2014 - The year of the Horse!

There is loads to catch up on from the last post... :) I guess that is what happens when you don't post something but once a month or so! Oh well.. here it goes from the visit home with family, NYE, getting back into the London groove, birthday celebrations, and wedding planning.

The trip home in December was everything we had hoped for and much, much more. We had a busy 2 weeks visiting with everyone, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. No need to re-cap everyone we visited and spent time with, but know that you all mean the world to us! We ended the trip with a visit to the beach and hung out with my sister on NYE. 

      We went to see a comedy show!

After these few photos were taken, I realized that I had totally gone into the 'home' mode vs 'tourist' mode, as these were the only pictures I took the whole time we were home!

We were both in a little slump after leaving home... so we decided the best way to get back in the swing of things was to go for some burger and lobster. This place only 3 things on the menu: Burger, Lobster and Lobster Rolls. So we split the Burger and Lobster of course :) 

He was trying to act like the bib..... and he succeeded!

To help round out the weekend, I went to an International Ice Sculpting Contest in Canary Warf. Despite the cool air and drizzle, it was actually pretty cool!

Here is an area view.....

The theme on Sunday was Fashion... 

this team was aiming for 3 women under an umbrella 

 They had drawings in the corner      

to help the visitors see what the end    

sculptor was suppose to look like     

This one was my favourite, with the little girl 

blowing bubbles (once she is turned around)

The next weekend was my birthday :) I was very lucky to get to celebrate the day with my mates from work at Duck and Waffle.  

                                     What a view!!!! 

     The food was pretty amazing as well!

Jeff had gotten tickets for Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club the next day. It was great! We got to see Lettuce from Boston. They played some new edge Jazz... we loved it!

It is the beginning of Jeff's busy season, so I thought it was a perfect time to do some shopping at Harrods :) This store is a whole different world in itself... each designer has it's own room in the store. 

While I may not be able to afford anything in the store, I pretended for a day and had my make-up done :)

You never know what is going to happen randomly on a Wednesday night in London.... It just happen to be a wedding show the following Wednesday at Rosewood Hotel right down the road from my work. There are a ton of people getting married at my work, so I went along with another girl, Marg. We had a ball.. they had the bubbly flowing, appetizers passed around, and a classic fashion show with an amazing runway...... 

After the wedding show, I got my butt in proper wedding mode and into all the planning! Details to come!!!
Later on we discovered a hidden gem at one our hangouts... Steak and Lobster for 13 pounds!!! What a steal! We have had it twice now and it blows our minds every time.  We recently learned that if you book online, you get a free 10 pound chip to play with too! While we have seen success at the casino the past few times we have been... I am nervous this could turn sour any minute... so we have limited the steak and lobster to 2 nights so far. But I am sure we will partake in it soon again. The last time we went it was Chinese New Year... and it turns out that 2014 is the year of the horse! 

It is beginning to look a lot like christmas....

Christmas trees are around the corners, strings of lights brighten the night, mulled wine and goodies are all over the markets and ice skating rings are pooping all over the city!

This year Christmas started with a trip to the Christmas Markets in Lille, France and Bruge, Belgium. We hit the road bright and early Saturday morning and took a coach bus across the eurostar tunnel across the channel. 

Entering the tunnel...

Lunch time - The tour guide mentioned that it is 

more common to have a beer with lunch than wine.... 

The middle of Lille -               
Every town has a central square.      
Lille's was very romantic and certainly 
looking the part for Christmas!      

We rode the ferris wheel......
It is much higher than it looks from the ground!

We could even see the christmas 
markets from up top!              

We did some fun christmas shopping at the market and some delicious food... including an amazing nutella crepe. To top the day off, we went trailblazing to a pizza joint near the pick up location for the bus. The tour guide warned us of going into 'empty' restaurants... but this place did not disappoint, it was awesome!

The following day we hit the road for Bruges. I was blown away by this little town, it was everything I had hoped for and more. 

