- A sky full of burning lanterns, silently soaring at midnight, soundtracked by drunken roars of Auld Lang Syne from a balcony across the way. A good start to 2010.
Catching up with a much missed friend, on a flying visit back from the southern hemisphere. Coffee, coffee, prosecco - a liquid lunch in style. - Hucking a pile of oysters. Fiesty wee beasts.
Sporting a new harlotty frock. First outing after opening the christmas package. Thanks Ma.
Resoundly whupping the boy's ass at cards. Satisfying.
Thursday 31 December 2009
Wednesday 30 December 2009
- A smile through the window as I walked up the road.
- Red wine and ham croquettes in the Landseer.
- Ted's photography, in two forms.
- Bacon butties and Take That for lunch.
- My bed, together.
Tuesday 29 December 2009
- Plotting a meal of celebration, including caviar and confit and champagne and chocolate, followed by Harry Potter.
- New pillows.
- Singing along to Rent.
- Sitting on the floor by the aga. Home sweet home.
- I think I might love Girls Aloud.
Monday 28 December 2009
- A Bicester day. A successful Bicester day.
- Cantucci and dessert wine for tea.
- Styling up the cape.
- David Attenborough's Life. Fab.
- Rousing chords as we drove through the cutout of the M4.
Sunday 27 December 2009
- Fun with a tape measure. 'Measure my nose, measure my nose!'
- Rescuing Katy from the fate of braised cabbage.
- Shithead on the plane.
- Making blini to have with champagne and smoked salmon back at the ranch.
- Such a comfortable bed.
Saturday 26 December 2009
- Roast potatoes and coffee for breakfast, with a side of newspaper quiz page. Breakfast of champions.
- Hours and hours of parlour games.
- A late night wander through Oldmeldrum, with everything sparkling in the moonlight.
- Sherry and trifle.
- Silly silly jokes.
Friday 25 December 2009
- A family affair in the kitchen. A well rehearsed outfit.
- A reaction to the mere suggestion of champagne.
- Bread sauce for the thousands.
- A phone call, while standing the snow in the 'Pleasure Park' at the end of the road.
- A cape!
Thursday 24 December 2009
- Champagne (and banana daquiris) and canapes with a glamorous auntie.
- Speedy garden centre shopping.
- Midnight carol singing.
- Clapshot and pickle.
- Touched by Scotland, in Oyne. What's not to like?
Wednesday 23 December 2009
- A successful snowshovelling mission, allowing the car to actually make it up the road.
- A long lunch with pizza and wine and quizzes in the airport.
- Aga toast with lashings of butter and marmite.
- Expert budget airline tactics.
- A Bourne trilogy book. Filth.
Tuesday 22 December 2009
- Lunch with a happy and relaxed Nick, full of stories of love and music and travels and palestinian labourer's shirts.
- A gift of za'atar. Very exciting indeed.
- Playing the role of glorious Pickard girls.
- The moment at which, after 45 minutes on the doorstep, my keys finally worked.
- Hurtling through snowy fields on the train home.
Monday 21 December 2009
- An epic washing up session, leaving the kitchen sparkly clean. Very satisfying.
- Bumping into a old colleague from years gone by, making what turned into a several hour long bus journey better than it should have been.
- Snow flurries so heavy my coat became encrusted.
- A new frock.
- The moment I kicked off my icy boots and slid into warm, clean and dry clothes.
Sunday 20 December 2009
- Arriving home after an obscenely early scuttle down the road, whereupon I crawled into bed with a hotwater bottle, coffee and a book. Bliss.
- Using all but a two inch scrap of a roll of wrapping paper to wrap every single present. So satisfying.
- A family roast dinner at home. Good food, much wine and whisky, and very fun company. I like where I live.
- Books sorted. No more boxes on the floor (now at ceiling level instead). Next challenge is to put them in some logical order.
- Blue tits in the tree outside my window. So busy.
Saturday 19 December 2009
- Up and about early doors in the bright crisp sunshine.
- The wonder of Upper Street.
- A giggly afternoon with the middle Pickard, including a shameful video from the Tate to the youngest Pickard. Oops. (Confidential to Harriet - there was no wine involved at all. I think that might make it worse?)
- Learning chinese from the dim sum menu. Not really that useful.
- Mario Kart. Oh, yeah.
Friday 18 December 2009
- Chips and salad for lunch.
- A christmas present solution.
- Dinner at Le Mercury.
- Taxi, taxi. SHOCKING.
- Territory marked?
Thursday 17 December 2009
- The best Christmas present shop in the word.
- Hash browns and soup for my tea.
- Pretty snow (only recognised as pretty once I was safe and sound, wrapped up in layers, at home).
- A tangerine.
- A bag of precious things rescued. (Thanks mostly to the very nice station superintendent at East Finchley's 2am text. What a hero.)
Wednesday 16 December 2009
- Making a northerner laugh. Infectious.
- Festivities with several different rarely seen friends.
