A London Interlude

Social media over the holidays is a strange beast; I'm still on Twitter and Instagram intermittently so I feel like I'm vaguely in touch with everyone, but I haven't scrolled through any blogs in days.  Is it even possible to catch up?  Who knows - my Google reader scares the [expletive] out of me at this point!  But you're here, so thank you.  Let's see, where did we leave off last time...

Yes!  After a gray and rainy morning spent recovering from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day in Suffolk, Jon and I took the train back up to London on Thursday afternoon as the skies cleared.  We dropped our things off at his flat in north London and walked around the West End to see the Christmas lights.  Jon suggested we find a trendy restaurant for dinner, but I really wanted an old standby - Carluccio's in St. Christopher's Place!  We had many classic Lady and the Tramp dates over pasta there, so it was a lovely to slip back into the old routine.  Afterwards, we went to a friend's flat in Notting Hill overlooking West London for a party.  Somehow I convinced everyone to rock on when that wound down, and we found ourselves at the best whiskey bar in town.  Unfortunately, I was eventually reminded how expensive it is to take a cab in the wee hours of the morning.  Regardless, it was a brilliant night!

On Friday, I met Jon's sister and cousin for an appointment at a bridal salon in Islington.  I knew I wasn't going to buy my dress in London, but I really wanted to have that experience with Ellie and Rose and we had a blast!  Somehow, my favorite dress was everything I didn't think I'd want - it had tons o' lace and a ballgown skirt and was strapless.  It was great to get some new ideas, plus Ellie and Rose had a fab time modeling all the tiaras and bejeweled hairpieces.  We grabbed lunch at Pizza Express, a favorite from my student days, and then I went off to meet Jon to wander around Covent Garden for a while.  We popped back home quickly after that to get ready for our evening out: ice skating at Somerset House and a late dinner at Meat Liquor with friends!

Jon and I woke up late again on Saturday, and headed to Hatton Garden to check out wedding rings.  It was so strange to see something on Jon's finger - I'm not used to it, though of course it's very exciting!  Then we went down to Chelsea to do a bit of shopping along the King's Road.  After meeting up with a friend for coffee, Jon and I saw The Hobbit and then staggered home for a curry and TV with his flatmate Sam.

This morning, we caught an early train to Suffolk.  (Jon helped me with the Telegraph's 2012 big quiz on the journey - we got 84% together!)  We're in the country for New Year's through January 1, when we head back to London for my last few days here.  To be honest, we haven't done anything spectacularly special, but that's exactly how I've wanted it.  The best part of being reunited in my old town is just... being normal, you know?  It's heaven!  Hope you're having a lovely end of the month, dear readers.