Merry Christmas to all - and to all, a good night!

This year we have the strange and uniquely wonderful situation of Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday. This means that by 5.02pm on Friday London was half-empty with expats zooming home and most everyone else clomping off to the countryside for family gatherings around groaning tables. (Another quarter of the population will be frantically racing up and down the aisles of the nearest shop even though they could just avail themselves by perusing this annual charity gift guide.)

Instead of disappearing off to the other side of the world to cast off our shoes and swelter - by choice - in Christmas jumpers in the New Zealand sunshine (not to mention swimming with wild dolphins (sorta)) we are cozying up at with family. We have a wealth of cheesy movies lined up, more snacks than we'll ever need and a few of our nearest and dearest next to us.

What do you buy someone who has everything? How about a goat? (A Charity Gift Guide.)

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring, not even a clickety PC mouse. 

That's because all of the organised shoppers are sitting smugly with a glass of mulled wine in hand (clearly they read my blogpost celebrating some amazing small businesses), and all of the disorganised ones are leaving gift buying to the very last minute, and are braving the crowds on the Saturday morning before Christmas. Because they like to live life in the crazy lane.

Well.

Carrying on my annual charity tradition (est. 2014) I want to pay forward some of the amazing karma I've received over the years and give something back to those less fortunate. Blogger gift guides are pretty well established now but as ever I couldn't just do a normal one - it needed a slightly Adventures of a London Kiwi twist (I even spotted a couple of little sheep fellows - hey, you can take the blogger out of New Zealand...)

Unique, quirky and full of love: a small business gift guide.

If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? If you are a blogger who doesn't write a gift guide, are you even entitled to buy rose gold accessories?

Obviously, I'm joking, but having never written a gift guide in the 5 years that I've been blogging bar my annual charity guide (an updated version to follow shortly, don't worry) I felt that an essential tool in my blogging arsenal was lacking deployment.

7 Things I Adore About The Festive Season.

For me, the festive season kicks off at the end of October. It's when my birthday is, and signals the beginning of two months of celebrating life.

There is Thanksgiving, Diwali, Guy Fawkes, Hanukkah, Christmas AND New Year. What can I say, I'm an equal opportunity celebration kinda gal (and are lucky enough to have a diverse range of friends to celebrate with!)

What to buy someone who has everything (a charity gift guide)

Carrying on my annual charity tradition (est. 2014) I want to pay forward some of the amazing karma I've received over the years and give something back to those less fortunate. Blogger gift guides are pretty well established now but as ever I couldn't just do a normal one - it needed a slightly Adventures of a London Kiwi twist (I even spotted a couple of little sheep fellows - hey, you can take the blogger out of New Zealand...)

 
Usually sent to the recipient in a glossy card, these quirky donations can make lovely stocking fillers or even foot the bill as something for those people who have everything they could ever want. Forget sickly smelling bath sets where half the products are thrown away, and ugly tie that is only trotted out on special occasions, how about buying a chicken for a suffering family and share the feel-good donation afterglow?

An English Christmas Scavenger Hunt (12 things of Christmas)

All over the UK, in the small towns in London alike festive lovers celebrate Christmas and the winter festive season wonderfully. December, whilst London doesn't have snow very often, is encrusted with beautiful street light displays, pine bough covered store fronts, carollers echoing on train station platforms and the smell of mulled wine seductively wafting from open pub doors full of chatter.

 
Every street has an individual character of twinkling decorations and many have over the top window displays, perfect for the season of excessive enjoyment. Some even have pedalo operators dressed as Santa, playing 40s Christmas carols to grannies, who sing their hearts out through the busy roads.

A Christmas corner of London: Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus

I usually avoid Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus as much as possible, preferring to duck along the lesser visited lanes that run alongside the main thoroughfares the times I absolutely have to brave the area.

The one month where I make an exception is December.

It would be impossible to talk about London at Christmas without mentioning the shopping heart of my favourite city. Commercial greed and the chaos of thousands of visitors aside, each corner you turn is another festively trimmed doorway of cheer.

A Christmas corner of London: Chelsea

We've decided to fill our cups with Christmas cheer this year, and visit the 4 "corners" of the Circle Line (in true London style) to enjoy the different faces of festive London. This weekend I found myself brunching with some of the crew in Chelsea (at the beautifully instagrammable no.11 Pimlico Road) so went for a meander.

