Went out with D last night. Great night. Bubbles and dinner, what more could a girl ask for?
He'd had a pretty stressful day and had to take a big conference call at 10pm so it was a swift dinner. Swift but still very satisfying. He's a very interesting and lovely chap, and did I mention oh-so-gorgeous?
Today I'm off to New York for two weeks so I'll have to put him out of my mind till I get back. I'm sure E will be more than enough to distract me.
Unlikely romance.
Industry events are the last place you expect to find a decent man, particularly the industry I work in. Awards shows tend to be filled with ‘creative’ men and their watermelon sized egos.
Thus it was with typical nonchalance that I trundled along to the latest parade. I was so laissez-faire about the whole thing that I hadn’t even organised an outfit. So rather annoyingly, an hour before my boss was due to pick me up, I discovered that none of my standard slinky black dresses fit me properly. I plumped for the least sack-like, a satin black dress from Zara, two sizes too big. The outfit was slightly redeemed by some beautiful taupe Ash shoes. Nonetheless, I was hardly feeling my sexiest.
I spent the hour pre-dinner networking but didn’t really meet anyone of any great interest. Dinner, however, was a different story. As a relatively new start-up my company didn’t warrant a whole table so we were guests of the host. It’s always a bit of a gamble being on a mixed table but luckily I was surrounded by lovely people and the food and wine was divine. After the rather exhausting awards my new best-table friend, the gorgeous R, introduced me to some gentlemen from the table that had looked like the most fun throughout the evening. I got talking to the CEO who swiftly introduced me to one of his senior directors, D, saying we’d get on famously.
D immediately offered me a drink and took me to the bar, claiming my standard vodka soda was his favourite too, what a gentleman! We got talking and very quickly realised our backgrounds were incredibly similar. This is quite a big deal when you’ve been an expat, it’s not often you meet someone else who has an identical oil industry upbringing. We couldn’t stop talking and the attraction was obvious. We established rather quickly that we lived quite close to one another and that the after party venue was equidistant between our apartments so he asked me to accompany him. I hadn’t planned on going as I was supposed to be on a train to Scotland at silly o’clock the next morning, but hesitantly I agreed. How often does a gorgeous man who runs his own company ask me out? Exactly. So off we went to catch one of the Routemasters to the party at Embassy.
We drank champagne and talked however the venue quickly descended into madness and we kept being interrupted by work colleagues. D asked whether I wanted to go somewhere quieter where we could talk and get a decent cocktail. Before I had a chance to answer I found myself in a taxi heading east. He pointed out his street and I resolutely declared that I wouldn’t be seeing his apartment tonight! Miffed, he took me to his members club the beautiful East Room. His face fell once again when I admitted to having been there previously with an architect!
We holed ourselves up on one of the leather sofas and ended up having a brilliant night. We talked for a couple of hours, drinking Pisco cocktails and finishing the night with some port. We kissed and laughed. It was such a treat to talk to someone with a similar world view and a similar theatre of life experiences. Alas the night had to come to an end and he walked me back to Old St, hailed a cab, kissed goodbye and I gave him my card. No sooner had I jumped in the taxi when I received a message from him thanking me for the evening and saying what a treat it was to meet me. He’s taking me for dinner this week.
Thus it was with typical nonchalance that I trundled along to the latest parade. I was so laissez-faire about the whole thing that I hadn’t even organised an outfit. So rather annoyingly, an hour before my boss was due to pick me up, I discovered that none of my standard slinky black dresses fit me properly. I plumped for the least sack-like, a satin black dress from Zara, two sizes too big. The outfit was slightly redeemed by some beautiful taupe Ash shoes. Nonetheless, I was hardly feeling my sexiest.
I spent the hour pre-dinner networking but didn’t really meet anyone of any great interest. Dinner, however, was a different story. As a relatively new start-up my company didn’t warrant a whole table so we were guests of the host. It’s always a bit of a gamble being on a mixed table but luckily I was surrounded by lovely people and the food and wine was divine. After the rather exhausting awards my new best-table friend, the gorgeous R, introduced me to some gentlemen from the table that had looked like the most fun throughout the evening. I got talking to the CEO who swiftly introduced me to one of his senior directors, D, saying we’d get on famously.
