Red Shoes - Christmas Party Season - Book Clubs and Friendships

Have you ever bought a pair of shoes that you just wanted to wear to everything? What  to wear with them - is almost irrelevant. Well, I did -  this summer  - in the sale I might add.

Which brings me to my point - our Book Club just had our Christmas night out and of course, I wore my red shoes!


Never has there been a book club so concerned with hair, shoes, and the feel-good factor of women's lives. And every time we meet  - which is monthly - we always leave wanting more.

We've forged such friendships over the ten or so years since we formed. We rarely miss a meeting - it must be a really serious reason if we do!

Together, we've been through numerous births, marriages and sadly, even deaths of our extended families. We've had lots of Communions and Confirmations and of course, significant birthdays.

The various family crises of the combined group would be unbelieveable if written as a book. We sat through the evening of 9/11 together - one of the group had a son in New York at the time - and we waited with her for his call. We've had many belly laughs together and quite a few tears too. Yes, we could write a bestseller - but I suspect, this is one book which will never be written.
A year or two ago we started keeping a record of our meetings - for ourselves - and it makes for a great read - a real social history.

We've been through numerous bottles of wine, countless chocolate biscuits and lots of other goodies during our nightly get-togethers. And someone only has to suggest it's time for a meal out - could be summer, Christmas, or even just for the fun of it - and we're off. We've been to most of the eateries in Dundalk and Balckrock and a certain one in Carlingford. Along with hairdressers, we've discussed, praised and often recommended  many and yet still we try all the new places.

So what about the Red Shoes? Well, you see, the Christmas Party Season officially started last Saturday with our night out (in the Ballymac, this year) and funnily enough, there were no complaints. (Although, I still hate big screen TVs in hotel bars - but we won't go there!) We were treated royally and we thank the management and staff and of course "Mr. Oliver" for his round of drinks. And there was someone else who bought us a round of drinks - who could that have been?

We talked and laughed our way through the night. The Kris Kringle pressies were distributed with much oohing and aahing- and as for the Red Shoes - well they got plenty of attention.

Now that's all I'm saying.

Watch this space -I'm working on a list of the books we've read