It was a Monster Smash

Well with all those Northern culinary delights on offer you could be forgiven for forgetting what a lot’s been going on down South in the last week or so, but fear not – help is on hand to keep you updated (and entertained!).

As previously alluded to, we've now had our second Monster Mingle and what a treat it was! Located in the swanky basement bars of CitySocialising favourite Grace, hundreds of socialisers gathered once more to enjoy the fun of meeting a veritable shed-load of new people (and one or two familiar faces as well).

I started out in what I consider to be the very best position in the house for an event like this – on the door. When there are simply hundreds of people coming to any event, the only way you can possibly meet all of them is by being at the entrance. That way, although it may have been only briefly, I got to say hello to nearly everybody. As the hours wore on and the evening got decidedly chillier (perhaps something to do with the dissolute departure of a particular checked shirt from a certain flowerpot) I strayed down into the hubbub of our Monster Mingle II in full flow. After grabbing myself a couple of Monsters on the Beach, and rubbing my eyes to check that there really was a gorilla on the dance floor, I was swept away in the fun of meeting new folk for the rest of night. Hours later, a few more Monster Cocktails down and after some disconcertingly extensive conversation about thatching, it was already time to start packing up and dreaming of Monster Mingles to come.

Despite the good turn out, there was one notable absentee from our Monster Mingle II. Sadly our little CS Monster pin badges managed to lose their way whilst travelling the world. They ventured as close to home as Sidcup in their globetrotting, but after a disagreement with some gentlemen in UK Customs they packed their bags for China, then South Korea, then Kazakhstan and on the night of the Mingle itself they were spotted partying the night away in Cologne, Germany. They have now made their way back to home to a severe reprimanding and instructions not to be tardy for the upcoming Monster Jingle.

But enough talk of monsters and mingling, the real question on every readers lips is “What gastronomic excitement befell the CS employees this week?” Well hunger for answers no more my friends! I shall impart to you the knowledge that the CSHQers all whizzed over to Shad Thames to take advantage of Zizzi’s lunchtime specials last Friday. Three courses and rather copious additional helpings of Torta Cioccolato later, a perceptibly larger CitySocialising team emerged on the cobbled streets of London.

That’s enough of past affairs at CSHQ for the moment, but what of coming events on the CS Calendar? Well, keep your eyes peeled for free gin in conjunction with Bulldog (cocktail ideas anyone?) and for our Halloween themed Zombie Stomps around the country (that doesn’t mean stomping around the country!) amongst much more. And don’t forgot you can always create your own Social as well.

Stay tuned in for more City fun this Friday my little monsters.

Continuing the Trend

Avid readers of this blog so far will notice an underlying trend of food! It has played a pretty important part in all of the posts so far and this week is no different! Yes it would seem the Northern branch of CitySocialising HQ is just as obsessed with food as the south!


Manchester has been a haven of all things food and drink over the past two weeks as the annual Manchester Food & Drink Festival rolled into town. I visited the festival pavilion for the closing weekend and spent far too long in the Robinson’s beer tent sampling the specially commissioned ‘Manchester Icon’ beer and even tried a cheeky half of ‘Old Tom’ – wow... that put a few hairs on the chest! Food wise I further cemented my status as walking Northern stereotype by dining on a limited edition Holland’s Coronation Street pie.


During the day I was also introduced to a new cocktail which was that fantastic I feel I need to share it with the world – Grant’s Twist (click here for the recipe)!


Now we are fully into Autumn I can focus on two of my favourite nights of the year, Halloween & Bonfire Night! I’m currently in the market for some original Halloween fancy dress ideas so any suggestions you have you can 'tweet' me @CS_RachT and I’ll be joining fellow CitySocialisers for the biggest firework display in Manchester at Platt Field Park this November 5th!


And in other news, we are sending our deepest sympathies to all the sore heads in London this morning after what looks to be a truly 'MONSTER MINGLE'! Check out the pictures here, I can’t wait for the Monsters to hit some of the Northern cities!

