Ooot and Aboot in London

Some pictures from my recent outings around London this Christmas (while oot and aboot as we say).

Having trouble finding that special dress for your work Christmas Party….I think I found it.

"No of course you don't look too Christmassy in that dress, red and green is the new black'

Speaking of work Christmas parties, this year we went to Somerset house and went skating at their outdoor ice rink.  We hit on an absolutely fabulous day and thankfully my Canadian-ness kicked in enabling me to skate for almost a full hour without falling.  It was pretty surreal though as at home if you are at an outdoor rink it is usually much colder  (-15C (5F)or so) and you are in ski pants so if you did fall you’d have some padding.

See, it doesn't always rain in London, it was sunny enough that the ice was melting in places

Speaking of ice (wow how good am I at the ’segue’ today – I actually thought it was spelt ’segway’ like the ride on thing) I was passing through St Pancras station (big train station where the Eurostar leaves from) and they were doing this fancy ice sculpture of the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben.  The first pictures is at 8:00am and the second is at 6:00pm.

8:00am...

6:00pm, Eiffel tower looking slightly less impressive....funny how Big Ben seemed to survive the afternoon

Finally no segue  here but I couldn’t resist taking a picture in the station of this ad….this might be a collectors item since accenture has since pulled this campaign.  I can’t help thinking that you need to add ‘in bed’ to these poster tag lines like you do for fortune cookies to make them more relevant.

....in bed

WTF? Friday

Love this…although am feeling a bit old as when the camera pans around the lecture hall, everyone has a laptop!  Seriously?   I can’t imagine having a computer in class, I would be too busy tweeting/blogging/msn’ing to pay any sort of attention.  Back in my day it was all about hand written lecture notes…and if you wanted to ‘message’ someone you ripped a page out of your book and it at them…if you wanted to be fancy, you folded it like an airplane.

PS I am aware it s Saturday but WTF? Saturday doesn’t have the same ring….

Wrinkle roller

I love gadgetty gimmicks and I am particularly interested in anti wrinkle creams since my big 31st is next week and my ‘laugh lines’ seem to be getting more prominent every day.

Having said that it’s no surprise that I would love a product that combines the two however I am more drawn to the ridiculousness of this gimmick than any belief that it works.  Would anyone really believe that this ‘alien with outstretched arms delivering a 40 point massage’ will do anything more than make your wallet £15 lighter?

A new window will open when you watch the video as I couldn’t find it in a fancy embed-able format

Revitalift with Pro ..
Watch the ad…

Merry Swedish Christmas

Saturday we experienced our third annual Swedish Christmas celebration  (one of our friends is Swedish hence the theme).  This year they outdid themselves as usual as we were treated to a very well organised and traditional meal.  It started with a little champagne and crab/caviar appetizers which prepared us for the meal.

The starter consisted of different types of pickled herring, deviled eggs, smoked salmon, potatoes and bread.  I have to say I wasn’t sure this would be a course I would ever see myself eating in the past (pickled herring isn’t really big in Canada and I used to be a wee bit of a picky eater) but over the years I have come to enjoy it and even have a favourite  – the herring in mustard.  This of course was paired with white wine and a shot of Akavit (Swedish schnapps made with various herbs).

Starters - and all the glasses for our various drinks courses

Following the starters we were given the choice of  wine or Christmas beer – yes they even have a little Santa-ish looking character on the can  – even better they bought it at IKEA!!  This course also included a tall shot glass of chilled vodka to be sipped throughout the meal (not as a shot as I was attempting to do). The main food course included an amazing potato dauphin type dish with anchovies, Christmas ham, sausages and of course meatballs…all chased down with the vodka.

Ho, Ho, hangover

Main course

As if that wasn’t enough we finished off the meal with a fantastic rice pudding served with dessert wine and port.  The night didn’t end there as traditionally the next item on the agenda is a game of Trivial Pursuit….we poured ourselves some gin and tonics and laid out the board, we got through one set of questions then decided it would be more fun to chat but I think we get points for trying.

Our gracious host also explained to us that if it was actually Christmas Day in Sweden we would have to stop what we were doing at 3:00pm to gather round the television and watch an episode of Donald Duck cartoons…LOVE IT!!  There is also a tradition where you sing and hop around the Christmas tree like a frog but sadly there wasn’t room for the 6 of us to do that, maybe next year.

During one of the drinks courses I invited everyone over to ours for a Canadian Christmas in 2 weekends however am not sure how I will ever compete with that. For starters our traditions include sitting down at the table, eating turkey then falling asleep on the couch shortly thereafter. I have 2 weeks to come up with a tradition that can rival 5 courses of alcohol and a frog song….any suggestions?

WTF? Friday

I want to believe this is a joke but I know in my heart of hearts it isn’t – and  in a country where healthcare isn’t ‘free’, this might really be considered a gift but to me it gives me the creeps … first of all does he have to refer to the special lady in your life as ‘your woman’ and secondly does he really understand the indescribable level of disappointment when ‘his woman’ opens up a present that she thinks might be a gift certificate for a facial or a massage and finds out it’s a pap smear?  That is a level of disappointment that even Santa can’t understand.

Sad day on the cobbles

If you have read this blog before you know that I have been a fan of Coronation street for a while – even before we moved here.  There is something about the fact it is so not ‘Wysteria Lane’ -  everyone isn’t perfect with botox, implants and a picket fence.  They wear normal clothes have yellow teeth and more often than not have bad hair days – now that is something I can enjoy watching.

I was sad to hear today however that one of the main characters has died.  She has been on the show for over 25 years and was responsible for delivering some of the best wittiest, sarcastic remarks the show had to offer – and we all know how I love wit and sarcasm.

