The Downing Tweet Christmas Party

Yes, that really is me standing outside Number 10 Downing Street!

I had the absolute honour of being invited by Sarah Brown (yes, that Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister's wife) to the Downing Tweet Christmas Party in aid of the Million Mums campaign.

I'm not entirely sure why Sarah invited me, although we have been following each other on Twitter since we both joined up around the same time earlier this year. Can I let you into a little secret? When Sarah followed me and told me about her Million Mums campaign *whispers* I didn't realise who she was. I didn't realise she was that Sarah Brown. Of course I soon worked it out. Ahem.

When the invitation arrived my boys, Presley and Cash, learned a new phase: "NO WAY" we all shouted for at least ten minutes!

Fast forward ten days and I have bought or arranged: train tickets, a hotel reservation, Baby Baby business cards, a dress, underwear, jewellery, make-up, a hair appointment and a sparkly new bag.

On the day all my travel arrangements fell into place. I even had time to have a quick drink with some fellow party goers before hailing a taxi and having the sheer delight of being able to say to the driver 'Downing Street please'.

Is this picture (courtesy of Mums The Boss) are: me, Sam from @MumsTheBoss, @ConfidentLadies, @nurseju_, @cocabeenslinky, @only1lucylocket and Helen from @MumsTheBoss

My excitement grew as we cleared security and approached probably the most famous address in the country. The Downing Street sign had been changed to Downing Tweet for the night. We then walked through the famous black front door.

Number 10 is ENORMOUS inside. It is a beautiful house. We climbed the stairs and looked in awe at the photographs of former Prime Ministers. At this point I got completely over-excited and had to calm down!

We entered the rooms the party was being held in and made our way to the bar (of course). The wonderful thing about this party was that there was no VIP section, we had all been invited as individuals and it was clear that everyone was delighted to be there. For most of us it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I chatted to so many amazing people. Some were existing Twitter friends, like @HelpSaveBees, others are Twitter friends now. I met many people from the White Ribbon Alliance and other charities. I met Downing Street advisers and events staff. I met journalists. I met some wonderful people. I also met a few people you may have heard of.

I bumped into Beverley Knight, who is beautiful and as friendly in real life as she is on Twitter. She was getting ready to sing and was worried the 200 guests wouldn't be able to hear her without a microphone.

Sam and Helen, from Mum's The Boss, and I got our temporary 'mum' tattoos. We got them on our arms. I notice that Caitlin Moran had one on her chest area! Krishnan Guru-Murthy had one on his face. Despite several washes my tattoo is still there in all its glory. I hope he managed to get his off before he next reads the news!

Here I am with the lovely Sam from Mum's The Boss. This is one of the official photographs from Sarah Brown's Flickr account.

I met the fabulous Gigi from MumsRock. She introduced me to former colleague Richard Bacon. I then met the very sweet Emma Freud and Kirstie Allsopp. Kirstie was lovely to talk to, so down to earth and sooo pretty. She introduced me to the very funny India Knight. We then were lucky enough to stand in the front row for Beverley Knight's knockout performance. No microphone, just an AMAZING voice.

Then came the highlight of a truly magical evening. Sam, Helen and I were lucky enough to be introduced to The Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

When Gigi later asked me what we talked about I couldn't remember - much to her amusement. I think a combination of the excitement and too much fizzy wine turned the whole experience into a bit of a blur. Sam and Helen reminded me that in our brief conversation he asked where we had travelled from and whether we were enjoying ourselves! Edit: I've also been reminded that we told him we'd arranged to stay in the same hotel via Twitter.

We then met the lady herself, Sarah Brown. She knew who I was! Thank you again for the invite @Sarahbrown10.

Here is Sarah's own account of the night.

There was just time for a good look round at the White Room and the glorious Dining Room before a quick trip to the ladies. Well it would have been rude not to!

Other famous guests, that I didn't speak to, were Claudia Winkleman, Peter Serafinowicz, Brian Friedman and Dr Christian Jessen. I'm gutted I missed Claudia, but all in all I did pretty well on the celeb-meeting front!

Sam, Helen and I eventually headed back to our hotel, took off our shoes, had a nightcap and went on Twitter!

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If you haven't signed up for Million Mums, or you want to find out more, please click here.

The Downing Tweet Christmas Party

Not a lot of people know that...

I'm honoured. Huge, enormous, massive thanks for this award goes to:

Mum at The Mad House

Is there a Plan B?

Geriatric Mummy

Baking Mad Mama

Angela at Incense and Peppermints

If you haven't read their blogs yet, I can highly recommend them.

The rules, and these have been applied rather loosely I have to say, are:

• Thank the blogger who gave you the award
• List 10 things about you that your readers may not know
• Pass the award on

I like the twist that the very clever Angela has added and I will follow her lead and tell you 10 things about me, but one will be a lie!!

