2010: A REVIEW

Well 2010 was always going to have something going for it?  It had to be better than the train wreck that 2009 was for me: and I was right.  It was, though to be fair it wasn't hard, to better last year, I was mental and reckless as a person.  Not anymore though (Well I'm always going to be a little bit, but that makes life more fun)!  Here's the best of 2010:

TRAVEL
I got there eventually, to Barbados, after that little incident of that Volcano exploding in Iceland.  I don't know whether anyone heard about that one?  The first time in the Caribbean and the first family holiday in 10 years; and just to ease me into it there were only 40 of them!!!!  Now that I'm getting older its actually quite cool hanging out with my family and I really like being around them: I realise where I get my craziness from.  I chilled, swam, drank lots of Rum and got an addiction to Macaroni pie.  A great trip.

My sister Paula turned 30 this year, so because she was in complete denial about this fact, she decided to go as far away as possible and head to Las Vegas for her Birthday.  Trashy, big, and bold, I loved it.  Paula and her friends shopped till they dropped in the malls and me and Paul got an gambling addiction (another addiction to add to my list, then)!  I also got to see the Grand Canyon.  Beautiful.

WEDDINGS
There were 3 this year, two of which I was bridesmaid for (Always the bridesmaid, never the bride!  Actually not arsed really)!  First up was my cousin Nicole in Barbados to the lovely Andre.  Great wedding, didn't have to worry about the weather and I have never seen dancing like that, at a wedding before.  The people of Barbados sure do know how to get down.

The second wedding was that of my Mum and Paul, and guess what?  I only had to wait 25 years for it!  Yes!  Many said they would never do it, but they proved us wrong and we were all very glad of it.  It was about time they did something for them selves instead of looking after everyone else.  Emotional but beautiful day.

Lastly it was the turn of my old house mate and fellow costume girl Ali, to the first AD Steve.  Its really funny going to an industry wedding, especially when its the ADs being left in charge of organising people.  Its like being back on set.  One thing I will say about industry people though is we work hard but we can play hard too, as the end of the night seemed to turn into some sort of rave party. Excellent!

WORK
I haven't stopped all year.  Its been mad, which is good because last year was a slow one with the recession.  I think in total, between jobs I have had only 3 weeks off this year.  That's probably why I feel so burnt out right now.  I started the year with Summer in Transylvania, which was a kids show for Nickelodeon, with my usual team of Howard and Fraser and a great new addition to our family of Kat Cappelazzi, who I love and adore and had a right laugh with, on set.

 Now there was that Bollywood film called Patiala House, but I find it too painful to talk about it.  All I can say, was it was three weeks of the maddest film making I have ever seen and probably will ever see, that took me to the limits of sanity.  It did give me the chance to do the greatest exit from a job ever, by having a screaming match in front of the crew and the England cricket team, in Lincolns Inn fields with the stupid costume girl, while throwing all my kit off the truck.  Classic!

Next up, was a trip to Yorkshire to do the "Accidental Farmer" with the lovely Ashley Jensen.  It was more like a holiday than work, as we were filming during a heat wave in the most beautiful locations.  I even got a sun tan (Yes!  It is possible in Yorkshire)!  The best of all was the cottage the BBC put us up in, as it had a hot tub, which me and Fraser spent many a good evening in, getting drunk on wine.

There was a small job in Bristol called Permanently Excluded or as the crew started to call it, "Permanently retarded" as it was some of the most stupid filming making we have ever seen, and it was all done as cheap as possible. So just to top it off it was a big success and got great reviews, so the BBC will probably be making more jobs like this in the future to make their crews suffer even more.  Nice one BBC.  I was lucky though to work with lovely Bryan Dick again and meet the great young George Whitehead.

The job of the year for me though was Secret Diary of a Call Girl, just for the sheer fun factor.  Billie Piper was a dream to work with, I got to supervise properly for the first time, the costumes were great and we got up to stuff on that job you would never get away with on others, believe me.  I came away from that job with memories that will stay with me for a long time.  I didn't want it to end, but end it did, like all my jobs do.  I was still sad though, I still am.

PARTIES
There are always lots of parties but the best were:
Josephine's roof top dinner during the heat wave that turned into a bit of a roof top rave, until the police came and shut us down at 2am.  Boo!

 The Jane Fonda Vs David Carradine party, just because of how stupid we all looked.

And finally Rob's and Ian's Halloween party because it gave me and Hannah the opportunity to wear rubber!

MY FAVOURITE ALBUM 2010
The XX  with X

MY FAVOURITE SONG OF 2010
Laura Marling: I speak because I can. Totally beautiful song writing.


MY FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMME0F 2010
The Trip, even if Steve coogan is meant to be a c**t!  The most clever comedy I have seen in ages.

MY FAVOURITE FILM OF 2010
Welcome.  This French film was so moving, I couldn't stop crying.

MARGARET
I lost my Grandmother earlier this year, so I dedicate this section to her.  She was a lovely warm woman, who never thought anything bad of anyone and was always full of life. I will only ever have fond memories of her.  I miss you Margaret.