D immediately offered me a drink and took me to the bar, claiming my standard vodka soda was his favourite too, what a gentleman! We got talking and very quickly realised our backgrounds were incredibly similar. This is quite a big deal when you’ve been an expat, it’s not often you meet someone else who has an identical oil industry upbringing. We couldn’t stop talking and the attraction was obvious. We established rather quickly that we lived quite close to one another and that the after party venue was equidistant between our apartments so he asked me to accompany him. I hadn’t planned on going as I was supposed to be on a train to Scotland at silly o’clock the next morning, but hesitantly I agreed. How often does a gorgeous man who runs his own company ask me out? Exactly. So off we went to catch one of the Routemasters to the party at Embassy.
We drank champagne and talked however the venue quickly descended into madness and we kept being interrupted by work colleagues. D asked whether I wanted to go somewhere quieter where we could talk and get a decent cocktail. Before I had a chance to answer I found myself in a taxi heading east. He pointed out his street and I resolutely declared that I wouldn’t be seeing his apartment tonight! Miffed, he took me to his members club the beautiful East Room. His face fell once again when I admitted to having been there previously with an architect!
We holed ourselves up on one of the leather sofas and ended up having a brilliant night. We talked for a couple of hours, drinking Pisco cocktails and finishing the night with some port. We kissed and laughed. It was such a treat to talk to someone with a similar world view and a similar theatre of life experiences. Alas the night had to come to an end and he walked me back to Old St, hailed a cab, kissed goodbye and I gave him my card. No sooner had I jumped in the taxi when I received a message from him thanking me for the evening and saying what a treat it was to meet me. He’s taking me for dinner this week.
Red Velvet.
I'm freelancing at the moment while I study for a big exam, consequently money is a little tighter than usual and my generous personality is having to get used to giving cheaper gifts. My favourite "cheap but thoughtful" present so far is a box of red velvet cupcakes. They look beautiful and taste even better, I hope B can testify to that as she received a box for her birthday last month!
Here is the recipe. Happy baking.
Makes 12 cupcakes
5oz/140g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
4floz/110ml buttermilk
1 tsp vinegar
Half tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp red food colouring
2oz/60g butter at room temperature
6oz/170g caster sugar
1 large egg
To decorate:
Cream-cheese icing (see below)
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cup cake tin with muffin cases.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt. In a mug, mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food colouring.
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg a little at a time. Mix in a third of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk mixture, then another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk and finally the last of the flour mixture.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes, until risen and springy - don't overcook them.
Cool on a rack.
Cream-cheese Icing:
125g/4½oz cream cheese or mascarpone
250g/8¾oz icing sugar
90g/3¼oz unsalted butter
½ tsp vanilla essence
½ lemon, juice only
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Top the cooled cupcakes with a generous layer of icing.
Here is the recipe. Happy baking.
Makes 12 cupcakes
5oz/140g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
4floz/110ml buttermilk
1 tsp vinegar
Half tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp red food colouring
2oz/60g butter at room temperature
6oz/170g caster sugar
1 large egg
To decorate:
Cream-cheese icing (see below)
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cup cake tin with muffin cases.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt. In a mug, mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food colouring.
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg a little at a time. Mix in a third of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk mixture, then another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk and finally the last of the flour mixture.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes, until risen and springy - don't overcook them.
Cool on a rack.
Cream-cheese Icing:
125g/4½oz cream cheese or mascarpone
250g/8¾oz icing sugar
90g/3¼oz unsalted butter
½ tsp vanilla essence
½ lemon, juice only
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Top the cooled cupcakes with a generous layer of icing.
President Obama.
It’s been amazing watching the 2008 US Presidential race and last night’s historic verdict will no doubt go down in the annals as an incredibly significant moment in American history. However, race and the end of Reagan conservatism aside, this election really proved the effectiveness of online organisation.
The internet played a huge role in both parties’ election campaigns; ironically it was McCain who first played around with banner ads back in the Republican primaries of 1999 when he lost spectacularly to Bush.
Both candidates relied heavily on the internet to strengthen their campaigns and one might even argue that it was this heavy internet presence that really mobilised the normally disenfranchised youth vote. Barack’s very own social networking site mybarackobama.com allowed grassroots work to be as effective as possible, forcing collaboration and maximising group organisation. I won’t go into the countless other innovative online tools used in this campaign but I think it important to highlight how technology became inextricably entwined in this campaign and it helped to give a voice back to the ordinary people.
Now, I wonder how technology is going to influence/help Obama’s presidency?
p.s. do you like my beautiful Obama cup cake? It's home-made red velvet. YUM
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