Farewell Fringe, 2014:

Source: here

This has been the busiest Edinburgh Fringe experience I think I've ever had, but unfortunately (aside from a few tweets and Instagram photos) I haven't been able to share much about the great shows I've seen.  Tomorrow is pretty much the last day to see the majority of shows at the Fringe, so - if you're spending your Sunday in Edinburgh - here are a few brilliant comedians to see before they skip town.  So long, Fringe 2014!  I'll put my sharp elbows away again, until next time.

3pm: #meetandtweet by Declan Dineen (The Mash House, £5)
Declan is a lovely, genuine guy and his story about meeting 150 of his Twitter followers in person is heartwarming and inspiring.  I even met up with fellow blogger Jodie in my very own #meetandtweet after seeing the show.  You can read my full review and interview with Declan here if you need any more persuading.


6:45pm: It's Pronounced Abigoliah Schamaun by Abigoliah Schamaun (Gilded Balloon, £10/£8.50 concessions)
Sassy New Yorker Abigoliah is filthy, fun and absolutely hilarious.  She bares all about her childhood and personal life in this stand up set, which will prompt tears of laughter, sadness and joy all at once.  And she shares some really embarrassing school photos that will make you feel a lot better about your own.  Read my review and interview here.


8:20pm: Me, My Selfie and I by Dan Clark (Pleasance Dome, £12.50/£11.50 concessions)
If you haven't seen Dan Clark's BBC TV series How Not to Live Your Life then stop reading this and start watching it immediately.  Once you've done that, go and see what may well be his last Fringe show ever before he runs away to Hollywood and never returns.  In his show, Dan shares a lot of cringingly brilliant truths, sings a few songs and is generally charming and hilarious.  Check out my interview with Dan (who put up with me for an hour after I promised it would be a twenty minute long chat) here.  After you've finished watching How Not to Live Your Life.

Instagram #25:

1. My lovely pal and helper Nicola taking a break during some documentary filming.

2. Catch of the year!  (If you desperately desire a cushion shaped like a fish, this one is from IKEA.)

3. The face of sheer misery in the library whilst writing my dissertation.

4. Uncle Craig reading stories with his clever niece.

5. A ridiculous gin glass to end a ridiculous day during which my external hard drive broke and I had to pay £25 for a train ticket...

6. At least the night was made better by seeing the amazing Conor Oberst play live in Glasgow.

7. Just hanging with some reprobates in the wild west.  (For any Edinburgh dwellers, cowboy town can be found in Morningside!)

8. James and Craig indulging in some bumps and some grinds.

9. A selfie with David Cameron!  Probably not the one you're thinking of, though.

10. My Dad and his best friend Mike through the ages: not too much has changed in 40 years of friendship!

11. My Dad and his lovely goddaughter at his 60th birthday party.

12. The documentary is finally finished, and it even has a name!

13. Rejoicing earlier today just minutes before handing in my postgrad dissertation.  My Masters is over!

Burger Meats Bun, Edinburgh:

The title of this post might sound familiar, and that's because I wrote about Burger Meats Bun in Glasgow here not four months ago.  I am (justifiably) obsessed.  BMB was the only Scottish restaurant included in a recent list of the UK's top 10 burger joints, and I couldn't contain my excitement when I heard the news that they would be opening an Edinburgh branch on Forth Street.  Of course I made sure I was there on opening night a couple of weeks ago with Craig, and my previous rave review about their amazing food still stands.

Inside, BMB Edinburgh is enough like the Glasgow premises to feel comfortingly familiar, but not a carbon copy.  The restaurant has high Edinburgh ceilings (quite a change from the Glasgow basement on West Regent Street) and large windows, making it bright and airy, which is especially nice during summer.

I was quite unadventurous on this visit and stuck to my usual Big Cheese burger (no regrets, it's still the best burger around!), but I did try the Buffalo chicken wings for the first time which were super tasty.  Dedicated fans of the BMB Glasgow needn't worry: the only thing different about Edinburgh's burgers are the buns, which are slightly bigger, so you actually feel like you're getting more for your money.  Bonus!

I had a couple of tasty cocktails to wash down my burger (their Dark & Stormy is still my favourite) and then Craig and I shared the intriguingly named Burger & Shake on BMB's dessert menu.  This turned out to be a jam filled macaron 'burger' with a baby milkshake to wash it down, which arrived with stripy paper straws - a blogger's dream!

The BMB Edinburgh staff were so friendly and happy to chat, even though they were no doubt rushed off their feet on their first day of trading.  We even got to meet the lovely Ben who co-owns Burger Meats Bun and who is partly responsible for the creation of my favourite burger.  So, essentially, my absolute hero!

Although I'm sure you've got the message by now, I can't stress how good these burgers are.  If you are an Edinburger (get it?) pop down to Forth Street pronto and try out one of these bad boys for yourself.  You will not be disappointed!

The terrible twos:

Source: here

Happy 2nd birthday, Inferior Design!

Another blogiversary already!  My little baby blog is getting on a bit, isn't it?  It's turned out to be an extremely busy year for me, and sometimes the regularity of posts here hasn't been great, but hopefully the quality is still up to scratch, and maybe even a little better.  While I don't have the time to post as often at the moment, I still love blogging and having my own little slice of the internet.  I have plenty of ideas for posts stored up in my brain, and I hope to be able to start updating more regularly again once my dissertation is done and dusted.  In fact, I promise I will!

I really owe a lot to blogging.  It gave me a creative outlet when I felt quite lost after finishing my undergrad, and - in retrospect - it's probably the reason I became interested in studying journalism in the first place.  Not to mention all the lovely people I've met through blogging, whether it was at an event or online.

As always, thank you, everyone, for reading my blog and giving me feedback and encouragement, whether it's online or in person.  You are all amazing!

