Well what a fine morning it has been so far. The Buik took one look at me when I got up and told me I looked 'drunk'. Just to clarify this - I am feeling rather delicate at the moment. No, not from having one of those endless parties at home ;) but I seem to have contracted a cold from someone and in between sneezing, wheezing, coughing like a 20 a day smoker and threatening to keel over, I am trying to soldier on as normal. However this morning I should have stayed home. Going to work looking like a 'drunk' is not really my corporate uniform of choice.

My girlfriend, let's call her P, because that is what I call her :) decided to host a birthday party at home for herself to celebrate being 18 again (age non disclosed). Now I always look forward to being hosted at someones house. The warmth you feel when you are welcomed into the bosom of any home is delightful and I knew we would have lots of fun. You may be wondering why I am even blogging about my girlfriends party. Well a) she asked me to ;) and b) sorry there is no b. Today I am just following P's orders :)

I arrived at 7.30pm with 2 friends that had just arrived from work. Apologies to the apartment directly below P's. No, that wasnt 3 elephants clattering up your stairs last night, it was in fact, 3 delectable ladies with high heels on negotiating 5 sets of death trap stairs :) We were knackered from that bout of exercise and was rewarded with a glass of champagne for our ascent.

P had done her apartment proud. It looked beautiful. Table laid with pretty cloth and nibbles to put us on until the feast was served. She had obviously been reading my 'How to be a housewife book'. The other girls arrived and the cackling began. Like witches around a cauldron.

We spent far too much time discussing the relative merits of the Sonja Bakker diet compared to the South Beach diet and an inordinate amount of time discussing nose sprays (dont ask). I am sure if our respective OH's had seen us, they would have been suitably horrified and bored rigid. It is only girls, or at least the girls I am close to over here, that can spend a whole evening discussing whether Andy Garcia really IS 5ft nothing and the state of Brad Pitt's skin. The Middle East conflict and the war in Afgahnistan went unresolved last night, but we all had enormous amounts of fun.

Food up next. P did a fabulous spread :) Quiche to start with (none of this supermarket shite, hand made by her own fair hands). It was fabulous. Dressed with a simple salad, it was the perfect light starter. In true Amsterdam style, the last person to finish eating signalled a 2 cigarette break and more cackling began over Cameron Diaz's skirt that M saw on People.com the other day. All high brow conversations here you know :)

For main course we ate a chicken curry which I loved. Creamy and spicy, just the way it should be, all mopped up with Turkish bread from heaven. And for the token vegetarian, P made a 'Yemini curry dish' which had the devils work that is Tofu in, a beautiful tomatoey, spicy sauce. Tofu should be eaten this way and this way only.

Another 2 cigarettes later, we had the ultimate of desserts. Chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmellows. Now you know my utter hatred for anything fruit like. Well I can report that fruit is the perfect vehicle for melted chocolate. You simply cant beat it. And by the time we'd finished that little lot, most of us were comparing our 4 month pregnant bellies.

It was a civilised dinner as everyone shuffled out well before midnight - well done to us all. Our OH's could learn a lesson or two from us (Blondie readjusts her beautifully polished halo)

Thank you P Meister for holding a fabulous dinner party.

Till next year x