It's beginning to look (and feel!) a lot like Christmas...

Snow! Lights! Christmas mirth! Hooray!

The Christmas season has arrived here in London, that's for sure. Everyone is in the holiday spirit, and along with scores of Christmas carols, the line "as the shoppers rush home with their treasures..." is front of mind, er...at least my mind. Let's see...

Snow's [non] impact on a theatre trip...

On Wednesday morning, snow arrived in Colliers Wood. Now, this was exciting -- my first London snow! I happily tweeted it out, and then did a quick search to see if anyone else in my post code was experiencing the same glee. Interestingly enough, the hashtag #uksnow was instantly rising to the top of the trending topics list. It shot up to number one so quickly that I was even compelled to write a short blog about it on my other site, "Using Web 2.0 tools for instant information: Murderers, earthquakes, and snow — oh, my!" (Yes, one respondent noted "that's quite a combination!" to the title...)

In reading the #uksnow tweets, I learned not only where it was snowing and how hard the flakes were falling, but also that London is akin to Charlotte, whereby a small dusting can close down the city. Yikes! Steve and I had tickets to see Avenue Q that night, a birthday gift to him from Maz and John. Would we have any issues? Oh, no!

Luckily, all was fine. I met Steve at his work for a quick drink at the work Christmas do, after which we hoofed up to TheatreLand to meet Maz and John for the tickets, and then it was off to the show to see the Bad Idea Bears (aka Steve and me) and the rest of the puppets. The evening proved to be incredibly cold and still a bit snowy, but we encountered no issues in our travels and, in fact, barely a dusting was left on the streets. Aw!

Christmas shopping throughout the city...

To celebrate Maz and John's new home, I hopped up to the John Lewis store in Kingston for a small gift card, as well as a quick spot of lunch with Phil Squirrel. What a lovely little town next to the river Kingston is! In the Christmas market tent I gleaned all sorts of gifts, hoping to find treats for my family back home. (No such luck -- darn, darn!) Nonetheless, I enjoyed listening to the carols in the square, as folks rushed about, hurriedly searching for the "it" gift for those on their lists...

With no luck for my shopping list in Kingston, Steve and I traveled down to Oxford Street on Saturday. Steve was muttering under his breath that everyone would be getting off the tube at Oxford Circus, and yup -- he was right. Admittedly, we were both a bit surprised that it wasn't quite as manic as expected. In fact, I believe that 5th Avenue at Christmas is oodles more crowded with tourists.

As evening fell upon Oxford Street, the Christmas lights came on and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...though I'm not quite sure of the Christmas significance of an umbrella, but...um...ok...It is England; maybe that's their national symbol..?

Spending quality time with family and friends...

Now, truly...The wonderful thing about the Christmas season is the time off for enjoying friends and family. As my family is some thousands of miles away, I've been borrowing Steve's of late...

On Friday night, we went to Maz and John's new house, where his mom was also visiting. The five of us trekked through the cold, smells-like-snow evening to a rather nice pub/restaurant. That's one of the things I love most about living here: One gets so incredibly numb and drippy-nosed during one's walks in the freezing temperatures, only to walk into a cosy, fireplace-heated pub that smells like British beef and pies. Does it really get any better than that?

After dinner (in which I got my steak and ale pie, which was -- hooray! -- accompanied by my favorite, Yorkshire puddings), we went back to Maz and John's to enjoy their Christmas tree and some mulled wine. This is another warm UK treat. With every sip, the warm wine just feels like it's heating your tummy to happiness. Aww...

On Saturday, Nic had arranged for all to get together at the Tup for some holiday mirth. The Tup's Jim had arranged to get a tup (er, ram) ice sculpture to be used as a vodka shot chiller. That is, one is instructed to put one's mouth over the head or um...rump end of the ram ice sculpture whilst Jim would pour a shot of vodka through the carved channel at the top. I've seen plenty of vodka ice chiller things, admittedly, but they've typically just been in a simple slide formation. This one was a bit more interesting, I'll say. Mel Jen was a sport and volunteered first to be the shot-drinking guinea pig. She looked absolutely ladylike as she poised her mouth over the ram's heiney in preparation for the forthcoming vodka. Go on, Mel!

Soon after the ram/ice drinking moment, the DJ started up with his tunes, as it was Saturday night. Goodness, though, but it was loud! As we sat around the large table, we found ourselves screaming at each other in order to be heard. Hmm...Half-joking that we were just getting old and preferred a quieter setting in which we'd be able to actually -- gasp! -- speak with each other sans screaming, we decided to change venues, and walked down the high street to a different pub, The Nelson Arms. It must be noted here that upon moving to London, I had put down deposits on two flats in the area near the Nelson, both of which fell through. One wonders what turn my life may have taken, had I not settled in my cosy lil' ColliWood flat, met Steve that first night, and subsequently moved into this fabulous group of friends. (Whew, but I'm lucky the other flats didn't work out, though it hardly seemed such a positive thing at the time!)

Anywho, as we entered the Nelson, we were greeted with their happy (and huge!) Christmas tree, that just added to our festive spirit. We giggled and laughed through the evening, and Steve even had a chance to show off his mad dart skilz.

As we said our goodbyes and happy Christmases to each other at the close of the evening, it made me feel so good to know that everyone would be traveling home to spend time with family during the Christmas holiday. I remember reading a blurb in Seventeen magazine many moons ago (when I was a teenager) that this season should be all about presence, rather than presents. For me, it's that I'm usually catching a flight from Charlotte to NY to be with family. This year, however, I'm in a very new place, filled with all new fab friends. Whilst a bit odd to know that I won't be seeing my parents' Christmas tree for the first time in a long time (I believe there was only one holiday that I've not been home in my entire life!), I feel so completely blessed to have family joining me here in my new city. It reminds me of the old saying, "If Mohammad doesn't come to the mountain, the mountain comes to Mohammad"...which might suggest that my family is a mountain. Um. I guess so, if one considers the strength of a mountain's foundation, then yeah, it makes sense...

This season, be sure to remember the presence of those around you. I know I surely will be...