shweet like cinnamon...

Tucked away on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, this dainty chocolate boutique, once stepped inside, seems like a magical wonderland. It is in no doubt a 'chocolate & sweetie emporium packed full of every kind of sweet and chocolate imaginable!' This boutique is owned by two best friends, Kate and Anne, just outward of city centre, in the popular student area of 'Eccy Road'.



Not only a shop, but a tearoom, Cocoa Wonderland provides the opportunity to take your chocolate experience further. With evening events such as a 'Chocolate Taster session', or 'Chocolate Lock-in'. As well as this, there is also Knit and Book club.



Filled with sweet treats and chocolate masterpieces, Cocoa allows customers to enter this wonderland, making you feel like you're back to your childhood.



If you live in Sheffield and haven't been yet, you are definitely missing out. With Easter approaching soon, I think it's perfect timing isn't it?



www.cocoawonderland.co.uk

Follow Cocoa here on Twitter!

A 'Cut Off' to remember...

Last Wednesday saw Adele at the Brits, being cut off from her acceptance speech by host James Cordon, so Blur could perform. Adele's reaction to this was to stick her finger up (to the suits) as she was rushed off stage.
Next thing you know, there's Tweets flying everywhere. Amongst many others, Lily Allen, Jamie Oliver, and Philip Schofield, attacked the Brit Awards as 'bad' and 'disgusting', after Adele was cut short to make way for Blur's closing set. This being the majority of reaction, however some people thought Adele was being rude and inappropriate.

Daily Mail believed “It was enough to leave the most powerful men in the music business choking on their cannon of lamb, and spitting out their swigs of the finest Cotes de Rhone.” No it wasn't. It didn't do that at all. Adele didn't do it to make a statement that she could get away with it, or to cause a stir. She simply just reacted to the bosses for rushing her off stage.
So called 'comedian' Frankie Boyle had then laid into host James Corden saying “Corden must regret the Brits. By cutting off Adele he looked like a fat, tactless moron. Who needs publicity like that? Well, Matthew Horne.” Boyle you should be done with comedy, clearly.

Yes Adele won an award and deserves time to give a speech of acceptance. I get that. But lets get this straight. It was done so Blur could perform. Blur, who won the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award. The Brits had set aside time for Blur’s finale, in honour of the band’s Outstanding Contribution to Music award. Maybe they shouldn't have won that award if people can't see it this way.

SBTRKT @plugsheffield

click the link here:
http://gracecassonmusicscene.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/sbtrkt-plugsheffield/

“Grace can you call me back please!”... You know shits about to go down when you receive this voicemail off Momma cas!..

I have just realised, that in my possession, I have 2 pounds and 85 pence. It would appear I will not be getting the beers in tonight. Moving away from home can be tough, something I have only just discovered. Surviving on Dominos and Tesco's outstanding low fat ready meals, not really counting for anything seeing as I eat 50 biscuits between these meals though.

The greatest lesson university can teach you is how to survive the day to day basics, or at least how to cope with them.

I have lived on my own for 6 months now, yet still haven't mastered the trick of the washing machine. Yes, there is a trick. I seem to spend 8 pound per load. There must be something I'm doing wrong?...

Cooking. If I could afford it, I'd bake pretty cakes everyday and live off those. Timings in meals are difficult. The past week I have been living off Sainsburys' delicious yet not so delicious chicken goujons. Buying 30 probably wasn't the greatest of ideas. But they were reduced. Something that couldn't be helped. Mum's home cooked meals are such a luxury now.

I think my favourite average day to day task would be food shopping. It makes me feel like an adult. I love it. I convince myself I do really well with what I buy and how much I spend, until I get to the sweet aisle. Getting things that aren't a necessary buy, yet I still buy them. Standard.

Money. This month my phone bill was 150 quid! Yes 150 single POUNDS! Something I have come to terms with, that it's just a lesson learnt...minus 150 dollar. Scraping the money together and getting yourself out of theses messes, are just lessons. I definitely will not be making my average 2am call no more.

Sleeping pattern. Gone. Getting sleepy at 9pm and then waking up at 2am, is just something that comes naturally now. As well as needing a nap before going on a night out. Yes I'm a grandma.