From what I understand, in real life Maggie Jones (who played Blanche Hunt) was every bit as funny and witty as she was on the show which you have to believe as it would be hard to ‘act’ witty as well as she did.  The highlight of the show for me most recently was when she dressed up as a fortune teller for one of their street parties – and at 75 I think she rocked the outfit pretty well.

For those who didnt watch the show you probably stopped reading a while back but below are some of her remarks which made her character, Blanche, so fantastic.  She was like a British version of Estelle Getty – a true British Golden Girl – and she will be sadly missed.

Blanche Quotes (stolen from various places on the interweb so thanks)

Blanche (to Fred about his marriage to Bev): Still, you’re getting on now, if you’re miserable you won’t have that long to endure it.

Deirdre: If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all.
Blanche: I think I’ll go home then.

Blanche: “You’re going to have to start taking pleasure in the misfortune of others, Kenneth, or you’re going to have a long and unhappy old age”.

Blanche Hunt (to Steve MacDonald): That’s the second fiance to chuck that ring away. You’d be better off buying a boomerang!

Norris: “Speed bumps? Oh no, they are so ugly and unattractive.”
Blanche: “So are you, but at least they have some use.”

On Peter: “He’s about as much cut out for fatherhood as I am for rugby league.”

Article

Looks a lot like Christmas

After not doing much travelling this year (as compared to other years) we headed off to Vienna for a long weekend last weekend.  This time of year the city is  known for their Christmas markets which have various stalls of ornaments and other gift type knick-nacks.  There are also the food and drink stalls  (our fave) which serve mulled wine or gluvine as it is also known (warm spiced wine) and winter punsch (no idea but its warm, fruity and full of rum) along with other goodies like roasted chestnuts and bread with some sort of pate which was lovely.

We hit on a fantastic weekend as we had beautiful weather for 3 of the 4 days we were there – the last day was overcast but we didn’t mind as we were leaving anyway.   We ate Weiner Schnitzel (breaded thinly sliced veal), beef goulash (beef stewed in a thick gravy) and Sachertort (chocolate cake with a layer of apricot jam).  We also ate some weird potato hash brown thing that was brushed with garlic butter and sold at various stalls along the street and I got cotton candy because it’s my favourite treat ever – yes, the trip seemed to revolve around food and drink as most of our trips do.

Weiner Schnitzel

Hashbrowns

We visited a bunch of Christmas markets throughout the city and on Saturday went to one of their famous street markets Naschmarket which had everything from fresh food to antiques and was packed – it was amazing to see what incredible antiques they had though.

We were even cultured enough to take in an Opera – Mozart’s Magic Flute (my first and probably last unless the dudes from the Muppets narrate the next one).  I was amazed however that each and every seat had their own mini teleprompter that provided an English translation for what was going on on stage…pretty sure we wouldn’t have made it to intermission if not for that.

Opera translator

 

These guys would have livened up the show

It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit – and by Christmas spirit I mean sheer panic as to how little I have done and how quickly Christmas is approaching….I need another glass of punsch!

WTF? Friday

This ad is apparently causing some controversy in the US as it has been put out by PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) encouraging people to go vegan this Thanksgiving (might be a bit too late for some of you Americans waking up with a turkey hangover).

 

 

I was pretty okay until she said the word poop…I’ll get over it by Christmas though.

 

WTF? Friday

Okay so it’s technically Monday but I was on holiday last week so forgive me.  Anyway this one is a doozie…I will try to get a picture of the actual tube advertisement of this one but I think you will get the gist from this.

I am not sure if it is just my memory but I dont’ seem to recall an ex porn star anywhere in the story of Aladdin (unless that is what he really wished for when he rubbed the lamp)….evidentially the cast of the London production thought otherwise this Christmas and for a limited time have found a way to put even more magic in Aladdin’s carpet ride this Christmas…

Barking mad

This weekend was the Discover Dogs event that I went to last year and fell in love with.  To me this is the equivalent of sending a broody woman in the middle of a nursery full of newborns.  I wanted to give scratchies, cuddles and steal (almost) every 4 legged creature in the place.

Our favourite is the Border Terrier which has the cutest little scruffy Ewok face that I can’t resist (but am having to until we get a more dog friendly flat and are home more).  The breed also appears on Coronation Street in the form of a cute little guy called Eccles which means they have to be cool.

 

"Take me home Adrienne"

 

Instead of boring you with more pictures of my little furry obsession I will show you some dogs that may have you repeating my favourite phrase…WTF?

The first one is the hairless dog which no matter how many times I see it, still creeps me out a bit.  The skin looks like a leather handbag and feels like you are petting a pig.

 

Oink, Woof, Oink, Woof

 

 

How bout this next one…this guy was done up in this fashion for charity however I am thinking that some charity should try and rescue it from its owners whom are trying to dress it up like canine cotton candy.  The dog is literally pleading to the person petting him to save him from the humiliation.

Seriously, save me. If you think this is bad you should see what they have planned for me for Christmas

Finally my favourite….I don’t even know what it is called (and am too lazy to google it) but all you have to know is that this is in fact a living breathing thing and not a rug like I originally thought.  His dreadlocks are actually long and flat like a ruler and apparently keep him warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so they are functional and not just fashionable…

Dual purpose, dog and rug - take him for a walk then you can wipe your wellies on him

 

On the topic of fashion, how bout a dog fur coat?  No, me neither.  No Keeshonds were harmed in the making of this coat although I think the person whom thought of a dog fur coat should be slapped in the name of fashion.

Before you ask…yes I will be there in 2010 and yes if you read this blog you will have to endure another post about it.

Thanks to Fredrik for the cute picture of my Border Terrier…my camera battery had died at that point (unsurprisingly)