The short walk from Sloane Square tube station to Pimlico Road was a revelation alone. Christmas trees adorned shop lintels, harpists gently plucked carols whilst raising money for charity, chestnuts were being roasted over flame (I didn't actually realise this was a thing in real life), a small choir sang on a pub corner and the smell of mulled wine from a local business hung beautifully in the air.

Festive Afternoon Tea at the Langham Hotel, Marylebone

What is it that’s so special about afternoon tea? It’s only a few little sandwiches and a couple of teeny cakes, right?

Nope, nope, nope.

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of The Langham Hotel but my (very many) thoughts are only ever my own.

It’s the act of taking a little time out of our busy lives and setting aside a few hours of pure opulence - from taking a simple cream tea in local vintage café to a special afternoon of grand sumptuousness worthy of a princess. Admittedly of late, they haven’t featured so strongly in my calendar (I think even I got a little overwhelmed with them after devising my afternoon tea golden rules) but they definitively have a special place in my heart.

11 things I hate about Christmas and the festive season

As time has gone by I've discovered an inner festive-elf that delights in fairy-lights, delves into the Christmas decoration box as soon as humanly possible (I'm usually only allowed to start putting them up on the 1st of December by my Grinch, and that's only once we've listened to "Lonely This Christmas" by Mud) and revel in the new and old traditions that we've established over the years - especially the picking up of Christmas ornaments as we traipse to different cities. Amongst the branches hang miniature dutch clogs, an Irish fairy, teeny Kiwis, Football baubles and a German angel who crowns our decorations with a fair few others.

But, I was never a Christmas fan. There, I said it. When I was a teenager I’d go out with friends on Christmas Eve celebrating the season (a bit overmuch to be honest) and Christmas Day would be a bit of a struggle, especially when my hyper excited family would bounce on my bed at 6am - a crazy thing to do even at the best of times. #Bahhumbug

Duke of York Square Christmas Fun in Chelsea

Coming back from unusually warm and sunny weather on holiday in the US (lovely enough to swim in outdoor pools) to the cold streets of London was rather disheartening except that we planned it so we would arrive just in time for the Christmas lights to go up over England.

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Duke of York Square and my (very many) opinions are only ever my own.

Almost everywhere you go (spot those carol lyrics) the trees and lanes of London are twinkling gently as each area of the city lofts their take on the festive season. Some of our favourite areas are the titans of seasonal decoration – Oxford Street, Marylebone, Regent Street and along the more exclusive Mayfair Streets – but it is the smaller, more intimate squares that often surprise and delight merrymakers the most.

Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Review - London Steakhouse Co

We should all dine out on Monday evenings more often. Instead of falling fretfully asleep on a Sunday night, we should take the first night after the weekend of freedom by the horns and ride the gourmet train into the sunset. Make sure there is something delicious in the diary to get you through that set of Monday blues. Something simple, something steak-y even.

 Disclaimer: We were invited guests of the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse - London Steakhouse Co but all of my very, very many thoughts and memory musings are only ever my own...

I've always quite firmly believed in the ethos of regular luxury moments - occasionally taking a less bombastic approach to simply enjoying yourself more often - and a good steak dinner on a Monday is one of those life luxuries.

5 of the best meals I've ever eaten - September TravelLinkup

Over the years we have been lucky enough to enjoy meals in some of the most wonderful places. Aftternoon tea at Claridges, breakfasting like lords in a Bordeaux Chateau, dinner at the Ritz, feasting on a bento box near Mount Fuji, lunching at Le Manoir, brunching with glorious London views, drinking 'arctic whiskey' under the Northern Lights in Tromso, eating cake in Vienna and so many more brilliant experiences (not to mention a few restaurant reviews along the way).

But...

...there is one place I'm happiest. As an emotional cheeseball at the best of times, I can often be found grinning away tucked somewhere behind a table full of the people I love - and it doesn't matter where on the globe we are. It is almost always the highlight of any trip we make anywhere in the world (the only exceptions are the countries where we can’t stalk visit anyone which are few and far between).

Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand

We drifted silently through a pitch black cave on a boat we hadn't seen except for swift flashes of a torch. One by one as the luminescent cave dwellers winked on, the ceiling began to resemble a galaxy of twinkling stars. Still sat with arms clutched tightly and our necks craned as we tried to adsorb the moment, floating along a 30 million year old subterranean limestone grotto. 



Our escort hand pulled us along the cave river, feeling her way along with a guide line mounted just above head level, calling out softly at one point, laughingly to a fellow guide who decided to take a strange shortcut.

