s camera, by The Boy. We are both shocked, he normally sucks at photos!