After work parties, book launches, a flying visit to see Malcolm’s new work at the Baltic in Gateshead and back again, and getting a bad cold en route, I am declarng this week drink free.

I know I’m really fortunate to have a good job, easy commute, challenging workload, but sometimes I really miss time to myself.  Two days off last week have me chance to catch up so I:

• Cooked my favorite roast chicken recipe (with a mustard crust) for Jen and Thea
• Won a vintage RL cardigan on ebay, and lost a vintage RL jacket which I really didn’t need anyway. The ebay cosmos righting itself again, thank goodness
• Watched Tales of the City on DVD - Vaginal Davis and Country Joe cameos. A all-time favorite.
• Replaced our old broken clothes airer with a brand new one. I have jammed my finger in that plastic thing for the last time - little things should make you happy I think
• Walked Rita on the common, watching the trees lose more and more leaves each day
• We saw Superduck and Sooz at Michael Clark’s Barbican performance, then Mr G and I jumped a cab for champagne cocktails in Soho
• Spent most of Saturday in bed with tea, crumpets and the papers, enjoying Mick Brown’s interview with Paula Rego and looking like a halloween costume thanks to the cocktails…
• Meeting Junior and Linnet and their dog Jack for lunch. I can’t wait to see Linnet’s hair - she’s gone from blonde to brunette overnight - impulse decision!!

Tomorrow is Monday and it begins again…

We went to Pam’s show last night and I wore the-garment-most-Pam-Hogg that I could rustle up  - vintage Calvin Klein suede riding trousers in khaki green.

So today I was idly trawling for long johns and happened upon these World War II long johns. They’d look so great with big bovver boots.

How much will Lektrogirl pay me to wear these?

Mr G has posted my breast on Facebook. And Alice no soon as renounced childbirth as had a hormonal turnaround and wants it all over again.

Penny will blame it on Mercury being in retrograde.

I could KISS my mac I’m so happy to be back online. Browsing by phone or stolen moments is no fun. Neither  is full time work.

Via AllyRingwald

When I was travelling I carried a little card to give people that I had met and wanted to keep in contact with. It had a background of a photograph of I took in Bali - the tops of buildings, power lines, palms and sky, and my email address in white in the top right-hand corner. Being a young lady on my own, I didn’t want to put my phone number or address, and according to how much I liked the person I’d fill in my details and a message on the back.

I love the idea of social cards that require filling in. Gonna get me some more.

Amateur radio operator post cards.

I used to love watching The Golden Girls when I lived with my sister. I’d get home from school at the same time as my nephews we’d fling ourselves on the couch to sing along to Thank You For Being a Friend, marvel at the peachy beige interiors and the silky robes worn at the midnight coffee sessions, and giggle at Sophia’s innuendo.

I also really like John Currin.  He was so much on my mind when I went to New York with Nicole that when we sat next to Poppy King in a cafe I thought it was Rachel Feinstein. There you go.

Unlike last week- snow frolicking and a little trip away - this week has been desk-bound, emotionally draining and kind of unpleasant.

Luckily I’m a big subscriber to the Saturday Night Fever “dance it out” theory. It loosens up the limbs, recalibrates the brain and before you know it you’re three songs in and the week is a world away.

The amazing space dance routine is from a one-off TV special Raquel did in 1970.

So tonight I am off for dinner with friends courtesy the Booyah Cook. Surely the best tonic for the blues…

Colourful clothes for gloomy days as the news is in that the temperature will drop drastically in the UK early next week, while back in my homeland Australia it is over 43 degrees for the third day in a row.

I will console myself with Frieda Kahlo’s dresses, and remind myself that I hope to make it to Mexico City this year to see Alice.

From the book Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress: Frida’s Wardrobe and via Atlantis Home.

I hope we can make the Gainsbourg exhibition in Paris this winter! Thanks to Pam for wording us up!

21 October 2008 - 1 March 2009, Cité de la musique.

And just because she’s so sublime…