My ego has received a fair stroking this week. Two good things have happened to me: I got a first on an essay, meaning I'll panic less about my exam for that module and I'm told I've been nominated for the Corbins "Best Arts Writer" award. The Corbins are the Aberystwyth annual student media awards, started, I presume, by someone named Corbin, and I've been nominated for my theatre reviews in the student magazine. I'm not expecting to win it, but the nomination makes me happy.

So, this means I've got an awards ceremony to go to. It's a formal evening, which means a dress. There is one problem with this: I never wear dresses. I buy dresses- my wardrobe in Watford is full of lovely dresses, but I've never worn any of them more than once. They usually get lent to my younger sister, who looks so irritatingly good in them that I know I'd only depress myself by wearing them after her. Now, because I never wear dresses and rarely attend these formal whatsits, opting for a meal and a drink in the pub to celebrate anything, I left all my lovely, neglected dresses at home.

Dress shopping was called for. I grabbed two fashion conscious friends and drove them up the wall while I discarded dress after dress- most being too tight or baggy in the wrong places. Then one of my friends spotted a cute little polka dot dress. Not too short, some elastic on the back and nipping in at the waist. BUT strapless- something I have a huge phobia of.

I learnt the art of making the best of things as a result of this: I bought the dress, and was delighted with the price tag, £28. We then went and got me a cheap silky scarf which I hacked to pieces and made straps out of. I've never been much good at sewing (my textiles teacher dreaded lessons with me as I always managed to break any sewing machine I went near), but I could just about manage to get both straps in the right places and the right length.

Today I cancelled out the savings I made on the dress by buying some pretty shoes. After all this shopping and handy craft, I feel like a right girl.

Who saw Doctor Who? I love BBC iPlayer so much- Sunday afternoon is now my Doctor Time. I have to say I was mildly disappointed by this week's episode, which surprised me because I was super excited about the return of the Sontarans and UNIT. The opening was good, I thought, and I enjoyed the Doctor giving Donna a driving lesson. Then Martha came on the scene with her "unrequited love". And Donna went to see her mum and granddad. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there never was much focus on companions' families before the new series, was there? I'm just waiting for Donna's mum to deck the Doctor like Rose's and Martha's did. The families are annoying, they add too much of a soap opera-ish feel to the show.

Also, I see they're going for another world-wide-panic story, of which there have been too many. Scale it down, move it away from the 21st Century and ditch the families! UNIT was nicely done, though, and the Sontarans were weird enough. Awesome scary clone too.