Christmas & New Year, Kiwi-style

Forget that it's already a month after Christmas. Ignore the fact that New Years Eve has been and gone. Overlook the fact that blogs are meant to be on-topic reflections of all that is trendy (which probably isn't my dowdy forte at the best of times). Consider it a suspension of disbelief that I'm such a tardy blogger.

Let me take you back a few weeks, to a time far sunnier and entirely upside down in a completely different hemisphere. It was Christmas Eve in New Zealand: the sun was shining, we had our drinks fridge all chilled and the ham was in the oven slowly being honey-glazed. One by one car loads of family were pulling into the drive before unloading copious amounts of kids and presents under the Christmas tree.
 

Friday figments and photos - the globetrotting festive edition

The last month has been wonderful. Full of chaos, sunshine, excitement, watching the rain from a comfy seat, Christmas Jumpers, making friends with camels called Sheila, too much cake, skyscrapers, wild dolphins, champagne, cheese and crackers on the beach, a family wedding and so many more memories.

We skipped away to New Zealand (well, I say skipped, but it involved an 8-hour flight to Dubai, a 15-hour flight to Brisbane that should have been 13 which is bad enough, a much delayed 3.5 hour flight to Auckland and an urgent call over an airport tannoy which was pointlessly stressful) but upon landing it was worth every second.

Merry, happy Christmas!

In many ways I hope you aren't reading this, I want you to be doing something you love with people you at least like. My Christmas gift to you today? A sleigh-full of Christmas Carol suggestions. Just remember, you won't get to play them for a whole 'nother year...

Why do we eat Turkey at Christmas?

Some days I feel like I could burst with questions. How does this work? Why does that happen? What on earth is that meant to be? My poor husband not only has to put up with the moniker Mr Kiwi, but attempt to explain centuries of British traditions. On top of that he's often used as a consultation resource for several of my expat friends - the questions posed over the years has often bamboozled both of us and we turn to the Google to hopefully explain.

The Whats, Whys and Where for art thous (or if you are Welsh it's 'where for to you goin'?, nope I don't understand how that translates to 'Where are you off to?' either) are often just shrugged off as a lovely mystery that we enjoy just 'because'. And why not, it's Christmas.

Why are brussels sprouts so reviled but always make the festive dinner table?
I love brussels sprouts. Yes, I know I'm foreign which puts me slightly in the bizarre camp anyway, but I genuinely like those little green cabbage spheres - especially cooked just the side of crisp and served with a drizzle of honey, chestnuts or cranberries and bacon. Yum. All the more brassicas for me then...

What do you buy someone who has everything? A charity gift guide

Carrying on the tradition from last year, I want to pay forward some of the amazing karma I have received and give something back to those less fortunate. Blogger gift guides are pretty well established now but as ever it needed a slightly Adventures of a London Kiwi twist (I even spotted a couple of little sheep fellows - hey, you can take the blogger out of New Zealand...)

Usually sent to the recipient in a glossy card, these quirky donations can make lovely stocking fillers or perhaps even as something for those people who have everything they could want. Forget sickly smelling bath sets where half the products are thrown away, and ugly tie that is only trotted out on special occasions, how about you buy a chicken for a suffering family and share the feel-good donation afterglow?

The Expat Holidays: Christmas baubles and an accidentally neon green tree...

As an expat, you find yourself a little adrift sometimes at the holidays - somewhat akin to the little Matchgirl standing in the cold. No, I take that back, they are #firstworldproblems - we aren't freezing in the snow, and if we are it's because celebrations were a little too fiesty.

You do however end up starting your own hilarious Christmas traditions. Some are untraditional like the gorgeous Montgomerys who have a tradition of not traditioning, I have ached to be a) prepared and b) in the country for the fabulously British tradition of 'stir-up Sunday', the date where households gather their baking aprons to and failed several years in the row - but I did finally manage to watch the Trafalgar Square switch on this year. However, when the lovely Annie of Montgomery Fest first mentioned the inagural Expat holiday round-up, I knew there was only one topic I needed to confess.

**Disclaimer: Not our 2015 tree**

This year is the second in a row that we aren't decorating for Christmas. *Cue the Awwws*. Normally I allow myself to go a little crazy - we're talking fairy light overload, a beautifully smelling real Christmas tree carried on the train to the bemusement of our fellow travellers, bedecking every possible surface with baubles, wassailing from the very first moment possible (some unkind people might infer it's wailing - to-mar-to, toh-may-to), cupboards groaning with spiced mince pies and stockings all hung by the chimney with care.