Skip to main content

About These City Days

Hello,

Thanks for visiting my blog, I really appreciated you stopping by. These City Days was founded on 11th June 2013 (has it really been that long) to create a lifestyle blog all about life in a small city. I wanted a place to showcase the people, places, and events that make my part of Essex special, but also an opportunity to write about things that I haven't yet had the chance to cover in my main job as a freelance journalist and copywriter.

So These City Days was born, and since then it's become a mix of music, art and crafts, books, beauty, and a healthy dose of local life, opinion, and well-being in between. I've been so grateful to have the opportunity to review novels by some very talented writers, try out some very clever new board games, and work on sponsored content for brands such as Hobby Craft and Panasonic. 

Freelance life can be busy, but I'll be here updating content as and when I can, and I look forward to sharing more with you, whether that be a favourite new product I've discovered, some smaller business support (a passion of mine) or some puppy pics. I'm a puppy aunty again so I make no apologies for any puppy spam (he is a beautiful cockapoo). 

If you have any queries or questions or would like to work with me on some content, do get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

Lauren














Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hobbycraft Lino Printing Online Workshop Review

 One of the things that has been great to see now we have come through the worst of the Covid pandemic, has been companies continuing with the online activities they launched during the lockdowns. Hobbycraft now offer a wide range of workshops online and in-store through the year, and I recently took part in an online lino printing workshop, so I thought I'd blog a bit more about what's on offer and the workshop I took part in. What workshops are on offer?  These vary through the year, and can involve seasonal, adults, and kid's workshops in-store and online. If you click on the workshops you are interested in finding out more about, you can find out about what's included in the price, what you'll learn, and the available workshop dates, there's also the opportunity to request private events for groups. While I'm writing this, there are workshops on Cricut, watercolour painting, knitting, paint pouring, seasonal wreath making, using clay, sewing, and a new

The Christmas Holiday By Phillipa Ashley Book Review

I apologise now for any or all mentions of the word Christmas in this blog post, but with a lot going on in life and work I just have to go with whatever calls to me in my reading pile, which this time was The Christmas Holiday by Phillipa Ashley.  Released last year, this book will always have a special place in my bookish heart because I helped with some crafting inspiration for it, and to see my name in the credits of this paperback is something I will always treasure. I was so excited to see how and where my ideas were used, but managed to control my impatience and not skip any pages. Although I have been a member of Phillipa's Facebook group for a while, this is my first read of hers  (have another in my reading pile) so I opened this book with a mix of anticipation and a slight fear of the unknown - I really wanted to love the book I helped with! And love it I did. It made a refreshing change to read a novel set in the Lake District, and also one which wasn't just a stere

Hocus Pocus 2 Film Review

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year for films, and I've loved all the witch and wizard magical, spooky-themed films since I was young. I was really looking forward to seeing Hocus Pocus 2, but I had no idea what to expect from the sequel. Would they pick up where they left off in 1993, move on a bit but with a strong connection to the original, or do something completely different? This Disney + release turned out to be the latter, and I found myself watching a modern-day Salem on screen. The old town is now a 'historic district' which has the air of a novel tourist attraction, complete with a mystical magic shop which presents the story of Salem and the Sanderson Sisters as some kind of commercial entertainment enterprise - hear the story, buy some magical merch.  The detail in Gilbert's shop and his stage show presentation are very apt for the modern day, and the feeling that the Sanderson sister's legend has become less powerful and more humorous myth