STEAL HER STYLE... FEARNE COTTON I literally couldn’t take my eyes off Fearne Cotton’s dress on Thursday night while watching the BBC Music Awards. She. Looked. Incredible! Credit where credit’s due. She’s a gorgeous looking lady and she always pulls off a stunning outfit with just the right balance of glamour and attitude. This was a real ‘Fearne’ dress. I loved. I want. I do think this one is for the blondes though. Oh I forgot, I am a fake blonde. Yes, probably can still get away with it then!

So – if I manage to stick to my diet and meet a millionaire within the next week, I too shall be wearing this for Christmas. If I manage to stick to the diet only, I can at least grab myself this one for a fraction of the cost of Fearne’s.

Hers is of course a Herve Leger bandage dress (iconic bodycon dress designer) but you can snap up that screams festive glam straight from ASOS. Where else! The answer to everything. Well, most fashion situations!

Get yourself preened, polished and poured into one of these if you dare!

Sugarhill Boutique Dazzle Sequin Dress, £38 - ASOS GIVE IT A WHIRL Pace yourself Here’s a fact. In your quest for sparkling perfection this Christmas, you will exhaust yourself. Another fact. Not only will you exhaust yourself, you will start to become a bit stressed with it. Another fact. With your exhaustion and streaa you are in danger of teetering over the brink at the very slightest thing. Think dropped brussel sprout with gravy, accessorised by miniscule amount of cranberry sauce, spinning its way from the plate of a relative at your kitchen table straight onto your carpet, in a botched attempt to ‘fork’. Cue red mists coming down and meltdown of nuclear proportions inside your head, masked by a plastic smile and a ‘Oh don’t worry, carpet needs replaced anyway!’.

Isn’t it funny (actually, not really funny at all) how we can be pushed over the edge by the smallest thing at this time of year. We are tired. We are all just very, very tired. It is the end of a year, so why would we be anything other than absolutely meltingly exhausted, but guess what we have to do? We have to throw the biggest event of the year and make everything perfect for everyone. We don’t count. We’re women. We are the providers of this extravaganza. While mostly it is a pleasure to do so, I feel for every woman out there trying to make everything happy and fun and wonderful for their families this Christmas. All you budding Nigellas getting hung up on the minutiae, I can’t be doing with you. Life really is too short. Nobody ever complained because there weren’t enough chestnuts in their stuffing or the tinsel was the wrong shade of red. So my advice (and I can give this because I’m taking it myself this year) is to chill right out. Yes, be organised and on top of things but just don’t get too bogged down. True happiness comes when people relax, stop being on show and enjoy the precious time we have with our families and friends. I’ve done the full scale Nigella thing and it just doesn’t interest me anymore. I think it’s all quite dated now and really, great women are all about kicking back a bit, laughing, going with the flow and being a pleasure to be around.

Give yourself the perfect Christmas by being completely, imperfectly fabulous!

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK www.noradsanta.org You may be familiar with this one but if not, you and your kiddies are in for a great surprise. On Christmas Eve, log in and you can follow Santa as he sets off from the North Pole to deliver his presents all over the world. This website was set up by the North America Aerospace Defense Command years ago and has now just become part of popular culture. Your kids will love watching ‘The Big Man’ on his travels before landing in your neck of the weeks. A lovely thing to do before bedtime on Christmas Eve. Also available as an app.

COCKTAIL HOUR I love the smell of mulled wine but I find it awfully heavy. I almost feel compelled to lie down like a cat on a sofa after a glass which isn’t the most sparkling behaviour at a Christmas party I admit.

This makes for a refreshing change and it’s a bit of a break from the norm. Think of it as a new tradition and lighten things up a bit!

Ingredients: 2 bottles of cheap-ish white wine, medium dry 500ml bottle light cider 150ml elderflower cordial Zest two lemons (pared into strips using a vegetable peeler) 2 cinnamon sticks 1 vanilla pod, split 4-5 tbsp caster sugar Method: Put all the ingredients into a pan and heat until steaming but not boiling. Ladle into mugs or glasses to serve, while you keep the rest warm on a low heat.