A few weeks back I got asked whether I'd be interested in getting involved with the LoveCravendale campaign and experience one of their Adventure sessions. Now normally I wouldn't say I'm much of a sporty person (unless you count running around at events), but this past summer has been quite a sporty one! I got to run in a triathlon, I went paint balling, I've tried to go trampolining regularly and I've started commuting (I know, I know, not something new for most of you, but this is the first time I've had to do that here in London)!

Love Cravendale is the new rewards club from Cravendale (obviously), which allows you to collect points and earn special experiences. They've got a range of experiences: go karting, scuba diving,samba lessons, laser tag, guitar lessons, paint balling, the list goes on and on.

So what experience did they select for me? Segway Rally!

I have to admit I wasn't completely sure what to expect. Ages ago at BarcampLondon 3 I got to have a go on one of the Segways at the Google offices and crashed bumped it into a wall. I remember just not being able to completely wrap my brain around how to ride the thing. So I was a bit nervous to see what would happen this time…

I shouldn't have worried. Much.

The session starts off with a proper instruction and safety briefing, where you get to learn how to ride a Segway. It really is quite weird and still doesn't completely feel natural to me. The more you lean forward and push your weight forward, the faster it goes; to make it stop, you need to move your weight back. What I think threw me more though was the steering: you need to tilt the handlebars to the left and right. I think I'm just so used to bikes that I keep wanting to use it like that (which throws you completely off balance).

After the safety briefing, we got to rally! The track was pretty interesting; lots of corners, one "hill" and quite a couple of bumps. You actually end up being able to go quite fast and have a couple of microseconds of air time at certain points on the track! I have to admit I did end up crashing after taking a corner too quick and luckily managed to jump away before I hurt myself. It did give me a bit of a shock though, and I didn't really dare go faster after that.

It was definitely fun though! Surprisingly what hurt the most afterwards were my toes. Somehow the leaning forwards and backwards made me use my toes much more than normal. Who would have thought?

If you're interested in having your own adventure experience, check out the list on the Love Cravendale site.

Disclaimer: this article is sponsored by Cravendale. They provided me with a free Segway Rally experience at SegKind – RAF Museum Hendon.

Watch this first:

I think that might be the most intriguing trailer I’ve seen for a book! Plus they’ve even got a site setup for Symbogen. I was going to read this regardless, cause I loved Mira Grant’s previous series, but this just makes me want to read it more!

Here’s the description from Amazon:

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them.

Parasite will be released next week on the 29th of October and is £4.82 on Amazon.co.uk (paperback) and $12 on Amazon.com (hardcover).

I usually don’t post articles this late at night when barely anyone is awake to actually see it, but with this dress it felt like the right thing to do:

Cute! I love the print, plus the cut of the dress looks super flattering. Is it bad that I kind of wished it would glow in the dark?

It’s available from Modcloth for $129.99.

Can’t. Wait.

Eek, I’m in a video:

I’m gutted I can’t make it to the Ladies Who Code conference, but it looks like a lot of fun! If you’re interested, there are still tickets available.

I’m so looking forward to getting this book! It’s the seventh book in the October Daye series and with each one the story gets better. I wish they came out more often than just one a year, but then if that was the case we wouldn’t get the other cool series from Seanan McGuire (/Mira Grant).

Here’s the description from Amazon:

Things are starting to look up for October “Toby” Daye. She’s training her squire, doing her job, and has finally allowed herself to grow closer to the local King of Cats. It seems like her life may finally be settling down…at least until dead changelings start appearing in the alleys of San Francisco, killed by an overdose of goblin fruit.

Toby’s efforts to take the problem to the Queen of the Mists are met with harsh reprisals, leaving her under sentence of exile from her home and everyone she loves. Now Toby must find a way to reverse the Queens decree, get the goblin fruit off the streets–and, oh, yes, save her own life, since more than a few of her problems have once again followed her home. And then there’s the question of the Queen herself, who seems increasingly unlikely to have a valid claim to the throne….

To find the answers, October and her friends will have to travel from the legendary Library of Stars into the hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists–and they’ll have to do it fast, because time is running out. In faerie, some fates are worse than death.

October Daye is about to find out what they are.

If you’re interested in this series, I do recommend starting at the beginning with Rosemary & Rue.

I’m not even gonna try and come up with something clever to say about this bracelet; the Modcloth page already does it for me. “Need an accessory that will take your outfit that extra inch? Then, try this rad Monserat De Lucca by Defy bracelet on for size.”

Cute, right? It’s available on Modcloth for $52.99.

This has been going around the past week, so chances are you might have seen it already, but I just love Lindsey Stirling’s violin remixes:

I love the designs from Closet. I’ve only got one dress from them, but it’s definitely my favourite dress. It looks great, has an awesome yet slightly psychedelic print, and has pockets (maybe I’m alone on this, but for me a dress dramatically increases its value if it has pockets)!

This latest design definitely caught my eye: it’s got a flattering flare shape and the print has an interesting pattern and colour combination.

I’ve had my eye on getting another Closet dress for ages, but I’m currently in-between their sizes, with neither size looking great on me. Still it’s a gorgeous dress, so I’m tempted to at least try it out.