Groupon - Review

I'm not a Groupon Newbie, I've used it once to book an overnight stay in Brighton with the OH before Noah came on the scene. It was lovely to get away for the night, even if I was really boring and wanted to go to bed early because I was up the duff. Since then I've not used Groupon so when I was approached to do a Groupon review I said yes immediately. I was given a £40 credit to buy anything or book any experience I liked. I'd seen a cupcake decorating course on Groupon a few times on their daily emails and so for a week or so I looked out for something similar but nothing came up. So then I changed tack and decided to look for something that would benefit the OH and me. Dinner at Marco Pierre White's restaurant at the Mecca that is Stamford Bridge presented itself and I knew that the OH would love me forever (he'd have loved me more if a Chelsea match day ticket had preceded the meal but never mind!). it looked like a great deal - 2 courses (main and dessert) and a cocktail for two for £34 - it should have been £84.

It's very easy to buy on Groupon. Sign up to Groupon and create an account. You select the item or experience you want and you click on the deal. The deals are updated daily and they last for 24 hours, so you have until midnight to decide if you want to buy something. Once you've clicked 'buy' it's just a case of waiting to see if the minimum number of people have bought the deal, if they have then you get it, if they haven't then you don't. Simple. When the day has ended Groupon will check if the minimum number has been reached and if it has then you will get an email, you log in to your Groupon account and then print off the confirmation of the deal and make sure you remember to take it with you to your experience. 

We had a great night but what I will say is that unless you drink tap water and you don't get swayed by all the other delicious things on the menu at a posh restaurant then you will still spend a fair amount, but what it does do is make an expensive restaurant cost the same as your local high street restaurant. On top of the £34 that the deal cost we spent another £88. This was because we added on a starter each (potted duck for him, crispy beef salad for her), 3 side dishes, a bottle of red (the cheapest at £22) and an Irish coffee (£11 each if you please!) and a bottle of water. We both chose the Rib Eye Steak with Bearnaise sauce as our main meal included in the deal and the desserts were divine - Madagascan Vanilla Pannacotta for me and Caramelised Apple Pie for the OH. Oh and our cocktails (Cosmo for me and Apple Martini for him) were delicious! It was lovely, the service was great, attentive but equally not sitting in wait on our shoulders. The ambiance was great, low key and relaxed. I 'shazamed' the music in the restaurant because I liked it so much (Rhythms Del Mundo/Cuba) and me and the other half had a lovely time while the kids spent the night at Nanny and Grandpa's house. 

Would I use Groupon again? Yes most definitely - they have some fab deals, I looked on my local Groupon today and there was the elusive cupcake decorating class (maybe next time!) and there were also some rather cool looking Nike High Tops on offer - reduced from £66.99 to £29.99 - bargain. Check out the deals at Groupon

Two happy, well fed parents! (he is growing a Mo - he doesn't look  like all the time)

Thank you Groupon for helping two very tired parents go for a rare night out - it was great!

The Gallery - Children

When I saw that the topic this week for The Gallery was 'Children', the obvious choice was to pick a photo of my gorgeous daughter, but then I thought no, how's about a pic of me, in my favourite Chelsea shirt. I love this photo - the poor colour quality, the groovy 1970's decor and how lovely my nan looks! I also know that my mum would have cut that fringe and later on that day we'd probably have watched 'Metal Mickey' or 'Doctor Who' on the black and white TV.

My sister and I used to spend many a Saturday afternoon at our grandparents house while my mum worked and my Dad was in The Shed end at Stamford Bridge cheering on the blues. I loved wearing this shirt and if I could still have one item of my childhood clothing it would be this.

In the winter we'd spend hours playing board games or cards with my nan and in the summer we'd be having adventures amongst the beanstalks at the end of the garden, more often than not tottering around in my nan's high heeled shoes - we've got the Cine film somewhere of this, must get it out one day!

If you want to check out Tara's blog and all the other Gallery entries go to: Sticky Fingers - there are some brilliant pictures!