After seeing the FANTASTIC film of Sweeney Todd (more in a bit), I had to title my blog post with this song as it also ties in nicely with photo (more on that in a bit too). But I digress...Happy New Year to all! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday! I am now back in London after a fantastic trip to the States. Was so great to see family and friends, though it went all too quickly. Next time I will definitely allow for more than 2 weeks.
Got in lots of visits and shopping (god bless the USA for their bargains compared to UK!) and had some wonderful meals at old favorites and new, including the very tasty Agraria in the Georgetown Harbour. Snaps to Vicky for finding this place and landing us the cool private ‘wine’ room with the huge round table (that’s us in the photo above). My other favourite meal of course was mom’s home-cooked Christmas Dinner. The BEST turkey and stuffing ever. A close runner-up was her Irish Stew, which we shared with my stepsister Eva, her boyfriend Jea, and the best nephew ever - Destin. He is obsessed with all things Spiderman and can even do the wrist move to cast his web. This comic/superhero geek of an aunt is so proud! Photos of many of the festivities are now online.
Saw a couple of the Best movies of the year as well (something else that is soo much cheaper in the States!) Sweeney Todd and Juno – run, don’t walk, to your multiplex to see them! As most of you know, I am a HUGE Sondheim fan and wasn’t sure how I felt about a film version, but Johnny Depp and company bowled me over and Tim Burton is just a genius! Some genius writing can be found in Juno, which also has one of the best ensemble casts I've seen. Also saw P.S. I Love You, which was better than expected and when you’ve got a film that stars Gerard Butler, Harry Connick Jr, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Denny” from Grey’s) and James Marsters (“Spike” from Buffy), well the holidays don’t get any warmer than that!
When the holidays ended in DC, it was back to London to make my trek to Croydon (the Manassas of the London area) on Dec. 31 to get my visa extended for one year. Fortunately it all went swimmingly and I am now legal to stay and work here across the pond for one more year. Pheww! Main New Year’s Resolution – Find a job! Am looking at either part-time ones to complement my stint at Tricycle, or full-time positions. Any and all referrals or suggestions welcome!
My other resolution is to get back on a UK time/sleep schedule. I’ve been all out of whack for a week now. Took the redeye last Saturday night and it was the most restless/non-sleeping bunch of passengers ever, so couldn’t nod off. Ended up watching Hairspray, which I’d never seen, and found it pretty darn entertaining. Speaking of entertaining, when my flatmate and I returned home from a friend’s New Year’s Eve Party, we found that our upstairs neighbours were entertaining half of London in our building. The hall and staircases were teeming with people til 11am the next day! Grr Arrgh, as you know how I have my Bionic hearing. Figured I had then been up for more than 24 hours straight! Think a nap is in my future today!
