Friday 10 January 2014

6 Drinking Games you can play anywhere.

I firmly believe that you could have an excellent hen do just sitting in a room with your nearest and dearest. I’ve been at hens before when I’ve actually been kind of sad to go out, because I’m having such a good time staying in. If this is the kind of thing you’re after – or maybe you’re just planning one night in, one night out – here is a list of my favourite things to do when staying in – drinking games! Although many of them work for going out, too...

The Tap Game

The Name Game
You've probably played this before - the first person says the name of a celebrity or fictional character such as 'George Clooney' and then the next person says a name that starts with the first letter of the surname - so, C. The game continues in this way - George Clooney, Charlie Brooker, Brian Molko - until someone says an alliterative name that starts with the same letter such as Marilyn Monroe. Then the game changes direction, going back to the person who just spoke. The drinking element - you drink while you think.

The Tap Game
Everyone sits around a table, with their arms overlapping and palms flat on the table. So if your palm is flat on the table, the person on your left would place their arm over or under yours, with their palm on the right of your hand. You basically just take turns to tap on the table - so you tap, then the hand next to yours taps, etc. It's confusing due to the overlapping - you forget whose hand is whose! If you double tap, the direction reverses, which also gets confusing. When it inevitably goes wrong, the people who mess up have to drink.

The Thumb Game
Every so often, someone - anyone in your group - places their thumb quietly on the table and waits for someone to notice. When they do, they put their thumb on the table, and everyone else gradually follows suit. The last person to notice has to drink. It's simple, but a great one to play when you're out and about.

Monkey / Dead Ants
These two games are similar, so I'm lumping them together. When someone shouts 'Monkey' you have to get your feet off the floor. This can mean jumping onto a lamppost or even sitting down and lifting your feet up. Dead Ants is super similar, but you're supposed to lie flat on your back with your feet and arms in the air. If you don't do it, you have to drink but more often than not, everyone ends up on the floor. Not great when you're wearing a skirt. But quite funny.

Apple Roulette
I learnt this in America and it's not for everyone as it, um, involves thumping yourself on the head with an apple. Basically you pass an apple around the table and bang it against your forehead. With each thwack, the apple will start to soften, and eventually it will crack when it hits someone's head. That person is the winner! And either has to drink, or has to make everyone else drink. Downside - kinda gives you a headache.

1, 2, 3... Shot!
This is a fun one to play in a bar. Order a few shots, and place in the middle of the table. Everyone counts to three and then all point at the person of their choice. The person who has the most fingers pointing at them has to do the shot. The only problem with playing this at a hen do is that the bride would probably get chosen every time...

Apple Roulette

Sunday 5 January 2014

Review: Stag & Hen Tshirts


My best friend Sha got married in October and to celebrate, well, OBVIOUSLY there were hen dos. Yep, multiple - one in France and one in London. More on those soon, obviously. They were amazing. Anyway, about the time we were organising the hen dos, Stag & Hen tshirts got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to review their product.

Now, I think tshirts are great on some hen dos - when everyone is going out for the evening in a big group, it's really fun. I do find sometimes though that compulsory costumes can make some people a little uncomfortable - I still remember being at uni and hating our house tshirts because I wasn't a size 8 and they really only looked good on girls with perfectly flat tummies. So for Sha's hen, we didn't want to make people feel like that. Also, the South of France isn't really a 'Girls on Tour' kind of place.

We had amazing accommodation (hot tub!) so we created more of a sleepover vibe with yummy dinners and lots (and lots and lots) of wine. So, knowing we'd spend 90% of the time in our pyjamas, we went more oversized with the tshirts. It was a great call - most of the girls wore them as pyjama tops, and most of us still are wearing them as pyjama tops. You can't knock a comfy tshirt, and these are super cosy and soft.

Stag & Hen tshirts offer a design service, but as we had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted, we sent them a design which they artworked up and got to us super quickly.

The bride-to-be LOVED them - she was so impressed that we had tshirts! In fact, a spare one had to be delivered to her husband-to-be too because he liked them so much. And who can be surprised? It IS a great message. Wine and cheese definitely equals happiness.