I love cooking, it's well known that on any given Monday I'll be found in my kitchen for the afternoon cooking for all of my friends so when I was invited to the brand new Thaikhun Cooking School at Thaikhun in the Metrocentre, Gateshead I got quite excited and dragged along Harriet who I'll be honest, likes to come and eat at my house so that she doesn't have to cook herself, she's the master of a buffet though!!

When I cook I love to make the British classics, I love my slow cooker and there's no end of recipe combinations, I also love the chance to cook stir fries and anything with noodles but I'd never actually cooked Thai before so it was quite an exciting proposition.

The Thaikhun cooking school costs £50 per person and the best part is that at the end of the experience you get to eat what you've cooked, you also get a goody bag and you can take home the recipe to cook for all of your friends and family, I have mine stored for a special occasion.

We cooked Thai spring rolls followed by a Thai green curry and it was so good, the tastiest thing I've eaten in ages,  our teacher was amazing and made the whole process fun, we were also allowed to adapt the recipes so for example in my case, I'm not a huge fan of really spicy food so where some of the students put all of the chillis into their curries I stopped at just 1 chilli, I know, I'm a lightweight but I'm also a super taster.  It was the perfect recipe for me though as I adore anything which is a coconut based recipe and if I make a curry at home it's almost always got a tonne of coconut milk in it.

Harriet loved the experience of being a chef for an evening, I'm not sure if it means she's likely to be whipping us up all Thai food on a regular basis but at least it means I can rope her in to help me cook recipes, she's got far better knife skills than I have!

I think the Thaikhun cooking school is the perfect friendship date night, I mean, we laugh together, cry together, so why not cook together.  It's also the perfect date night or even something different for a birthday or hen party, I'd certainly love to do it all again with some different recipes.  At the end of the day there aren't many restaurants who help you cook the exact same recipes as they're serving to customers, to me that speaks volumes and it doesn't mean I'm any less likely to eat at Thaikhun, in fact for me, I love the fact that they shared so freely but I still love to be cooked for!

Thaikhun invited us along in exchange for a blog post and you know what, that's just fine with me, whilst I'm pretty good at blogging, they're definitely the best at Thai cooking!

Beauty For The Terrified With Benefit and Ellefluence

Photo taken by the amazing Katie Meehan

No sooner had I recovered from our night at The Rub then it was time to get ready again for an evening of beauty and hijinx at Debenhams with the Benefit girls, Laura from Ellefluence had yet again rocked another event by providing not only a free beauty wax for yours truly (more on that later) but also prosecco, pizza from Manny's and of course star photographer Laura Pearman was once again present to capture all the goings on, for the first time in ages I felt safe to leave my camera at home!!  Don't get me wrong, I love being a photographer but when you are the photographer you miss the immersive experience of events and as I'd volunteered to be one of the waxing models I figured I wouldn't have time to take too many photos anyway!

I've always been a Benefit fan and I'll also be the first to admit that when it comes to beauty I know virtually nothing, I have gel nails refreshed once a month and I've been getting regularly waxed brows for about the last 10 years since I discovered the wonder of a good eyebrow wax.  Ladies if like me you are late to the beauty party and you are, also like me, on the wrong side of 40, go treat yourself for a wax at Benefit, you will feel and look 10 years younger, a good eyebrow wax is like a mini facelift, honest ladies, I'm not kidding about such a serious subject, do yourself a bigger favour though and go to Benefit because those ladies are waxing experts.

Now I must admit that when I volunteered for the evening I hadn't realised it was the full waxing treatment, that's brows, top lip and chin, ouch and baby cheesus, it hurt, I can't even pretend it didn't, what we ladies have to go through just to look halfway to decent, well lets just say I'll be getting it again but I might be ready for the pain of having above your lip waxed next time, there was a hilarious video but thankfully I think it's been deleted by time, oh and if it hasn't, well let's just say I won't be sharing it and I certainly won't be including that on my dating profile!!

Another thing I hadn't tried before was a brow tint and it makes such a difference, I can truly say that I love my eyebrows now, I may have even shouted afterwards "My eyebrows are on fleek" don't worry, I shan't be saying such things out loud too often and I did rush home to watch some superheroes on TV to deflect my girly outburst.

