This Week I'm...

Reading: Room by Emma Donoghue - I'm branching out from my traditional chick-lit favourites and have started reading the remarkable and somewhat dark story of five-year-old Jack. He has never known anything outside of his room, and along with his Ma, you learn about how he views the world.

Making: Healthier meals in order to shape up for summer! I've been whipping up roasted veg and quinoa salads, along with tasty fresh fruit pots and herbal teas. Together with my weekly Zumba sessions, I should be beach body ready in no time!

 Trying: To move outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself a little more. So, in a bid to boost my confidence, my friend Fae and I headed down to the Quay Theatre in Sudbury Suffolk and joined a play reading club. Ordinarily, the thought of reading out loud to room full of strangers would usually fill me with dread! But, once we got into the swing of things I started to enjoy myself. We might have been the youngest members there, but it was actually quite fun to enjoy some of George Bernard Shaw's finest work with like-minded individuals.

Celebrating: June and July are busy months on the birthday calendar - with three best friends, my mum and sister's birthdays all in the same week. So, it was off to London for a few days in the city with my good friend Charlotte to see in her 27th year. I should have been leading by example being six months older than her, but with an empty stomach and three bottles of wine later my memory of the celebrations had become a little fuzzy! This week I'll be looking forward to enjoying a tasty meal with the family and going all 1940s at the Blitz party!

Friends Reunited...

Not many people can say that they are still in touch with the majority of their school friends, let alone still regard them as some of the nearest and dearest - but, I am lucky enough to be able to say just that! And, while we've all grown up together since primary school, we're all now celebrating each others first house purchases, career achievements, marriages and even children - and, it was with great pleasure that I attended my good friend Baz's (David) son's first birthday party!

We spent the afternoon listening to "Raggy Dolls" and Thomas the Tank Engine, watching a montage of baby Oscar's first year and enjoying an incredible buffet! Two plates of pasta, cheese straws, sausage rolls and quiche, and it was time for the birthday boy to take centre stage and blow out his candles! After some emotional speeches, and with the whole room welling up, we all toasted baby Barrett's birthday.

With a full belly, and listening to the best of Billie Piper blaring out of Adam's car, the rest of the gang headed back to Adam's gaff for Pimms and trampolining! Of course, having an injured foot from my midnight marathon the week before, I just observed the jumping action and guzzled down my fruity tipple.

Once we'd had our fill of bouncing and waving to the Sudbury train (like modern day railway children - Dave waving his red jumper in the air to welcome the people arriving to the town!), we decided to take an adventure across the countryside and walk towards Henny for an evening drink. Three gin and tonics later and we were well and truly in the party spirit - making our way into town for a few more bevvies!

As always, it was a night of cheesy music, giggles and shocking revelations about Adam's unhealthy amount of love for Olly Murs!

One bag of chips, one set of hiccups and one short walk home and we were all tucked up in bed to get some shut eye before having afternoon tea the following day to welcome home our good friend Graeme who has spent the last four years down under.

We all agreed, that we feel incredibly lucky to have such great pals - even if we spend most of our time reminiscing about the last fifteen years!

Older, but clearly not wiser...

As everyone else is on the countdown to Christmas, each year I make myself giddy over my festive birthday (9 days before, don't you know!) and I indulge in excessive amounts of food, drink and presents during the last week of December. And, this year was no different! After heading back to stay with the parents the night before the big day, I (or rather my mum) spent the evening making birthday butterfly cakes to take into work the next day. All four of us piled onto the bed early that morning, to open cards and presents alike, while listening to the broad Irish tones of my nan's singing voice on speakerphone, as she belted out Happy Birthday at 7am!

I arrived early to work to be greeted with my desk decorated in banners, balloons and streamers! I whipped out the butter-cream cakes and relished the chance to soak up the birthday wishes! But, it was press day, so it was back to business in no time - but the comments in my card did not go unnoticed - somehow, I'd become known for my drinking and dancing antics outside of the office!

Now, I did wonder how I had acquired this reputation, that was until we ventured out for birthday drinks later that evening...

Having a birthday the week before Christmas can be tiresome and tricky to arrange a night out at the best of times (everyone is normally ill, skint or busy) - but being the last Friday before the festive period, every man and his dog was out for their yuletide meal, so we were lucky to find a seat, let alone a bite to eat! So, three hours of drinking later, we finally managed to get our hands on some nibbles in an attempt to soak up the copious amount of wine already consumed. But, my vision was already hazy, and my speech becoming slightly slurred, and it wasn't long before I was up and dancing to my favourite Mariah Christmas tunes, before having a few random tears on the Dirty Penguin dance floor, and later fooling a bouncer into letting me into a closed club! I don't quite remember the rest - but what I do know, is that my body rejected that night for the next four days! 

After a slow, painful and emotional recovery - I made my way to Winter Wonderland and to watch the Nutcracker, for a sufficient helping of festive cheer!

It was a lovely weekend, showered with thoughtful gifts and wonderful friends - but also a reality check, that no longer a teenage, I can't quite get away with such extravagant booze-ups! So, perhaps, when 28 rocks around, I'll just stick to a civilised dinner party, rather than beer goggles for one on North Hill in the early hours!

Once again, one year older, but clearly not wiser!