Day 212: Gray is Fattening for the Feet

How did my feet end up looking massive in this photo? It's gross, really. I have some of the skinniest feet of anyone I know - and yet, this. THIS. Okay, I'm done.

Day Four: England 2011/2012

BOXING DAY!

Boxing Day has never been a huge deal for me. I'm not one of those people that anticipates Boxing Day even more than Christmas. I don't rush out of the house early in the morning, shop simultaneously with hoards of other people, stopping only for some lacklustre mall-food at lunch and then continuing shopping in a fat-induced stupor, coming home with things that you inevitably don't need, but are much too lazy to return.

That is not fun for me. Fun for me was Boxing Day in England.

There was a train strike, which meant even less people were out and about. Krista and I took a cab to Camden Market. For those that haven't been to England, Camden is England's hipster/artsy district. Lots of punk-style clothing, souvenir shops, tattoo places, etc. Camden market is huge. It's like a giant flea market, where most everything is new instead of used. I loved it. And, there was almost no one there. Krista was taking pictures of how dead it was and sending them to her friends. I was in heaven. We had free reign of an enormous market! I still had the nasty stall food for lunch, but I wasn't overwhelmed by people. I over-bought, but all cool things that I would never want to return. Well, except for when I realized I bought lights that have a british plug on them. That wasn't smart. But with an adapter, they are still beautiful and useful!

After our morning/early afternoon at Camden market, we headed to the "touristy" places. Trafalgar Square was next up. Obligatory photo by the London 2012 Olympic countdown clock. Then, a short walk to Big Ben.

We took photos of Big Ben, we took photos with Big Ben, we took photos of us in red phone booths with Big Ben in the background:

Then, Westminster Abbey. Could I really go to England and not see the church where Kate and Wills stifled smiles while marrying each other, because apparently marriage is a serious affair and you can't possibly be happy during the ceremony? Of course I couldn't. Westminster Abbey at night is a creepy and wonderful sight to see:

After all of this, we went to Krista's house and she whipped up some delicious pasta for dinner. Lots of veggies...mmmm.

Then, Winter Wonderland! This place is the Calgary Stampede turned Christmas. It was so enchanting! You wander around with your beer or mulled wine (yes! finally!) and take in all the bright lights of the rides. And as Krista and I discovered, a carnie is a carnie, no matter what city you are in. They are equally as strange in London as they are in Calgary - and likely have equal amounts of missing teeth. We took pictures with basically every Christmas statue we could find. I took my obligatory photo of me kissing a statue while on vacation. This one was a little bit more exciting though because as I went in for the kiss, Santa almost fell over. He almost got a little more than he bargained for, lucky old man:

After all the festivities of the day we were still gung-ho so we grabbed Starbucks coffees and went to Piccadilly Circus. I got hit on in the bathroom by an Italian man. The two washrooms shared a common sink area. While drying my hands, I was approached. Here's a tip, boys - don't try to pick up a girl in a dirty place like a bathroom. It won't go well for you.

Then we waited forever for a bus, since the train was out of commission and there was an accident blocking buses from getting through. It was an exciting trip back to Krista's, but we made it, exhausted.

xo

Day 211: Grimace

Day Three: England 2011/2012

CHRISTMAS DAY!

Despite the 7:30am wake-up call Krista and I received from her family celebrating Christmas Eve in Canada, Christmas morning started splendidly. After the phone call, where Krista promised her Father it would be reciprocated, we decided to just get up and open the stockings we had bought for one another. Stockings have got to be one of the best parts of Christmas day. Mine had (surprise, surprise!) quite a few pairs of adorable socks - many of which you will see, hopefully soon once I get all caught up. Yes, I have been promising that for a long time. Maybe follow-through is not my forte at this point in life.

Alas, I digress. We opened our stockings and then exchanged "big gifts". Krista booked us both in for a day at the Sanctuary Spa! My first ever facial, as well as a massage and a 'sleep retreat'. And it was only two days away! Excited was definitely an understatement.

A bit later in the morning, Krista and I headed over to Susie's place for Christmas brunch. When we arrived, the adorable Sam was there to greet us.

Seriously. That face. So cute!

We ate. And we ate. And we ate some more. In fact, other than our jaunt around Kensington Gardens, we basically just ate all day. However, it was really tasty food. Susie went all out. And I even ate shrimp - and enjoyed it. Tiny Tim would be so proud. It was a true Christmas miracle.

While eating shrimp, eggs, baked oatmeal, fresh fruit, pastries, sausage rolls, cheese (oh god, so much cheese), prawn bites, etc, etc, etc. And drinking champagne and OJ by the keg-full, we watched some movies. Christmas classics, of course: Love, Actually and Meet Me in St. Louis. We also made time to watch the Queen's speech. Being from Canada, I never knew this was a British tradition. Oddly, it was like being at Christmas church service. It was a little bit about the struggles of England, more about royal weddings the past year and then it was all about baby Jesus.

I don't know what you did on Christmas, but I heard a sermon from the Queen of England.

