Surrey Life Editor's Blog

Merry Christmas!

Just about to leave the office now for the Christmas break (a whole week and a half off - yippee!) so just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

I hope you have have a lovely, relaxing break, and get everything you wish for, and I'll see you all again in 2008! 

xCaroline

Journey to the ends of the earth

One thing you can say about this job; it's never boring.

I have just returned from what can only be descibed as an epic journey to Max Clifford's house in Weybridge to deliver a lovely Christmas hamper to say thank you for all the support he's given us. 

It should have been so easy - get in car, go on M25, come off at junction 10, deliver hamper, job done - except I'd forgotten a fairly crucial fact - that Burwood Park is a gated estate and I didn't have the passcode to get in.

Okay, I thought to myself, no problem - I'll just ring Max's PA, Kate, and get the code - except when I delved into my bag I realised I'd left my phone in the office...

Great; so now what? Well, there was only one thing for it... Ditch the car and try and get to his house on foot.

And so it came to pass that this morning I found myself tramping through one of the most exclusive (and surely the most sprawling) estates in Surrey (if not the world) trying to carry a hamper that was almost as big as me. Suffice to say, I was not impressed.

Needless to say, my mood did not improve when a white van driver pulled up alongside me, wound down the window and blurted out, "what you selling, love?"

It seems he thought I was of gipsy ilk, and had chosen to spend the day touting my wares around posh mansion houses.

Several hundred miles later, by which time my arms were about to drop off and I was losing the will to live, I stumbled upon the right road and safely deposited the hamper with Max's housekeeper.

I just hope those green olives, spicy tomato chutney, cheese biscuits etc are worth it...

Wash up meeting

Just got back to the office after a very productive magazine review meeting down at our regional head office in Worthing.

As mentioned before, these meetings can sometimes be a bit of a daunting affair, where as an editor you can often feel like a defendant in a court of law, desperately trying to justify your actions to an unforgiving jury.

To stretch the analogy even further, presiding over it all, however, is a very fair judge (albeit a tough one) whom I both like and respect - group editor Jon Keeble.

Somehow criticism is a whole lot easier to swallow when you find yourself actually agreeing with your boss, and know in your heart of hearts that they are right...

Jon and I have worked together on and off for years, and as we both come from a local newspaper background (the most rigorous training you can get as a journalist), we both tend to see things in much the same way. 

Unlike me, though, Jon jumped ship from newspapers to magazines several years ago, and during that time has become regarded as one of the most talented magazine editors in the country (just take a look at his own title, Sussex Life, to see what I mean).

I've been fortunate enough to work with some truly inspiring bosses during my career (including my last one - hi Ian!), and, again, it's a real joy to work alongside someone from whom I can learn so much.

Anyway, before I get accused by my colleagues of trying to get a payrise, I will stop rambling on... (oh, and at risk of jeopardising said payrise am happy to point out that it was us, however, who came up with the idea for Meet the Head first !!).

In other news, the new January issue (the subject of the meeting) came out in the shops today and it looks gorgeous. It was a fairly major battle getting everyone to agree to snow on the cover, but I got my way and I think it looks beautiful.

It's a really strong edition, actually, packed full with features to help you get through what is surely the worst month of the year, so please go out and buy lots of copies to prove to everyone (Jon included!) that I was right.

Secret Santa

Just thought you might like to hear what everyone got in the Secret Santra as it gives a fairly interesting insight into each member of the team....

Rhiannon: Giant coffee mug with very clear markers illustrating how much milk to put in according to the strength the person likes it (in Rhiannon's case very strong and dark) plus 'thinking putty'

Damien: Miniature golf game and a cover for his putting iron in the shape of a panda (or something)

Ade: An amazing toy rocket launcher that sends a foam, er, rocket soaring 20ft into the air

Matt: Weird golf ball things that explode on impact (note to Matt: perhaps one to try at home rather than in the office...)

Helen: Various things to do with Top Gear - including a CD of the coolest driving tunes in the world - plus, an antique collector's guide

Sarah: Lots of very girly and very pink bubble bath, soap etc 

Caroline: A signed, limited edition Hard-Fi single (thank you very much to the mystery (??!!!) buyer who got me this - very exciting indeed!)

