Radlett & District Ladies Circle - Our Blog of Fun, Friendship & Fundraising

Getting 2012 off to a good start...

2012-02-07T17:26:00.003Z

Starting as we mean to go on, some Radlett Circlers met at Darcys in St Albans last week for dinner and cocktails. Amanda, our newest member, joined us as we celebrated ..... well, we didn't really need an excuse! Following our January planning session at Nic G's house, we have a great calendar of events coming up with more to be added over the next few weeks so come and join the fun.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..

2012-02-07T17:12:00.004Z

...at the 'Off Piste' Christmas party held at Willows Farm. Radlett Circlers dug out our party gear, ignored the ski-themed dress code and piled into the taxis. A great night was had by all, with a four course dinner with some excellent dance and cabaret acts followed by a disco. Such a brilliant way to kick off the party season.

Great end to 2011

2012-02-07T17:05:00.004Z

Photo of Radlett's scary Santa courtesty of Steve Bowbrick

Radlett Circlers joined Radlett Tablers for our traditional night of Christmas collecting, with the usual scary Santa! We raised enough money to distribute over 70 food hampers to local pensioners in need - these were much appreciated and filled all those who took part with season cheer.

Doesn't she look marvellous for 75?

2011-10-03T12:36:00.003+01:00

Here is Vicky Perry, our National President, looking gorgeous despite celebrating 75 Years of Circling in the UK for an entire weekend of partying! As well as a party night and a President's Ball, Vicky and the committee launched our fabulous new website. Check it out at www.ladiescircle.co.uk - it has a whole new look & feel, tried and tested with women aged 18-45 who are not current Circlers as this is the target audience for this site. In addition, there is a members-only area (email Nic B for passwords) to make it much easier to find the info and connections we need as a local club. Add it to your profiles / link on Facebook etc to pass it forward girls....

Welcome back everyone!

2011-09-09T17:04:00.004+01:00

Here's a picture of me this summer - don't I look fabulous despite the massive amounts of calamari and sangria consumed? For those of you that couldn't make it to drinks last night due to car crashes and other rubbish excuses (!), hope you had good holidays (and you missed a great apple crumble BTW).

We had a quick planning / holiday catch up meeting last night to get some events planned - these have now been added to our Diary Dates. Exact venue and timing for next week's cinema trip will be sent out after Thu via email so keep an eye out. Enjoy until then....

Poker Queens!

2011-07-11T21:18:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to Julie on winning the stunningly expensive Poker trophy at our 'Gaga about Poker' night last week. It was a great night so thanks to Louise for hosting, Michelle and Suzanne (have you dried out yet?) for providing the chips and Julie for providing the croupier. We had a few guests join us and quite a few of the poker virgins were busily download Texas Hold'em apps after the game so hopefully we'll all be there next year for the 2012 Poker Night!

Smiling come rain or shine....

2011-06-14T22:37:00.008+01:00

...well the weather may have been truly dreadful for the Radlett Festival last Sunday but that didn't stop the Circlers from smiling! Can you guess which one is not a Circler?

Radlett Festival 2011

2011-06-07T11:37:00.003+01:00

It's Radlett Festival this Sunday and we're joining forces with Radlett Round Table. We've got some bath bomb gift packs we'll be giving out to promote our Circle this year so come along and join us for a drink and a chat to find out more.

Cruising the Thames

2011-04-14T09:09:00.003+01:00

In the midst of the marches through London to protest the spending cuts, some Radlett circlers nipped out of the pub, dodged the crowds and joined circlers from all over the Eastern Region on board a cruiser. We sailed down the Thames out past Greenwich over lunch and drinks. A speaker from the 'Railway Children' charity told us about their work and all the proceeds from the raffle were donated to this great cause. It was fab to meet up with old friends and get to know some new ones as London floated by. Here is Nicola and Lisa with Vicky Perry, our incoming National President.

Girls on Film (or Radio at least)

2011-02-15T15:41:00.004Z

Having postponed our previous appearance due to snowfalls, we made it to the BBC Radio Three Counties studio for our starring role on Lorna Milton's afternoon show. Michelle, Roma and Nicola mixed up cocktails and tasted cupcakes for a live audience, with Lorna and her team doing the judging. Top winners were the Iced Lime Marguerita and the Red Velvet Cupcakes (recipes available in our Charity Cook book - on sale at www.radlettcirclerecipebook.co.uk if you haven't bought your copy yet.) Letchworth Circle have had a call already from a listener who is interested in joining Circle, having heard us on the radio so we must have done something right! We also put together a fact sheet that the radio station are distributing if listeners contact them and apparently it has proved very popular.