The C Word

It was inevitable, but this week the 'C' word was muttered numerous times. Yes, 'Christmas' has entered the office vocabulary much sooner than we'd all like, especially with this final burst of summer! Before our Monster Mingle II is even out of the way (it's next Thursday! hooray!) we're dressing up Charlie the monster in his Christmas outfit in preparation for the Monster Jingle (see what we did there? ho ho). But, panic aside, it already sounds like we're going to have a fun-packed festive season on CitySocialising with lots of great Socials to head out to.

This week has also seen a full house for the first time in three weeks, with the return of Jonny to our fine shores! His Stateside honeymoon has sadly had to come to an end, but we were all happy to hear him on the other end of the phone for our monthly team meeting - he's still tucked away in the Manchester office for now. We expect him to visit us down South shortly with a big bag of goodies though!

We also had another birthday this week - happy belated birthday Meg! The best way to feel young is to head out to an old man's pub, so those in the office on Wednesday checked out the Old Royal Oak for lunch (Miles & Owen have discovered that this is the third most common pub name in the UK, fact fans). Here's Owen's report of the birthday meal:

"Meg had a Cottage Pie (as did I) which was acceptable though not outstanding. She and Madeleine also shared a most sizable piece of treacle tart with lashings of cream, whilst Tom and Sanchita shared an equally enormous (and delicious) slice of homemade banoffee pie."

Of course, a CS birthday wouldn't be complete without the obligatory gift of a novelty screenwipe. Sadly, it seems we've almost bought the whole collection, so we're waiting with baited breath to see what the new birthday treat will be. We'd love to hear any suggestions! If all else fails, our mug collection is dwindling slightly...

The Wanders’ Return

This week has seen the return to CSHQ of both Sanchita and Madeleine after a week’s pleasure away from the office. Both soldiers have returned weary from their exploits; coughing and sneezing and spluttering away. They maintain their innocence, but I suspect they’ve obtained these war wounds by partying just a little too heartily. You know how us CitySocialiers like to have a good time! Regardless of their ill health though, it’s good to have them back.

The end of last week saw a repeat performance from Karis’ superb blagging skills. No cupcakes this time, but instead we all found ourselves on the guest list for Counter Culture’s launch night.  It seems that Counter Culture is all about fighting for fresh, new, independent art - a noble cause indeed - but I was happy just grooving away with a can of Red Stripe and meeting some new people! And being in the socially hallowed arches of London Bridge it’s only just up the road, so we’re sure to be back there at some point – it’d be great to see some other CSers there.

As we moved into this week, the return of our wandering pleasure seekers meant a belated birthday lunch for Madeleine. So on went our coats and hats as we took a trip down to Dim T, where we were greeted by a whole world of fine Asian dining (and half hour wait for a table!). Madeleine managed to continue her tradition of finding the sweetest Asian dishes around with a Sweet Coconut. It was certainly more of a success than her previous attempt, which more closely resembled a ‘desert salad’ than anything else. No meal at Dim T is complete without the compulsory fortune cookie. On this occasion I have been advised patience will help to build the closest friendships – good advice, if a little non-descript. Miles on the other hand was given a much more specific fate as he was instructed to buy stock and await the financial rewards.

This week, in case it had managed to pass you by, is also British Cheese Week. So it’s an opportunity for cheese lovers from across the land to celebrate by polishing off a bit of their favourite pasteurised treat. We’ve been celebrating here not only with a couple of cheese and marmite sandwiches (I do love it), but also by giving away two whole boxes of some of the poshist cheese you’ll find! It’s a selection kindly donated by South Kensington’s La Cave a Fromage, so if you want to get your hands (and more importantly mouths) around it just get onto our Facebook page and Like the post beginning COMPETITION TIME.

And thus we draw to the end of another week here at CSHQ. Happy to be back at nearly a full team (minus a poor Karis who has developed another case of Tonsillitis – why don’t they just take them out!?) and looking forward to kicking off our next Monster Mingle in under two weeks.