Klass act FASHION: Myleene Klass has strong views on motherhood - it's great, but it's hard, says the musician, TV presenter, writer . . . and fashion designer, writes Catherine Cleary

MEATBALLS WITH ATTITUDE FUNDRAISING: It's not a new idea - a book of recipes for charity - but it's a particularly well executed one. Try Gerry Thornley's meatballs in aid of Niall Mellon's fund

• Kisses and making up INTERVIEW : The rough-and-tumble off-screen relationship between the two stars of 'Kisses' has contributed to the on-screen chemistry that has attracted critical acclaim for the movie. Just don't ask them too many questions about their roles, writes Eoin Butler  

COLUMN Roisin Ingle

• Tie the knot, or not UPFRONT: MY BOYFRIEND and I are talking marriage. It is turning out to be the least romantic conversation of my life. I wouldn't mind but we are only having this endless wedding debate because we went and got ourselves in the family way. I should point out we were perfectly happy with our co-habitating, living over the brush status before that pleasantly surprising development occurred.

The Kicker

• It's all in the mind 'IT'S NOT A PLACE, it's a state of mind." Whether you find yourself in Woodstock, Hell, Goa or Dundalk, you'll hear the cliché uttered in relation to the peculiar charms of the milieu. Whenever we are bound together by a mindset and behave in a similar way, the location is diminished and the communal state of mind elevated, writes John Butler
• Art house CURIOSITY: VERY CLOSE TO our family home in Tivoli in Cork was a ruined house which although officially called Woodhill, we always called "The Haunted House". It was for many years a wonderful - although forbidden - playground for me and for my friends, writes Martin Dwyer .

Magazine Features

• NORTHERN SOUL BELFAST LIFE: Most Belfast bands head to Dublin or London in search of success, but a music centre founded by an 'NME' veteran is hoping to plug the creative drain and give artists a chance to make their mark without leaving the city, writes Bryan Coll
• DAME ST IN DISTRESS VIEWPOINT: Dame Street, once one of the premier streets in the capital, has become noisy and tawdry. The sober financial institutions of the past have been replaced with a lot of badly spelled pubs, clubs and shops, writes Frank McDonald
• Green gifts at your fingertips IDEAS: Irish shopping websites have improved since last year: here are a few good ones to help anyone looking for green gifts, writes Catherine Cleary

Right here right now

• Great sales for your diary . . . This time of year, there are endless sales for good causes, and in the current climate, they will perhaps provide the best and most ethical way to approach the season of giving.
• Graduates at the Tramyard Two young graduates, Eoin O'Connor and Tinka Bechert, who share a love of the oft forgotten skill of drawing, are showing their work at The Tramyard Gallery in Dalkey until next Sunday. The painting shown left is by O'Connor, entitled The Clearing.
• Distinctive homes, historical gems Architectural history is well served this year - not only by Robert O'Byrne's colourful celebration of the Irish Georgian Society - but by a book launched this week, Great Irish Houses, published by Image publications. With forewords by Desmond FitzGerald, Knight of Glin, and the Hon Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society, this latest book will also become a useful volume of social history.
• One woman's trash . . . . . . might be another woman's treasure. Jan Brierton, who styles many of the fashion shoots in this magazine, has organised a Swap Shop at the Off the Rails extravaganza at the RDS this weekend.
• Wrapped up roses The Rose Project was established in 2003 to help people affected by Aids or HIV in eastern and southern Africa - so far, it has reached 98,000 people through community-led Aids programmes in that region. The organisation is named after Rose Atieno, a Kenyan woman whose eight-year-old son Curtis nursed her until she died of Aids at the age of 32.
• YES they can This Tuesday, the Young European Strings (YES) school, which is based in Templeogue, Dublin 6W, will celebrate its 21st year with a gala concert in the National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square.
• Haveawinterwarmerafterawalk Lucky you if you live in or around Sandymount, Dublin 4.
• Click for kids' stuff Peoba, the children's emporium in Dundalk, has closed shop and gone online with a website that sells the same goods and more.
• Index Chicago That most American of American cities, a city of great diversity, jazz and architecture, put on the best street party ever on US election night. Go visit!

