This may seem a little random but Mondays chez Miss Bouquet have long been ‘salad night’, an evening of light food and light relief after the excesses of the weekend (bare with me…) So on Monday when I caught up with Little Jo I cooked her my favourite light but hot summer dish – smoked salmon tagliatelle. Yum. ………

Well I would say that wouldn’t I especially to my colleagues when I arrive at the office in my cycling lycra! But that’s not the only time I’d say it. I’ve noticed it becoming more and more relevant to wine. For example last night I opened a bottle of rosé that I bought from Majestic for my birthday party. It was a rich pink colour, bright and glossy with a clean and simple looking label. Lovely. I chose it for two reasons. 1. it reminded me of the colour I had painted my toe nails and 2. it was a ridiculously low price and I needed some plonk to go into the punch. ………

If you’re following me on twitter (http://twitter.com/MissBouquet) you’ll already know that I’ve finished writing up my July wine journal. I must admit it’s quite a relief, it’s been a challenge to make note of every wine I’ve consumed in the last month and looking at the total I think that could be something to do with the number of wines I’ve had!

In retrospect I’m not sure how many I thought I’d got through before I tallied it up. Let me have a think… if I’d tried one wine everyday of the month that would have been 31 and as it turns out I had 8 wine-free days, so at a guess maybe 23 wines? Non, miles out. A grand total of 44 wines…. Eeek, it’s no wonder my waist band’s been expanding! What I find surprising is that I’ve tried this many wines during a month that I would have said was relatively quiet! ………

I’m told that I’ve recently reached a milestone, the big 3-0. Yes I’m 30 and I’m not entirely sure what all the fuss is about. Some of my friends have been dreading it, some have embraced it, for me it’s been a great few months of parties, nice frocks and good wine. No, I don’t think turning 30 has been a hurdle to climb, nothing has changed. I’m still in the same job, I hang out with the same friends, everything is moving along quite nicely thank you very much. There is however one little thing that is catching up with me and I think I can lay the blame with my new age. The thing is, my waist line keeps expanding. Now that’s not to say I’m over weight and I’m definitely not asking for any pity-compliments, but the problem seems here to stay. ………