Christmas list potentials

I am starting to put together a Christmas list for my family and one of the things sitting right at the top is the Bobble water bottle. The filter is inside the bottle, which makes this absolutely perfect for the eco-conscience person on the go. The filter only needs to be replaced every 2 months or so making it even more attractive.

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I have also been eyeing up the Reebok EasyTone shoes. I need some new sneakers and honestly I am willing to try anything that claims to tone your backside by just going about your regular day.

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And finally on to a few things that aren't related to fitness and health. I am finally going to jump on the bandwagon and give Touche Eclat a go. I have heard good things and Christmas is the perfect time to ask for things that you wouldn't normally splurge on.

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And finally, a few new nail polish colors to keep the winter interesting. I am loving the new colors that are part of the burlesque line at OPI. It's hard to choose with so many cool colors and sparkles!

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I'm hoping to put together a gift guide for others as well. Stay tuned!

Updating my to see and eat list

I have to admit, I didn't have a very successful year in ticking things off on my to see and eat list. I did see a lot of shows and eat at a lot of places, but never got around to a lot of things on my list. I've updated my list and am hoping over the next several months that I will be able to tick everything off. New list is on the right!

Only 3 things ticked off. Here's to a more successful 2011!

All Christmas all the time

I know I've mentioned that I'm in the process of building up my Christmas play list, but because I don't want to go broke buying holiday tunes, I've switched over to The Mountain Holiday Music Channel. You can listen for free online even in the UK!! The Mountain was my favorite radio station in Seattle and I am so thrilled to be able to turn on Christmas music at any time of the day.

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The holidays are really starting to feel like they're here in London. The lights are on on Oxford Street, Christmas trees are being sold outside the tube station and I am planning my first of several holiday parties. I still have a lot of shopping to do for my gingerbread man decorating party, but it's coming along nicely.

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Pumpkin 3 ways

On Thursday the mister and I celebrated Thanksgiving with some friends in London. This Thanksgiving, thrown by an Italian and American couple, was quite different to your traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but still very good. Of course there was turkey, but instead of stuffing and the other fixins there was pumpkin risotto, focaccia bread, a mixed vegetable tart and so on. I brought dessert and I made 3 different types of pumpkin dessert. 

The first was a cinnamon cake with pumpkin frosting. The blog I got it from is amazing for desserts but also has great (and not very difficult) dinner recipes. I highly recommend checking it out.

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I also brought Martha's Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins which were a huge hit.

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 And before I rolled the pumpkin muffins in cinnamon and sugar I decided to frost a few of them with left over  pumpkin frosting. Neither the cakes or the frosting were overwhelmingly pumpkin, so the pumpkin on pumpkin was actually pretty good. I spent the entire day in the kitchen baking (and also put my new KitchenAid mixer to work) and it was well worth it. Another successful expat Thanksgiving!

** If you're looking for pumpkin puree in a can check Waitrose or Ocado

Music of the moment

Two big things happened to my itunes play list this week. The first being the addition of the new Girl Talk album, All Day (Download it for free here). I love Girl Talk and I love being able to listen to so many of my favorite songs in one continuous track.

The second thing that happened was the creation of a Jay-Z favorites play list (or as I called it: Hova is here) in celebration of Jay-Z's new book, Decoded.

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I'm still refining my Christmas play list. I add the People Magazine free Country Christmas download while I was in California and also scored the Elvis Christmas Album last weekend. I still have a lot of music to collect before my gingerbread man decorating party in 2 weeks!

Welcome Home!

As of Sunday, I have arrived back in London. It honestly feels like I was never away. Now, to begin the journey to finding a new job. I came across this video on Facebook and it not only made me feel incredibly happy but I also thought it quite fitting since I just arrived home. Enjoy!

Escape from New York in the comforts of SF living

I recently visited a dear friend of mine in her and her husband's new abode in San Francisco. Their building is opposite the beautiful AT&T park (but the entrace to their building is actaully on Townsend). I went over for a quiet evening of catching up and wine.

We sipped on something I had never tried before, Vinho Verde. It was light and had a slight effervescence. I am totally hooked!



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It was the night of the last playoff game, in which the SF Giants were playing. We knew we'd have no luck finding a place to eat in their neighborhood. Even though the game was away, the area around the ball park is always alive with fans and fanatics. We decided to order in from Escape from New York Pizza. 

Escape from New York does pizza does some interesting combinations. We ordered a half 'you say potato' and half 'west side bar-b-que chicken'. As promised the pizza was delivered in exactly 45 minutes. As we waited we watched the giants clinch the division and you could hear the roar of people outside screaming.


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While I wasn't really a fan of eating entire garlic cloves, the idea of putting potatos on a pizza is genious and it totally works with the garlic and pesto. While the mister yammered on (on the phone the next day) about this being a silly amount of carbs to consume in one pizza, I didn't mind up-ing my carb consumption for something yummy.

My night ended with a full belly in a city erupting in celebration. Not bad.