It was a great experience and lots of fun, if a little nerve-wracking at first. The team were very friendly and have invited us back to Lorna's new breakfast show to publicise our upcoming Radlett Fashion Week. Many thanks to Roma for organising and here are some pictures to prove it...

Boys vs Girls "Come Dine With Me"

2011-02-02T23:06:00.004Z

Didn't they do well? The boys set an astonishingly high standard with their 'Four Seasons' themed night last Saturday. After greeting us with cocktails and canapes (we didn't know they knew things like this...), we were delighted to see the beautifully laid out tables, complete with candles and flowers. Who knew? All three courses were gorgeous and the entertainment (Guess the Knee, Whose Secret?) were lots of fun. Thanks to Round Table for a great night and.....you'll have to wait and see whether we can come up trumps in a couple of weeks when it's our turn to host! Go girls!!

Radio Stars!

2011-01-21T11:45:00.003Z

Here we are having a bake-a-thon in preparation for our Radio BBC Three Counties appearance around 4pm today. We'll be taking along a selection of cakes and cocktails to share with Lorna and the team and to publicise our charity recipe book. So far, we've sold around 100 copies so with all proceeds going straight to Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, that's £500 already. We're getting closer to our £1,500 target so thanks to all who have bought a copy.

We've also had some press coverage: http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/8738829.Ladies_circle_releases_charity_recipe_book/

Let's hope we don't do a Jeremy Hunt-style blooper! More pics to follow!

Book launches with a bang

2010-12-08T22:11:00.007Z

We had a great turnout for our first ever book launch. The Radlett Circle Cocktails & Cakes recipe book was admired by all, as were the samples of the cakes and cocktails. Many thanks to Gavin at Tsar Deli for so generously hosting the event and to Edith Oakley, founder of the Radlett branch of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, for sharing a bit more of their work. Thanks to our kind advertisers and the design time donated by Braden Threadgold Advertising, all book sales proceeds will go straight to the charity.

It's certainly a great cause and we sold over 50 copies on the night with good sale since. If you'd like to buy a copy either email us here and we'll drop one round or, if you live further away, go to our Recipe Book site and order your copy online at http://www.radlettcirclerecipebook.co.uk/

All I want for Christmas...

2010-12-08T21:43:00.003Z

...is some great nights out with the girls! On a FREEZING cold night, we warmed up nicely with lots of wine and dancing at the 'Studio 54' Party Night, held at Willows Farm. Along with about 500 other people, we had a fab time to kick off the party season. Here's some pics of us looking our usual fabulous selves. Thanks to Suzanne for organising (and to the group that didn't get the beer they ordered as we drank it instead).

Cakes & Cocktails Recipe Book Launch

2010-11-17T10:02:00.003Z

The book is finally at the publishers so we're throwing a party to celebrate! On Wed 24th November at Tzar Deli on the High Street in Radlett, we'll be holding our Cakes & Cocktails Book Launch. All women aged 18-45 are welcome to join us to try out a few of the recipes and meet the Circlers. A representative of the Leukaemia Society local branch in Radlett will also be saying a few words about their work - all proceeds from the launch and book sales will be donated to the charity. A reporter from the local paper will be taking some pictures and writing up the event.

Well done to Louise for getting enough advertising to cover all the production costs and many thanks to all the advertisers for supporting the book. Thanks also to Tzar Deli for hosting this event and to Steve at http://www.braden-threadgold.com/ for donating his time to produce the book.

Tickets are £3 in advance (contact us via our email link here to order or see your local Circler) or on the door - this includes entry into a prize draw on the night. The launch starts at 8pm and we're looking forward to welcoming you!

50 fabulous years!

2010-10-29T15:07:00.003+01:00

Radlett Circle reached its half-century in October and Circlers past and present got together for our Charter Night. It was great to see so many there and thanks to Eileen for a fab speech (off the cuff too). Here are a few pics...

Night Out in Open Air!

2010-08-31T13:01:00.002+01:00

Last month a group of Circlers, ex-Circlers and friends went to the Open Air Theatre at Regents Park to see some cultchah...Shakespeare to be precise. It was a lovely sunny evening (remember those?) and we had a picnic complete with cakes & cocktails in the park beforehand. Many thanks to Suzanne for organising.

