Hi ho, hi ho it's back to work I go!

After a great start to the festive season with the annual Cuffe & Taylor Christmas Party, the fun didn't stop there! I bid a fond farewell to my colleagues and the festive season really started. I love the entire build up to Christmas and this year I got the chance to really get into the swing of things.

I spent many of my Christmas Holidays entertaining family, with both food and comedy antics! I kicked off with an Afternoon Tea with 'The ladies'. I baked, we ate, we chatted and we sure as hell drunk a lot of tea!

Then it was onto Christmas Eve, where the family assembled at my house pretty much just for the sake of out! Well if you can't entertain, eat lots of food and spend time with family at Christmas, then when can you! Christmas Day arrived and the morning was spent peeling vegetables! Then the most important task- PRESENTS!!! I got some lovely things and pretty much 'the usual' items you expect to get but still very much appreciated. Christmas dinner was cooking and my guests sat down to begin the food fest. I couple of homemade glittery crackers (Brett Davis would have been impressed with the sparkle) and some quirky sweet jar place names, dinner was served!

The eating continued on Boxing Day, with a gathering at the in-laws! We found a box of fancy dress costumes and that was it- the night was made. At one point I combined a Little Red Riding Hood costume with that of Tinkerbell, complete with cat ears! We also had a Rocky Horror costume, a cavegirl Nurse and a caveman crossed with a clown. Most bizarre indeed!

After a few calmer days, celebrations continued on New Years Eve. I ended up throwing a late in th day party, but they do say unplanned evenings are the best. They sure are! More food followed and then it was onto the Xbox Kinect for a dance off! I will admit I am quite a competitive person, especially when I'm competing against the male species! To conclude the evening after the midnight countdown, it was Freddie Mercury time! I number of party members performed an on the spot rendition of 'I Want to Break Free', complete with hoovers, brushes and comical moustaches!

A few days of recovering from all the partying, it was back to work! We had two birthdays to celebrate upon our return! The lovely Lady Burns and our Bryan celebrated turning 21 again during the Christmas break, so it was off to celebrate. Madam Tussauds was the destination and it was great fun!

See you next month (when I get round to updating my blog again!)

Christmas at Cuffe & Taylor

So after an eventful end to the week last week, we've enjoyed another busy Friday (albeit not as fun!)

I baked some of my famous mince pies for the team! Complete with orange and cheese, a very stange combination but very yummy!

Homemade festive mince pies with a twist

We were also treated to Christmas Lunch at Java, Lytham which involved us all being covered in glitter from some very festive christmas crackers. Some people also missed their mouth when eating, here's Ryan picking up the leftovers!

Ryan just can't keep his food in his mouth!
 

Team Cuffe & Taylor enjoying lunch with Lytham Christmas Team



So all that is left to do is wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Team Cuffe & Taylor!



 

Extra Christmas wishes from Ryan, Peter & Brett!

The countdown to Christmas is on!

Well with the arrival of December, comes the arrival of the party season. Friday night was no exception and the Cuffe & Taylor Christmas Party 2012 did not disappoint!
Firstly it was the Secret Santa present exchange! I was very pleased with my gift from Mr Aidan Cartmell, Rihanna's new album Unapologetic (which also followed the theme with  that evenings events, but more on that later!)
I can reveal that I had one of our Directors Mr Peter Taylor to buy a gift for! I must admit, he was one of my preferred choices to buy for! Everyone opened their gifts one at a time and we had a few silly presents in there of course.

Ryan & Gaz showing off their new outfits!

The new LMFAO- We're sexy and we know it! 

I put a lot of thought into Mr T's present and I settled on buying him David Walliams new biography Camp David. Some good reading material for Mr T's impending Florida holiday. Peter was completely thrown by who purchased the gift and automatically assumed either Daniel or Lady Burns had purchased it as the present looked as though it had been gifted by Selfridges! I do love a well wrapped present!

 

 

The day didn't stop there, we even had time for a spot of office dog sitting- all in a days work! We nearly had a spot of dognapping too, if it was up to Brettmondo who fell in love with Cockerpoo puppy Lottie!

 



 

Then it was time to Party- Cuffe & Taylor style or in Brett's case Gangham style! After some lovely canapés, a few photos and a few drinks later- we danced the night away! I think it was fair to say we were both guests and entertainers at the party. Here's a few memories from a fab night!

 



Some very sparkly outfit choices for the evening!

The newly christened Shartillard!

Merry Christmas from Team Cuffe & Taylor!
 

The party season has arrived!

December has finally arrived and along with it sheer panic that I'm unprepared for Christmas! But there's still time yet to turn it around! The same can't be said for a certain Lady Burns who has finished and posted all her Christmas cards and is now half way through wrapping presents- Miss Organised! With only a few weeks until Christmas, it's time to step it up a gear! At least I've managed to get my Christmas Tree up :) I almost didn't though, it's been a ridiculously busy weekend for me!










 My working week finished with a trip to the Manchester Arena to watch Keane, who were brilliant live! Friday it was a trip to the Trafford Centre to catch up with my old school friends and take a trip down memory lane- including some very embarrassing photos which are far to cringe worthy for my blog! Saturday it was over to Leeds to visit my friend Hollie and to enjoy the final Twilight movie Breaking Dawn part Two.


This weekend is set to be another busy one, we have the always memorable Cuffe & Taylor Christmas Party on Friday Night. Company nights out are never ones you forget in a hurry, but ones you spend the week after trying to recover from! Friday begins with our annual Secret Santa Present exchange, I've purchased mine all that's left is to wrap it. I've got a few ideas who may have me, all will be revealed in the next blog along with what delightful present I receive! Then it's off to glam up and time to party! The dress code is glitz and glamour and Brett Davis's outfit will be no exception- just think sparkle Mr T also usually arrives in a snazzy outfit, ready to whip out the dance moves!

