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

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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

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

Get Packing Family Game Review

It's already June, and I have only just logged on to blogger for the first time this year. It just goes to show how life can run away with you. I'm going to do a life update kind of post another time, but for now, wanted to use some free time (escaping the heat of the sun for a bit) to do something fun. It's been interesting now we have a (growing up way too quick) child in the house which games we've bought, kept, revisited and still enjoy as a family, and Get Packing is definitely one of those. Its bright colourful box suggested this is every inch a kid's game, but don't be fooled, this really is one all the family can enjoy, and come back to long after you've first bought it. The premise seems simple, with each player having a small suitcase that needs packing for a trip to a certain destination, but it's not as simple as it looks. Not only are there three different levels to play, with multiple destination cards in each, but you have to fit all kind

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