Congratulations! - Blogging Milestones - Happy 2nd Birthday Blog!

Hi!!!

How are you lovely people? Today, if you didn't guess by the title, is my blog's 2nd Birthday and I wanted to celebrate. Sadly, I can't give you all a slice of cake or a party bag but hopefully you'll enjoy this post (and the photos of cupcakes might be some kind of compensation on the cake front). Also, warning, this might be a bit "cheesy"... Soz...

 

This little blog, A Dash of Ginger, turned 2 on the 3rd of this month.
Wow. Two years. Two whole, actual years.

 

 

When I started A Dash of Ginger two years ago, I was so excited.
 I had been debating and debating with myself for a few months at that point as to whether or not I should start a blog but, eventually, I did it.
On the day I decided to begin my blog, Elf Girl (my bestest friend and fellow blogger - HERE) and I were sat in her kitchen and she sat patiently listening to my ramblings about blog names and all that jazz.
Then, I went home and set it up.
Having ideas whirling around in your head for months before jumping into something like this can be helpful - I could already picture how I wanted everything to look - my colour scheme, my design. I was so excited to create my blog at last.
 My parents, bless them, were also incredibly patient while I talked their ears off about where exactly each piece of the blog would fit best and about all my plans for it.
And so, that evening in my old house, my blog, A Dash of Ginger, was born and I hit publish on the first post on my very own blog (which was proof read about a trillion times by both me and my parents).
 I was excited.
I sat, with my Blogger Dashboard open on my laptop screen for most of the evening. I wasn't expecting anything to happen, but I was just excited to play around with ideas, create drafts and so on.
 

 I told my family and some friends about the blog, and I felt proud to tell them my plans.
 The first comment that I ever received on one of my posts told me that blogging is addictive, and that I should be prepared to lose hours, even days, to blogging. Of course, this was in fact very true.
Ideas for posts came from my little brain and from the suggestions of my family and friends and I enjoyed writing them up and publishing.

Fast forward a year and the Blogger Dashboard may as well have been my home screen.
Around the time my blog turned 1, I set up BlogLovin', I wrote posts as often as I could and I watched this little blog grow.
 It provided a sense of achievement and accomplishment, a whirr of ideas constantly in my brain, describing myself as a blogger, a love for what I was doing and for the people who appreciated it.
 

And, yeah, I know that at moments in the past two years, I have gone AWOL.
 There's been moments "IRL" (I know, I hate me for saying it, too) that have drawn me away from my computer, some awesome and some not so much.
There have been times when I have felt I was letting you guys down because I haven't always been able to write as much as I'd like to, or just honestly haven't felt like it and I am so truly sorry for those times.
But looking back at my archives now, I don't feel as disappointed seeing only a few posts in the archives for a particular month.
 Blogging *isn't* my job,  its my passion and I think that helps me to remember that as long as I always produce the best content I can for you to read, and so long as I blog about things that I really want to, and enjoy it all , then I'm doing the right thing.
 

Now that it has grown up a little more and it is 2 years old, I feel that this blog and I have an understanding.
 I love this blog so much and I love my readers loads.
I love being able to tell people that I write this blog.
I love being able to check in and see lovely comments, or page views or new followers.
And I'll always try my hardest to produce regular content - even if I don't always post as often as I'd like.
Blogging has become a massive part of my life and that is one of the best things.
I love blogging and I love you guys.

 

Over these past 2 years, I can most certainly say that this blog has given me nothing but pride, joy, excitement and love.
I cannot possibly ever thank it, or you, you lovely human behind that computer screen, enough for that whether I know you (in which case "yoo-hoo family!" - y'know, like Frozen?) or not. Whether you've been reading since day one, or if this is the first post of mine you have ever read.
Everything about the blog, your support and all the other bits in between truly mean the world to me and I am so grateful. So for every single one of my 4875 page views, each of my follows on Blogger and on BlogLovin', too - thank you.

 

Happy Birthday, A Dash Of Ginger.

I can't believe that you're already 2 years old.
We're both only young and both growing as a blog and a blogger respectively.

I cannot wait to see what happens here in this next year, and I hope that on your 3rd birthday, we'll have lots of good times to talk about. In fact, I know we will...

 

And to you, my lovely reader: I'd love it very much if you would stick around to see what happens next. Your continued support and readership means a huge deal to me, and I am so grateful. Thank you and I love you guys xxx

 

I hope you enjoyed that post. Also, thanks to my brilliant mother for being my photographer on this one, I'm really happy with the results.

Do you have any birthday messages for the blog? How long have you been a reader? What is your favourite post/type of post I have written? Do you like the photography? Do you have any suggestions or ideas for some posts? Be sure to let me know in the comments. 

Thank you, as always, for reading. You guys are awesome.

 

I hope your day is totally fantastic!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

 

 

Celebrate Good Times! - Happy Birthday To You... - Happy Birthday Lauren!

Hi!!!

Today's post is only a quick one as its a "birthday" post, but there's nothing wrong with "short and sweet" posts, is there?

This week is the week of one of my friend's birthdays, so this is kinda a post "for her".

Lauren is a lovely friend, who is funny, thoughtful and kind - we're lucky to have a friend like her.

Happy Birthday Lauren, loves you xxx
I hope you have a fabulous day and take some time to relax and enjoy yourself.

