Lots of catching up to do on writing, which is fantastic.  In the States, while waiting for my work permit, I felt like I couldn’t write about anything – no London, no job, no ex-pat stuff – and now I’ve got content coming out of my ears.

This week was especially busy, and I have a nasty cold to now to prove it, but all-in-all it was totally worth it. I felt like a total rock star. Or at least someone much more important than I actually am.

Monday: Sherry tasting with Heston Blumenthal, the owner of the 3 Michelin star, second best restaurant in the world, blah bah blah, Fat Duck.  Ok, not with Heston Blumenthal, but hosted by him.

The invitation came from TikiChris.  He was covering the event for his blog and for Londonist.  It basically consisted of us going to the swanky Shoreditch House, hanging out with London food bloggers, professional foodies and journalists for a few hours while sampling 7 different types of sherry and little canapes that were scientifically constructed to pair with our libations.  The best combination was the simplest – Gruyere and clove on a crustini with Fino, a dry almondy sherry. Delish!  Other food highlights (because I’m not that big of a sherry fan) were the carmelised pork scotch quail egg, and the eccles cakes with stilton and sherry butter.

Goodie bag: Notes on each of the food items and sherry pairings along with a bottle of Croft Pale Cream, which is a sweetened Fino. Retails at £39.84, so not a bad deal for Melanie!

Tuesday: London bloggers meetup, which I’ve already written about here.  Just as a follow-up though, I received a lovely thank you and my recipe card from Rax a few days ago.  The card was branded but personalised and made a really nice ending to a perfect evening.  Everyone I’ve talked to has been completely impressed.

Goodie bag: A bottle of Smirnoff and two small cans of ginger ale to make a Fake Plastic Noodle-tail. Just add muddled ginger and lemon peels:

Wednesday: Company Magazine 30th Birthday Party.  This was sort of a spur of the moment thing.  One of my colleagues had an invitation and a +1 for the party.  He said it was for anyone who wanted to come, but a guy needed to be involved since it was his name on the list.  I sent out a Tweet to find a pseudo-date and Lewis stepped up to the plate after I promised free booze and hot models.

We went to Proud Galleries in the Stable Market in Camden to hobnob with a bunch of pretentious over-dressed pseudo-fashion types and a couple of Z-list British celebrities who are not much more than famous for being famous.  In all honesty, it was just kinda fun to read about the party in the papers the next day and smugly think to myself, ‘Yeah, I was there.  I had fun, but it wasn’t really my scene.’

Goodie bag: Not a proper one because I forgot to grab one, but I did manage to pick up some hair product from KMS California and get a massage.  Plus, the free drinks and tasty mini-burger canapes.

Thursday: Milo died. Felt like sulking.

Friday: Early finish at work, felt sick, went home to go to bed

Saturday: I’ll go about this in more detail later, but suffice to say it was one of the most estrogen-filled nights out I’ve had in a long time.  Basically, a bunch of girl PR and beauty bloggers were taken in champagne-filled limosine to Bluewater to have our hair straightened by a new line of products from Remington called Shine Therapy. I think this means I’ve officially sold out and I’m completely ok with it.

Goodie bag: A Shine Therapy hairdryer or flat iron.  I’ve requested the hairdryer as my crappy 10 quid one from Boots is frying my ends.

Sunday: With one of our flatmates moving out in two weeks, we’re on the hunt for a new one.  Room is available on 21st October is anyone is looking.  We’ve seen 7 people already and none have really knocked our socks off, so if you’re in the market for a large double in the lovely Maida Vale or know anyone who is, let me know.  Check out the Gumtree ad here.

Goodie bag: A new friend perhaps?