Taste Domini Kemp

• Here's the beef FOOD: Stay toasty in the cold season with simple dishes that can easily become part of your repertoire, writes Domini Kemp  

Wine John Wilson

• Break for the Bordeaux Bordeaux is one of the world's most important wine regions, with 2.3 per cent of world production
• BOTTLES OF THE WEEK Château Nicot, Entre-Deux-Mers 2007, 12.5%, €12.50 Not much aroma, but a mini-explosion of delicious, subtle nettles and goosberries, with a good, crisp lemon tang and a spare minerality. Drink solo or with salads. Stockists: Red Island Wines, Skerries; Partridges, Gorey: Bin No.9, Clonskeagh; Wicklow Wine Co.
• TWO UNDER €12 GIVEN the recent budget increase, and the propensity of certain retailers to change prices overnight, I have increased the upper ceiling for the "Two around Ten" wines. I will still try to feature as many under €10 as possible.
• A FEW OF MY FAVOURITES THIS MONTH, Fearghal O Nualláin and Simon Evans will begin the first Irish circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle. Their unsupported expedition will cover more than 30,000km, passing through 30 countries and some of the highest, lowest, driest, coldest, warmest and loneliest places on earth. In doing so, they will be promoting the positive contribution that cycling can make to mental health and the environment, raising funds for Aware and highlighting climate change. See www.revolutioncycle.ie for details. Here, O Nualláin writes about his attraction to Languedoc.

Restaurants Tom Doorley

• Solid country fare Campagne offers rustic food in the best sense of the word - you could travel a long way in France before you encounter anything as good, writes Tom Doorley  
• Musical chefs FOOD FILE: The winds of change are already whistling through the higher echelons of the cheffing brigade, and look set to continue to do so once the dust settles on the high-spending month of December.
• Kiely caddies Entrepreneurs Siobhán and Colin Scully, who brought the French brand l'Occitane to Ireland, have bought the franchise for Le Palais des Thés and are opening a flagship store at 31 Wicklow Street, Dublin, on Monday. The stylish tea emporium will sell more than 250 varieties of tea, many of them personally selected by the group of tea enthusiasts who set up the company, and who now visit plantations and seek out rare and exceptional teas. Gift boxes (above left) are a speciality, and cost €45.
• For saga louts and radical wrinklies CONNOISSEUR: Science-based diet advice will be all the rage as we become more aware how food affects our genes, writes  Hugo Arnold  
• HOT STUFF MUSTARD TRAIL: ONCE UPON A time, it was possible to leave Dublin early on a weekday morning, fly to Paris in time for lunch in a bustling brasserie, work off the calories with a tour of some of the city's artisan food shops, glide through the halls of La Grande Épicerie, fill an expandable shopping basket or two with gourmet treats, relax over a reviving café au lait, and head back to the airport with your spoils, stowing bottles of wine, olive oil, vinegar and mustard, sacks of fleur de sel, bricks of Poilâne bread, and well-wrapped parcels of runny cheese in the overhead locker, writes Marie-Claire Digby

Fashion and Beauty

• My style DO YOU WEAR A LOT OF BLACK? I wear it too much because it's easy. Both my twin sister and I wear a lot of black. Until last January we had a combined wardrobe as we have the same taste, though she thinks skirt suits are too girly. I would wear 70 per cent trousers and 30 per cent skirts suits to work, the latter more often in the summer.
• A bright spark Recessionary times often generate imaginative ideas. An intriguing one comes from Johann Design Limited in Glasthule, Dublin, which has just opened a showroom along with a new customer loyalty scheme. It's aimed at people attracted to its mix of costume jewellery, hats and bags sourced from Europe and Israel.
• Big ideas Growing up in Hamburg, Anna Scholz was already 6ft and size 16 at the age of 13. That was when the flamboyant, fashion-conscious teenager decided to learn how to sew to make her own "punky" clothes.
• Best foot forward for the slopes There's an intriguing machine in the newly opened Snow + Rock store in Dundrum that takes an impression of your foot in order to enhance the fit of your ski boot.
• Building foundations The product that causes most womegrief in the make-up world is foundation - and the lighting in department stores does them no favours when they're trying to choose the correct shade. Best bet is to ask for a sample - go armed with a pill container (20c from the pharmacy across the road) - as there's no better place to get the correct impression that in your own mirror at home.

Interiors

• Home is where the art is Buying art that you love may be the best investment you'll ever make - and with a little know-how, it needn't cost the earth, writes Zita Spring

Gardens

• Contain yourself A few strategically-placed containers can offer enough colour to keep our spirits up during the coming dim and chill months, writes Jane Powers