It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The lights are up and on all over London! Christmas trees are popping up left and right! The weatherman has been predicting snow for a couple of weeks... he's been wrong everytime, so I'm wondering if it's wishful thinking, but the concensus is, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in London! I've still got a bit more decorating to do, but here's a cheeky sneak peek at our holiday decorations!

I snatched up this advent calendar at a little shop in Greenwich when we were there last week! I just love it! I've only got a few days to find something to put in it... I'd best get moving on that or the first few days of the countdown might be disappointing!

A close up of our cute votives from Marks and Spencer. They have glittery red candles inside with a cranberry orange spice scent! YUM!

Our tree and one of my favorite items, the tree skirt from John Lewis! I've never had a tree skirt before and though this piece was kind of ridiculously expensive, I just love it! I think it really pulls everything together and it's going to last forever!

Our tree is pretty short to be honest... we were afraid to get anything too big because we're in this holiday flat which is quite small and we didn't want the tree to take over the whole room... so it's our starter tree. Hopefully next year we'll put this midget tree in the bedroom and get a huge one for our sitting room!

I love the Nordic ornaments we got from John Lewis!

The star is not my favorite... but it's all I could find... It could be worse, I suppose...

This sign came with us from Cayman... I just couldn't leave it behind! It's too cute!

And this one as well... it perfectly describes my views on Christmas! It's a meaningful holiday of course, but let's be honest, we all love the shopping and commercialism of it all! It's unneccessary, but fun... I just love buying everyone presents and wrapping them up! I love the shopping bags and the holiday music in the stores! It's just too much fun!

I was a little disappointed in this candle lamp from Next, but it's still cute! I thought it would be much bigger and come with real candles... I was a little dissappointed to find it's electric, but whatever... I can find other ways to put enough candles around our house to make it look like a shrine to the inventor of scented wax!

Also from Next is our greeting tree, which I love! I got this as a center piece for our dining table! It's too cute, I think and made of nice sturdy wood!

And last but not least, our coordinating Christmas crackers for dinner this year! I got enough to have them for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (the day after Christmas)!!! There will only be three of us here, but that's no reason to skimp on the festivities! I plan on stuffing my husband and his mum like sausages before sending her back to Ireland and him back to work! I'm going to start working on the menu for Christmas week very soon so I can book a coveted delivery slot for groceries! I'm so excited I can't stand it! I've always cooked for Christmas except last year when we went to LA, but this year we have a guest!

Are any of you hosting Christmas dinner at home this year? What will you be serving?

Leaving is a Great Reason to Luau

My husband and I were kind of against going out to a bar or restaurant for our going away party. It seemed inpersonal, boring and we didn't want to get into the game of taking RSVP's and changing reservations numbers every 5 minutes. So I suggested we throw a party. Hubby agreed and our friends encouraged a theme. Since we still had our costumes from my boss's luau last November, having a Hawaiian theme was the obvious choice. We barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs and served baked beans, potato salad, pineapple skewers and chips & dips. I made Lethal Luau punch (a vodka punch recipe I made last Christmas) and we had a selection of beer and wines. For the children I had little Hawaiian looking plastic bags filled with goldfish crackers and blue Koolaid Coolers! It was a great time!

My husband is such a good sport! He actually wanted to wear a grass skirt!

We intended to have this outside by the pool but it poured rain and there was a 60% chance of thunderstorms until 10pm so we moved indoors. This was my favorite decorative piece, the inflatable palm tree cooler!

Most of what I bought for the party is disposable and cheap because we are leaving on Wednesday and not taking it with us, but I think it was still really cute! And we threw in things we already had like beach towels, floats and our sun chair.

My sweetie and I had a great time! He's the best husband in the world anyway, but he is ace when we're hosting a party. He rolls up his sleeves and really helps! We're a good team and we really love throwing parties for all our friends! We're turning out to be quite the entertainers!

When the party started winding down, we piled about 10 people (some of our closer friends here) into a taxi van and we went to our favorite Cayman nightlife spot, The Office Lounge for karaoke Saturday night. This is a picture of Marc singing Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash!

And I sang Janice Joplin's Me & Bobby McGee. We got mad props from the people in the bar for wearing our hula gear out on the town!

It was a brilliant send-off and our friends made it a true night to remember! Most of my colleagues came and our neighbors as well. I was in tears by the end of the night from saying goodbye to everyone, but I know we've made friends here that we'll be seeing in London in years to come... good friends we're going to know forever I think.

Now I'm in full packing mode... not much longer! We're leaving tomorrow!

A Special Offer for Pink Julep Abroad Readers From Paperless Post!!!

Paperless post is a great new modern way of sending cards, greetings or invitations to your next soiree! It's easy, affordable and eco-chic! I'm in love with this concept and I wish I had known about it when we were planning our wedding! On the day that hubby took his CPA exam in Miami, he flew out at 5am, went straight to the test center, left after his exam and spent an hour looking for a post office to mail our save the date cards (saving us over $100 in international postage). If I had known about Paperless Post, I might have gone this route instead.

There are so many options to chose from for color and theme of your greeting or invitation.

Customization options are available and you can even create a card using a photo. Paperless Post offers options for tracking RSVP's and you can manage your address book within your account. Each greeting is sent using a stamp. Stamps can be purchased through the website and they never expire. Coins can also be purchased and you can use the coins to customize your greeting with envelope liners or other add-ons.

All photos courtesy of Paperless Post

The lovely people at Paperless Post have extended a special offer to Pink Julep Abroad readers. Regularly, it's free to sign up and you receive 25 stamps and 10 coins for free. Click here for the Pink Julep Abroad special offer from Paperless Post to sign up and receive 35 free stamps and 10 coins!

I have signed up and I'm planning to use paperless post to send out change of address notes to my friends and family when we move. This is a perfect way to invite your friends to your Labor Day clambake, Back to School Bash or upcoming Holiday Parties!

Slainte

Slainte is Irish or Gaelic for Cheers! I have been enjoying some lovely wines lately and thought I would share some of them with you. Because I have allergies, sometimes white wine tastes a little fishy to me. That is common among people with allergies and sinus problems. So I'm pretty much a red wine girl, especially since I've come to the island where my allergies are crazy all the time. Below are three different red wines I'm loving right now:

Catena Malbec (this is my current favorite!)


Wild Horse Merlot (I first tried this in LA at KOI and fell in love)

RED

(this is a great wine to bring to or serve at parties because it's a mix of different types of reds, so if you're unsure of which red someone likes, then you can't go wrong with this one!)

What is your favorite wine?

xoxo,

Pink Julep!