I've been a bad girl. I haven't posted in over a month!
Actually, incase you're reading this Santa, I haven't actually been a bad girl, but December has been a whirlwind of a month! My work has meant I have worked all hours of most weekends, and in between that has been my birthday amongst many other fun activities. So here's a bit of round up of the festive season so far. Get your mulled wine in hand...
So, as you can see from the fetching picture of Lola above, Christmas starts in my house at the very beginning of December with the cats dressing up in their Christmas hats and scarves while we put up the tree. (They don't stay on very long, but it pleases me :) ). Putting up the tree is a very exciting activity for a cat, and particularly for a kitten (Louie) - so many new shiny balls to swing from and chase - the whole affair results in a big snooze on the sofa to recover.
Now, if you've never been to Winter Wonderland, on your first visit, you might, like me, think it looks like a giant fair ground with a few Christmas trees thrown in for good measure. But don't be put off, once you make your way through the rides, you enter the real reason to visit - the Bavarian bars and street food stalls! It wasn't long before we stumbled across the Christmas bar where the gorgeous smell of hot mulled wine and cider fill the air and we were tempted in.
And then we came across the food. I had my eye on this crepe stall, but thought I ought wait before I had dessert, and when we stumbled upon the hog roast stall, I was easily distracted! Wanting to save room for something else later, I went for a pot of hog roast - all the yummy bits minus the bap. Topped with crackling and apple sauce, delicious!
My plan of sampling other food from the market stalls sort of went out of the window at this point when we came to the famous Bavarian Village and got stuck into some more mulled wine (this time with a shot of rum for good measure), and steins of beer for the boys. We had all donned our Christmas jumpers for the evening, and we weren't alone - I love how everyone has really got into them this year.
It wasn't long before the Christmas music, mulled wine and beer started to go to our heads...
And the night ended with some rather spectacular dancing.
Next of the list of festive activities was our shopping trip to Westfield. We went late on a Monday night, and started our shop with dinner at Bills. I've been to the Bills in Angel which I loved, and Westfields efforts were equally as good. Friendly staff, and cosy, relaxed atmosphere, not to mention the food.
If calamari are on the menu, then it's almost a dead cert that I will be having them. So the crispy lemon squid it was for me to start and toasted pita, houmous and tzatiki for my other half.
Knowing that we had an evening of shopping ahead of us, I should have opted for something light for main, but when I saw the sticky ribs served with chunky coleslaw and rustic sweet potato fries on the menu, I couldn't resist.
Needless to say, there was no room for pudding, and I spent the rest of the evening waddling around Westfield.
My birthday was at the beginning of the month, and I was a very lucky girl and treated to tickets to see The Book Of Mormon. We headed up to town and stopped for a spot of dinner at Cafe Pacifico before it started. I'd never been to a Mexican restaurant before (much to the horror of my boyfriend!), and so I got stuck in with a Margarita (easy choice!) and a Chimichanga - a deep friend burrito, topped with guacamole and sour cream, served with rice and black beans. I'll be going back!
We then strolled down the road to the Prince of Wales Theatre, got some drinks and took our seats for what I can say was a brilliant and hilarious performance of The Book Of Mormon. Tickets are hard to get, but I would urge you to be persistant, I would highly recommend it! Every detail was so well executed, from the incredible set design to the fantastic cast. Make sure this is on your to do list for 2014.
With work finished, Christmas cards written and delivered, presents are wrapped and under the tree, I'm just about to spend my Christmas eve with my family before hitting the pub tonight to catch up with old friends (I'm sure there will be plenty of Christmas jumpers out to play tonight!)
I hope you all a fantastic Christmas - eat, drink and be merry!
xxx
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