Mixing Out Blog

Category: Tips & Advice

MixingOut’s Guide to Last Minute Christmas Gifts for Your New Friends

If you’re on ‘advent calendar’ time then you’ve probably worked out by now that there isn’t many chocolates (erm, we mean days) left until Christmas. Hopefully you’ve got something exciting lined up for the festive season, someplace fun to go and lots of new friends to meet up with. But have you sorted out your Christmas prezzies?

Seeing as though it’s the time for gift giving and exchanging presents, we thought it might be a good idea to go through a few really cool, really fun gift ideas for everyone. After all, what better way to celebrate friendship and fun times than arranging a secret santa for the big Christmas meet up!

Tabasco Spicy Chocolate: For the guy who’s crazy enough to eat anything

You know which guy we’re on about. Every time you go for something to eat, he’ll order the hottest thing on the menu, or order the craziest round of shots at bar. Well these Tabasco Spicy Chocolates will put the heat into his Christmas treat!

Mojito Lip Balm: For the party girl who likes to look her best

If you’re heading out on the town this Christmas, then she’ll want to look hot (as always) so why not give her this deliciously soothing lip balm with a fresh and nourishing mojito aroma.

Grow Me Beer Monster Kit: For the guy who loves a pint

Packed with everything needed to grow your own beer hops, this will be the most memorable drink anybody buys him this Christmas!

Best Hot Chocolate Kit Ever: For the girly girl who loves chocolate

Bag up a personalised batch of hot chocolate powder and mini chocolate chips for the richest, creamiest mug of hot chocolate, alongside a bundle of mini marshmallows to pop on top. Yummy!

Super Nintendo Cartridge Soap: For the gamer with dirty hands

Because gamers need to keep their hands clean and soft (and preferably scented) why not take soap to the next level with these really cool Game Soaps designed to look like iconic game cartridges. Groovy!

December 3, 2013
Why Now is a Great Time to Get Out and Start Making New Friends

We all enjoy socialising and making new friends whenever we can; it’s fun and it makes us feel more connected to the people around us, not to mention an excellent way of exploring new avenues for relationships and enthralling new experiences.

But what about this time of year, when the long nights start drawing in and it just seems to get colder and gloomier – should we be staying in every night?

Of course it’s nice to curl up in front of the television once in a while, especially now it seems so miserable outside. But chances are, you’d missing out on a wealth of fantastic opportunities to get out there and have lots of seasonal fun with your peeps. That’s right folks, carpe that diem!

Keeps us happy

In fact, going out and enjoying yourself is never more important from a ‘health and happiness’ stand point than right now. The benefits of making new friends and keeping in regular contact with your existing ones can really help alleviate those winter blues we often hear about, and sometimes experience for ourselves. Feeling supported by others can do wonders for your state of mind; your confidence, your self-esteem, and your general sense of wellbeing. Now who wouldn’t want that?

Keeps us trim

Yup, we know it’s mighty tempting to stay indoors with a box set of Breaking Bad and a bowl of your favourite munchies, just because it’s getting cold outside, but prolonged periods of inactivity can lead to unnecessary weight gain and you don’t want to be slogging it in the gym come January when you could be enjoying yourself.

There are plenty of fun activities you can do together in the day or the evening to keep active; paint balling, go karting, indoor tennis… the possibilities are literally endless. Not only will they provide excellent opportunities to make new friends and try new things, but they will also keep your body and mind in great shape.

Keeps us looking forward

With the new year just around the corner, now is a really good time to meet up with friends and start making big plans for what’s to come. Nothing stirs up inspiration and aspiration like a group of people getting together and sharing their hopes and dreams for the future. If anything else, it’s a pretty good excuse to just go out and have some fun.

November 14, 2013
MixingOut’s Good Night Out Checklist: 4 tried and tested tips to consider before going out to make new friends

So you’re on your way out, revved up and rearing to go – excited to meet up with loads of folk and ready to make new friends along the way… but are you sure you’ve got everything?

Spontaneity is all part of the fun of going and and meeting whenever you feel like it. After all, the best nights out are the ones you never plan. But sometimes it’s a good idea to do a double-take and make sure you’ve got everything you need – and the ditch the things you don’t – because you’re going to want to make a super good impression with any newbies that are going out!

So with that in mind, we thought it a great idea to share with you some tried and tested tips taken from our MixingOut community members, who have learned one or two things along the way to meeting new people and making friends.

Be prepared to take photos…

Oh yes, a nice easy one to start with. Charge up that smartphone and make sure you’ve got plenty of free memory, because taking photographs is the perfect way to get to know each other, whatever you’re doing.

It doesn’t matter if you’re out on the town, dressed up to the nines, or caked in mud and splattered with paint. Take plenty of pics to commemorate the occasion and make sure to get anyone you don’t already know to tag themselves on social networks. It’s a fab way to stay in touch with people you’ve just met and an even better way to prompt another get together.