Cleaning. How does she do it? Despite attempting the 'clean as you go' attitude, the flat remains actually disgustingly dirty. To keep it up, mothers must be superhuman.

Although I call Sheffield home, and believe it to be home, I couldn't survive without my family to actually go home to.
N.B. Mum please don't buy chicken goujons in.

@L.A.Invasion

click the link here:
http://gracecassonmusicscene.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/l-a-invasion-two-guitars-two-singers/

Yellowire @ SOYO Sheffield 06/02/12

click the link here:
http://gracecassonmusicscene.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/yellowire-soyo-sheffield-060212/

@Unicorn_Hunters

click the link here:
http://gracecassonmusicscene.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/unicorn_hunters/

@LDR

click the link here:
http://gracecassonmusicscene.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/ldr-lana-del-rey-lizzie-grant-whateveryouwanttocallher/

ayla on repeat...

click the link here:
http://gracecassonmusicscene.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/ayla-on-repeat/

@NICK CLEGG Just so you know, I hold grudges!

This month's 'SHU Life' magazine's cover story is an interview with Nick Clegg. You can imagined how pleased I felt. I believe I did quite well, I reckon I survived half way through the article before getting so angry I wanted to rip the pages into shreds. It all started with the quote “One thing I've learned from a year and a half in Government is that people who make very firm predictions about the future of the economy...almost always end up being wrong.” THIS, coming from someone who is no stranger to being wrong, about quite a lot of things, of course got me a little riled up.

Of course a major topic on everybody's mind was what was he going to say about the tuition fee increase? How was he going to respond and answer to the people who gave him the votes he got? And as expected, he has no sense of regret, remorse, or even a conscience about the decisions he made.

“I think the thing I have perhaps utterly failed to explain successfully is that even though the price of the fee has gone up – the way you prepay has gone down. It's really important to remember this.” IS THIS SOME SORT OF SICK JOKE? It's funny that he thinks that answer makes up for the fact that you are still paying more, and you will be paying more for longer. Much longer. I don't think he gets what many people are so angry about! You know... the fact that he is a liar!

Again, with not the slightest feeling of remorse “I understand when people say to me 'oh, you said this and that in opposition.' But the fact, I'm afraid, is that I lead a party which had got eight percent of MP's in Parliament. I cannot deliver the Liberal Democrat manifesto in full. If people want that, they've got to vote for a Liberal Democrat government, but it didn't happen.” So I see, its payback then. Yeah that makes sense. If you don't get into power, join the opposition and don't do anything you said you would as a way to get your own back. Well its working for him.

As he said himself, it's been a year and a half since he has been in Government. Yet, the thing he isn't noticing, is that people are still angry and upset. People still actually hate him. That is not going to be forgotten or go away anytime soon. Nick Clegg is in denial that he didn't have a choice in joining the conservatives, and if that helps him sleep at night, then good luck with that.

Big Blow To Sheffield's Cultural Offering?...

One of the major attractions to the city of Sheffield as a place to live in was the amount of potential the city itself has. For me, the amount of creative talent here, and the ideas and plans for the city seemed ever more exciting. Will this soon be in decline with 'Museums Sheffield' inevitability closing?

Museums Sheffield's application for £1.4m per year for the next three years has been refused. Museums Sheffield must now manage a devastating 30% reduction in its budget from 1 April 2012. “This is a huge disappointment for the city and Museums Sheffield. We know Sheffield had a very strong bid and should have been recognised for its cultural offer....”Julie Dore, Leader of Sheffield City Council.

This decrease in funding will have a big impact on Museums Sheffield, bearing in mind, Museums Sheffield controls Millennium Gallery, Graves Gallery, and Weston Park Museum. Its thought that just because the funding has been reduced there are no plans for the museums or galleries in the city to close, but isn't this inevitable if the funding is decreasing over the next 3 years? It's set for 45 jobs to be cut, meaning a large scale staff redundancy. As well as that, there will be major reductions in exhibition programmes, and less learning trips provided for schools.

The next exhibition that will take place, is believed to be it's last. Bearing this in mind, as well as the cut of the city's major cultural offering, I decided to ask the thoughts of passer bys, if and how they will be affected...

“I often spend my lunchtime wondering around and sitting in the cafe. I love to see the new inspirational pieces of work and the things in the gift shop. I want to buy everything there!” Lola 28yrs, Sheffield.

