Sunday 27 December 2009

Baby + Work + Christmas + Stuff = No Blogging

Eek, I am such a bad blogger. I know there are literally thousands (in my dreams) of you out there in Blogland waiting with baited breath for the next installment from little old me, and here I am keeping you hanging on and hanging on. 'Tis true to say that blogging has slipped a little on my 'To do' list; what with having a small child to look after, working 21 hours a week, and doing the other 'stuff' that constitutes having a life (watching tv, cross-stitching, going on holiday, getting ready for Christmas) I seem to have little time/energy left for composing witty little postings for all my fans (snort.) BUT, my New Year's Resolution (never a good thing to have) is to be better at keeping in touch with people, and this blog is one way of doing that, so I will do my utmost to keep it more up-to-date. Starting now.

So, let me go back to where I left off with my last post and tell you a little about our first family holiday...

It's fair to say that this trip to New York was very different than any we've undertaken before; clearly having a small child limits what can be done and when, but it also opens up a whole new world of possibilities. For instance, without DC we would never have paid a five-hour long visit to the Pediatric ER of New York Presbyterian Hospital.Yes indeed, DC decided that the first time he was ever going to need medical attention (apart from the day he was born when a man with a pair of VERY large salad servers grabbed him by the head, but we don't need to dwell on that) was while we were on holiday. You don't need the details, especially if you are a gentleman, as a certain amount of leg-crossing might ensue, but suffice to say a certain part of DC was larger and redder that it ought to have been. Two triage nurses, three doctors and five hours later, a diagnosis of balinitus was reached; DC was dosed up with some antibiotics and we were issued with prescriptions for more antibiotics and a topical cream which we picked up the next day for the princely sum of $49 - let us never complain again at the NHS prescription charge of £7.60 (or whatever it is.)

DC also took us to meet Santa Claus, twice. Once in Bloomingdales and once in Macy's. He cried both times. Good thing Santa only makes an appearance once a year, giving us all a chance to recover. Hopefully Santa No. 1 (Bloomingdales) will find stronger glue for his beard next year.

Aside from catering to DC's every whim, we were able to go ice skating in Central Park (hubby)go to an ice hockey game at Madison Square Garden (hubby) take in a performance of The Nutcracker by the New York City Ballet (me; no photos inside unfortunately)do lots and lots of walking (both), lots and lots of shopping (both) and plenty of eating (all three.)Despite the fact it was a little chilly (only to be expected in December), and aside from the trip to ER (Clooney-less), we had a very enjoyable first family holiday. DC was also a complete star on the flight there and back, sleeping nearly the entire way. He also managed to charm the air hostesses, not to mention nearly everyone he met while in NYC; although my hopes that he might be snapped up by a modelling agency, thus necessitating a move (for all of us), to the Big Apple, were unfulfilled.

Saturday 5 December 2009

And We're Off

Yay! Today we are off on our very first holiday 'en famille'. We're off to New York for Arthur's first trip overseas. His suitcase is resplendent with a Cath Kidston luggage tag, and his passport in is a matching CK blue spot passport holder; not sure he appreciates it, but I think it all looks rather spiffing.

Hubby & I got married in NY very nearly four years ago, and we'll be there for our wedding anniversary, which is fab. We also spent a month there on our travels last year, and between us we've been there over 20 times so we sort of know the place quite well. We are, it might be true to say, a bit excited to be going back!

So, I may not be blogging for the next week or so as I shall be busy shopping til I drop, supping lattes in Starbucks, getting throroughly emersed in the Christmas spirit in a truly American fashion, oh, and eating hotdogs on street corners (well, there's worse things I could be doing on street corners...)

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Something Beginning with 'B' (and CK)

It was my Birthday this weekend just gone and the family W made a bit of a weekend of it. On Friday we travelled down to stay with friends just outside Bridport; we had just the loveliest time, being fed to bursting point with all of my favourite foods (the belly of pork with crackling was quite possibly the best I have ever tasted) and nattering to our hearts content. Not to mention the handmade birthday cake which was awaiting our arrival.

On the Saturday morning I was even lucky enough to have a little while wandering round the vintage/textile fair going on in St Mary's Hall, having found out it was on from reading the Vintage to Victorian blog.

Sunday morning (my actual birthday) saw us take our leave from our dearest friends GR & GG, and head up to Mum's in Bristol. I was then taken out to lunch at Hotel du Vin - yet another food-based treat. Lunch was delicious (and I chose belly of pork, again), and the building was a lovely conversion of the old Sugar House. We were there for nearly three hours in all, taking our time over lunch and then relaxing on the squishy sofas in the bar area. Bliss.
The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent at Mum's house where I was surprised with a birthday cake and was then able to cross-stitch away whilst watching the Antiques Roadshow - rock and roll!

Monday morning we headed over to Bath for the annual Christmas Market. After finally hunting down a parking space, we spent about 4 hours wandering round the stalls and shops, with a couple of stops for coffee to fortify ourselves and warm up (by golly, it was chilly.)Then, finally, we made our weary way home where I was greeted with lots of lovely pressies.

Arthur surprised me with two lovely gifts; surprising a) because he spent his pocket money on them, apparently, and I didn't even know he got pocket money and surprising b) because for one so young, he chose such fabulous things. I think the Ladbird Shopping With Mother notebook is my absolute favourite gift of all.
Hubby bought me the most excellent pine shelf which I had spotted in the antiques shop in Henley and had been umming and ahhing over. I was also lucky enough to get a new Cath purse from sister-in-law and a new (old) Cath bag from mother-in-law in the green spot oilcloth that I love - the bag is in the older shade that you can't get in the shops anymore.Not to mention plenty of other wonderful things. Deserving of a mention I think is the Knitted Icons book which you can just see the spine of next to the Emma Bridgwater tin - I shall soon be able to knit my very own Gandhi, Mr T, Madonna, and many, many more... Watch this space.