Jennifer Barton – a New York born Londoner – accepted Eventbrite’s #GTFOChallenge to go to 30 events in 30 days for the experience of a lifetime.

This is what happened as she headed into week two.

My journey as July’s #GTFOChallenger continues into its second week, where I’m discovering new things daily about the city I call home, walking WAY MORE than 10K steps each day and loving the immense variety of events you can book into on Eventbrite.

Celebrating imperfection with Kintsugi 

As someone who believes in rewearing and reusing items instead of throwing them away, I’ve been desperate to try Kintsugi since I first heard about the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and powdered gold. 

I was extremely excited to book a spot on Kinboru’s Kintsugi Class for Beginners, hosted by Brandon Le (@kinboru_uk), who isn’t just a master at teaching kintsugi and making the most gorgeous bowls, he’s also an incredibly entertaining host with plenty of historical tidbits and interesting anecdotes. 

Everything about this class was gorgeous, like the setting at Bermonds Locke, a beautifully designed aparthotel in Tower Bridge which plays host to various Eventbrite activities throughout the month. It was a great social event, too. People who’d booked included a trio of colleagues unwinding after work, couples on date nights, doctors needing a change of scene, and solo crafters like me, looking to do something mindful and relaxing for a couple of hours.

The idea behind Kintsugi is that broken ceramics can be made even more beautiful if we mend them with gold; in fact, we can make something that’s truly one of a kind using this technique. It applies to life, too: instead of hiding our scars and difficulties, why not show them to the world as something we’ve faced?

The class is an intro to modern Kintsugi, so after choosing a bowl from a selection of styles, you break it yourself with a hammer. (You can bring in your own broken pottery for the class, too.) Then you piece it back together with epoxy glue and blow gold powder onto the sealed cracks, before you paint the powder on with a brush. The process is painstaking and relies on adhering to strict timings as well as hoping gravity works in your favour. I can’t wait to try it again in the coming months with my friends…

Get your paint on

Did you know there’s a space in London dedicated to themed paint-and-sip activities? I didn’t, and was so excited to discover the London Art Bar, where PopUp Painting hosts its awesome themed art events (@popuppainting). 

From Van Gogh to Monet, Hokusai to Picasso, you can book in to paint in whatever style you most enjoy.

I was so impressed with the party atmosphere when I rocked up to a Pop Art Painting session. We were tasked with creating our own versions of Warhol’s Marilyn and staffers were Pop-Art ready in white Warhol wigs (We even had our own drag Marilyn emceeing the event.) 

There were themed cocktails (mocktails, too), great tunes and canvases set up ready to be transformed into masterpieces. We followed painter Wyland who guided us from the stage in recreating Marilyn step-by-step. We all produced finished canvases by the end of the two hours, and I was blown away by the quality of the artwork but also the variety on display. 

It’s an ideal venue for birthday parties, pre-wedding celebrations, alternative date ideas and even to bring your tween or teen. (I had my 12-year-old in tow and she loved it.) 

I am no artist – my daughter helpfully told me my Marilyn resembled a Dorito (ouch! – but it was a wonderful way to spend a sociable afternoon and I can’t wait to try again. Maybe I’m more a Sunflowers kind of painter? 

Writers unite at the Hammersmith & Fulham Writers’ Festival 

Eventbrite can also be go-to for one-off festivals in the city you live in, whether you want to watch tango, sip on beer, celebrate Pride or learn about bridal beauty trends. 

I booked into the Hammersmith & Fulham Writers’ Festival, now in its third year, and got to meet the founder, Rasheda Malcom of the WILDE Foundation. She launched the festival to provide a platform for female writers of colour and indie writers, and the jam-packed schedule was full of everything a budding writer (or keen reader) could want: talks about trad and self-publishing, book clubs, author panels and even some open-mic and stand-up to kick off the day. Plus plenty of stalls selling books and tees to commemorate the experience…

I managed to catch the Two Crimes and a Romance workshop with crime authors Scarlett Brade and Stella Oni and romance writer, Frances Mensah Williams – though Williams did point out these genres decided by publishers don’t necessarily capture the whole essence of her novels. 

“I don’t see my books as romance, I see my books as telling stories. The real love story is the woman’s story with herself,” she told the audience. 

After all three authors read from their newest books, I instantly added them to my “to be read” pile – those openings were incredible. Hope I have time to read them in between my my next #GTFOChallenge adventures, which include sustainable fashion events, dance classes and a 5K run. Better get moving…

Keep reading about Jen’s adventures with the #GTFOChallenge on this blog – and follow her daily on