“Hearing that the next exhibition will be the last is really upsetting. I would have hoped the work remains the standard as it is now, but not such hope anymore... Activities and workshops will no longer exist? That is so disappointing. I always thought the idea of school visits was a good opportunity for children to have a fun day out yet learn quite a lot.” Mary 53yrs, Rotherham.

Museums Sheffield is a big part of the city, bringing and providing the culture it has. I believe people won't notice what they've lost until its gone. Especially with the Millennium Gallery, so many people walk through just as a gateway, a quick way, to get somewhere. Maybe once this has gone, people will realise it wasn't just there for a easier way to get somewhere else.

Museums Sheffield, following the decline of there application for the next 3 years, have now become in negotiation with the Arts Council to provide a short term funding scheme to ease a transition of cuts.

To add to that, with the amount of disappointment caused by the refusal of the application for Museums Sheffield, there is a plan to protest against the Art’s Councils decision on Sunday 12th February. A sit in picnic will be held at the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield from 12pm until 3pm. It is encouraged that everyone who is unhappy with the decision, joins the protest with a picnic basket and a pen, as Shefftopia will be holding a big drawing demonstration at the event.

This Sunday! 12-3pm! Millennium Gallery! Fingers crossed it isn't the end yet.

#FF: CLUB LADUREE

If you have never heard of Club Ladurée, and what it entails, you are missing out, on what I believe, is a way of life.
Ladurée is an elegant Parisian Patisserie. It all began in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale in Paris. The decoration of the pastry shop was created by Jules Cherett, who found inspiration from the painting techniques used for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Garnier Opera. Soon, cafes developed and became more and more luxurious. They attracted Parisian high society. Along with the chic restaurants, they became the showcases of the capital.

Ernest Ladurée’s wife, had the idea of mixing styles, creating the first tea salon in town. The “salon de thé” had a definite advantage over the cafés.
This introduced a refined atmosphere and change within history. In September 1997, Ladurée, being both a restaurant and tea room, opened on the Champs-Elysées. Ladurée became a tea salon, pastry shop, restaurant, chocolate shop and an ice cream parlour. Ladurée intends to introduce this century-old name in the main capitals of the world and develop new business opportunities.

Ladurée is most famous for it's creation of the Macaron. Once cooked and filled, the macarons are put to one side for 2 days before going on sale, this being the time it takes to achieve a 'perfect balance between texture and flavour'. With each new season, Ladurée creates a new flavour macaron.
I adore them. They fascinate me.



I first was introduced to Ladurée, Christmas in 2010. I was stuck at Charles De Gaulle Airport, and after having found the stall of Macarons, I made sure I spent my time there well. Ladurée is simply beautiful and perfection. Everything created is so beautifully prepared and presented. If you are going to buy macarons then Ladurée is the very best place to buy them.

Don't worry, you don't have to go all the way to Paris to find these lovely creations, Ladurée can be found in three London locations; in Harrods, in the Burlington Arcade and in Covent Garden.

http://www.laduree.fr/

The Ladurée Dream from Kluk Jeanovej on Vimeo.

it's safe to say...

For the third year, the Golden Globes had Ricky Gervais as a host.
The first time Gervais did the Golden Globes, his jokes were clever and witty. It was funny. It was fresh.
Then in 2011 they asked for him back. This causing quite a stir and uproar for being too harsh. It was again expected yet the intensity of the jokes weren't expected. So was there too much hype for 2012? Or was it generally just the same old boring stuff being delivered?
I believe it started well, but the anticipation and hype was all too much for what actually was delivered.
Granted, he did include celebrity jabs, but they were clearly approved and pre-approved by the the team behind the targeted celebrity and network. Another thing noted that practically no celebrity in the room was the subject of his insults, another big disappointment.
He was mildly amusing, but not outstandingly funny like last year. Many of us hoped he'd top last year, so when measured to that expectation, it seemed a let down. Some people believed it was like he wasn't even trying, but I think it was the case that he was trying too hard if anything.

I guess it's 'show business'... Gervais has been good for ratings for the network, and the network has been good to Gervais, no matter how maligned it may be.

I like Gervais, and continue to do so, I just wish the hype hadn't ruined it for him. I would have thought he'd have known better.