FrozenDreamer

A big thank you to everyone who was so sweet and gave me a wee prezzy this Christmas season…

Bryan, Mom & Dad, Lesley & Euan, Gillian, Ian & Norah, Laura & Dan

You’re all such sweet people and I love you all dearly!

This year, Christmas broke the usual tradition of waking up at my sister’s place, presents and then lunch, followed by a trip to Edinburgh Zoo. This year, I did things differently. 

Lesley and Euan went down to York this year to spend Christmas with Euan’s family, so I spent Christmas this year with Bryan’s family. For the first time ever, I managed to wake up with my beloved boyfriend on Christmas Day… something I’ve always wanted to do! We got up, had some tea to wake up… and then opened a few presents before going around to Bryan’s Fathers house when his Father and Norah had prepared a lovely brunch of bacon / sausage / egg rolls and tea! After lounging around for a bit, we headed back to Gillian’s place and then Bryan and I went to Edinburgh Zoo for a Christmas wonder… 

All the animals were in really good favour this visit, including our favourite, the Tapir… who was out in his little paddock squelching about in the mud! The Penguins were also in good form, with most of the family in the water swimming about furiously while children stood on the bridge in awe of their speed and acrobatic ability!

After the zoo, we returned to Gillian’s house where she was preparing a fabulous dinner of Broccoli & Stilton soup… followed by a Haggis, Neeps and Tatties special! It was lovely! Unfortunately, Gillian had to rush her meal because she had to get to work for 6pm (she’s a fire fighting professional).

The rest of the evening was spent in front of the tele… which is my ideal Christmas evening!

There are pictures from the day available on my Flickr page… which you can see by clicking on the picture below:

As many of you know, I’m a member of The London Gay Men’s Chorus, and every year, the chorus puts on a Christmas show for it’s ‘fans’. This year was a show directed by the fabulous Stuart Burrows, entitled, ‘For Christmas Sake’. The idea behind the show was ‘traditional’… and that’s what you got. Beautiful arrangements of Silent Night, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and my personal favourite  of the season, Over the Skies of Yisrael. Simply stunning.

The choralography this year was also very good. Simple, but effective movement backed up by some fiery dance moves and very witty link material provided by the chorus’ very own Angel Gabriel, Michael Mangion.

Pictures from the season can be viewed by clicking on the picture below…

A fantastic season, and the next one should be even better, with the chorus participating in an International Chorus Festival called Various Voices… as well as an international trip to Helsinki planned for the middle part of the year! Fantastic! See you there!

For an ex-mall-rat like myself, the chance to go to a new shopping centre is like dangling an iPod in front of a MAC geek!

It’s a great place… really huge and more importantly, not full of the ‘usual’ culprits that you get on every high street and in every other mall. I’d really recommend you go if you have a chance, but I have a feeling that Westfield will become the shopping destination for most Londoners. 

Oxford Street, with it’s tiny sidewalks, dingy shops, weather (rain) and muggers… no more… I know where I’m spending my money from now on!

Oh, and when I was leaving, I passed the BBC Television studios… which was quite fun as there was a queue outside the place for the audience, going in to see Strictly Come Dancing. They all looked very smart in their outfits… but that said, they also looked bloody freezing waiting outside like that.