Meerkat movies and meals

As a marketing professional, I'm always intrigued by other companies campaigns (especially those that play the long game). And some of the best marketing campaigns I've ever seen are for comparison websites (the rise and fall of the go compare man showed real character development). And yet no matter how good you are at marketing, a freebie goes a long way. So I don't just use compare the market for their cute meerkat mascots, but mainly for their year-long of discounts when you insure anything through them.

It was pretty devastating when orange wednesdays were abolished (showing my age here) but luckily, we now have meerkat movies and this week, me, my mum, dad and grandma made the most of the 2 for 1 cinema tickets with a trip to see Last Christmas. It wasn't entirely the Christmas chick flick I was expecting and the festive season didn't actually seem to be a massive theme in the film at all. It's actually a heartwarming story of Yugoslavian-born Kate and her journey to self-love and self-acceptance. After being seriously ill, she had a heart transplant the Christmas before and is now on a mission of not-exactly-self-destruction-but-certainly-not-self-love-either. Until she meets someone who makes her feel strong and safe and grounded, and shows her how to enjoy life again. It was a sweet storyline and had a twist that I didn't see coming at all (although my mum and grandma did, so maybe I was just having a slow day), but my favourite parts of the film were those that touched on unity and acceptance in the face of xenophobia and Brexit. It's certainly not up there with festive classics like Love Actually or The Holiday, but it's a film I'd recommend either way.

You can't make the most of meerkat movies without also making the most of meerkat meals, so after the film, we headed to chiquitos for dinner. They change their menu more often than I change my clothes, so once again, there were new things to choose from. I was really tempted by their new meat-free jackfruit option, but ended up going pretty much the complete opposite way with a barbacoa beef enchilada.

Desk-to-dusk outfits when I go out straight from work can be pretty hard to choose sometimes but jeans-and-a-nice-top outfits are always a winner. This time, I kept things nice and simple with black skinny jeans (new look), white cape top (shein) and burgundy faux fur coat (new look). I added a bit of interest to the fairly simplistic look with layered gold necklaces (shein) and dalmatian print sock boots (missguided).