Painting the Town Pink: The cold nights were drawing in but the MoJo team were all in good spirits as we knew Santa was getting his sleigh ready for Christmas, which meant the Christmas party was just around the icy corner!

The day was soon upon on us and we donned on our glad rags and made a beeline to the nearest shop that sold alcohol. Everyone came dressed to the nines, with spirit levels as high as the alcohol selection. We lowered the lights, turned up the music and gathered around the Christmas tree, peering at where the Secret Santa presents were securely stashed, trying to guess which one we might be opening later that evening.

Once everyone had done their rounds of introductions, and told their stories of the nightmare that is finding an outfit for the Christmas Do, it was time to dish the dirt on who got what present. All the presents were perfectly chosen to suit the person but our favourite by far was Sophy’s gift, that Sally had got. In true Secret Santa style, Sally had bought her a mystery box that was already gift wrapped meaning no one knew what was in it, including Sally. We think it’s fair to say that a lightbox and some gin and tonic flavoured popcorn was definitely a good surprise!

Little did everyone know, John had planned a surprise for everyone in the office. It was the MoJo version of the Oscars - the Dogscars! With three adorable dog shaped teddies up for grabs, the awards were a celebration of all the fun from the past year. The nominees were announced and partners of the group were invited to stand up and present the winners with their awards. Sophy, Emily and Natalie all took home the prizes for their outstanding performances and now are the proud owners of the first ever MoJo Dogscars.

Once the festivities were over it was time to make a move to the main event of the night - the meal. We finished off our drinks and wandered over to the Athena, which was a gruelling, hard, 30 second stagger (some of us were in high heels!). We entered the circus like venue, a fitting attire for the night’s shenanigans, and loved the theme immediately. The place was decked in head to toe with red and white stripes and everything circus-esque. After wandering the halls and finding the nearest bar, we grabbed our drinks and took our seats for the evening entertainment.

Three rounds of wonderful food and a good chin wag later, the stage became the dancefloor and we soon made our way to bust some moves, the Athena dance floor has never been so lucky. The dinner had fueled us and the alcohol gave us the confidence to get up and shake what our momma’s gave us! We partied as hard as we could but unfortunately, as always, the clock struck 12 and the glass slippers were starting to hurt.

After the brilliant food and some ‘civilised’ drinking we headed off into the night, some of us in the direction of the local pub and the more responsible of us off to rest our heads. We can’t be 100% sure which was the better option for how to carry on the night but we all had a lot of fun and can’t wait for our next MoJo outing!