"Look Kash, we're invited somewhere today!" Ms F exclaimed.

She was in her going-out outfit and quite excited about about a tasting event at Waitrose. The leaflet said the event lasts until 7pm and Ms F wanted to go with me. I brought up politely GoodGym's code which didn't allow me to do that, but I said I'd check out the party and let her know whether it was good or not.

At Waitrose I walked past four stands with panettone, minced pies, festive bao buns, ham and hot chocolate. I tried only a tiny shot of chocolatey goodness and it was pretty comforting.

I found all the grocery items and returned to Ms F shortly before 7pm - too late for the lady to attend the Waitrose tasting party. I didn't bring her any samples as I was carrying a full shopping bag in one hand and six-pack of 1.5l bottles of water in the other (my favourite weights for the "shoppers walk" to the fifth floor!). I reported on the delicacies I saw, admitting that the variety and size of the samples might not have been worth going out. I pointed out I wouldn't consider those four small stands a "party", so I hope Ms F wasn't too disappointed about staying at home tonight.