Category Archives: Uncategorized

Does my bum look big in this?

Posted on April 13, 2013 by fortewinks

Preparing for a party some years ago, my Girls then aged 4 and 6 sat on on the bed to watch me dress and make-up. After applying the final glittering touches I twisted and turned in front of the mirror, … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Health, Uncategorized | Tagged abdominals, abs, Angelina Jolie, anorexia, Body, body con, boobs, bottom, celebrity, crunches, dysmorphia, Embarrasing Bodies, facial exercises, genitals, Geoff Capes, heat magazine, overweight, penis, Sit-up (exercise), sit-ups, Spanx, thin | Leave a comment

Carry On Construction: the modular home and merchant banker

Posted on March 28, 2013 by fortewinks

My PR consultancy closed its doors some time ago, so I was surprised and pleased to be approached last November by a trio of Gentlemen to whom I had been recommended for management and media services. Flattering indeed. The Gentlemen … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design and architecture, Life and romance, PR, Uncategorized | Tagged architecture, Carry On, civil servant, construction, contracts, design, Financial services, investment, investor, lawyers, Merchant bank, modular building, payment, PR, Private bank, publicity, Reggie Perrin | Leave a comment

Butterflies … and a debut on the BBC

Posted on March 6, 2013 by fortewinks

“My name is Helen Grady, producer for Evan Davis on The Bottom Line. There’s a programme coming up on doing business with Government, for instance the NHS, and Evan thought of you.” About eighteen months ago, I attended a Bookshop … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Life and romance, London, Uncategorized | Tagged Atkins, Austin Williams, BBC, Bookshop Barnie, broadcast, cameras, Evan Davis, Forte Medical, Foyles, Future Cities, Giovanna Forte, Jim Eyre, Made in Britain, make-up, Millbank, Peezy, studio, The Bottom Line, Uwe Krueger, Victoria Gardens, Wilkinson Eyre | 1 Comment

For the love of a good man (or few)

Posted on December 30, 2012 by fortewinks

Men. Don’tcha love’em? I do. In fact, I very do. Why? Well, as my year-end blog housekeeping took me on a walk of posts passim, I noticed that I have mentioned the Beta Boys on a number of occasions. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Feminism, Friends, Life and romance, Uncategorized | Tagged Attention, attraction, attractive, Beta Boys, brain, brains, chemistry, Clavicle, collar bone, collarbone, Eric Morecambe, expressive, eyelids, friends, humour, men, Morecambe and Wise, New Year, nostrils, Physical attractiveness, sex, sexism, sexuality, sexy | Leave a comment

Preparing for Launch: how The Hood came good

Posted on October 14, 2012 by fortewinks

A launch isn’t just any old launch when it’s yours. When you are CEO of the company launching the thing to be launched, you can’t feign invisibility, safe in the knowledge that your lack of cuticle care will go unnoticed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Entertaining, Food and wine, London, Uncategorized | Tagged 3Thirty, Andy Goldberg, business, CEO, clothes, Cowshed, Dames Chair, design, Dr Vincent Forte, Eyre Brothers, fashion, Forte Medical, Giovanna Forte, manicure, Mark Hix, Medical Futures, MSU, Neighbours, pamper, pedicure, Peezy, product launch, Rivington, shoes, Shoreditch, Shoreditch House, Sonia Rykiel, Start, Tramshed, women in business | 1 Comment

The holiday: Gozo far … and find unspoiled heaven

Posted on August 30, 2012 by fortewinks

Sunbather from ancient Gozo Excitement mounted as my long awaited, high-pamper-factor, sun-filled holiday hove into view, destination Gozo, a tiny island of the Maltese archipelago, which lies about 80km south of Sicily and 290km north of Africa. As yet unsullied … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertaining, Food and wine, Friends, Health, Life and romance, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Food, friends, Gozo, Health, holiday, Malta, sun, Ta'Cenc, Ta'Mena, tan, wine, Xlendi | 1 Comment

That was a week, that was

Posted on May 20, 2012 by fortewinks

Seven days in the middle of May: a more varied, demanding, entertaining week I can hardly remember and although it threatens to belie description, I’ll try. My efforts are necessary if only because, as a failed diary keeper this blog … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Entertaining, Family, Feminism, Food and wine, Friends, Life and romance, Uncategorized | Tagged Articulate Communication, David Eyre, Dragon Rouge, Entertainment, Eyre Brothers, Forte Medical, Girlfriends, Good Food, Hanway Street, Old Fire Station, Peezy, Prosecco, Smith + Village | 2 Comments

Beauty: a work in progress

Posted on May 7, 2012 by fortewinks

My birthday fell due last week, and as all birthdays do, it fell, took place and passed. But this nonentity of a birthday, ostensibly a nothing year, arrived on an ill-wind, one that ruffled my middleageing feathers in most unexpected … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Friends, Health, Life and romance, Uncategorized | Tagged beauty, Birthday, Brunswick Centre, Chantecaille, Erica Jong, fifty, forty-nine, Francesco Picardi, hair, hairdresser, happy, lipstick, Mac, make-up, mascara, Middleage, Pink Lady, Space.NK, Vespa | 6 Comments

Paddington Station, 3pm, Thursday. Bank Holiday Weekend began on a train destined for Bristol where my friend would meet and greet me. The journey was spent trapped between the window and a wall of strangely amplified sound: burger and fries … Continue reading →

Posted on April 9, 2012 by fortewinks | 5 Comments

London taxis and the art of Cabversation

Posted on March 13, 2012 by fortewinks

I am a Black Cab Queen. I love the London taxi and the driver behind the wheel. I adore the lucky dip quality implicit in climbing aboard; will I find optimism or gloom within? Cynicism or hope? Soulful entertainment or … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends, Life and romance, London, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged bethanl green, black cab, death, divorce, grandchildren, hackney road, krays, marriage, Monument, parenthood, philpot lane mice, puerto banus, sex change, stepchildren | 6 Comments