Happy Holidays!

I made it!

Through the term, through the marking (festive coffee helped here), and over the Strait of Georgia to my hometown on Vancouver Island. Ah, the Island, where everyone has backyards, no-one drives defensively, and six people can go out for beers and music trivia for a grand total of $39!

My grandma, before she passed away, used to make Ukrainian cabbage rolls every Christmas Eve. We've morphed the tradition into Greek food, and are trying this healthier but hopefully still tasty moussaka tonight. I'm also going to make this favourite at some point - a healthy and tasty spinach and artichoke dip.

Otherwise, we'll be taste-testing various butter tarts, watching the Queen, and taking long, slow walks around the block while the dog sniffs every ditch. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Royal Wedding Tea Party

The tea cups came out of storage. We watched the Royal Wedding on Saturday morning in a tea party, complete with egg salad sandwiches, pound cake and scones with jam and Devonshire cream.

We made it from Thursday night to Saturday morning with varying degrees of discipline. I lost. I saw the dress on the news and I saw the kiss on the front cover of the newspaper. Emily, off whom Mozart is mooching below, won. She saw nothing. 

My favourite part: the glance at each other when the bishop referred to "making a decision."

 I'd also like to take this opportunity to display to you one of my prized possessions: a Winston Churchill tea cup made during the Second World War to boost patriotism. Bottoms up!

Festive Windows

Please excuse the iPhone photo, but look who I found amongst the shiny party dresses in the window of Holt Renfrew. A frosty Anna Wintour. Appropriate, no?

I saw the September Issue recently, and she doesn't come off that bad. She's just not a people person, which may make her a hard person to work with, and definitely makes her a hard documentary subject. Out of necessity, the film-maker drew a great contrast between introverted Anna and extroverted editor/stylist Grace. Maybe that's her in the top right-hand corner?