BELFAST: A Night in with Hurrah for Gin
From the moment the doors opened, the buzz of mums (and a few dads) was incredible! But how could it be anything else when you have just been handed a delicious Jawbox Gin & Ginger (YUM!). Gerry White, the daddy of Jawbox Gin, very generously tickled our taste buds with his Belfast Cut Gin, a bottle that I know will be on my Christmas shopping list!
Normally on a cold Wednesday night, we would probably be settling down to watch some mind numbing trash on catch up after getting the kids to bed, sorting laundry, making packed lunches, trying not to nod off at 8.03pm. HOWEVER….thanks to We Got This: Belfast, the agenda was much more appealing! There was such a buzz coming from the ‘oh yay, you’re here too’ catch ups! We normally get to chat over a first sip of coffee at soft play before having to chase up a padded cage after a lost child, or at the school gates when we are already running late for a meeting. Not tonight, the chat was in full flow and good God, we were a noisy bunch!
Q Radio’s Cate Conway introduced Gerry to the stage so that he could give us an insight into his brand. Did you know why Jawbox was called Jawbox? Nor did I!! Did you know why it is ‘Belfast Cut’? Nor did I! Everyday really is a school day! We could tell how passionate he is about his gin, a thing I knew from first meeting him. He wanted to be the man to serve the drinks to you all and tell you about his brand. Jawbox is his baby, and what a caring gin father he is!
After a short break (refuelling of Jawbox at the bar), Katie Kirby was cheered on by 160 Northern Irish parents as she made her entrance and took to the stage with Cate. She gave a great insight into why and how she started blogging and how she managed to turn a hobby into an incredibly successful career, winning awards, being a Sunday Times Best Selling author and becoming a household name. As usual, success comes with the ups and downs and Katie gave a very honest account of how it has changed her life before treating us to some hilarious slides to illustrate the past year (BFFs with Kimberley Walsh vs looking like a shark!).
Then, without giving too much away, Katie introduced us to the story of Archie, the star of book #2, The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams aged 2¼. What a wee scamp! It stars Lucy the perfect mum, his best friend, Amelie, and baby Chase (his new sibling). After answering your cracker questions (when will you be writing a book about partners?), Katie kindly stayed on to sign copies of her fabulous books.
I was so flattered at the feedback from the event, and you had some great suggestions about who you would be interested in seeing next! Please keep the ideas coming and we will do our best!
Find out more about Jane and We Got This (Sometimes!) Belfast :-)