1. My left eye has been twitching since I was ill last week. That's seven days now. I'm bored of it.
2. I could live on carrots and red pepper humous.
3. I have gone off chocolate.
4. I'm a bit scared of horses. I think Jerry Seinfeld was spot on when he described them as 'glassy-eyed, jittery beasts'.
5. I think I'm a rubbish mum most of the time.
6. I collect Russian dolls.
7. I can recite the alphabet as fast backwards as I can forwards.
8. I once went out with a man old enough to be my father.
9. I never eat the biscuit base on a cheesecake.
10. I love the smell of fireworks.

See if you can guess which is the lie.

I'm going to pass this award on to... anyone that fancies it. I know, what a complete cop out. I'm sorry *gets out violin* but time is not on my side at the moment.

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Thanks to Rebel Mother at Another Day in the Madhouse, one of my favourite bloggers, for this lovely award x

Not a lot of people know that...

Check It Out!

I've got so much to tell you...

I'll start with the promised update on the

Auction for the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund.

The organisers have been unable to set up a raffle in the time available,

instead all donated items have been added to the auction.

The auction closes at 6pm on Sunday 6th December,

so there's plenty of time to make a bid and grab a bargain!

***

Next up is the Best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival.

The lovely Pippa from A Mother's Ramblings is hosting, and

a fine job she's done too. Huge thanks to her for including one of

my posts even though I missed the deadline!

***

I have been writing a series of Blogger Basics lessons over at

New Mummy's Tips. The latest lesson is adding video.

There is also a comprehensive FREE blogging E-course generously written by

Erica at LittleMummy. It's not too late to make a start.

On this course you will find out everything you need to know about blogging.

It is suitable for complete beginners, old hands may also learn a thing or two.

***

Have you done all your Christmas shopping yet?

The Great Toy Guide team have been busy reviewing 100 toys under £10.

Presley personally tested the brilliant My First Lacing Tools and the Bambini beads

There is also an amazing competition. Check out the prizes:

What are you still doing here?! :-)

Check It Out!

A letter to my 16-year-old self

Dear Sandy,

This is a difficult letter to write because I know you so well. You think you know it all and you may not like what I want to tell you.

You are worth so much more than you think.

You are intelligent, caring and loyal, but you are too trusting. Not everyone is as open and honest as you are. People can be manipulative, jealous, thoughtless, heartless and cruel.

Stay away from toxic friends. You know who they are really. They have been dragging you down to their level since you met them at Middle School. You got stuck with them and they are not nice girls. They lie, steal and do not value your friendship.

You will finally cut all ties with them when you are 30, but that means 21 years of bullying, abuse and tears. I wish you had the strength of character to ditch them at age 16, but you are easily led.

You always refer to yourself as lazy, but you are not. You are ambitious, but something holds you back. You will eventually become successful in your career, but you could have achieved more earlier. You must enjoy your work, if you do not it is time to move on.

Men. What can I tell you about men? A lot of them really are only after one thing. You are incapable of having 'no strings' relationships. You care too much about the men you let into your heart and your bedroom. If you meet someone in the pub, when you and they are drunk, this is not going to be the start of a healthy relationship.

If you are seeing a man who becomes aggressive for no reason on an early date, do not move in with him and then stay with him for months because you think you'll never find someone else. You may be big, but you must never be so desperate for love that you ignore your instincts and allow someone to bully you and turn you into a quivering wreck. When someone tells you that you are a crazy bitch you should leave them, not believe them.

Luckily you will know when you find true love and you will hang on to it and cherish it.

Finally, if you can, try to stay away from the biscuits!

I love you.

This post was inspired by one of the writing prompts at the Sleep is for the Weak writing workshop.

This week I loved all of the writing prompts, for me they're the best selection yet.

I chose prompt no.1 Write a letter to your 16-year-old self.

If I had the time I would have loved to write a post for each prompt. In fact, I may just do that anyway, just not today!

If you haven't been over to the writing workshop I can highly recommend it.

A letter to my 16-year-old self

Fundraising Auction for Cumbria Flood Victims

Have you ever tried to imagine what it must be like to watch, helplessly, as your house floods? You may not even be able to see the water seeping in. At night there would be no power, no light. What if you were away from home and unable to move your photograph albums from floor level?

What would it be like when you eventually returned to your house after evacuation? What would your home smell like? What if you had small children, a baby? What would you do? Where would you stay?

The floods in Cumbria last month have left 900 families homeless. Among them are young families, the elderly, those with disabilities. There is a way we can help them.

The amazing Kat from Housewife Confidential has set up an online charity auction in aid of the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund.

The auction is being hosted by the fabulous Natalie at Bambino Goodies.

Both Kat and Natalie have young families, but have been so generous with their time and effort to put this auction together.

Many bloggers have donated auction lots, or used their contacts to ask for help. There are too many to mention here.

You can read all about the stunning auction lots

or go straight to the bidding page.

The auction closes at 6pm on Sunday 6th December.

There will also be an online raffle launched later in the week, so if none of the auction lots appeal - or are out of your price range - don't panic. You can still make a donation and make a difference.

Watch this space!

Fundraising Auction for Cumbria Flood Victims