So, the time has come. Again. I'm not going to go on about this here but it had to be said if only to remind me. No longer can I continue to roll up to work with my Sainsbury's breakfast savory thingy, lunch on a calorie-laden sandwich from Eat and then go home to wine and pasta or takeaway. It was all well and good while it lasted, but now I'm back where I was a month before my trip to Oz, feeling a bit sorry for myself and not fitting into my jeans properly. Going back to blonde didn't make me feel much better, despite what I thought. I'm still fat.

So I'm setting the 'target' at fitting into my cocktail dress by my birthday on August 4th. It's always been tight but I just about squeezed into it in February after a month of tee-total 'fun', so two months of cutting down, going to the gym and cutting back on the vino should be child's play. I would promise myself something a bit more exciting than a dress I already own, but right now I can't promise myself anything that costs actual money because I need to save for The Big Move.

Ah yes, The Big Move. With Emma moving out of Geek Central (officially) on 10th July, the remaining geeks (me and Kevin) have decided to bugger off too when our contract ends in October. In the interim we'll also be paying her share of the rent, which will help me to discover whether I can really afford a place of my own. I have my eye on a one bed flat in Crystal Palace. Not exactly central London, but in the same part of London as a lot of friends, and in a place I wouldn't mind going out on the weekend / in the evening. Also, did I mention it's cheap?

I'd forgotten how much I love May. With two long weekends in the course of a month, what's not to love? I spent this 3-day extravaganza up in Lincoln with my old housemate, holiday buddy and all-round fantastic friend Jojo, consuming all her food (and most of the city's alcohol), playing with the cat and honing my skills on the Nintendo Wii.

It was great to get out of London for a few days and take a breather. I ended up staying an extra night after Jo, Chris (her brother) and Amy (Chris's girlfriend) wooed me with the promise of a pub quiz. We ended up coming second. That sounds good until you realise there were only three teams. Still we got a bottle of wine for our troubles and I got all ten of the movie questions right, so my reputation as a film buff remains intact, at least with three people in the East Midlands.

Speaking of films, enjoy...

Today Katie made us take the Enneagram test to see what type of person we are. I've taken Myers-Briggs type indicator tests loads of times before (I'm always ENFP) but it's the first time I've done this one.

Apparently, I'm The Romantic (the Four). According to the site, that means...

Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being a Four

* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being a Four

* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have

Fours as Children Often

* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Fours as Parents

* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

This recipe is foolproof. If people don't like it, they are either vegetarian or stupid. Obviously this is not suitable for anyone on a diet, as - if you make it the way I do - it contains the calorific equivalent of an entire week on Weight Watchers. Ish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400g pasta shells
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 - 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Large jar of passata or cheap tomato pasta sauce
Half a large pack bacon offcuts cut down to tiny pancetta size chunks
Generous handful of actual Pancetta (optional)
Tub of full-fat mascarpone cheese (half fat is for wimps)
Mixed herbs
Oregano
Black pepper
Olive oil

Method:

1. Heat 1bsp of olive oil in a pan and when hot add the chopped onion and crushed garlic and a generous sprinkling mixed herbs. Fry until softened.
2. Add in the bacon and (optional) pancetta. Cook gently until the juices are running out into the pan.
3. Add the entire jar of pasta sauce to the mixture and bring to a simmer.
4. In a large saucepan, cook the pasta according to the instructions.
5. While pasta is cooking, keep gently stirring the sauce, allowing it to thicken. Add herbs, pepper and oregano to taste.
6. When pasta is cooked, take off the heat and drain.
7. Just before serving, reduce heat on sauce and stir in Mascarpone cheese one tbsp at a time, allowing it to melt into the saice. Add as much as you like to taste - approx 5 tbsp should be plenty. The sauce should be thick and creamy, with big chunks of bacon and onion.
8. Serve one of two ways - either stir the sauce through pasta first, or spoon it on top and allow people to mix themselves.

Enjoy!

I'm not well. But I'm better having watched this.

I'm supposed to say lots of intelligent things about wine now.

On Wednesday I was invited by Qype to go to an LVMH wine tasting event at Il Bottaccio, one of those beautiful Belgravia houses that only usually exist in period dramas. I'm fairly sure I visited the same place a few years back for Julien MacDonald's aftershow party (hello, did I just do a fashion namedrop?) but all these buildings look them same once the lights are dimmed and the cocktails are free, so I could well have been three doors down for all I know.

