if father christmas......

was a millionaire or a miracle worker, i would ask him for these christmas presents:

1. every pair of shoes that christian louboutin has ever designed
2. a brand new laptop that doesn't take a lifetime to connect to the internet and can cope with photoshop, so i don't have to keep 'borrowing' m.r.'s
3. a sewing machine and every sewing accessory i can think of to make pretty, pretty things
4. a blackberry. i am not interested in the iphone. i need functionality, not apps.
5. a winning lottery ticket
6. my grandad back - if only for my wedding day

not that i'm asking for much....

in reality, christmas this year will be all about family for me and m.r. - his and mine, that is "ours". (i still love saying that!)
it will be a first christmas for my new nephew and niece and my eldest nephew actually understands whats going on for the first time.
i'm so ridiculously excited.
even if the babies enjoy the wrapping paper more than the things inside it, i can't think of a better christmas present than watching them smile all day.
their laughs are contagious.
no other present will beat it.

party season

christmas party season kicked off last night with a 'razzle dazzle' 20s event.

m.r. freelances for the company my dad started earlier this year, looking after their i.t., so we were technically invited as employee and partner, but i was just pleased to be there, supporting my dad at his first company 'do'.

we all had so much fun.....

we were treated to a fabulous cabaret show

we spun the wheel and played some roulette

 

and we ate a delicious meal
(please note-glasses here are m.r.'s and i am borrowing them to watch the cabaret! saying that, i'm strangly tempted to get a pair...)

in addition to all of this, there were dodgems!!!!!!

this photo was taken a moment before we hit my brother and sister-in-law, in car number 3, straight up the bum.

as far as i'm concerned, any party that has dodgems, is undeniably awesome.

so thanks mum and dad - we had the best time! xx

the wanderer returns

on returning to the real world after a weekend of debauchery i think it is safe to conclude that i am definitely not as capable as handling late nights, drinking games and sleeping in beds that are sized for children as well as i perhaps once was.

the christmas annual reunion went a little something like this:

as we reunite from all over the UK, everyone slowly trickled into the cottage throughout friday evening.

if i'm honest, this is my favourite part as, although there is often initial awkwardness (the 'how have you been?' and 'how's work going?' kind of questions) within five minutes, we're in the lounge laughing and joking as though our uni days were only yesterday.

it gives me a warm feeling inside to know that regardless of the length of time that passes between catch ups, our friendships are as strong as ever.

saturday morning was spent undertaking some serious shopping at the local supermarket and getting this stocked in the kitchen, ready for cooking the christmas meal later that day. when buying for 21 people, its extremely easy to overestimate........

at this stage, we took a long walk to the nearerst pub where we are usually stared at by 'locals'!
nonetheless, the boys crammed themselves around the tiniest tv in the corner to watch the rugby and the girls were left with some free time to finally have a good old gossip.

once home, the production line begins!

the girls chopped and peeled. the boys spent ages discussing the best way to cook the meat.

typical!

while the food was a'cooking, we all retired to the lounge to watch xfactor.

intense debate regarding perceived level of talent followed.

and then we ate.

the rest of the evening, i'm afraid should and will remain photoless on this blog.

images of my friends reverting back to their 18 year old former selves are never going to be pretty - i fear it may give you the wrong impression of them.

instead, i will leave you with this:

the annual reunion was amazing.

my friends are incredible.

every year, this is the start to my christmas and that makes me very happy indeed.

reunion comes but once a year

i am off to the countryside today for my annual christmas uni reunion weekend.

this annual weekend away is one of the highlights of my year - full of christmas festivities, reminiscing, good food and friendly banter.

countryside adventures, however, equate to no computer, no wifi and therefore, no blogging!

bye bye blogworld - although i will only be gone for 3 days, i will miss you. although, i promise some juicy posts and pictures on my return.

dreaming of a white christmas

as we approach christmas time, my thoughts generally turn to a number of things (presents, family, mince pies, board games, the queen's speech!) but i also think of snow.

here in london, we are almost never blessed with a white christmas. it's one of the saddest things about living in the capital. christmas is the time i miss living by the sea where waking up to find snow had covered the ground was always a lot more likely.

that being said, london does seem to partake in the snowy wonderfulness occassionally - just when london decides it's appropriate to do so.
2008 - snow fell in april
2009 - snow fell in february

i love snow. unfortunately, london transport does not and the slight sign of white droplets sends the capital into a spin. in february, undergrounds came to a standstill, bus routes were terminated and getting to work became a nightmare. 
i "worked from home".
m.r. decided to walk into work and these are his photos from his journey..........

 

 

 

this year, i'm definitely dreaming of a white christmas!

christmas excitement (in november)

i realise it's only the beginning of november, but i love christmas and i'm already so excited about it. it's the one time in the year that you're officially allowed to be a kid again!

my parents have always made the biggest effort when it comes to the little things - when we were younger, my dad would dress up in my mum's red coat and white scarf on christmas eve so that if we woke whilst he was putting our sacks of pressies out, we would think he was santa!

and my mum would leave sprinklings of tinsel around the house during the lead up to christmas, telling us that they were threads from the fairys' dresses who had been to visit and check we were behaving.

plus, we used to get our 'big' present left for us downstairs in the lounge and dad would always tease us that he didn't think santa had brought us one this year. i say 'used' to - this tradition is still in full force in our househould, despite the fact that we're hitting our 30s.

christmas is a truely magical time and we feel so lucky to have 3 fabulous niece and nephews to shower with christmas fantasies and pressies this year.

bring on santa!