Walking in a Winter Wonderland.....

Hyde Park are hosts to the original Winter Wonderland every year and every year I never seem to get there. This year is different! Me, Lou & Claire met up after work and headed down for a bit of ice skating in the park. It was a lot harder than I remember but after I got the hang of it I was on fire!

Helena & Rachel showed up towards the end of our skating round and we headed off into the Wonderland to explore the many shops and food stalls available. EXTREMELY expensive. There were rides there and one go on a ride that may last a couple of minutes was £8!!!! Obviously we decided not to go on any of the rides, but I had a super tasty hog roast with apple sauce and stuffing. It was £6.50 but I ate every last bit. We also had some cinnamon & sugar coated churros and donuts. A fantastic evening hanging out with friends getting into the holiday spirit!

Works Chrissy Party

On Friday night we had our works Chrissy party. It was held in Bloomsbury Square, Victoria Basement and was nice. It was a great chance to catch up and chat to people I hadn't seen in awhile. We danced most of the night and then by midnight it was time to go home!

 

 

Saturday Tom came round and helped me pack up my stuff in the house and to put it in storage. It's amazing how much stuff I have accumulated but it has been 9 years! Sunday I still had more packing to do, but it was all about the clothes and baking equipment which I have far too much of both.

Finally finished the last load on Monday morning before I dropped the hire car back at the rental place. So all my stuff is pack and I'm living out of 2 suitcases and an archive box. We move out of the house this Saturday 17th and then I'll be at Tom's for a week before I FLY HOME!!!!!!!!!

I am sooo looking forward to getting home and doing nothing but hanging out with friends and family and to feel the sun shine on me once again!

Guvnors Christmas Ball

This year I had to organise the annual Christmas Charity Ball we have each year at the Hilton. It was decided to go with a circus theme and luckily I had a great team around me and we managed to pull off a fantastic event. It was quite stressful on the night but by the time the band started playing at about 11pm I was free of responsibility and ready to let me hair down. I also had a complimentary suite at the Hotel so the girls & I stayed there in a bit of luxury. It was a long night and all the hard work paid off. Sunday was a write off though as I was exhausted.

Award Winner

Not sure if I mentioned it but recently I won an award - Lend Lease Values Award. Someone nominated me believe I best represent our core values: Respect, Integrity, Innovation, Collaboration, Excellence & Trust. I won the award for the whole European region and got put into the global awards. Unfortunately I didn't win the global so just European domiance so far!

So embarassing though I had to get up and give a mini speech whilst excepting the award, so glad it wasn't taped because I was so nervous I think I told the audience I enjoyed my job about 4 or 5 times!

I now have the award on the cabinet behind me, Whooo hooo go me!!

More flowers....

So we had an event at our work for International Day for Persons of Disability and the girls came down from site to support it. They met a couple of basketballers from Warrington Disability Partnership and were shown how to dribble a basket ball in the wheelchair. A real eye opener.

I also got another bunch of flowers from Peter & Mark which was so sweet!

Flowers galore....

So i've been so lucky this week so far. I've received not 1 but 2 bunches of flowers at work!! The first lot (pink) were from Amber as a thank you for the birthday cake I made her son Kylan. So cute

The second were from John, Pam & Mike because I took them on a walk around the Village and around the Olympic Park. Soo sweet.

Have managed to find a vase and rammed them all into it. So pretty on my desk, feeling very special.

 

Cute little munchkin!

Today Clare and I headed down to Wimbeldon to visit with Sarah & Mark and to visit gorgeous little 3 month old Sadie. She is sooooo cute and was so well behaved. We got a bunch of little smiles and gurgles. She was so lovely to cuddle with. A wonderful afternoon.

Peppa Pig cake

So Amber asked me to make a cake for her son Kylan's 2nd birthday party. Turns out he is a fan of Peppa Pig, not someon I had heard of before but after a little research figured out what I was going to do. And here was the end result:

Natural History Museum

This Saturday was spent at the Natural History Museum. It was a nice walk around to see the different specimens on display. We went to go into the dinosaur exhibition but it was a massive queue so have decided to go another time. One of the main reasons to go was the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. It was fantastic. I would love to have one of them as a print but quite expensive. At the end we were in the main atrium and found some awesome antlers to photograph. Obviously Louisa & Tom are taller than me as I'm standing on my tip toes and still can't get the antlers in place!

Bowling with the Basejumpers

Thought it was about time we hit the lanes at Stratford Westfields at All Star Lanes. It turned out a great evening of two games, shoe hire & a hamburger. I ended up winning one game some how, managed to get a couple of strikes but ended up pulling a muscle in my bum!

5th November Fireworks Night

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in England. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

Our local council put on a massive display of fireworks right across the road from the house! Fantastic. It was a wonderful night and the fireworks were wonderful.

Gluten Free - getting started

So was doing a bit of shopping in Marks & Sparks and came across gluten free salmon fish cakes. So changing my fish cakes from the original ones to gluten free! Little steps this side of world, following in the Thoms massive ones.

A bit of a round up...

27th October was Natasha's birthday. We headed out for a few drinks and cupcakes to be followed by a big night out on Saturday. Saturday night saw me, Nat & Helena head to Angel, The Ladybird club. What a fantastic night. We couldn't stop laughing and we danced pretty much all night long! Next thing we knew it was 4am and time to go home. By the time we got a kebab, chatted to strangers, fed a tramps dog we managed to get a taxi and finally 

arrived home at 6am!!!! I rolled up in the doona and passed out, only to wake up at 10am feeling a bit under the weather. I think it took pretty much all day & Monday to recover back to normal. So glad birthdays only happen once a year! but soooo much fun.

1st November we caught up with Burak & Sarah finally. Burak has been working in Russia so it was great to finally see him and hear all his good news. Sarah looked great after the baby, can't believe Sadie is coming up to 3 months old. Going to catch up with Sarah & the baby at the end of the month. Diane also came and it was lovely to see her too.

Have signed up with some friends to play indoor softball in Canary Wharf. We have played 2 sessions and won 3 out of 5 each time. It's a lot of fun and a bit competitive. Atleast we are keeping our skills up.

A well deserved movie marathon last Sunday at Tom's. We watched The Outsiders, Thor & A Night at the Roxbury! So nice to sit around chilling out watching movies, doing my crosstitch & eating.

Dinner with Bianca on Monday was interesting. I didn't realise that Justin Beiber was turning the lights on at Westfields!! And it was just outside the restaurant where we were eating, sooo annoying.

Dentist on Tuesday and it turns out the cap (which got suctioned off with a killer python) has to be replaced, looking at £500!!! Kill have to save up for that one next year. Oh well....

Last night I went to a free trial of the exercise class for a power plates class. I thought I would stand on this machine and it would help jiggle all my fat away, oh my goodness. It was SOOO hard. Luckily it only went for 25 mins I would never have lasted any longer. Luckily I had nothing planned for last night as walking down Tottenham court road my legs were so wobbly, I must have looked like i was drunk. Made it home in time to have a shower and sit in front of the box, but started nodding off so it was an early night for me.

This weekend is all about relaxing. Nothing planned = heaven.