Hotels, champagne, Gluhwein, lobster....

Ah London at Christmas, you can't beat it for getting you in the festive mood. It's like one big Love Actually film set. This was my hotel.

Angus and Squidge dropped me at the station and I grabbed an early train down. Had my first meeting at The Connaught hotel (insanely affluent clientele) in Mayfair. I asked the person I was meeting for a coffee and they came back with a bottle of champagne and two flutes (well, we were discussing a booze related piece of work so figured!). Sipped a glass tentatively alongside a glass of water as I knew I had an afternoon of serious meetings ahead! Was feeling pretty relaxed and chatty by the end of the day that's for sure!

Met one of my new client's directors in the afternoon who is apparently a "PR sceptic" so had fun turning him round. Think I succeeded. It was the staff Gluhwein party after work and by then we were best friends.

Managed an early get-away and spoke to Angus who after a few childcare issues (his Mum was ill) had to pick Squidge up from school and take her back into Manchester for meetings at The Lowry hotel (she was asleep in the back of the car on the way back when I finally caught up with him).

Apparently she had been an absolute angel. Quietly eating her tea and playing on his phone while he had two hours of meetings. The client was so impressed and said she didn't know any 3.5 year olds that a) ate so well and b) were so well behaved. At one stage she'd asked Angus politely if she could get up and have a little "walk round in circles" at which everyone had cooed. Was brimming with pride when I heard this and also wondering if he'd picked a different child up from school by mistake! :-)

I had a lovely room service of lobster Mac & Cheese and was asleep by 9.30pm after scanning the telly channels and discovering there was nothing on unless I wanted to live feeds of a few men sat in a spacecraft for two hours. The early night did me more good I think.