WEEKLY UPDATE: 23rd February – 1st March | Mean Girls, Operation Mincemeat & Disney On Ice
- Mar 6
- 5 min read
Some weeks feel extra special, and this one definitely falls into that category. From two brilliant theatre nights to a magical family trip to Liverpool to see Disney On Ice, this weekly update is packed with theatre, family adventures and a few blogging moments along the way.
Here’s everything we got up to during our week of 23rd February – 1st March.
A Relaxing Start & Mean Girls in Manchester 🎭
I started Monday with a lovely relaxing bath using the Lush bath bomb Lawrence bought me for Valentine’s Day, which felt like the perfect calm start to the week.
After that I spent most of the day editing the previous week’s vlog. I had hoped to get it uploaded that evening, but I ran out of time before heading out.
In the evening I headed into Manchester city centre to see the first performance of the Mean Girls UK Tour at Manchester Opera House.
I got the tram into town around 5pm and decided to make a little evening of it. First stop was KFC in the Manchester Arndale food court, and afterwards I had a quick wander around Primark, which had loads of new Disney items in stock.
I arrived at the theatre around 6:40pm, took a few photos outside and then headed in to soak up the atmosphere before the show.
As usual, one of the first things I did was check the merch stand. There were lots of fun items available, including T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, badges and programmes. I added a magnet and a programme to my collection — which felt very on brand for me!
My seat was in the Circle, Row Q, Seat 23, right at the back, but the view was actually really good. For £15, it felt like an absolute bargain.
Mean Girls follows Cady Heron, who moves from being homeschooled in Africa to navigating the complicated world of American high school for the first time. She quickly learns about the school’s social hierarchy — especially when she encounters the infamous Plastics led by Regina George.
The show is bright, energetic and full of pop-style musical numbers, with sharp choreography and plenty of humour. It’s the kind of feel-good theatre night that leaves you walking out with a big smile.
During the interval I also realised that my brother was sitting a few rows in front of me, which was a lovely surprise.
The show finished around 10pm, and I left the theatre already hoping I might be able to see it again before it leaves Manchester.
Operation Mincemeat Press Night at The Lowry 🎭
On Tuesday I finished editing the weekly vlog and got it uploaded before Lawrence and I headed out for another theatre night.
We had been invited to review the press night of Operation Mincemeat at The Lowry, which started at 7:30pm.
My dad kindly dropped us off at the theatre around 7pm, which gave us plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere before the show.
The first stop, of course, was the merch stand. Sadly there wasn’t a magnet this time, but there were lots of other items including T-shirts, tote bags, notebooks, books and vinyl records.
After that we went over to the press desk to collect our tickets and programme.
There was a really lovely press and guest area set up in the bar with drinks available and baskets of Operation Mincemeat themed biscuits — which Lawrence and I couldn’t resist trying.
They had also created a yellow carpet photo area with an Operation Mincemeat backdrop and props like a telephone and briefcase for photos. Lawrence and I had our photo taken before heading into the auditorium.
Our seats were Stalls Row S, seats 23 and 24, right in the centre near the back, but with a fantastic view.
If you’re not familiar with the story, Operation Mincemeat is based on a real World War II intelligence mission where British agents used fake documents attached to a disguised corpse to mislead the Nazis.
It sounds unbelievable — but it actually happened.
Turning that story into a musical might seem unlikely, but it works brilliantly. The show is
clever, fast-paced, funny and surprisingly emotional.
What’s particularly impressive is that there are only five performers, yet they play dozens of characters throughout the show with lightning-fast costume changes.
By the interval we were already really enjoying it, and the second half kept the same momentum while also delivering an unexpectedly moving moment later in the story.
It was such a fantastic theatre experience and a really lovely night out for Lawrence and me.
Blogging, Designing & Pen Experiments ✏️
Wednesday was spent writing my Operation Mincemeat review and preparing the social media posts to go with it.
On Thursday I caught up on some housework and spent a bit of time designing musical-themed pens, which is something I’ve been experimenting with recently.
Then on Friday I printed two of the designs and tried sublimating them onto pens using my air fryer. The process worked perfectly, and I’m planning to write a blog post soon showing exactly how I make them.
A Magical Family Trip to Disney On Ice ❄️
On Saturday we headed off on a family adventure from Manchester to Liverpool to see Disney On Ice Presents Into The Magic at the M&S Bank Arena.
This was Alice and Leo’s first time ever seeing Disney characters live, so excitement levels were very high before we’d even left the house.
We started the morning by getting the tram into Manchester Piccadilly to catch the 10:54 train to Liverpool Lime Street. We arrived early, so we popped into Greggs where I grabbed a bacon roll and orange juice while the kids chose chocolate star biscuits for the train.
Once on the train we found a table seat and settled in. The journey takes about an hour, and the kids were completely happy just looking out of the window the whole time.
When we arrived in Liverpool we walked across to St John’s Shopping Centre for lunch.
Alice and Leo had Happy Meals from McDonald’s, while Lawrence and I grabbed KFC before walking down to the waterfront and the arena.
Inside the arena the kids were immediately drawn to the merchandise stands. We had planned to bring Alice’s bubble wand from home, but it had stopped working the night before, so we ended up buying a Mickey bubble wand for £33, which definitely added to the excitement once the show started.
Our seats were in Block 10, Row JJ, which is in the upper tier but actually gave us a great central view of the ice.
The show itself was pure Disney magic.
It featured stories from:
Beauty and the Beast
Coco
Tangled
Cinderella
Frozen
Moana
The costumes, skating and staging were incredible, and seeing the kids’ faces when the characters appeared made the whole day feel really special.
Alice was especially excited to see Maximus from Tangled, while the Frozen section had lots of children singing along to Let It Go.
The show finished with a big finale featuring characters from across the stories skating together before waving goodbye to the audience.
For Alice and Leo’s first time seeing Disney characters live, it couldn’t have been more magical.
A Quiet Sunday
After such a busy week, Sunday was a much quieter day.
I spent the day writing my reviews and preparing social media posts while the kids relaxed at home.
Final Thoughts 💛
This weekly update was definitely a theatre-filled week, with three brilliant shows and a magical family trip to Liverpool.
From Mean Girls and Operation Mincemeat to Disney On Ice, it was one of those weeks that reminded me just how much I love sharing theatre and family adventures.
And seeing the kids experience Disney characters live for the first time made it even more special.
Watch Our Weekly Vlog 🎥
If you’d like to see everything we got up to this week in real time, you can watch Weekly Vlog #443 — come and join us for theatre trips, a Liverpool day out, Disney magic and behind-the-scenes life from our week.
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