So there you are; make of that what you will!

Christmas party post mortem...

Well, we all emerged relatively unscathed from the office Christmas party down in Brighton on Friday night. In fact, it turned out to be a very pleasant, surprisingly civilised evening.

We began with dinner at Pinocchio's followed by cocktails at Las Iguanas and drinks at the Albert pub. After that, I must admit it does all start to go a teeny bit hazy but as far as I can recall I think a good time was had by all.

The only downside of the night was paying a whopping £70 to get a cab back home to Surrey - grrrrr!!

In other news, we're doing our 'Secret Santa' today in the office - fingers crossed the enormous silver parcel is for me... 

PS If anyone still needs to get a little extra something for me, a gingerbread man wouldn't go amiss...

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Holiday (kind of)...

Just sorting out a few final bits and pieces before disappearing off for a couple of days' holiday.

Well, I say holiday, though not entirely sure tearing round the shops at breakneck speed, while trying to blitz entire Christmas shopping in two days, really counts...

The thing is, I have all my family arriving from Yorkshire this weekend, so all their presents have to be wrapped and ready to go back up north by Sunday - yikes!!

What with one thing and another, I've yet to actually buy a single thing - oh, and that's not to mention the office secret santa - deadline Monday -eek!

If all that wasn't enough, it's also our Christmas party on Friday evening (note to self: avoid drinking too much mulled wine so in fit state to wrap said presents on Saturday morning...) so I'll report back to you with any interesting gossip from that on Monday!

In the meantime, back to editing the art section... 

The end is in sight...

Well, the carol concert turned out to be a wonderful evening, and St James's Church, Shere, was absolutely packed to the rafters.

What is more, we raised over £1,500 for the CHASE children's hospice.

I think everyone had a good time, and enjoyed the lovely carols in the church, followed by the mouthwatering mince pies and delicious mulled wine in the Lucky Duck tearoom.

My own personal highlight, however, was winning not just one but three cuddly snowmen in the raffle (why there were three I do not know). As a result, I spent the rest of the evening juggling them with my glass of mulled wine and handbag, and gained a brief insight into what it would be like to have triplets.  

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who supported the event, and especially to our brilliant promotions manager, Steph Drury, for making the evening such a storming success.

Having said that, I tell you something, never again will I organise a major event during deadline week - I have hardly had time to breathe let alone eat over the last few days.

To tell the truth, I had absolutely no idea that there was so much involved - health & safety reports, car parking arrangements, posters, ticket sales, designing the programme etc, etc - and to try and get all those things finished while also finishing the magazine was almost enought to finish me...  

As I write, though, we are just proofing off the final pages before they go to the printers and the end is in sight - hoorah!

O Come all Ye Faithful

Sorry, sorry... know I've been rubbish over the past few days with my lack of entries, but it really has been pandemonium this week.

Not only are we on deadline for the January edition of the mag (yes, really...) but it's the carol concert tomorrow night as well, and with ITV filming the whole thing, there's obviously quite a bit to think about...

For instance, I keep having nightmares that the organist doesn't turn up, and we have to do the whole concert a capella, or that maybe, even worse, the Reverend Father Charles will suddenly be indisposed and I'll have to take the service myself.

And, of course, not only is the whole thing rather nervewracking because it's our first ever carol concert, but, furthermore, if anything does go wrong, it will be recorded by ITV for posterity, with the chance that they may choose to broadcast it as part of the documentary they are making on our special guest Max Clifford... hmmmm....  

Having said all that, it does seem to be coming together very well so far - touch wood - thanks to our fantastic promotions manager, Stephanie Drury, who has done an absolutely sterling job in organising it all.

Anyway, we still have a few seats left, so if you'd like to come along, tickets will be on sale on the night. It takes place at St James's Church, Shere, this Wednesday, December 5, at 7pm. Tickets cost £10 and you can buy them on the door.

Look forward to seeing you there!