Like most people, I don’t love Mondays. Last Monday was an exception though… My accountancy clients Nordens, the award-winning fabulous people who look after my finances, invited me to be head judge for their Bake Off competition. How can a week possibly start any better than by being treated like the Cheesecake Queen and presented with a plateful of various cheesecakes to eat and remark on? Well I’ll tell you: it can’t!
The competition was deservedly won by Benjamin, one of the accountants in the upstairs office. His Ferrero Rocher cheesecake was outstanding. The rum and raisin American cheesecake and Banoffee cheesecake were also fantastic – so much so that when the competition had ended and everyone returned to work, I remained seated at the canteen table, quiet as a mouse, fork in hand, surrounded by half-eaten cheesecakes which accidentally ended up inside me.
To make up for my lovely start to Monday, Tuesday saw my alarm flashing and clanging at the ungodly hour of 5.30am. I had to be at a nearby college by 7.30 to give a presentation on social media to the Redbridge Chamber of Commerce. It was far too early for me, although the pain was tempered by the pleasure of watching the sunrise from my bed. Actually, it was worth the early start. I met some brilliant people who run local businesses and they gave great feedback on my social media tips.
Instead of rushing home to email them all, 
I ventured up to St Katherine’s Dock. I sat in the sunshine watching the world float by, waiting to meet a tabloid news editor with whom I’ll be working on a social media project later this autumn. He bought me a delicious lunch at the Dickens Inn, site of my first office Christmas party. What a night that was…
It was 1983 and I worked in fashion buying, so the party was trendy, elegant and edgy in equal measures. I turned up in a black lace ballgown, which would have passed as just about acceptable in those heady days of decadence, had the boy I’d invited as my guest not broken down on the A13 and instructed me to push his car for half a mile along the outside lane!! So I arrived oily, windswept and shivering!
None of that this week though, as we enjoyed lunch and Rioja on the flower-laden balcony.
My confusion at inside/outside lanes and whether we drive in or on them caused a lively debate on Facebook this week. I rarely get stumped by English usage, so querying a correct phrase always gets people involved in a big way. Thanks to everyone who offered their opinions, apart from Amir in New Zealand who was somewhat critical of my driving. (Possibly rightly so…)
Anyway, after lunch at the Dickens Inn I ended up in a jazz steak house for dinner, so this week I’ve had more than my fair share of food. I’m actually thinking about applying for a job as a food blogger, although the publication would need a clear slant towards chocolate or cheesecake, to be fair.
I don’t know any cheesecake songs, so considered a 1983 hit to quote. But this – apparently random – choice arose from the car lane conversation. Gill knows what I’m talking about, even if nobody else does. “Golden brown, texture like sun. Lays me down, with my mind she runs.” Run with me? @WeekendWitch.
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