back up blog

Genuinely, my favourite bit of this whole Christmas thing is the giving, as it has become glaring obviously in the (purely alleged) transcendence into my 'adult' years quite necessary that I have to take part in the over-commercialised, over-hyped, over-pressured and not to mention over-stuffed, over-indulged, and over-meaty for a veggie like myself celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, as The Boyfriend in particular will have nothing to do with me if I don't at least force a grimace like I mean it. Ironic then, that he would be 300 miles away on the Big Day and therefore not even within spitting distance of a gritted-teeth 5am Christmas wake-up call. "Laura, I've brought you a drink," Papa whispered to me in the darkness of Christmas morn. "You were coughing in your sleep". "Mmmmmm.....?" "Drink it whilst it is hot, ducky, won't you?" "Mmmmmmmm". (Cue head hitting pillow in dramatic fashion and lou...

From Papa, to me: Hi Just browsing the D R Harris website and a few things caught my eye... Bay Rum Aftershave; Aftershave Milk and Arlington Pre Shave Lotion, and from Truefitt and Hill their fantastic Pre Shave Oil from the extreme comfort range and shaving soap and shave cream and after shave balm and moisturiser and... so many goodies!! Anyway, a few ideas! Dad x From me, to Papa: Hi, Just browsing the Net-a-Porter website and a few things caught my eye... The Matthew Williamson floor-length beaded, backless cocktail dress; the Louis Vuitton luggage set; the Jimmy Choo over-the-knee black leather, no heel boots; the Prada faux-crocodile, berry red clutch-detail purse; the Ralph Lauren cream cashmere sweater set with the pomegranete velvet trim; the Dolce and Gabbana chocolate brown, zip-up leather biker jacket... the tops, the skirts... the dresses... the bags... so many goodies! Anyway, a few ideas! Laura x  From Papa, To me: Cheeky cow.  And so Merry Chri...

If one were to mark one's week out of ten for services to the fledgling economy through mindless, anaesthetised, flu-ridden, food-orientated consumerism I confess that this week I would quite possibly tip the scale. I have been ill. As in, take three days off of work, spend four nights back in the bosom of (to be honest, a surprisingly sympathetic) Mama and Papa, eat five (medicinally purposed) tubs of Ben and Jerry's (yes, five- count 'em), two Asda chocolate-fudge logs and eight Rolo yoghurts a day sort of ILL. This can quite commonly be known as 'Cant-give-a-jaffa-cake-it-is-nearly-Christmas-and-I-can't-be-arsed-itus', but most definitely not in that phone call to the boss to explain that seriously, you hate to let the team down but you just need a day or two to get back on your feet. This overwhelmingly distressing and debilitating illness really did just strike you when you least expected it. No, you didn't even suspect so much as a throat tickle last n...

Given a 'nod' by David Mcmahon   Long distance love means that, after over two months in my new house, The Boyfriend only met The Housemates for the first time this weekend. I was nervous about how they might all get on. I shouldn't have been. They bonded over stories of my stupidity- I now hate them all. "Did she tell you about that first weekend after she had moved in?" S giggled. The Boyfriend looked at me. "Noooo...." he replied. "Ohmygod! It was sooooooo funny. I felt really bad that I had a fridge full of meat, what with her being a veggie and everything, but when we went to this farmer's market I couldn't help but buy these Buffalo burgers we'd had a taste of". B nodded agreement. "They were delicious," he said. "So we bring them home and we have them for tea. Laura asked us how the chicken was after we had finished... she thought Buffalo burgers were chicken! I really wondered what we had let ourselves in for...