If you’re hitting the town, grab a bite to eat before you go…

We don’t want to sounds like everybody’s mum, but having some food in your tummy before a big night on sauce will reduce the risk of that dreaded hangover the next morning. And if you don’t listen, then you’ve only got yourself to blame!… Okay, that does sound creepily like everybody’s mum.

Ditch the ‘ice-breakers’ before you head out…

Conversation Starters have been done to death. The best way to get to know somebody is new is the same way you’ve been doing you’re entire life… just by being your fun self. You’re outgoing, friendly and you’ve already got loads to chat about, so don’t force it.

Dress to impress (or at the very least, dress for the occasion)

Wear the right clothes. You have no idea how many times we hear of people (usually the fellas) not getting into clubs because they were wearing the wrong shoes. C’mon guys, we’ve yet to hear of any girls turning up for paintball in their high heels – so get it sorted!

November 8, 2013
MixingOut’s Guide To A Spontaneous Night Out With New Friends

We’ve all been there; planned the ultimate night out with new friends and watched it deteriorate miserably as each passing moment fails to live up to your expectations. How many times have you hyped something with your friends, being like “This night out is going to be INSANE. It’s going to be EPIC, OMG I CAN’T WAIT…” blowing more and more hot air, until the whole thing bursts in your face like a cheap party balloon.

Don’t Expect it

You should know by now the most memorable nights happen spontaneously. Things may start off unremarkable, but all of a sudden they take a step in the right direction, almost completely out of the blue, and everybody follows suit. There’s really no explaining it. Other than taking note that the major key to having a great night out is to not expect it.

Shake things up (without even trying)

If you try too hard to have a really great time, then you’re going to set yourself up for massive failure. It’s that simple. Instead, think of ways you can shake things up gradually, without putting too much emphasis into it.

This could be anything from moving on to the next bar to staying put and playing a round of pool, starting up a friendly competition and slowly building the group’s level of participation. The more everyone’s engaging with one another, the better the night will be!

Have an (emotional) one night stand

No not that kind… Nothing cements a truly awesome night out than sharing it with someone else on the same level. When you’re out and about with huge groups of people, there’s plenty of opportunities to make a connection with somebody – even if it’s only for that one night – and having a great time together, chewing the fat, and putting the world bang to rights!

November 1, 2013
MixingOut’s guide to partying hard: meet friends, have fun & feel fresh the next morning

You know the score: You’ve arranged to meet friends for a wild night out on the town – the kind of night you hope to read about in the morning papers. Well, just because you’re going to smash it, doesn’t necessarily mean you want a smashing reminder the next day.

So with that in mind, we’ve trawled through some of the best ways of preventing a hangover, alongside some of the myths, and taken some alternative suggestions from members of the MixingOut Community. That way you can make the most of a great night out, meet friends, and not have to worry about paying for it the following morning.

Before you start drinking…

The Myth – Drinking milk: Remember this one? Milk coats the lining of your stomach and that helps minimise the amount of alcohol you absorb – which depending on how much is ingested, causes the noticeable after effects we commonly associate with being ‘hungover’.

At least, that’s the theory. There’s no real evidence to suggest drinking milk before you go out actually does anything to prevent a hangover, but a lot of people still do it anyway. It’s a remedy as old as the hills. But if you really want our opinion, we like our milk in tea and coffee, and over our cornflakes… and not as something we’d drink before a big night out.

Top Rated – Eat something: Everybody knows you shouldn’t drink on an empty stomach, but still forget to eat something before heading out. A lot of people (the guys in particular) recommend fatty foods because the fat sticks to the stomach lining longer and absorbs more alcohol. But in actual fact, the main idea is to put volume in your stomach, as this will dilute the effects of alcohol. So listen to what your mum used to say, and be sure to eat something before you go out!

And Alternatively – Take multivitamins: Drinking depletes the nutrients in your body, and taking multivitamins beforehand can help minimise the loss, which reduces that groggy, nauseous feeling you would typically get the next morning. And that sounds brilliant to us!

When you start drinking…

The Myth – The tactical vom: Somepeople seem to think that forcing themselves to be sick while they’re out can help reduce the effects of the alcohol they’ve already ingested. When in actual fact, all this does is dehydrate the body even further and makes a hangover worse the next morning – not to mention leaving a mess down the front of perfectly nice clean top. D’oh!

Top Rated – Drink water constantly: Yeah, yeah, we know it sounds counter intuitive to ‘having a good time’, but matching every drink of alcohol with a drink of water will keep you from getting drunk too fast, and (this is where you’ll thank us) from feeling the effects the next day. So order one bottle of water with every drink if you want to keep things even.

And Alternatively – Don’t mix your drinks: Let’s face it, most drinks don’t mix too well and your body is going to have a tougher time trying to handle them all together. So make a decision to drink just beer, or wine, or spirits and stick with it for the rest of the night.

And when the drinking is done…

Give your body time to recover: There’s only one sure fire way of recovering from a hard night out, and that’s plenty of rest. Give your body one or two days recover before you head out again, and drink plenty of water and eat plenty of food in the meantime. Even party animals need to take a break now and then.

October 28, 2013