The end of the week is nigh, and it's been quite a good one. Going out a lot is not something I've done much of since the children, but this week has been an exception...
Tuesday was the regular girls' night, which is never very regular. We ate at the most fabulous Thai restaurant (http://www.sukhogroups.com/), which never fails to deliver delicious food at reasonable prices. Well, reasonable until you keep ordering more and more because it is so tasty. It did me good to catch up on my friends' lives and talk about all those things most men find boring (clothes, jewellery, the children's school, men, hair removal).
Wednesday night was Book Club. I go to a book club organised by mothers from school. These are, mostly, women I see every day but don't know well at all. And the books chosen are generally quite high brow (I have taken to suggesting books to read, that way I've already read them and I know they aren't too taxing!). I always get frightfully nervous, drink more wine than anyone else (they seem rather partial to fizzy water on the whole, as I glug the wine to get over my nerves), and then I have verbal diarrhoea. As soon as it's over I curse myself for saying the wrong things, and hope I didn't make too much of a lemon out of myself. This week, however, was better than most: a) there were some new recruits who were really lovely; b) I'd chosen the book (The lessons by Naomi Alderman - good read); c) my great friend drank more than me.
Thursday night I was fortunate enough to be invited to Fortnum and Masons for a private pre-Christmas drinks party/shop. Fortnum and Masons is one of the oldest shops in London, and is very elegant http://www.fortnumandmason.com/. The window displays are really breathtaking (see pics below), with Christmas ideas displayed in such clever and stylish ways (I always think being a shop window decorator would be such a cool job). It is also very expensive. We were invited via my husband's work, which means so were a lot of his clients. And if there is one thing I love it's client schmoozing. I find it ironic that book club can make me so nervous, yet talking to wealthy and successful individuals doesn't phase me at all. The champagne helps of course, but I think it's because it reminds me of the days I used to work in the City and had to face clients every day. So we had a wonderful evening, talking to interesting people, sipping champagne and strategically placing ourselves in the line of fire for canapes on the lower ground floor; then moving up to the ground floor for coffee and mince pies ("Mmm delicious coffee" I say, "How much is it?"... "£75 for a tin"... faint); finally reaching the first floor as I felt I ought to buy something, and a Christmas decoration would be a good bet. At £15 a bauble, we just made a sharp exit, thanking all the right people for a lovely evening, and jumped on the bus home.
Friday was a calm night in, DVD in front of the fire (X-Men, First Class - love a bit of hunky mutants!). Saturday, Strictly Come Dancing with Leonora, who is totally addicted and loves Holly Valance (I prefer Harry, but am warming up to Chelsee too). And tonight? Blog writing and X-Factor results, amongst a bit of ebay bidding for Irish dresses (Leonora is an Irish girl in the school Nativity Play. It was all so much easier when they stuck to the traditional characters: Stars, Angels and the odd Shepherd).
I shall leave you with a glimpse of Fortnum's windows - brilliant!
Mx
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