January. Let’s face it… unless your birthday is this month, it has no redeeming features. It’s the equivalent of the clearing-up after the party. In December everything sparkles, from the lights adorning Christmas trees, to the Champagne that is poured at every opportunity.
What’s good about January? It’s cold… but not in a cosy, chestnuts-roasting-on-an-open-fire kind of way… it’s just miserable. The mornings are dark, the evenings are dark, no one can do anything because they spent all their money on the aforementioned Champagne, and summer is too far away to get excited about.
To stop me getting too ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’, I’m going to concentrate on the things that are bringing me joy, in however small a way. A few examples are some of the Christmas gifts I received from those who clearly know me very well… and my current screensaver and constant daydream – scampi, chips and a pint of shandy at The Ferry Inn, Salcombe. Roll on summer:

{yellow roberts dab digital radio / kate spade iphone cover / shabby chic interiors / true grace seashore candle}

The reason I love New Year’s resolutions is because it involves making a list. Girls love lists. I don’t care how unrealistic the goals are, lists are all neat and tidy and organised… ergo, I’m all over it. These yearly lists are like the beginning of a relationship when you can make sweeping statements and believe they’ll happen (“How was your first date?”, “Great!”, “Are you going to marry him?”, “Definitely”). So what if it’s inevitable that by 7th January you’ll have realised that drinking slimmer shakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner isn’t as much fun as you thought it would be? Here are my offerings for 2011… here’s hoping for a 100% success rate:
1. Lose 15lbs by the time I turn thirty in 6 months
2. Attend a spinning class at the gym that I pay an obscene amount of money for every month… and maybe even use the pool
3. Go to the gym at least three times a week
4. Buy more clothes in shades other than black
5. Invest in some grown-up make-up and stop being scared of brands that aren’t Boots No.7
6. Not feel guilty for saying “no” and realise that I can’t please everybody all the time
7. Save a little money each month
8. Visit a continent I’ve never been to before
9. Cleanse, tone, moisturise, eye cream… repeat nightly
10. Work hard towards dream of moving out of London to a cottage by the coast
How about you? What do you resolve to do (or not do) this year?

Is it wrong that I feel a bit lost now? I got butterflies every time Dermot told me that my Saturday night starts right here, and nothing beat the contentment of being under my slanket for 2 hours of judging song choices, outfits, hairstyles and, yes, even vocal talent. I was on the journey with them (apart from that Waissel creature – it was never going to work out for us after those feather eyelashes and the lace umbrella), and even put up with Konnie Huq’s horrendous attempts at presenting to see more of them every week. So, it’s all over, and Cardle was undoubtedly a worthy winner. If I had to pick my favourite performances of the series, I’m going to go with these two. The first one’s a no-brainer… the second, well, in my defence and in the words of Louis Walsh, “They remind me of a young Take That”. Don’t judge me.


{FYI – it was Halloween week. They didn’t have pink eye}