Wimbledon Tour & Tim Henman Q&A

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love The Times.

My mum has subscribed for years and is therefore able to access all of the amazing offers, competitions and events from the team at MyTimesPlus. We've been to quite a few events, ranging from film screenings to a Downton Abbey talk with Julian Fellows and a Q&A with Miranda Hart. Living in London these past few years has proved particularly advantageous, and was especially good for this latest event.

Star Trek Into Darkness: Live in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall

Last summer, I saw Star Trek Into Darkness three times in IMAX and I'm not even ashamed to admit it.

The Hazel Pear Inn

It's been a Christmas tradition for as long as I can remember that every Christmas Eve my Dad goes out for lunch with all his friends and the lads from work. Each year my mum and I would be at a loss for something to do while he was out, going from chilling in front of the television to frantically wrapping presents to doing a spot of last minute shopping. He'd come home full of tales of delicious food, so last year Mum and I decided to start our own Christmas tradition and go out for our own girly Christmas Eve meal.

British Library Christmas Market

At the moment, I feel like I live in the British Library. I'm there at least every other day and have become weirdly possessive over a particular desk in my favourite reading room.

The Day of the Doctor

Doctor Who is as British as a perfectly made brew and as iconic as the Queen.

Over the last 50 years it's woven itself into the tapestry of our culture and helps to define what it means to be British. Everyone's heard of the Doctor, harbours a (not so) secret desire to travel in the Tardis at least once, and knows of the terror of the Daleks. Having an in-depth knowledge of the zygones, the origin of "Geronimo!" and just why that fez is so significant doesn't matter. Yes, of course it helps, but it's not a total necessity. That's the beauty of Doctor Who, it's accessible to all: young and old, new fans and diehard Whovians.

Summer Musings

I've had the best summer.

A Curious Night at the Theatre

Every now and again I come away from a moment feeling so happy, so lucky and so inspired that I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to: be it applying for an internship I'm convinced I'm not good enough for, traveling round the world at the drop of a hat, or walking up the stairs at Covent Garden tube station (harder than it looks: there's a lot of steps...). There's simply nothing I can't do and 'impossible' is no longer a word in my vocabulary. It's a magical feeling that I've not experienced for a while, but the floodgates were opened when I emerged into the cool night air on Shaftesbury Avenue following an utterly fantastic and totally unique evening at the theatre.

Trooping the Colour 2013

No-one does pomp and pageantry quite like the British, and the annual Trooping the Colour is the perfect example of Britain doing what we do best in a military ceremonial display performed by regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies. The colours, or flags, of the regiments were used as an assembly point in battle and were carried or 'trooped' in front of the soldiers daily so that each soldier would recognise his own regiment's colours without delay.

Since 1784, Trooping the Colour has also been used to mark the official birthday of the British sovereign. Queen Elizabeth was born on 21st April, but by publicly celebrating in the summer there is - in theory - a greater chance of good weather (however as it's Britain there's always a 90% chance it'll rain). It also coincides with the publication of the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The Queen has attended Trooping the Colour every year of her reign, except in 1955 when a national rail strike cancelled the event.

The Graham Norton Show

It's like the saying goes: you wait for one bus and then they all come at once. Having had two months doing nothing but bury myself in books, as soon as my exams finished I've been exhausting myself scurrying all over London going to various different events.

Yesterday really was a night to remember as my friend and I spent the evening watching the series finale of The Graham Norton Show be taped. Watching a television show be taped is something I've always been dying to experience and so a couple of weeks ago I looked into applying for tickets to be part of the audience of a couple of different shows. I love watching The GNS every Friday and thought it was worth filling in the application form on the off-chance that I was successful. Luckily I was, and even though I got tickets to my lowest preference evening I had no intention of turning them down, and set about texting my friends to see who'd like to come too.

Such Fun: Miranda Hart Q&A

Well hello to you!

As a subscriber of The Times my mum is able to access the numerous offers available from the team at Times+: varying from restaurant discounts to advance film screenings; Q&As to competitions. Unfortunately I always seemed to find out about London-based events either after they’d happened or when they’d sold out, so as a result of constantly missing out I started following the @MyTimesPlus account on Twitter and am now often aware of events and offers before my mum has checked her emails. Within half an hour of last week’s event being advertised, I was on the phone and getting her to book us tickets as this was something we simply couldn’t miss: Miranda Hart in conversation with David Aaronovitch at Cadogan Hall.

The Mrs Carter Show 2013

Exams have greatly hindered my ability to blog over the last month, but now they're out the way normal service can resume. First things first, I was lucky enough to see Beyoncé when she performed at the O2 in London as part of The Mrs Carter Show world tour. I wish I'd blogged about this sooner but as a testament to how good it was I can still remember it fresh in my mind as if it was yesterday. Seeing her in person has confirmed that when I grow up I want to be Beyoncé.

BFI Screen Talk with Marion Cotillard

It was just by sheer luck that I logged into Twitter on Friday when the BFI tweeted that a limited number of tickets had become available for a Screen Talk with Marion Cotillard on the 14th October, as part of the London Film Festival. Prior to this, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to attend the festival in any way and would have to content myself to watching the entire event unfold over the Internet from the comfort of my room. Well, I’m all about the Impulse Buy these days and within minutes I’d bought myself a ticket and smugly watched as the event sold out.