What I did do whilst there was some shopping for Christmas, obviously since certain teens are regular readers (I'm talking to you, Amazing Abigail) I can't tell you what I bought but let's just say certain teenagers in the Charlton family might be happy bunnies when Santa pays a visit.

The thing I love the most about any Ellefluence event is the chance to meet other bloggers and at beauty events you can always guarantee that I am the oldest blogger there, you know what, though, I don't mind a bit, I'm quite happy to be the blogger mamma because all the young glamorous beauty bloggers like Katie, Alice, and Chloe, well they're all fabulous and they don't ever look at me like "what in the heck is that old lady doing here?" haha!

I may be 42.10 but I'm really just at the very start of my foray into the world of beauty and with people like Laura in my life organising the most splendid events with companies like Benefit and Urban Decay, well this girl can't go wrong now, can she?  It's never too late to start making the best of what you have got so you might as well get out there and do it now lovely ladies.

Urban Decay Newcastle Event with Ellefluence and The Rub

I'm the first to admit that I've come into the heady world of beauty and makeup later in life so when I was invited to an Urban Decay event at Debenhams, Newcastle, I had to say yes, the fact that it was being organised by lovely Laura from Ellefluence and Elle Blonde meant I knew it would be a fabulous event!

The event took place early evening in the comfortable surroundings of the Debenhams cafe with a smorgasbord of the most delicious smokehouse foodie treats provided by Newcastle's most divine meaty restaurant, The Rub, if you are a fan of meat like I am then you must pay them a visit, my only problem is never having a big enough appetite to squeeze all of it in my tummy!

Urban Decay is a brand for everyone, up until the event I had foolishly believed it was just for the younger ladies amongst us but I couldn't have been more wrong, they even have their own anti-ageing makeup line which I've since tried and now adore, they do an anti-ageing eyeshadow primer which we were gloriously treated to in the most amazing goody bags and I can tell you that it really does make your eyes look younger, more sparkly and in the last week when so many people have commented that I'm looking younger and more glowy, well I can tell you that it's mostly down to just picking up makeup tricks.

Now I might have been the oldest blogger to attend the event but I certainly didn't feel like I wasn't just as welcome as the millennial beauty queen bloggers who were also in attendance, gorgeous Katie Meehan finally let me take her photo and you know what I love, Katie is 21 and I'm 42 and yet I adore her, we have a lovely friendship and we're planning to collaborate on some exciting stuff very soon.

I'm really lucky in the people that I have met through blogging, other favourite ladies include Laura of course who's smile and positive attitude just makes her adorable, Pixie who is just the smartest, gorgeous mamma with a style I would love to embrace and Ashleigh who is pretty much an all round smart, successful amazing lady and all of them were there at the event which made it an even better experience in my opinion.

After some makeup demonstrations we hurriedly slid down the escalators and onto the shop floor, it was shopping time and like kids in candy stores we all snaffled our favourite products safe in the knowledge that we actually know what to do with them now when we got them home, (that may have been just me, everyone else is way better at beauty).  As we scrambled for our homes in cars and taxi's laden with bags full of pretty lipsticks and pallets of the most beautiful eyeshadows I knew exactly what I would be requesting from Father Christmas this year, Urban Decay makeup, and lots of it!

The Clarty Hen Launch Party, Bells of Hemscott, Northumberland

The Clarty Hen is a new collaboration between Clarty Events and my favourite Bells of Hemscott so when an invitation to the launch at Calico Barn, Bells of Hemscott, in Northumberland came my way mentioning the words, cake, party and Alpacas I thought it would be a splendid way to spend a day and I took Stacey and Harriet along for good measure.

Calico Barn is the newest addition to the thriving Northumbrian business Bells of Hemscott, where as the bell tents are still available to hire for the summer season, Calico Barn, a swish bunk barn will operate all year round with the Clarty Hen stepping in for hen weekends, it's a move in a different direction and as the wedding market in Northumbria continues to grow and thrive I think it's a valuable addition, something different to do.  I've noticed a trend over the past few years of hens wanting to do something a little different from the old style going out, getting dressed up and often falling down because of tipsy shenanigans.  The Clarty Hen is a much more exciting prospect.