Gambling on the gee gees

2010-08-06T16:20:00.003+01:00

Really great day yesterday with Circlers past & present (and Louise's mum) at Brighton Races Ladies Day. Started with champagne, gorgeous lunch and plenty of wine...combined with a few hats, fascinators (Kath & Kim), drag queens and horses. Biggest winner of the day was Julie at £20 up so nobody will be retiring just yet but we had loads of fun. When they finally kicked us out of the marquee it was dinner at the marina then train home. Thanks to Mich and Gill for organising: same time next year, everyone?

Cocktails and Cakes...

2010-05-11T17:39:00.003+01:00

Liz hosted a great night full of cakes and cocktails, made by Circlers to their own recipes (or maybe Nigella's?), last week. We welcomed Lisa and Mandy as special guests. Louise gets a special mention for her considerable pink bun (see below!) and Liz for the truly moreish Mojitos. We'll be putting some of these recipes into our upcoming 'Radlett Circle does Cocktails and Cakes book' which we plan to launch at the Radlett Festival next month and sell through various local outlets with proceeds to Leukemia Research.

Update on latest changes

2010-04-29T12:34:00.003+01:00

During an evening filled with cake and wine, we held our quickest AGM ever (5 minutes!) so we could focus on the really important stuff of eating and drinking! Suzanne was thanked for being such a great Chair this year and she handed the baton over to Nic G for 2010/2011. Nic B will be Vice, with Liz as Treasurer and Suzanne as Secretary. Other roles will be decided at next meeting, once rest of Circle has managed to return to the UK!

We also welcomed Mandy to her second meeting with us. Lots more dates were put in the diary - see below right for details and to update your own diaries. We've also had a request to offer B&B to Romanian choir members aged 17-18 over the Radlett Festival weekend and to sell programmes door-to-door so anyone who is able to help should email Nicola B.

A sophisticated night out

2010-03-01T15:24:00.004Z

Purely for research purposes, Radlett Circle went to the see the Chippendales last night at the St Albans Arena. Shirley and Nic G found the joys of sitting on the end of the row, only 4 rows back from the front! Luckily, these weren't the original Chips (who we suspect would need some help to get their kit off in a hurry these days) but the new and improved version. Fantastic night out and here is the photo to prove it!

So what have we been doing in 2010 so far?

2010-02-18T13:52:00.002Z

Long time, no post I'm afraid but thought we should do a quick update on the year so far. We've had a good meeting at Pizza Express and have been doing lots of planning around events for this year. We had a great time at our Christmas Party in Elstree and the Pre-Christmas cocktails organised and hosted by Suzanne so 2009 finished well and in usual style!

Everyone is looking forward to the Oscars Night at Elstree Film Studios next month, organised by Radlett Round Table. There will be lots of 'awards' for the 130+ 'nominees' attending and a great night with lots of eating, drinking, dancing and laughs is promised. We've also got a family Easter Egg Hunt planned and a trip to the Chippendales coming up.

Welcome to the Radlett club!

2009-10-14T09:50:00.005+01:00

At the Think Pink night last week, Suzanne welcomed Louise as our newest member. We're thrilled that Louise is joining us and are looking forward to all her new ideas! We didn't even put her through the promised initiation ceremony!

Alternative Quiz Night!

2009-10-14T09:44:00.002+01:00

Saturday's Alternative Quiz Night went down a storm again. Rather than boring questions about sport, history etc, we had to make egg holders from spaghetti and marshmallows, identify distorted celebrities and dress a real mummy. The food was great and we raised over £1,200 for our two charities: STEPS and BEAT. Well done to all who helped organised and thanks to everyone who attended.

Summer's Evening

2009-08-19T15:53:00.007+01:00

On a glorious summer's evening (remember those?) last month, Circlers from all over Area 21 came together for our annual dinner and to give our summer dresses an outing. After champagne cocktails in the last of the sun, we sat down to a gorgeous dinner along with mega chat-a-thon. Nicki Stocken, our National President, joined us and shared how much she's enjoying her role this year despite many early starts and late nights - she's off to International Conference in Bangalore later this month. Many thanks to Harpenden for organising such a great evening on behalf of Welwyn, Radlett, Harpenden and St Albans circlers.