Looking for friends to do summer things with

[AllPurposeNortherner]

Hi all,
The summer holidays are nearly upon us! There will be some 'official' group meetups, but I would love to meet up with people as myself (as opposed to as Mumsnet Preston).

Im basically a coffee shop addict, you can usually find me having a brew somewhere in the town centre. My children are 6 and 3, and I am 28. Im a student, a mumsnet local editor, and I also have other projects on the go too, but Im always happy to stop for a brew, and of course Ill have the kids to entertain over summer too.

My hobbies are Lindy Hop dancing, reading and wasting time online, and I also do various crafts (badly!)

I have brightly coloured hair (currently orange), dark rimmed glasses, big boots with roses on and usually wear sme kind of ridiculous vintagey style outfit. I would say to say hi if you see me, but I have probably just described about 10% of Preston centre...

Send me a message if you fancy a meetup anyway.

:) hi
I would be up for a coffee on a Friday - am interested in the Lindy hop dancing - sounds fun!

Fabulous! :-)

For Preston lindy hop, I highly recommend starting by looking at Swingaroo Vintage Dancehall on Facebook. It is a monthly big event, people get all dressed up (the latest one was fancy dress, usually it is general vintage style) and there is live music. Well behaved kids are welcome too, but remind them to walk round the edge of the dancefloor if it is crowded as it gets quite active when the experienced dancers get going (they are amazing just to watch, but will dance with beginners too)...

On tht facebook page are links to other things too - for example a free weekly practise session. At both these things they will informally show you the ropes and you learn enough to get out on the dancefloor quickly (the basic steps are... Basic, then everything builds from there, as it is a social type of dancing). Everyone is lovely to beginners because it means more people to dance with . Im a beginner who has never danced as an adult (and was terrible as a child!) and I love it.

There are also lessons, again listed on the Swingaroo page, if you want more formal teaching. A new one has started on Sundays in Preston that is getting good reports, although Ive not been so I cant vouch for it, and the ones on Wednesdays in Lancaster are fabulous on the times I manage to get there.

Coffee wise, I am usually in Korova on a Friday, this week I have other stuff going on but can be there between 11 and 5 if you fancy meeting?

At the above things, if you just want to drop in and see if Im there, tell them you are looking for the Mumsnet woman and they will point you my way

Where's korova?

If you stand with your back to Primark, look down the side of the church and you will see Korova.

It's a very friendly arty coffee shop and bar, they also have events on in the upstairs performance space and are one of the few places you can get a decent coffee after 6pm in the city centre.

They have wifi and fabulous cakes, so I am usually working on my laptop in there while dd2 is in nursery in the mornings.

I tend to vary which cafe/coffee shop I go in, but try to stick to independant and/or non profit places - mystery tea house, fanakis, continental, ravenous, cafe 49, beautiful planet and strictly cupcakes are all good, depending on what you want.

Have you been to peek a brew in leyland? Apparently it's coffee with play but not a play centre. Never been but its on the to do list if anyone fancies

I was there last night for Leyland Live, so I didn't see it in daytime mode, but it did look promising...
It does come under the remit of Mumsnet Lancashire, but to be honest I don't really think we are all that divided :-)

It could maybe be a good place for the next South Ribble meetup, do you think? I'd love to try it out.

Hi, yes I'll add it on after this one.