For The Win.

One Radley handbag... to the value of £200... for free.......... every month of the year.

That's what my Grandma won a couple of months ago after entering a competition in You magazine. Not everyone's idea of the perfect prize, but the perfect prize for pretty much every woman in the UK who likes her accessories. I wouldn't exactly call myself a "fashionista", and that's a kind way of putting it, but man am I excited. I do own a Radley handbag already, but I'm now promised another by my darling Gran, whom I love dearly, and who, after reading this, will hopefully bump that one handbag up to two... Love you Gran!

This post, however, isn't about handbags.

Last week I won a competition myself: A place for me and a friend at a private dance class with Flavia Cacace, of Strictly Come Dancing fame (once again, this may not excite all of you. I, on the other hand, almost wet myself with excitement. Almost). An old college friend is an ambassador for Maxitone, a sports nutrition company, and advertised the competition on her Facebook page (Thanks Beccy!). I decided to enter, despite knowing that I'd have to get the train to London for the day (and marathon-Greys-Anatomy-watching doesn't pay all that well), that I may not actually be available on the day of the class, and that the guest I had in mind - my best friend Charlotte, also a dance lover! - probably wouldn't be free either. And low and behold... I only went and won the thing.

There were a few hours of slight panic while I tried to organise the trip, and a guest to take along with me, but eventually I wound up on the 9am train to London and made my way to the venue, the downstairs club of Grace Bar near Piccadilly Circus. My excitement turned into nerves as I realised that winning the competition wasn't the end of it, and that now I actually had to dance with Flavia...!

The class was great fun, and Flavia was incredibly lovely. She taught us some salsa steps, which she insisted were basic (!), and for the most part they were, with some more challenging steps at the end of the routine. It was all very relaxed - there were about eight of us, all salsa novices and most of the girls new to dancing altogether. We had a couple of breaks and I got to have a chat with Flavia. She told us about a tour she's about to start with her dance partner Vincent Simone, and how busy her life is, not just during Strictly. I asked her when she started dancing and she told me she began at the age of five. I was secretly hoping she'd say "Oh, I just picked up some classes in my late teens and you know, it just kinda happened..." Alas, my dreams of one day dancing like Flavia Cacace were somewhat shattered.

All in all, an amazing day. Flavia was kind enough to have a photo with me - which unfortunately was lost in a camera mishap - and to sign an autograph for my niece Kate, who was one of my original guests but unfortunately couldn't make it. She even later replied to my "Thank You" message on Twitter, saying that she too had really enjoyed the class.

I had a brilliant time; what with being a big fan of Flavia herself, of Strictly and of dancing in general, it was pretty much the perfect prize! Yes, even more so than twelve Radley handbags! The moral of this story: enter competitions. Especially the free-to-enter ones that you think you'll never stand a chance of winning. But just not the ones I'm entering, 'kay?!

P.s. Flavia... you're a legend. A very talented, very beautiful legend!

"Hey! I thought you were in London?"

As many of you know, the answer to that question is "No, no I am not in London." And those people will also know that I'm currently back in the delightful haven that is Cesspool... I mean Blackpool (Only joking... I love it really! Warts, STI's and all). What a lot of you won't know is why... why I'm still here, what I'm doing with myself, what my plans are.

The easiest answer to all of those questions would probably be "I don't know", and to be honest it is sort of true. I moved back at the end of September after leaving my job at Halo and jetting off to Canada for a little holiday. My plan was to have some much-needed family time for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, and then begin the job-hunt, hopefully returning to London in no time at all. As anyone who's ever had a 'plan' of any kind will know, they pretty much never go to... well... 'plan'.

Turns out the Old Man needs a bit of work doing. And no, my Dad is not having botox, or peck implants. Shame really, that would have made for a brilliant blog post. No, my poor old padre has been suffering a bit of late due to some problems with his heart, and needs to have an operation. It's mostly a preventative measure, in the way that nothing serious has troubled him yet, but without it he could be in some bother. So, when we received that news I decided to stick around for a bit longer, until after Christmas, so I could be around for the operation and to help him recover afterwards.

Once again, those pesky 'plans' are proving troublesome, and unfortunately he hasn't been admitted yet. Turns out Blackpool's ICU is being used for swine flu patients at the moment so, understandably, they're not taking on any cardio operations.

So.... we wait. And for the fourth month in a row I'm chilling with the family. Which is bloody lovely, if a little frustrating at times, what with all the waiting and not knowing what my own plans are. I've been filling my time, as you know, with a lot of Grey's Anatomy, as well as cracking on with the entire series box set of The West Wing. I have been trying to use my time a little more effectively, doing a lot of reading and trying to do as much writing as I can. It also makes a change to spend so much time with Dad. Turns out he still likes to be commander of the remote control, and still loves to "tidy" anything you leave unattended for longer than thirty seconds, never to be found again. LOVE YOU DAD!

So. My "plan". Honestly? I don't have one. But I never really have... and I've done just fine so far haven't I? I find people are too preoccupied with planning everything to the finest detail, and on occasion I am one of those people. If I'm going on a trip, I like to have everything sorted out in advance. If I'm going to have a big expense at the end of the month, then I'll plan my spending to prepare for it. But right now... well I can't make a plan. I have ideas about what I would like to do once I no longer need to be at home, but right now my plan is my family, my Dad, and making the most of the fact that I can watch six episodes of my favourite show in one day, because maybe I won't get to do that again for a long, long time!

For now, I'm back to my roots, living it not so large in Blackpool. But fingers crossed I'll be back to London soon, and fingers crossed there'll be something exciting for me to do when I get there. And no, I'm not worried.... what good would that do?!