I'll leave you with a few memories of Cuffe & Taylor's 2011 Christmas Do!

 

 

See you on the other side!

 

 

 

 

It's been a while, so long that Christmas has already arrived in Lytham!



Some of the team at Lytham Christmas Switch On 2012
 


So I appear to have neglected my blog of late, it's been a busy few weeks! My time has been spent planning the Lytham Christmas Lights Switch on. #Lythamchristmas has this year been organised by Lytham Business Partnership, a collection of local Lytham Business owners. Cuffe & Taylor were asked to produce the switch on event and we were more than happy to do so! 

After weeks of preparation, the big day finally arrived on Saturday. An early wake up call and some warm winter clothing later, we began setting up. Minutes turned into hours and it was soon 2pm and time to start the show!


    Spongebob, Lytham's Town Crier & Dora

We began with 2012 Fylde's Got Talent winner Kurtis Reid, we then had appearances from Nickelodeon Land favourites Spongebob Squarepants and Dora The Explorer as well as our very own Ryan performing with The Love Rats.



  
        

    The REAL Russell Watson- Paul from The Love Rats

 Father Christmas arrived on an RLNI Lifeboat much to the delight of the huge crowds in Lytham town centre.





















A couple of the team also gave the famous Blackpool Illuminations switch a try!


The important switch was turned on by none other than Opera sensation and star of 2013's Lytham Proms Festival Weekend Russell Watson. As ever Russell was lovely, he's such a down to earth guy and best of all he's from Salford- all the best people come from there! :) Silver Paralympic medalist Shelly Woods also helped to turn the lights on and Shelly even brought the Silver medal with her- it's huge!

      Helen Vavoso from Lytham Business Partnership presenting Russell Watson with flowers

BBC Radio Lancashire have been a great support throughout both the build up stages and hosting the event itself. I was one of many to be interviewed by Steve Becker and there were a few funny comments during the interview, including one from a lady Steve had recently interviewed who described Lytham as full of old people, drinking tea and walking their dogs, whilst at the same time being like Jeremy Kyle- a very bizarre yet funny comment. 
 So after all the excitement of the switch on, lets just say we enjoyed a merry celebration!




Another day, another blog

Another weekend has been and gone and I find myself thinking what a busy few weeks/months I've got ahead. Not only are the weeks flying by, but there about to get a lot darker as the clocks go back on Sunday. Always one to put a positive spin on things (I did study PR at University), this actually means an extra hour in bed! Result! Dark winter nights can only mean two things, my birthday is near and the man in the red suit will be making an appearance in every shop from now on. No I'm not talking about Mr T (I believe his colours are fuchsia pink & purple) but Father Christmas! I'm a bit of a lover of Christmas and love getting into the christmas spirit!


The question is will we actually keep it a secret?

We've already picked our secret santas in the office and my selection makes for an interesting choice, that's for sure! I only ask that if any of the fellow blogging team have me, please make it a good present! Thank you kindly!!

So enough of Christmas for now, it is only October!






Communication is key!

Now let me take the opportunity to welcome my office buddy Brettmondo to the blogging world, go check out his blog: Blog of Brett I'm sure he'll be having lots of interesting things to say, he usually does!



I'm off to Farmaggedon tomorrow, which Mr T informs me is very scary! A haunted attraction in Ormskirk- for anyone that hasn't heard of it! I only wish Susan was coming with me, she really does enjoy those haunted attractions :)





Last night involved a very important shopping trip, to purchase fireworks! I came home with a considerably lighter purse and a boot full of rockets, a firework selection box and of course the classic must have- sparklers! I do love really good fireworks. The fireworks we had at this years Lytham Proms were fabulous and I had the best seat in the house to view them!

Alfie Boe 'Last Night of The Proms' 2012, Lytham Proms

Remember, remember the 5th of November because it's Rachel's birthday!







 



Showman's Show

So this week some of us headed down to Newbury for the annual Showman's Show, where companies exhibit their products. This ranges from stages to portable toilets!

I was on the look out for a mobile stage for our Lytham Christmas Lights Switch On event in November. We eventually settled on one from Star Events. Whilst we were there we also came across some interesting sights. A mobile bar with a talking moose head on the top was a particular highlight. We saw some really great items that would be fab for next years events.

The lovely Susan modelling a white chesterfield:



We also tested out a driving game, which you can hire for your events. After some tough competition and a difficult driving track, I can confirm I neither won or lost the race. In fact I was nearer to losing than winning- not my best driving moment! Albeit this wasn't a real car we were driving, infact several tiny cars on a race track infront of us. Pretty much a sophisticated Scalextric car racing game (do you remember Scaletric? Taking over your lounge building the track and it driving you mad when the car comes off the track because it was going too fast!). We also saw the return of Mr T from his travels, albeit he's lacking in the tan department.

We also returned to the office with a present for our designer, Ryan.

A GOLD TOILET!!!!

Ryan is so happy with his gift that he's told us to cancel his birthday and christmas presents. Nothing could ever compete with his gold toilet now. It's nice when a gift is really appreciated!

As well as Scalextric car races, gold toilets and a chesterfield, we've been nominated for an award! Lytham Proms has been shortlisted for UK Festival's Best Small Festival Award. It's really easy to vote, it's free and you may win VIP tickets to all three nights at the Proms.  So what are you waiting for, get voting!