That's all for today then, thanks for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this post.

Is your birthday coming up soon? What is your favourite thing about birthdays? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.

I'll see you soon, lovely people!
 

I hope your day is completely and totally amazing!
 

GingerSnaps xxx

It's Showtime!!! - Theatre Review - The Importance of Being Earnest.

Hi!!!

It has been an incredibly long time since I've written a theatre review, but here I am. A few weeks ago now, my Mom and I took a trip out to Malvern to go and see The Importance of Being Earnest. My ever lovely Mom booked the tickets as a surprise and I am so glad she did as we really enjoyed it. I immediately thought, "let's go home and review this!" but obviously it was a bit late for all that carry on - so here I am now.

I have been a huge fan of Oscar Wilde and his writing since forever and I quote The Importance of Being Earnest all the time (even if people don't always pick up on the references...) so it was a great one to go and see.

Before I begin, I just want to say that it might seem like I think every show is brilliant and worth a viewing. However, this isn't the case. I would never tell you to go and see something that I didn't think was worth your time or hard earned cash. There will be times when I tell you not to go and see something, as well as times when I say you *have* to go and see something (like today). These reviews contain my 100% honest opinion and just because something isn't my thing, doesn't mean it won't be yours, these reviews are for advice only.

What's it about?

Two (fairly young) bachelor friends, Algernon Moncrieff and John Worthing, lead double lives to court the attentions of Gwendolyn Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. Throughout the play, the men must grapple with the (rather hilarious!) consequences of their ruse, as well as with the formidable Lady Bracknell.

 

What did I think?

I thought that this was wonderful!

I laughed so much the whole time and the way this was staged and acted brought Oscar Wilde's excellent, hilarious writing to the brightest form of life.

David Suchet played Lady Bracknell.
 It's an iconic role and a lot of pressure, and seeing Poirot in a dress was a pretty weird experience (!) but he did it so, so well. He was hilarious and everything he did was in character, from his speech to the way he stood which is exactly what I expected from him. Brilliant!

 

Emily Barber played Gwendolen Fairfax.
I really enjoyed watching Emily perform and she played Gwendolen really well. She was funny and she allowed her character to interact well with the other characters/actors on stage while still commanding the audience. Superb!

Michael Benz took on the role of John Worthing.
I think that he did a really good job of portraying John, he was very funny and his scenes with Philip Cumbus (read on for more on him) were so brilliant/side-splitting/well acted. He brought the character to a believable yet interesting and humorous life and that's great to watch. Awesome!

Philip Cumbus portrayed Algernon Moncrieff.
He was brilliant. His performance was very entertaining, funny, and, as I said before, his scenes with Michael Benz were some of the best. I think he really suited the character and he brought it to life in an excellent and humorous way. Fantastic!

Cecily Cardew was played by Imogen Doel.
Imogen was one of my stand outs from the play. Her portrayal of Cecily was amazing and truly hilarious. She conveyed the charming, funny, slightly dim nature of her character in the best way. I absolutely loved her performance. Wonderful!

Michele Dotrice was Miss Prism.
Michele's performance was really good and I was really entertained by her performance. She's a really good actress ("Some Mothers Do Ave ‘Em" anyone?) and she showcased that brilliantly in this play. Great!

Richard O’Callaghan was Reverend Canon Chasuble.
His work with Michele Dotrice was wonderful and he gave a very good performance. He is great (as we know from his previous work) and, like Dotrice, he really showed us all in the audience just how good he was. Excellent!

David Killick was Lane.
He made his role more than it could be in the best way possible and I think he did a great job and brought the entertainment factor up a notch. Fab!

Brendan Hooper played Merriman.
He was also very good and I think he really contributed to the entertainment value, similarly to the way David Killick did. Ace! 

The staging and all the additionals (costume/sets/etc.) were beautifully done. Thumbs up to all on Creative for this one.

I loved this performance, I found it so entertaining and laugh out loud. Big love for this one.

What did other people think?

The sound of laughter filled the room throughout the show, so clearly everyone was enjoying themselves!

I did a spot or two of eavesdropping (don't say I don't love you guys!) and people seemed to really enjoy the performance and they seemed to really appreciate the skill of the actors and actresses on stage.

Would I recommend it?

100% yes, if you hadn't already guessed.

I think that it is a very enjoyable show with a unique sense of humour to it and a great cast and creative.

Well, well worth going to see, you should go and see it if you can!

When can you go and see it?

While I went to see The Importance of Being Earnest in Malvern, it is going to be running at The Vaudeville Theatre on The Strand in London from the 24th June until the 7th November this year (2015), I believe.

The final notes...

• If you do go, enjoy it, dress smart casually (as I always say, out of respect for everyone involved).
• Be prepared to laugh until your belly hurts!
• Do what I did and take a big bar of chocolate in your clutch bag for the interval (and eat it alongside your tiny little ice-cream!) 



That's it for today, everyone. I really hope that you've enjoyed reading this today, especially since I haven't done a theatre review in donkeys.

Do you like Oscar Wilde's plays? What do you think about The Importance of Being Earnest as a play? Would you like to go and see this play when its season starts? Did you enjoy this post (even though I undeniably over-used the words "funny" and "hilarious")? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you for joining me today, you lovely people.

 

Have the most utterly brilliant day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx