Yea or Nay: A Nutcracker Army

Taking the girls to The Nutcracker ballet this weekend - 

have you ever seen it?

 magic.

The girls and I attend each year, carrying on the tradition D. and I started when we began dating.

The boys come down to the city with us, and go to a hockey game :) to watch a different sort of dance.

My youngest, Coco, has begun a Nutcracker collection.

each year she manages to persuade me to buy her one during intermission.

You can see her tree here.

I have never bought a Nutcracker to put on display in the house, other than Coco's.

You?

Would you place a large statue to stand guard at your front door?

tuck them amongst candy on the mantle..

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or perhaps greenery?

    

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Would you place these at your holiday table?

Or tuck treats into these boxes?

(these are witty, yes?)

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Would a metallic nutcracker grace your buffet..

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or your mantel?

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Would you prefer the minimal West Elm take on tradition?

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I'm quite sure Coco will be keeping her collection in her room, 

although we were out shopping the other day and she was lobbying hard for this enchanting fellow.

He stands at SIX FEET.

"Maybe next year, sweetie."

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til next time..

A Day in the City for the Christmas Lighting on Regent Street

Yesterday was a great day! A girl I met years ago through some mutual friends lives in the city and I met her, her mom and her sweet baby girl for a late lunch and the lighting of the Christmas lights on Regent Street. She worked at the summer stock theatre one summer where I worked in high school and college so even though we don't know each other too well, we have a lot of friends in common and she did some shows with my mom who had a turn as an actress as well! It's a small world for sure! We met at a place called The Breakfast Club Cafe, a cute little place in Soho that has a lot of 80's charm and does amazing American-style breakfast!

This sign was right above our table... appropriate, no?

After lunch we went for a stroll, making our way to Regent Street for the lighting ceremony. It was pretty cold, but I enjoyed it! It's been so long since I've been cold for wintery Christmas activities. Christmas just isn't the same when it's 85 degrees outside and you're surrounded by palm trees, Tortuga Rum and Cuban cigars...

I have been snapping shots all over the city of buildings with "Turner" on them... it's my last name and I'm happy to see it plastered all over London! This is Turner headquarters... as in Ted Turner as in Turner Classic Movies and other channels or entertainment ventures!

We took a shortcut through Carnaby Street, the home of the "Swinging 60's" where much of the Austin Powers flicks were filmed. It's a very cool area where Liberty of London can be found along with loads of other shopping! The theme for their Christmas lights this year is spacy, featuring astronaut Santa's and colorful planets! I love it!

There are shops and pubs a plenty on Carnaby Street and I look forward to going back there sometime for some shopping when it's a little less crowded!

Space age Santas were everywhere... cute!

This is the chandelier in the entrance of Hamley's of London, the famous toy store here, similar to FAO Schwartz. The difference is that Hamley's is celebrating it's 250th Anniversary... it's older than the USA!

After taking a stroll through a little shop I was quite happy to find has made it's way to London (um, hello! Who knew there was an Anthropology here?!?!?!) we made our way to our spots for the lighting ceremony. We got pretty close so we had a decent view!

It was very crowded!

One of the Hamley's attendants in his costume announced the show!

Alexis Jordan, a pop star of only 18 years old performed two songs. She was pretty good, though I must admit I'd never heard of her. Other performers included the cast of Jersey Boys who were excellent and X Factor winner Joe McElderry, who sang a song from the Narnia film, the sponsor of the evening.

The lights were turned on by 3 members of the cast of the Narnia film. I didn't really know who they were. They were all 3 very young from what I could tell. I was a little disappointed since last year's celebs were Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins, two of my favorites! But it was still a lot of fun and who knows, there's always next year! Maybe next year Breaking Dawn will sponsor the lights and I'll finally get to see RPatz!

After the show I parted ways with my pal and met up with hubs. We headed back toward Oxford Circus and went to A Crepe Affair for some sweet treats! Hubby had a Mellow Yellow (lemon, sugar & butter) crepe with tea and I indulged in a strawberry & Nutella crepe with a cafe mocha. It was yummy, but not nearly worth the hefty price tag!

It was a great day and reminded me of how happy I am to be living in one of the world's truly great cities! The Christmas lights are on all over London now and it's a gorgeous, magical place to walk around! I'm already dreading January, but looking forward to much more Christmas excitement!!!

What I've Been Up to - Pictures Galore

With Halloween nearly over I'm a little too excited about Christmas... I'm itching to put my sign up to start counting down the days to Christmas!

And with Christmas just around the corner, I've started baking again! I made this key lime pie last week and it was delicious!!! Seriously, key lime pie is one of the easiest things in the world to make and there are recipes all over the internet, so if you need a quick desert, try one of them! You won't be sorry... YUM!

After the GM for Junior League of London last week we all headed over to Mahiki for a few drinks. In case you're not familiar with Mahiki, it's a celebrity hot spot in London frequented by the likes of Kate Middleton and Kate Winslet among others. We just happened to be there on the 5th anniversary of the club opening, hence the Marilyn Monroe and Elvis impersonators.

Upon leaving Mahiki, I found this pretty pink telephone booth! Love!

On Friday I started the Halloween festivities by wearing my pumpkin headbobs to work!

And on my home I spotted a witch on the train! Halloween seems to be getting more and more popular in London... I'm not complaining!

We got all dressed up Friday night for the Junior League Halloween party. Mr. Julep was a Roman soldier.

And I decided to be a Greek Goddess!

The transformation began with hair & make-up... of course I couldn't resist false eyelashes and lots and lots of glitter!

Here's a close-up of my hair. I'm kind of proud of it to be honest - it took a lot of work!

And then we hopped on a bus to Chelsea for the party at Beaufort House, a fabulous hot spot on Chelsea's King's Road!

I can't believe we didn't get any proper photos, but here's one I snapped in the bathroom.

You can't tell in this photo, but it was so cold I opted for knit tights and my Tory Burch Revas instead of sandals... I was super comfy!

The only shot of the night of my handsome husband in his full Roman garb!

If you ever go to Beaufort House, I highly recommend you try a Sloane Sling, a lovely refreshing cocktail made with Kettle One Citron and a bunch of other yummy goodness!

Saturday night we had another party and putting on all the glitter and whatnot from the night before just seemed too hard, so we went as Butch & Bunny - tennis pros! It was a fun and comfy costume option!

I just wore my husband's pink Lacoste shirt, a hot pink tennis skirt I already had and an argyle sweater tied around my shoulders. I finished off the look with a monogrammed bag, pearls, a tennis racket and of course, a gin & tonic!

These guys got my vote for best dressed of the weekend! 5 guys dressed as KISS and Michael Jackson! They looked great!

I'm dressing up for work tomorrow, so I'll be sure to snap a photo! You guys will definitely appreciate tomorrow's costume, so I can't wait to share it!

Did you dress up for Halloween? What did you dress up as?

Random Featuring Maybelline Falsies Mascara Review & Jimmy Choo for Uggs Launch Event at Selfridges

I'll be honest... generally I'm taking cues from some of my fellow bloggie friends when it comes to mascara! In the past I've taken cues from Pretty In Pink Megan and Posh Shasta who now writes for Cupcake Mag. Their previous suggestions have led me to try mascaras by YSL and Dior, most of which I have loved, some of which I'm still using! So when the Blogosphere blew up over Maybelline Falsies Mascara, I became intrigued! All my bloggie buddies have raved about it so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw it in the drugstore during my first week in London! Such things were not readily available to us in the islands so I snatched it up, even though I didn't really need it!

I love this mascara! It's easy to apply, doesn't feel super thick like Diorshow and makes my lashes look very long! I don't think it has the same va va va voom as my old standby, Diorshow, but it's pretty darn close, a lot cheaper, easier to apply and less gooey! I particularly like the effect on my bottom lashes, which look longer and more visible than ever... generally I can't get them to look this good! I will definitely use this product again, specifically since it's so much cheaper and it delivers fabulous results! Why pay double?


So this is totally random, but isn't Mr. Julep cute? This is him on his first day of work heading off to the office! I'm so proud of my fella!

This week's nail color is OPI's Ski Teal We Drop, which I love! It's a fabulous teal color that's perfect for fall! Also, the update is, I actually trimmed my nails down (a little too short actually) and this is the first time in years I've had to do that! I do believe the biting has stopped!!! YAY!!!

I picked up some November issues this week of Elle UK, Instyle UK and my new favorite, Tattler! I love how they give you free stuff when you buy a magazing here!!! Lipgloss here, handcream there, and some mags have free samples! Loves it!

Yesterday was a big day. Here is my OOTD.

Navy Sweater Dress: Monsoon, Cotton Blend Grey Ribbed Tights: H&M, Scarf: Alexander McQueen, Black Buckle Wedges: Nine West, Blue Ring: Boots, Earrings: Gift

After getting ready, I rode the tube alone for the first time to Picadilly Circus to meet my friend for lunch. We ate at a place called Prezzo and it was delicious! Good girlie conversation too!

When I left Picadilly, I could've tubed to Oxford Street where the event was being held, but I had a few hours to kill and decided to explore a little, so I got off at Covent Garden. It's amazing there and I can't wait to take Mr. Julep! It was like getting off the tube in Italy!

Most people have heard of Covent Garden because that's where the Royal Opera House is.

There are loads of places to eat... I just couldn't get over the size of these Paella pans!

The street artists are fantastic. This man had no shoes on and he must have been freezing!

After a few hours I headed to Selfridges and signed in. I was given this oh so attractive wrist band to wear and told to go upstairs right away. When I arrived, there was no one there to direct me and thinking I'd basically seen it all, I nearly left. I went to get one last picture of the set-up and was told to get in line, so I thought oh, there must be more to this... well, there really wasn't. Basically I could've tried on these boots and bought them if I fancied paying upwards of 500 pounds for a pair of Uggs... so I waited in line for over 30 minutes to find out there wasn't anything more to see and the champagne they passed out wasn't quite worth it. They only allowed 3 or 4 people at a time into the pop-up store and hundreds were waiting... crazy! But it was a great experience and I got some photos for ya, so enjoy!

These black ones were my favorites and I might have considered them except that the calves were so small, I'd have to cut mine in half to fit into them...

As I was leaving Selfridges, I was a bit shocked by the amount of people in line just waiting to get into Louis Vuitton! There were lines on both entrances of the boutiques... it was very odd as well since there seemed to be only 1 or 2 people in the boutique at a time. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like this is a marketing endeavor to me. All we have heard about for weeks are the queues at LV... crazy!

So, what do you think of the Jimmy Choo Uggs? Will you be buying a pair soon? Do you like them? I have to say, while I'm not completely repulsed and I do think they're kind of cute, I'm not really a huge fan... would love to hear what you think!