Ten happy things – December 21

I can’t believe that it’s coming up to three years that I’ve been writing my ‘ten happy things’ blog post series! I love writing these posts because it makes me pause, reflect and remind myself of happy moments in the month that’s just passed. And I love reading back on old posts too! So here’s my ‘ten happy things’ for December, which includes surpassing my reading goal, visiting my dad in Edinburgh and indulging in Bubby’s pancake stack in New York.

Visited my dad in Edinburgh

We travelled up to Edinburgh for a weekend to see my dad before Christmas. It was so lovely to see him as unfortunately I can’t speak to him on the phone due to his aphasia. Edinburgh is so pretty at Christmas time with the Christmas market, ice-rink and the castle all lit up.

We also got to have a fabulous lunch at Borough in Leith, which was recommended to me by a friend. Everything was delicious but the chips in particular were outstanding!

We met my cousin Jackie and aunt Cath for a drink and then my cousin Liam and his fiancé Sarah came to our AirBnB for dinner and we had such fun. It was a great weekend and we managed to fit lots in!

Got my booster!

I was so happy that there was a change in rules for getting the booster as my six months was Christmas Eve and I didn’t want to get it then, in case it made me ill for Christmas day. With it being brought forward to 3 months I managed to get mine on the 16th (as did my husband).

I didn’t feel great the next day – my body felt a bit achy and weak, but it thankfully only lasted a day and I was absolutely fine after that. I was very grateful that we had it when we did as it meant we were fully boosted for our trip to New York.

A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic

We were really lucky to get last minute tickets to A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, although guessing we only got them because they had cancellations due to Covid. We’d never been to The Old Vic before and wow, what a lovely theatre!

The production was outstanding – there was even snow! The cast were fantastic too, with Stephen Mangan as Scrooge. We had a brilliant evening and it really helped get us in a festive mood!

Dinner with Natalie

In early December Natalie and I met up for an impromptu dinner at Kin + Deum in Bermondsey. It was pretty buzzing and there were even a few work Christmas parties but luckily it wasn’t too noisy. The food was great and the service even better as we had the loveliest server! It was delightful as always to catch up with Natalie – especially over good food and Prosecco.

Traditional Christmas Eve lunch

It was an annual tradition of ours to go to Joel de Robuchon near Seven Dials every year for Christmas Eve lunch but then a couple of years ago it closed down. We then tried a different restaurant but it really wasn’t the same – and then of course last year we were in lockdown. So this year I was delighted when I realised they had opened a new restaurant, Le Comptoir Robuchon, in Mayfair!

It was absolutely FABULOUS. They even served the same amuse bouche as they did in the previous restaurant and there were a few familiar dishes on the menu. We had a great meal and we were even treated to two extra desserts! I can’t wait to go back next year.

Christmas!

Christmas is always a small affair with just my husband and I but we love it as it means we don’t have to travel or entertain and we can fall asleep on the couch whenever we like! Even though it’s just the two of us, we always get a turkey so guess who was eating leftovers for three days afterwards… it was yummy though!

Found the perfect black velvet jacket

I’ve been looking for a black velvet jacket for ages and finally found the perfect one at Mango – although it was sold out everywhere… I then found the next perfect one at M&S. And I got it on sale too, which was a bonus!

Surpassed my book goal

Back in 2020, I set myself a goal to read one book a month. I finished my last book of the year just before New Year’s and it was my 14th, meaning I exceeded my goal! My favourite thing to do when I wake up is make a cup of coffee and read in bed before getting ready for the day. I love starting my day this way and highly recommend it! Definitely better than breakfast television…

New York for New Year

We celebrated New Year in New York – one of my favourite cities in the world. I won’t lie though… it was really stressful having to get a negative test to fly out, organise tests to take with us as we needed a negative test to get back into the UK and then organising a Day 2 PCR. Unfortunately my test came back came back as ‘unclear’ so it was a bit of a mad scramble to organise another – not to mention really expensive. Still, we had a fabulous time whilst we were there – clocking up over 20,000 steps each day (and 30,000 on one day!).

We also had very mild weather – apart from the last day, which was freezing!

Perfect pancakes

I’m not a massive breakfast person but when you’re in the States, you gotta have pancakes! We found the perfect pancake stack at Bubby’s in Tribeca. Blueberry compote and cream, raspberries and Nutella and caramelised bananas and walnuts – oh boy! And their biscuits were so good too – like scones, but better.

So that was my December! How did your December go? What made you happy and brought you joy?