Instagram #24:

Holy moly - this post marks two years of monthly Instagram updates!  As you can probably tell from my pitiful blogging efforts in June, it's been a busy (but fun) month which has flown by.

1. A wild Craig in a cage.  Actually, I was in the cage, helping to film at a mixed martial arts training session.

2. My Dad was pleased with his Beer Hawk haul on Father's Day.

3. I rediscovered the signature on my very first passport, penned at the tender age of four.

4. Putting Nicola's signature napkin method into practice with your coffee means no drips - tried and tested.

5. I couldn't help being excited about my first photo/filming pass at a gig.  It stuck to my leg and everything!

6. My beautiful cousin, Anna, ready for her hen weekend.

7. And, obviously, no hen weekend would be complete without an inflatable man...

8. ... and some plastic willy straws.

9. Pretty sure I am the owner of the first press pass with an Instagram selfie on it.  Of that I am proud.

10. My favourite photo of all time.  Ever.  Featuring me and the amazing Aubrey Plaza, and taken by director Jeff Baena.

11. A wanky picture I took whilst holed up in Starbucks writing film reviews.

12. An awesome (miniature) woolly jumper all the way from Iceland!

13. If you're in the market for a fancy White Russian, Lebowski's is the place for you.

14. The lovely Marianne, back in my life in time for Edinburgh Fringe comedy previews.

15. A quick snap (stolen from Nicola) taken whilst interviewing Dan Willson and Neil Pennycook.

16. I'm excited to say I made it to the Edinburgh branch of Burger Meats Bun on Forth Street during opening night.  Delicious, as always!

17. Trapped in the car with this cheery guy during a typical Scottish summer monsoon. 

Things my Dad taught me:

Hopefully this isn't going to be an overly soppy Father's Day post, but more a celebration of the values my Dad has (perhaps unintentionally) passed on to me, just by living his life and being a pretty cool dude.  You know, for a Dad.

1. Take your empty glasses back to the bar before you leave.  Okay, we're starting small.  It might sound silly, but bar staff always appreciate the gesture when you at least attempt to clean up after yourself.  I always do this, and definitely picked the habit up from my Dad.  Having now worked in retail, I fully appreciate customers who are polite and helpful!

2. Husbands can remember anniversaries.  My Dad has always been just as good as my Mum (and sometimes better) at remembering special occasions.  Every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember (and probably long before I existed!) he has had a bouquet of flowers delivered to my lovely Mum, no matter how busy he may have been in the run up to it.

3. Play your music loud (even when you're not allowed).  Even now, my Dad will always have some of his favourite music blaring (under the guise of doing the washing up).  When my Mum inevitably comes in to turn it down, he will slowly crank the volume back up until it's louder than it was before.  Cue hilarity for my sister and me.  Probably as a result of this, nothing cheers me up more than blasting music when I'm cleaning or getting ready.

4. Said music is best enjoyed whilst lying on the living room floor.  Pretty self explanatory, really, but you should try it some time.  Very therapeutic.

5. Work hard and save, save, save.  My Dad is insanely good at saving money, and worked incredibly hard so that we could go on amazing holidays as a family and generally want for nothing as children and teenagers.  I don't think I will ever be able to save the way he does, but I'm determined to try, in the hope of being able to provide a similar stability myself in the future.  Being pretty much financially independent post-university feels brilliant, but I could never have done it without my Dad's help.

6. Travel, and don't be a chicken.  We took some unbelievable trips as a family when I was growing up, including visits to Portugal, all over France and the USA and Bahrain.  Since then, my parents have gone on to travel to Australia and India extensively.  Last summer, my Dad even took part in the Great Circular European Railway Challenge and visited around 30 countries in less than three weeks.  Basically grown up interrailing, but awesome, right?  (He blogged during the experience, and his 'about me'  makes me chuckle.)  Sometimes when I travel I get nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing in an unfamiliar country and can be very shy, but I'm determined to be brave next time, like my old man.

7. Keep old friends close.  My Dad is still very close with some of his friends from university and even school.  So close, in fact, that they and their families are just like family to us.  It makes me so happy to spend time with my old friends from high school and uni even just a few years down the line, so I will definitely do my best to keep in touch with them as we all start to grow old and grey!  (No offence, Dad.)

8. Don't worry about what other people think, and never be embarrassed of who you are.  This is the MOST important life lesson my Dad has ever taught me.  I can't stress that enough.  My father is a very smart, laid back guy with a great music taste.  He also happens to love trains (a lot) and enjoys wearing some questionable tshirts (I think mostly to annoy my sister).  Neon orange, anyone?  He isn't cool on paper, but he is cool because he embraces his geekiness and never apologises for it.  It's a big part of who he is, you know?  And that's why I do my best never to worry about what other people think about me and my actions, particularly if I'm doing what makes me happy.


Happy Father's Day, to all the Dads out there, but especially mine.

Instagram #23:

1. I found the perfect tshirt for a junk food addict like me for a steal in Primark.

2. I also picked up some junk food themed boxer shorts to wear as pyjamas, because I'm that cool.

3. Craig was excited to tuck into some treats from Mademoiselle Macaron.  You can read a longer post about it here!

4. Sometimes a large gin and tonic in a mug is the best medicine, don't you think?

5. I caught this lovely sunset outside work.  Scotland can be a pretty beautiful place in the sunshine.

6. Proof that I am now pretty crap at photography when it isn't digital...

7. My wee pal, me and a horrendous fish face.

8. Sunrise at 3:30am on Queen Street - well past my bed time!

9. Steven's turn to sample some of Mademoiselle's macarons.

10. Craig casually eyeing up some sweet rides at the Gumball 3000 car rally.

11. A nice, girly, purple Lamborghini.