When we first entered the city, the peaceful swans greeted us....

                                      

and the beautiful canals set their charm.  

Bruge's town center... just as beautiful as Lille if not more so!

And I finally figured out what all the fuss was about Belgium waffles....

Oh my goodness, I could loads of these things! Lip smacking good :)

                        Couldn't be happier!

Sadly, we didn't get as much time in Bruge as Lille, so it was back to the bus. We will definitely be back in the summer time though, can't wait!

After so much fun at the Christmas markets, we decided we would go to the one here in London as well. There is one on the Southbank and there are two in the Winter Wonderland inside Hyde Park. 

Southbank was very similar to the others... cute trinkets, good german sausages, smoked salmon, etc... 

The Winter Wonder land was more like the state fair, with the goodies, fun houses, bumber cars, and other fun games. My favorite were the ice curling and ice bowling!

The swings!                            

The biergarden...

                       The Carousel Bar 

And if that wasn't enough to get us in the Christmas spirit... Westfields was decked out with an indoor ice skating ring. 

This past Saturday night we went to the a comedy musical 'Dickens Abridged'. As the title implies, the play starts with the Charles Dickens' childhood and follows his life with breaks of when he wrote the different pieces of work. There were different scenes from each of his plays, they got all the classics in Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield and they finished with the best A Christmas Carol! 

Days till we come home = 5

Days till Christmas = 9

Christmas is here... and we can't wait to see everyone! 

The best and the worst... but definitely not average!

I haven't made a post about London stuff in a while... so it goes :)

We arrived at the beginning of the best summer London had seen in years. It was broadcasted all over the BBC London and multitude of papers. Having just arrived, I am not sure we had a full appreciation for the warm weather yet. The summer quickly passed and we tried to make the most of it. 

A month ago, we had one of the worst storms London had seen in ages. There were hurricane force winds that created destruction across the city and cost several people their lives. We were lucky and very fortunate it did not affect us significantly.  

Recently, the BBC and the various papers are brining up the conditions of upcoming winter. And guess what... it is suppose to the worst winter in years! The headlines read... 

Heavy snow is set to cripple parts of the UK

Worst winter in decades

Britain set to freeze in 'Arctic Plunge'

Snowfall and temperatures as low as -4C 

Needless to say... these do not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but at least it is not boring!  Please note, my christmas list now contains the following:

- thick warm socks
- warm hats
- bubble coat with fur around the hood
- warm, water proof boots
- electric/warm blanket 

Just kidding about the christmas list, but I do think we are going to hit up the outlets on our trip home to stock up on warm clothes. (Really it is just an excuse to go shopping though haha)

Speaking of extremes... I think this is the worst design for a building ever. There is a high rise nick-named the 'Walkie Talkie' for its shape. What the architect did not appear to consider... is the impact of the sun's rays (when the sun is shining) reflecting on the ground. The rays have been so strong they melted a car! and of course to make the story better... it was a Jaguar that was melted. haha The London humor has now remained this building the 'Walkie Scorchie'. To ensure it is not melting any more cars they put a black sheet over the side of the building. I just laugh every time I see it!

Another popular topic in London right now is Movember. My vote for best goatee goes to Jeffrey... 

The worst mustache awards can also be awarded to Jeffrey... 

this stache means business!

but looks creepy when he smiles.....  

Haha I love this man! He makes me laugh everyday and couldn't image life without him. He is so silly about this mustache business. Since I have to endure it for a full month.. please consider helping make my suffering worth while and contribute to his cause :) 

End Callie's suffering= Donate to Jeff

Last note... some of the best decisions I have made in art... 

Love, love, love this one we got from Camden Market!

And here is a caricature we got in Brighton 

a few months ago. It doesn't really look like us... 

but still happy we got it!

That is all for now :) We hope everyone has a great thanksgiving. Eat some extra turkey and pumpkin pie for me!

Cheers!
Callie