The Dress.

Is one of the hardest things to choose for the final year Valedictory Ball (is that how you spell it? Anyway, it's the Vall Ball from now on). Well it is for me anyway. I like to think of myself as a bit of an individual so no LBD for me. I also have red hair and very pale skin, so no pink, orange, white, cream, gold or beige either. I'm also short. Quite short. So nothing long, not longer than a normal person's knee length anyway. On top of that, I'm quite small but with some pretty big boobs, so that rules out anything strapless without boning, anything that's supposed to be fitted, (it fits everywhere and the boobs are spilling out, or it fits the boobs and is hanging off everywhere else).

Also, as a bona fide kooky chick, I don't want anything boring or even similar to anyone else, so that rules out anything from Monsoon, Coast, River Island, Top Shop, Miss Selfridge and TK Maxx. And I'd also like it to top last year's outfit, a yellow mini dress with electric blue belt, shoes and makeup.

As you can see, it's been a struggle. I have however had my eye on one of these beauties. But, being a student, and after paying out £45 for a ticket, they were a little out of my price range.

Enter.... EBAY! I have just won this little lovely. I'm impressed! Now, I know it's from George at ASDA, and I know it's probably not going to be as perfect in the flesh as it is in my mind. But I'm thinking, get rid of that little sash thing, get a big fat (adjustable) belt, a huge underskirt and put my size fours in some kick ass shoes. I reckon I'll be good to go!

Lets just hope no one else has the same taste as me!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy.

So I was absolutely desperate to see Happy-Go-Lucky at the Cornerhouse cinema last night and boy did it deliver. Sally Hawkins is utterly believeable in the stupidly happy role and she plays it completely without irony.

I was talking about this film in work on Tuesday night and I was saying "Well it's called Happy-Go-Lucky and the main character it totally optimistic about everything and tries to spread that love around. But you know, I'm sure something happens at the end where it falls spectacularly apart."

But it didn't, I was waiting for it. Bad things do happen to good people. And people can't be that happy all of the time. But Poppy can, and you believe it, and you love her. Even though everyone around her wants to protect her as they think she's secretly harbouring some massive depression. She's not. She's just like that.

I'm not sure that Mike Leigh, also director of Vera Drake, is trying to make any kind of profound statement about optimism, happiness or the intrinsic British trait of expecting everything to go wrong at any given moment. I think he was trying to make a lovely film, about a lovely character who handles her life in the most peculiar but spectacular way. She always knows what to say, but not in a smart arse way that makes you want to hate her. Occasionally the dialogue is a little cringeworthy and the extremely quick comebacks seem a little planned sometimes. But nothing can take away from the genuine niceness of this film.

Everyone needs a little bit of Poppy in their lives. And I'll defintely be buying th DVD to watch when I feel a dark cloud passing overhead.