Work hard, party harder

I've always been extremely dedicated to my job, especially as I have been in full time employment since I was 18 and have always had to undertake a lot of responsibility. To be honest I've never minded that, I loved the bookshop job I had as a teenager and I adore the sector I have worked in since I was 19, even though my role has changed and evolved since then.

I think partly because of my dedication to work I have never been that much of a party girl. Don't get me wrong, I've had my moments. The bookshop Christmas party in 2004 and my colleagues birthday the same year being stand out moments, as were several of my work nights out much later on.

I did my share of drinking, did my share of getting drunk and decided that I much preferred being the sober designated driver and letting everyone else enjoy the alcohol than I did getting drunk myself.

In fact for quite a long time I took that to such the extreme that actually I turned down a drink at new year one year, and Christmas and my birthday.

Yet somewhere along the line something changed. When Emma and I started our weekends away last year we always enjoyed more than a few drinks, especially when they were being paid for by someone else - the girl is a genius at convincing people they want to buy us drinks. Last spring before she emigrated, her returns in September and December, and our weekend in London definitely weren't sober experiences.

And I think I then decided to make friends. I'm very anti social, or at least I can be on occasion, and it had been the longest time since I had socialised properly with colleagues. Since I met my new colleague in March we have done after work drinks at least once a week, sometimes more.

And this isn't just one drink either, as my tipsy tweets will testify to.

For a girl who stopped drinking I now enjoy a few glasses of wine or some cocktails every few days and I'm loving it. Do I drink too much? No. Do I drink a lot? No. But do I enjoy going for a few drinks and chilling out? Yes.

I think I work hard. In fact I know that I do. I think I only just realised though that you can party too without it impacting on anything. A smiley person is a more productive person. And these days I'm smiling a lot!