Getting back to the wine, I joined Qype's Rob and Andrew and fellow London bloggers / Qypers Annie Mole, Tiki Chris (from whom I 'borrowed' the above photo) Tim and Guernican for a 'multi-sensory' look at some New World wines. This involved a makeshift beach, an indoor Chinese-English garden, a 'mountain' terrace and various mystery canapes created to compliment each of the wines we tries.

Tim has written a fairly in-depth analysis of what was on offer if that kind of thing floats your boat. I will just say that the highlights for me was a sparkling rosé from Green Point accompanied by a red peach jelly with raspberry foam, and a Terrazas de los Andes Malbec with a (supposed) hint of chocolate.

Of course, I'll continue to drink house white for now. I have other obsessions to fund...

Plenty has happened in the last week, so (lucky you) you might just get two posts today. See, sometimes wonders do cease.

First up, last Saturday my colleague / friend / minion Isabelle had her housewarming in what she and her housemates call 'the Pittoresque village of St. Reatham' (erm, that'll be Streatham, then). The theme was 'Heroes' and since Iso is an ex art student with a bunch of ridiculously creative mates, the standard was high. I think our workmates kept up with the competition though. My Anna Wintour outfit ended up a bit more Katie Holmes-esque than I would have liked, but I got quite attached to my wig...


Meanwhile, over in the world of meedja, darling, we were invited to the BT Podshow party on Tuesday at Shoreditch House. Since ShoHo is everything I pretend to hate (stylish, a bit pretentious and hidden away in a scabby bit of East London) obviously I loved it. Far too much champagne was consumed, far too few nibbles were available to soak it up, many photos were taken and by the end of the night, I was tipsy enough to do this...


Yep, that's me with Henry Holland. If you don't know who he is that probably means you have far more pressing concerns in life than following the comings and goings of the London fashion crowd. I don't, so I find drunkenly accosting people like Henry very entertaining, and the readers of CQ would never have forgiven me if I'd have gone home without a snap.

In other news, at that same party I spent ages looking at a bloke and trying to work out where I knew him from. This evening it finally clicked. It was Andy Jones from The London Paper. I wonder if I recognise people from their photo bylines because I secretly hope people do the same for me?

I'm currently watching one of my guilty pleasures, My Super Sweet 16. Ironically, in this UK version the birthday girls are very rarely 16. I've just seen a 18 year old having a Bollywood bash and now its the turn of a wannabe WAG. The 18 year old was ok, but the other girl? "I don't want any chubby people there." That's a direct quote. Nice to see she's got her priorities straight!

Aaaaanyway, this has now got me thinking about my birthday. It's not until August, but I have to plan ahead because my friends are always so busy and get booked up quickly. That and last year's party was brilliant, so I have to top it.

This year is the big Two Five. Now, since I don't think my parents will be shelling out for a marquee, free bar and live performance from The Fratellis, my soiree will be a little bit more low key than the ones I'm ogling right now. I'm determined for it to be themed in some way though. Right now I'm thinking of a 30s feel. I'm not going to force people to dress up if they're being losers about it, but it does give me an excuse to dress like Keira in Atonement (if a bit, er, curvier).

So, anyone know a London venue with an Art Deco feel that hires out rooms for free (or a minimum bar spend)? Last year we had our do at The Grand Union in Camden, but this time I fancy somewhere a bit more unusual. All I need is a room, a bar and somewhere for Susi to plug in the iPod speakers...

Oh yeah, did I mention it's Susi's birthday on the same day?!

I love long weekends. Not just because it's three excuses for a lie-in instead of the usual two, but because everyone seems happier on a bank holiday. It's always nice to know you haven't got to go to work on a Monday morning.

Yesterday I made the mistake of going shopping on Oxford Street in search of a replacement dress to wear to my friend Cat's wedding on Friday (the one I had in mind, er, doesn't fit any more). After the shops shut I met up with Emma to go and see Iron Man. I knew with John 'Swingers' Favreau at the helm that it would be good, but I didn't expect to enjoy it quite as much as I did. Robert Downey Jr was such a brilliant choice. Apparently Favreau really had to fight to get the studio to agree to the casting (given Downey Jr's checkered past and the fact Tom Cruise really wanted to play the role), but seeing the film I can't imagine anyone else playing Stark. In fact, the whole cast was great, down to Stan Lee's genius cameo as a Hugh Hefner-alike. I even liked Gwyneth Paltrow.

In other film news, rumour has it the teaser trailer for Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince will be tagged onto Prince Caspian. Like I needed another reason to go and see that film!