- Chips and gravy for lunch. Pure filth.
- A charity shop round the corner that sells books for 50p. Very rare in central London. However, also very dangerous for my already overlaiden shelves.
- Earplugs. Preventative measures now available.
Tuesday 15 December 2009
- Genuine pleasure at confirmation of gossip.
- Pub hopping, from gang to gang.
- Enforced jollity that provoked proper belly laughs.
- Slight inebriation in the office. Gin, champagne and gluhwein, all before 2pm? Oops.
- A dress that makes me look tiny (accessorised with Bob the terrier, which is always a bonus).
Monday 14 December 2009
- Selecting the perfect secret santa present, which allowed me to make a geeky joke. Mission accomplished.
- Leftovers mixed up for tea.
- Homemade hummus.
- Clever people talking about books.
- Fresh air and a wander into town with Ellie after a long hot day.
Sunday 13 December 2009
- I love Sophie Calle.
- A little bit of Christmas shopping, achieved without bloodshed (unexpected, I know).
- Sunday evening slumping in the 25 Canonbury Lane.
- Hood up, head down.
- Smutty hangman on the tube. F I _ T_Y / B _ G G _ R.
Saturday 12 December 2009
- That glorious feeling of a slightly panicked wake up, followed by the sweet sweet realisation it's Saturday.
- A hunter-gather return with breakfast goodies.
- A new hot water bottle, to warm my other bed.
- A cryptic phonecall, enquiring about my microwave status.
- Blue sparkling lights on on Holloway Road. So pretty, so incongruous.
Friday 11 December 2009
- Team festivities: including ice sculptures, pop-up shops and some blue paintings of economists on the way back to the office.
- Scattegories! God bless a bookish childhood, which endowed upon me the gift of a sprawling vocabulary.
- An old favourite pulled from my wardrobe. Loving the dead doll look.
- A bus that takes me direct from work to home in 15 minutes, on a cold, dark and damp evening.
- A 2am text of adventure.
Wednesday 9 December 2009
- Noisy alphabet! Via Sarah Brown.
- Marlene Dietrich's hair in Blonde Venus.
- The moment I hopped into bed, and felt every single vertebra in my spine sigh with relief at the end of the day.
- Ticking things off my list.
- Poppadum, poppadum.
Tuesday 8 December 2009
- A salvaged evening, in the Norfolk Arms.
- A much needed coffee break, up the road.
- A favour completed, with the bonus of walking through town in the crisp sunshine.
- Caperberries and oysters!
- The decadence of a taxi home.
Monday 7 December 2009
- Chips and ham for tea - menu enfant, achieved through the power of suggestion.
- A smile at the end of a long day, as I was observed interacting with a stranger.
- A quick drink before geekery.
- A new cotton bag. (Could be a new favourite, too.)
- There's something about the co-op in Archway that makes me quite silly.
Sunday 6 December 2009
- Colcannon, fried up in a little bit of duck fat. God bless leftovers, and those who bring them to my fridge from parties I bunk.
- The perfect breakfast - a sausage, a veggie sausage, two hash browns, some salad, a coffee and the crossword. I've cracked the ultimate formula.
- Sliding into a bed so tightly made, it almost cut off circulation to my toes.
- A good answer.
- Finally - finally - seeing the glory of Stacey. (Still haven't seen her sing though.)
Saturday 5 December 2009
- Feeling established enough to just say no. (A wise decision, by all accounts.)
- On Golden Pond. Particularly timely, following a breakfast crossword conversation yesterday.
- A penguin classic bought on the way home.
- A day of popcorn, tea, hot water bottle, 80s movies and clean sheets - restoring my spirits from an epic hangover.
- Oh my god. A shock in The Thick of It.
Friday 4 December 2009
- Sunshine on a day off. Is it possible to be full of the joys of spring in December?
- Great art.
- Introducing the boy to Primrose Hill, several months after the idea was first mooted.
- Oh, the horror of Christmas parties. Fab people watching though.
- Standing on the balcony of the National Theatre, plotting a route of drunken destruction via this building. (Didn't actually end up there, mind - looked far too staid for our nefarious needs.)
Thursday 3 December 2009
- An inspiring meeting in Brixton.
- Playing the part of chocolate cake fairy.
- Giggly drinks (and an indulgent end to the night).
- Oh, Ipod, how I missed you.
- Confirming gossip.
Wednesday 2 December 2009
- Pottering in someone else's kitchen.
- A productive work day.
- A ridiculously large chicken escalope for lunch.
- Getting the giggles at someone else's mockery towards an offensive man's overly loud music.
- Hangman.
Tuesday 1 December 2009
- Christmas for the littlest Pickard sorted. Am quite green eyed over one part.
- Early morning career guidance.
- Interview with a Vampire - the book. It's good. (Clearly, I have succumbed to vampiric nonsense.)
- Black and white prints. (Link to come once I've uploaded)
- A door closed.
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