winter solstice

So I'm in the Baltimore area, visiting my family. It's actually been quite busy, but I wanted to give a shout-out for the winter solstice, which was yesterday.

Hooray for the shortest day of the year! The days will get longer from here til June.

Last Saturday night, we went to Trafalgar Square in Covent Garden and sang Christmas carols to passerbys and bystanders (I chose those two words because they both have "by" in them). A few hundred stopped and joined in. It was really cold, but really a neat experience.

I have also been exposed to the British Christmas tradition of mince pies and mulled wine- both are great.

while we're on Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas together as a team tonight. The conversation strayed to favorite Christmas movies, which made me think of my own choices.

"White Christmas", of course

"The Family Stone" is a new favorite

not to forget Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life"

and can I slip in "Little Women" on a technicality

from thanksgiving

reused coffee holder sleeves for namecards at Thanksgiving dinner.

i may or may not have created these during our theology lectures that morning (after coffee break, obviously).

my warm drink.

In the land across the atlantic, it's all about the "hot drinks". You think France has a monopoly on the cafe?

For the first time since I got here, I went to Starbucks (don't tell departure) and got their gingerbread spice latte to kick off December. Actually, it was to console me because they don't do pumpkin spice lattes over here. The gingerbread latte was good, though.

The next day, when I came home and was faced with the hot drink dilemma, I decided to recreate and modify.

Spoonful of instant coffee in the bottom of a mug.
Cover the grounds with a bit of sugar (it took more sugar than I thought).
Add a couple tablespoons of hot water to dissolve the coffee granules.
Sprinkle liberally with nutmeg and cinnamon and stir.
Fill the rest of the mug up with soy milk and heat in the microwave until hot.

Quite good. And I'm glad to have found "my drink" over here.

what i wore

in Florida

sundress, sandals


in London

sundress, long sleeve shirt, leggings, cardigan, jacket, socks, boots