The Irish Blog Awards

At the last minute I decided to go along to the blog awards, although I warned Conor not to get his hopes up about me winning anything. "I'm the Jennifer Aniston of Irish blogging," I explained to him in the car. "I'm only of any real value when I'm hurting."

Trying to get a hotel in Galway was like the friggin nativity, but eventually we found a bed in the Radisson. "Look!" said a young boy to his mother in the lobby. "There's Annie Rhiannon!". I wanted to pick him up and hug him.

"We're going to be late," said Conor in the room, as I carefully applied my make-up as some kind of insult to women. "Don't worry," I said. "Nothing's going to start until we get there."

By the time we got there, everything had already started. I didn't recognise anyone I knew, and I was annoyed when Conor was tapped on the shoulder by an old friend of his — who happened to be a very glamourous and beautiful young blonde woman. I was secretly pleased, however, when I learnt that her parents had cruelly named her "Panti".

"Best sports blog, yada yada, best food blog, yada yada..." Rick O'Shea was saying on the stage. I'm definitely not going to win anything, I thought to myself, politely clapping the other bloggers. But I better write a quick little acceptance speech in my head now, just in case... When the shortlist for Best Personal was called out I noticed a mysterious couple in the fifth row giving my name a particularly loud clap. Thank you, mysterious couple in the fifth row. "And the winner is..." I braced myself. That guy who writes about babies! "Well deserved, well deserved," I whispered to Conor graciously, and he clapped too and agreed with me.

After the ceremony, I met Fat Mammy Cat (who I felt had perhaps chosen the wrong pseudonym); I introduced Gimme to somebody from Culch.ie by mistake; and I congratulated the lovely Rabbit for managing to beat Twenty Major in the humour category. "Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" she said, looking mildly confused. Ah, I thought, sagely. You are but a young padawan.

The overall prize for Best Blog went to Beaut.ie. Unfortunately, this would later go on to cause Ireland's final decline, but I was delighted they had won regardless. I love those Beaut ladies: I will never forget the afternoon they took me out and gave me a compact of Yves Saint Laurent green eyeshadow in an attempt to save my life, yes — back when I was "hurting".

Well done everybody involved, it was a great night.