Don't worry, there's still a chance to redeem your disgusting self and you'll only have the most fabulous time doing it.

Beg, borrow or steal the money to book yourself into Monart, the destination spa in the southeast.

Do your best to avoid the amazing brownies available through room service (oh well, maybe one? ), stroll through the beautiful landscaped grounds created by Mary Reynolds and get some serious pampering by booking some Pevonia Botantica treatments.

From now right through until March Monart is offering two nights' accommodation (Sunday to Thursday) with breakfast and unrestricted access to the thermal spa for Euro205 per adult sharing. Go forth and purify. Tel: 053 923 8999; www. monart. ie

SWEET STUFF THIRTEENmonth-old Aiko SavilleDoyle should be the best dressed baby in town, considering her mother owns Milk and Cookies, a cool little emporium selling baby and children's clothes and accessories in the Westbury Mall, Dublin 2. However, Oskar Saville Doyle, her mum, says this is far from the case because much of the shop's stock sold out over Christmas, although the new spring/summer lines arrival are imminent.

Saville-Doyle, a musician from New York, who previously worked in the garment industry on Seventh Avenue, saw a gap in the market for hip, kids' clothes. "There was nothing really nice, no selection except navy and blue for boys and pink for girls, " she explains. "I wanted something cool and funky and different."

Milk and Cookies opened in November and sells a number of labels which are exclusive to Ireland, including Imps and Elfs, Tea Collection and Best of Chums, and caters for children up to the age of 12. What's special about these clothes, Saville-Doyle says, is their superb quality.

Kids can wear them a thousand times and pass them down.

BIKINI ATOLL AND the quest for self-improvement continues. If you've got a little more junk in your trunk than you care to possess and feel you need to be firmly taken in hand, Free Range Holidays are offering Bikini Bootcamps in the Algarve to test your limits. This is five days of intensive exercise with a caloriecontrolled vegetarian diet that begins with a weight in and finishes with a weight out, so you can clearly gauge the results. There's yoga, hikes, beach runs, pilates, circuits and resistance training, all adding up to an average of seven hours of exercise a day. If that doesn't shift the Christmas excess, we're not sure what will. Visit www. freerangeholidays. com for more information.

FROM LA LA LAND ARNOTTS is obviously trying to make its mark as a purveyor of fine foods. Firstly, Sheridan's Cheesemongers opened up on the lower ground floor selling wine, olives, relishes, and other speciality nibbles alongside the artisan cheeses.

Now Ireland's first La Brea Bakery Café is coming to the department store at the end of the month.

Nancy Silverton is the baker behind the original La Brea, which started off as a small neighbourhood bakery in Los Angeles in 1989, and subsequently grew as word of its delicious, carefully crafted loaves spread.

She has received numerous awards and has written six successful cookbooks, including Nancy Silverton's Breads from La Brea Bakery.

Now you can sample the real deal for yourselves and fuel up on gourmet paninis, sandwiches etc after a heavy duty shopping session.

SCRATCH AND HISS ACCORDING to author Kate Figes, there are two types of bitches. One is strong and doesn't give a damn about whatever people think of her and the other type is simply rude and cruel. Figes argues that all women should aspire to the former in The Big Fat Bitch Book, which is divided into two halves, one aimed at women and the other at teenage girls. It's a great insight into female back-stabbing, peppered with advice on how to equip yourself when under assault. Best of all are the celebrity catfights such as Jordan vs Jodie Marsh, the clash of the ginormous bosoms. But nothing comes anywhere near the long-running feud between Bette Midler and Joan Crawford. "She slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie, " Midler said upon being told of Crawford's great popularity with men. Miaow!