Happy Boxing Day!!!!!!!!!!!!--posted a day or two later

Merry Christmas everyone and as the Brits would say today, Happy Boxing Day as well!

Last night, Saki and I made a FABULOUS Christmas dinner, including chicken (precooked, we just heated it up), mashed taters (premade too...thanks Sainesbury!), gravy (powdered plus water), yummy baked veggies, green beans, rolls, French wine, mincemeat pie, and chocolate cake. Yummy!

Christmas Eve was quite the day! Since all of the museums were closed, Saki and I thought that it might be fun to visit the crazy-big and super ridiculously luxurious department store, Harrod's. Saki had to wait at her apartment for much of the morning for some furniture delivery men, so we agreed to meet up at the Princess Diana and Dodi AlFayeed (sp?) memorial at a designated time. I quickly found the memorial and went off to explore all of the crazy rooms (like the Luxury Room and Egyptian Room or Food Room). When the time to meet up approached, I headed to our meeting place and waited and waited. I figured she was held up somewhere, so I went to go and find a bathroom in part of the store I hadn't yet visited, passing by several of the large David Beckham Armani ad's (that's the brand, right? I forget). As I walked by a counter, I heard a women mention David and Victoria Beckham, but didn't know what she was talking about. Anyways, found the bathroom, but the line was way too freakin' long and I was worried about missing Saki, so I hurried back to the memorial. As I was standing against the wall facing the escalators (alone, probably looking a little suspicious), a crowd came down on the escalators. I notice that there are two young boys, both very well dressed in shirts and ties and I think, "wow, they must be going somewhere soon for Christmas Eve." There father was behind them and I noticed that he was also dressed very well (and pretty handsome looking as well). The kids turn to continue going down the escalator in the opposite direction, there's an old man and another person and then the woman who I assume is the wife/mom of the group because she was thin, pretty, and also very well dressed. She looks me straight in the eyes as she goes down the escalator and I realize, "wait! That's Posh Spice!!!!!!!!" as she turns to continue down the escalator. I notice a group of people behind them, taking pictures with camera phones, remember I have a camera in my purse, pull it out, and snag a quick pick, yes! I have just seen the Beckhams! Craziness! And just a day or two before I had been telling Saki how I didn't think I had really seen anyone famous (other than Condi Rice and now that I think about it, various other people the KPU brought to campus, mostly politics-related). Very cool and totally made my Christmas Eve Day, justly beating out dinner at McDonald's since every other place in Chelsea was closed or had stopped serving food.

Other highlights from my trip to the UK included the V(ictoria) and A(lbert) Museum, overpaying to see the movie Four Christmases with Saki, seeing The Sound of Music, Midnight Mass (which actually started at midnight) and the extremely cold 30+ min walk back to my apartment made in 15 min, shopping at H&M for cold weather gear, walking around London at dusk (er 3pm!), and a super delicious Whole Foods salad!!!! These were all in addition to the fabulous Sunday I spent with Theresa and Rob in Oxford, their home for the next few years.

Above all, thank you Saki for showing me around London and finding me a fab place to stay for an enjoyable holiday week (which was also not nearly as lonely as I had predicted it might be). You were amazing!

I will try and post pics on this blog too, but pics have recently been updated on Picasa, though many still need descriptions. More will come soon, Inchallah, due to the recent acquisition of my laptop.