Can't believe Christmas has already come and gone...

I hope everyone had a very merry holiday, with lots of family, food and laughter. We certainly did. Especially the food part (see proof below). As some of you know, London pretty much shuts down starting Christmas Eve, so there isn't much else to do other than relax, read a book or two, eat, visit the pub, and watch movies. We did all of those thing in abundance with the company of the Bremer's from Raleigh who flew over to celebrate with us. Here's a quick recap:

Movies watched: 3 (Holiday and Love Actually... of course... then Ric and I saw Australia yesterday at the new movie theater in Belsize Park. Highly recommend!)

Pubs visited: 4 (The Flask in Hampstead, The Flask in Highgate, Holly Bush, Spaniard's Inn)

Books read: at least 3 (I finally finished The Tipping Point, yay!!)

Meals eaten: too many to count, but they include Christmas Eve dinner at Boxwood Cafe (one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants), Christmas breakfast (traditional grits casserole) and dinner (beef roast) at home, and Boxing Day dinner at the Holly Bush

Christmas fairs visited: 1 (in Hyde Park... appropriately called the Winter Wonderland)

Here are a few pictures from the week as well...

The London tube has a sense of humor!



Ric and I had lunch at a pub in Mayfair on Tuesday and I wanted to start singing "One of these things is not like the other..." There were 40+ people and I was the only female!



The beautiful Mandarin Oriental hotel



Enjoying the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park





The traditional Christmas Day stroll through the Heath to Spaniard's Inn











And Christmas Dinner, cooked perfectly (although it took about an hour longer than planned)



Beef roast, sweet potato casserole, roasted root vegetables (very British), and green beans... with Butterscotch Blondies for dessert. Yum!