2 October 2008
Just had my 40th birthday. It's sort of weird because I really don't feel forty - at most thirty but, really, more like 27 or 28.
Spent my birthday eve at the Inside Soap awards held at Gilgamesh in Camden on the last minute invitation of my university pal, L. It was most gratifying to find I could fit into the black cocktail dress BB bought me when we first started dating. I couldn't get into it at the time but now, hey presto, I've miraculously either worked out how to squeeze it on or I've lost a heck of a lot of weight. A combination of the two I think because I don't think I'm thinner now than I was then.
Anyway, I digress.
Suffice to say, as I'm really not much of a soap watcher, I knew nobody at all. Not one person. Shame Babs Windsor wasn't there because I would have recognised her - or at least some of the longer term Eastenders stalwarts. Didn't even know any of the Hollyoaks bods. Apparently Duncan from Blue was there but I think I would probably only recognise Anthony Costa - mainly from his appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
So, we entertained ourselves by making disparaging remarks about the drag act that followed the awards and lay in wait for the extremely good trays of food emerging from the kitchen.
There were bucketloads of soft shell crab, fresh Vietnamese rolls, duck spring rolls, prawn fritter things, mushroom and chicken dumplings and gyoza. I actually got stuffed on canapés and had to turn them away at the end - that's no mean feat. Then onto the chocolate fountain, which is actually a much more exciting idea than the reality - way too sweet and sickly. Ended up skewering all the fruit and eating it au naturel. As if that wasn't enough, little mango sorbet cones and lychee granitas followed to freshen the palate. This was washed down all the while with raspberry champagne cocktails, mojitos and other such concoctions. And it was all free! That's why D-list celebrities turn up to the opening of an envelope - who wouldn't for all that free food and drink?
Then, there was a goody bag at the end. It was a pretty good bag too. Beauty products, booze, snacks, Haribo, silver jewellery and Hollyoaks perfume. The world of soap summed up in a bag.
On birthday proper, had a karaoke party for a few select friends and family, chosen on the basis that they aren't diva singers and not likely to stand around secretly despising the ineptitude of all those trying to sing around them. Chose a slightly peculiar venue - the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, which has a slightly down-at-heel, grungy feel about it.
We had a blast! Well, I did. Once we got going, it was hard to stop and having booked 3 hours, I thought we would flag, but no, we squeezed every last minute out of it. We sang everything. Carpenters, Dolly Parton, Monty Python, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, musicals, Christina Aguilera, 1980s stuff and the obligatory I Will Survive at the end. My throat hurts but it was worth it. I think it would be good to invest in a karaoke machine. And a soundproof room...
Spent my birthday eve at the Inside Soap awards held at Gilgamesh in Camden on the last minute invitation of my university pal, L. It was most gratifying to find I could fit into the black cocktail dress BB bought me when we first started dating. I couldn't get into it at the time but now, hey presto, I've miraculously either worked out how to squeeze it on or I've lost a heck of a lot of weight. A combination of the two I think because I don't think I'm thinner now than I was then.
Anyway, I digress.
Suffice to say, as I'm really not much of a soap watcher, I knew nobody at all. Not one person. Shame Babs Windsor wasn't there because I would have recognised her - or at least some of the longer term Eastenders stalwarts. Didn't even know any of the Hollyoaks bods. Apparently Duncan from Blue was there but I think I would probably only recognise Anthony Costa - mainly from his appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
So, we entertained ourselves by making disparaging remarks about the drag act that followed the awards and lay in wait for the extremely good trays of food emerging from the kitchen.
There were bucketloads of soft shell crab, fresh Vietnamese rolls, duck spring rolls, prawn fritter things, mushroom and chicken dumplings and gyoza. I actually got stuffed on canapés and had to turn them away at the end - that's no mean feat. Then onto the chocolate fountain, which is actually a much more exciting idea than the reality - way too sweet and sickly. Ended up skewering all the fruit and eating it au naturel. As if that wasn't enough, little mango sorbet cones and lychee granitas followed to freshen the palate. This was washed down all the while with raspberry champagne cocktails, mojitos and other such concoctions. And it was all free! That's why D-list celebrities turn up to the opening of an envelope - who wouldn't for all that free food and drink?
Then, there was a goody bag at the end. It was a pretty good bag too. Beauty products, booze, snacks, Haribo, silver jewellery and Hollyoaks perfume. The world of soap summed up in a bag.
On birthday proper, had a karaoke party for a few select friends and family, chosen on the basis that they aren't diva singers and not likely to stand around secretly despising the ineptitude of all those trying to sing around them. Chose a slightly peculiar venue - the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, which has a slightly down-at-heel, grungy feel about it.
We had a blast! Well, I did. Once we got going, it was hard to stop and having booked 3 hours, I thought we would flag, but no, we squeezed every last minute out of it. We sang everything. Carpenters, Dolly Parton, Monty Python, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, musicals, Christina Aguilera, 1980s stuff and the obligatory I Will Survive at the end. My throat hurts but it was worth it. I think it would be good to invest in a karaoke machine. And a soundproof room...
# posted by gilamonster : 06:19