The Clarty Hen is a weekend spent in a luxurious bunk barn,  for just £175 per person (minimum 12) it includes a continental breakfast each day, a lunch on the Saturday, an activity pack  for the Friday nigt and 4 organised activities on the Saturday, Clarty activities ranges from team games like Sheep herding (don't you think that Harriet and Stacey make a good sheep and sheepdog?  I have blindfold anxiety so I was the shepherd herding the blind sheep to safety with the help of a blind sheepdog) to clarty arty, a crafts based activity or if neither of those are your thing then why not add on an alpaca walk, I'd like to just say at this point that I've seen alpacas at farms but until last week I'd never cuddled one and now I have and I can tell you it's the most special experience, they are like a cross between a 3 year old child and a huge teddy bear, they are adorable and gentle and time spent trekking with them is a magical money can't buy type experience, Alpaca walking is available at £20 per person for an hour and you don't even have to be a Clarty Hen, the bunk barn is also available for events,  families and individuals throughout the year and I'm going back during summer so I can give you a full low down on the experience of sleeping in a bunk barn, something I've never done but now I've seen the luxury I really want to try it.

Such attention and care has gone into the decoration of the bunk barn, pretty patchworks hang from all of the walls, a tribute to Alisons mum who made them all over the years when it was her barn, Alison wanted to create something really special in memory of mum and I think she's achieved much more than that, I'm not quite sure what I expected to find in an old barn at Druridge Bay but it certainly wasn't the luxury we experienced last week.  Cosy sofas, usb charging points and wifi, this isn't camping as you used to know it but then that's the Bells of Hemscott for you, it's not camping, it's comfortable camping and all in the surroundings of a working farm, new arrivals in the form of piglets have arrived since my last visit with their little muddy paws and noisy oinks, to spend an hour on that farm you feel like you have left your cares and woes behind you, to spend a weekend in the company of your best friends with laughs and drinks and cakes and activities, well that's got to make for the most memorable hen weekend ever.  I can't wait to go back myself with my daughters and Harriet so we can enjoy the quiet beauty of Northumberland, the lapping of the nearby seas and golden sands that stretch as far as the eye can see, on a warm July afternoon you could be anywhere in the world it's so inspiringly beautiful and oh, oh, oh those huggable, loveable alpacas who stole my heart and calmed my mind, the Bells of Hemscott is truly an escape from the stress of reality.

Wild west fun with Mary and the girls

On Saturday I had a very important shoot, it was Dawns very special birthday and she had decided that she and the girls would all go out in wild west bar girls outfits, Mary then decided that the best way to remember the day would be to get some great photographs of them all in their outfits and so off I went to Old Orleans to capture the fun of these cheeky ladies.





I wanted to make the photographs as authentic as possible and I think with these next 2 I have really acheived that, don't they look like they've just moseyed on down to the local saloon, lookout cowboys, here they come!!

Dawn I hope you had a wonderful evening out, it was great to meet all of you ladies and especially you mary with whom I've been liasing about this very special shoot. I hope I get to shoot you ladies again when the next one of you celebrates that very special birthday

Spring Portraits in the Park - Jesmond Dene 13th April 2008

Spring is nearly here and with that in mind I'm going to be doing a 1 day marathon of portrait sessions down in Jesmond Dene.

If you've been putting off those family portraits, want some great shots of the children or want a wonderful photo of your favourite pet then this is the event for you.

On Sunday 13th of April from 9.30am until 6pm I'll be down in Jesmond Dene all day, you'll need to book a half hour slot. It's £25 and within 7 days you'll be given your very own password protected gallery for 30 days to make any purchases of prints, canvases and mini albums.

If you do want to take me up on the offer you'll need to book your slot by calling me at one of the numbers up on the header, clicking through to contact me on my website or emailing me at mandycharltondesigns@gmail.com

We even have an events page on Facebook!