Through brilliant powers of deduction on Matt's part I am now in a position to reveal the destiny of the Mystery New Shop under the Montpelier Apartments which has been hidden behind black canvas for the best part of a year. Yep, it's going to be... the new home of Taj Mahal, the wonderful food emporium currently on Bedford Place. Hurrah! Cheap spices! Improbable vegetables! Not another pound shop!

Speaking of shops, the strain of not discussing wedding clothes is getting to me. Who knew I was such a GURL. Anyway, since I can't talk about the outfit itself I'm going to talk about the SHOPPING, which was actually in no way fun at all.

We make the mistake of starting at the CHEAP end of Oxford Street, and even half an hour later in the MID-RANGE there is nothing summer wedding-ish unless one thinks that native American beading and brown flouncy skirts are appropriate. Warehouse particularly useless in the dress department, offering only two browny orange seventies style monstrosities in viscose. The first place I try anything on is Monsoon, which had been my best hope in my head. Strapless aqua sequinned thing is very flattering to my bulges but on reflection much too dressy and suffers from the famous Monsoon Zip Disease (pricey frocks, zips off back of a lorry). I also try on: two long floaty garden partyish dresses that I love on the hanger but on me look like cheap see-through tat and give me an unfortunately huge stomach and bum (click for pic), and a pink strapless that I would have killed for age 14 but now makes me look podgy and pale CURSES (click for pic). Next Topshop (well you never know). Nothing for me but Clare finds a nice yellow vintage dress and something mad covered in ladybirds. Don't buy anything though. Ah, John Lewis! Surely he will prevail. I try on some more gorgeous floaty things, same problem as Monsoon. Start to panic, I am obviously the wrong shape for gorgeous. Try on bright pink dress with a puffball skirt adorned with flowers (can't find pic fortunately). Wisely decide to break for lunch before taste deserts me altogether. Lunch in JL hilariously overpriced. Back to the shop floor but nothing appeals. Soldier on to House of Fraser where I try on increasingly outré dresses from Whistles and Fenn Wright Manson (click for bad pic) and then HORROR: the shop assistant attack! In a moment of weakness mother had apparently revealed I was getting married and instantly the apparently blind assistant sets upon me with a range of distressingly ugly items in PEACH and BLUE (intended to go together I fear). Clare tries on a dress with green spots all over it while I make my escape. At this point I have chapped lips, flyaway hair, sore feet, a red nose, sweaty pits, and nausea from ploughing through the perfume depts of John Lewis, House of Fraser, Debenhams and Selfridges YUCK. Am just about to give up when I see The Outfit. I don't know it is The Outfit yet, but I try it on because it's totally unlike all the other things I have tried on today. Good strategy. We buy it and I go and get my bust measured in M&S. Like half the other women in the world, I have been wearing the wrong bra size all this time. So, underwear sorted but no SHOES. That will have to wait for another day...

16:30

. . .

If you'd like to see what the Jubilee Library looks like, I recommend visiting Mock Duck, who unlike me was intelligent enough to take her camera along and got some great pictures.

Book 19: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
I finally finished this rather large tome. In many ways it was fabulous, but why oh why did her editor not get more ruthless? There were some really thrilling moments and yet they were all but swallowed in long stretches of relative nothingness. I suppose ultimately I was disappointed because I wanted a book about magic to be MAGICAL. (Cf Philip Pullman.)

Book 20: Do You Remember the First Time by Jenny Colgan
I'm not sure why I felt compelled to get out a book by Jenny Colgan on my very first trip to the new library, but I did. It was entirely forgettable. And very enjoyable.

Book 21: Melancholy Baby by Robert B Parker
The latest in Parker's Sunny Randall series. She's never going to be as good a protagonist as Spenser, obviously, but this was still unputdownable. And there was more exciting crossover fun, as Sunny's new shrink turns out to be Spenser's girlfriend Susan Silverman.

10:10

. . .