We also went for a walk. It was a nice, long walk. Poor Sam was tuckered at the end of it. This walk was significant for me though. As many (ok, all) of you know, I adore the movie Peter Pan. In fact, I've been Peter Pan obsessed since I was a small child. This has culminated in me having enough Peter Pan memorabilia to effectively furnish a room, simply with Peter Pan goods.

Therefore, the walk in Kensington Gardens was significant, as it is where J.M. Barrie is said to have come up with the idea of Peter Pan. As such, there is a magnificent Peter Pan statue and plaque erected there. Obviously, a photo with me and Sam playing "Nana" was in order. Sam was a pretty good sport about us emasculating him with our request that he pose as a girl dog. What a champ.

All in all, it was an extremely relaxing Christmas day, with delicious food and fabulous company throughout. I'm grateful.

xo

Day 210: Inner Hippie

Day Two: England 2011/2012

On my second day in London, I didn't wake up until around 9am. It was a glorious 12-hour sleep. I don't think I even moved. I was just out.

Upon waking up and after getting ready, as people do, Krista and I headed to the Southbank Christmas Market. I had requested that we do something Christmas-y on Christmas Eve, as it's my favourite day of the year. Krista came up with the Christmas Market - and it was perfect!

We wandered around the market, took some photos with Big Ben and the London Eye in the background. We purchased some treasures, including artwork for Krista's flat. It was a relaxing morning/early afternoon.

We then headed back to Krista's place to pick up the things we needed to make Christmas dinner at Sarah and Irene's place. These two girls are a lot of fun - as are Alicia and Sally! Us six girls did Christmas dinner (with Krista cooking most of it and myself helping with some of the slicing and dicing). I was the Sous Chef to Krista's post as Master Chef.

The meal was absolutely delicious. I can't think of anything feeling more Christmas-y on my favourite day of the year than an entire Christmas dinner.

All the ladies did a gift exchange, which was great fun. Then we watched Home Alone and part of Home Alone 2, before Krista and I had to leave so that we didn't miss the last tube home.

Back at home we watched the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special before retiring for the evening, anticipating Christmas Day!

xo

Day 209: Stripes

Alright, friends. It's officially catch-up time! I am going to go day by day and tell you what I did on my England and Ireland trip. I kept notes so it'll be just like you were there with me! And you'll get to understand the inner workings of my brain as well - how did you get so lucky?!

Day One + Two: December 22-23, 2011

These two will count as one day because December 22nd I went to work at 6am, then came home at lunch and did last minute packing. At 1:30pm my family and I went to Peter's Drive-In. So delish. At 3:00, I was at the airport ready to go! My plane left at 6pm. Let me tell you, I did not sleep at all. I think it was excitement of what was to come. Seriously though, it was awful. I watched The Help, which was not a great movie in comparison with the book (I hate that!). The 9-hour flight went by quickly though, so I was glad for that.

Upon arrival at Heathrow (10am, Dec 23), I felt like a movie star. As I walked out of the doors to the reception area, there was a man filming the arrivals. I was the only person that walked out at that point, so I wished I had my sunglasses to play it up a little.

Krista and I eventually found each other and maybe cried a little upon getting to hug again for the first time in approximately six months! So good!

We took the tube back to Krista's - my first time back on the London Underground since I was a 14-year-old. We ate Ketchup chips, which I had brought with me from Canada specifically for Krista. England has gross chip flavours (and they call them 'crisps' not chips). Prawn cocktail flavour, anyone?...I didn't think so. Yuck.

We had lunch at a pub near Krista's house called "The Mitre" and I had my first bottle of Bulmer's Cider. The pasta I had was so yummy and the cider was perfect. At this point I started to really feel only 45 minutes worth of sleep on the plane, but I needed to push forward until bed time to get on a proper schedule.

We then walked in search of a clinic because Krista's nose piercing decided to hibernate under her skin. This ended with us in "A&E", which is England's version of Emergency - but only after this delightful mixup:

Walk in to clinic attached to hospital.
Clinic Worker: We've just closed.
Krista: I'll just explain what's happening. It may only take a minute to fix. 
Clinic Worker: Alright.
Krista: <explains nose piercing issues>
Clinic Worker: Why are you here?
Krista: Because you are a clinic and I thought you could help.
Clinic Worker: Ummm...we're a sexual health clinic.

Oops. That explained the gigantic poster about STIs that I was laughing about on the way in.

We went to A&E and Krista got all fixed in no time - not like the year-long waits in Canada. Then we went to Oxford Circus and walked down Regent Street. I probably messed that up, but I was SO tired at this point. We had dinner at a HEAVENLY restaurant called Mother Mash. It was bangers and mash. The mash I chose was Irish with cheese and green onions in it. The gravy was onion. The bangers were I think Cumberland Sausage, but I don't quite recall. It was incredible food.

We walked (read: I stumbled, barely putting one foot in front of the other) to the tube and headed home.

Krista was successful in keeping me awake until 9pm and I was very thankful for it after I woke up the next morning feeling rested.

xo