Lucky...

So...

There's not much purpose to this post, except that I love this photo of me and my Valentine. 

It's currently decorating the edge of my mirror, along with a few other photos of us.

It was taken on New Year's Eve last year as we stood freezing on Westminster Bridge waiting for the fireworks. We'd spent a good twenty minutes talking to a family of American tourists who were absolutely amazed by how happy everyone seemed that night. Our friends, who are infinitely cooler than us, turned down our pleas to stand next to the London Eye for seven hours and went off to some swanky West End club instead. But I'm glad... we got to take so many silly photos of the two of us and started a Thriller sing-a-long.

It's only October, but this photo has made me so excited for Christmas already. My lists are written, recipes have been remembered, and I'm discovering loads of weird foreign stuff for my weird foreign Grandad.

My Grandad really is the greatest man on Earth.

I love my Valentine and my family. And memories.

Two years

A lot can happen in two years. Two years ago...

• A devastating earthquake struck Haiti.
• The Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted and caused air travel chaos across Europe.
• The vuvuzela was introduced to the world at the 2010 World Cup (which Spain won)
• Wikileaks Mania began.
• We said goodbye to Norman Wisdom, Tony Curtis, Alexander McQueen, Corin Redgrave, and many, many more.
• And this man was an absolute stranger to me...

But then, on September 15th 2010, he walked into my life, and I'm so glad he did.

We've had a tough time, with some truly awful moments, but we've also had plenty of amazing times. It's been a fun, exciting time and I've had so much fun. I've learnt a lot from him and I hope that at least one of my little lectures has sunk into his brain. He's definitely contributed to the person I am today.

 Two years is a long time, but it's gone so quickly. 

This is the first ever picture of us together as a couple.
I don't know why we look so miserable.

21 candles...

The Lurch turned 21 yesterday. Unlike me, he's not really into the whole "birthday" thing, so we opted for a low key meal together in Piccadilly Circus (which he banned my camera from) before heading to my mum's house where she greeted him with this...*

...which is probably the greatest thing anyone could have done for him seeing as he loves both Kit Kats and Crispy M&Ms. After he pretty much wrestled my two younger sisters for a slice of cake, we headed home to chill and watch American Dad! Dude, we're so hardcore!

Post Script: Now that he's legal to drink in the US, I've ramped up my "please can we go to New York and San Francisco, please, please, please" pleas. They're falling on deaf ears at the moment.

Oh, unless Wrestlemania 30 is in New York. Because then he's totally agreeing to it. So, powers that be at WWE - get your act together and give me a trip to NYC!

*Yeah, I definitely got the baking bug from my wonderful mother.

A letter to my Lurch...

To my lovely VLB...

I think it's incredibly mean and silly that you have to work on a Sunday night. I mean seriously, who even goes to the pub on a Sunday night? Stupid alcoholics! As I sit here all on my lonesome on this dreary Sunday night, I've realised all the truly absurd things I do when you're not here. Things like...

- watching two Disney movies in one day. Yes indeedy, two Disney movies. You saw how excited I got when I saw the advert pop up early this morning, is it any wonder I glued myself to the bed in order to watch Beauty and the Beast today? I also found a place in my hectic Sunday schedule for the Little Mermaid. I've been singing Part of That World for about three hours now.

- eating a ton of vegetarian food without worrying whether or not you'll liken it to cardboard. Vegetarian roast dinner earlier, and now a plate of vegetarian sausages in burger buns. They're amazing.

- responding to a gazillion emails. That's now every single person who's emailed me since the beginning of the blog responded to. That's gonna earn me about two Brownie points.

- watching soppy films that you hate. Not only did I fit in a Meg Ryan film (You've Got Mail) I'm now watching a Sandra Bullock film (Two Weeks Notice. Not While You Were Sleeping. Oh how I wish it were While You Were Sleeping)

- creating stupidly extravagant plans in my head for your birthday this week. Each and every one of them are far too ridiculous and far-fetched and expensive to actually happen on Tuesday, but a girl can dream, right?

- dreaming of Coney Island. I don't know why. It's a childhood fascination that has only been made worse by Lana Del Rey. And Sandra Bullock just mentioned it.

- finally getting around to downloading a Photoshop trial. Let's see what all the fuss is about.

So whilst you're busy at work, pulling pints and hopefully not having to listen to too many drunken stories, I am here, quietly plotting ways to remove chicken from the bedroom forever. I happily await your return tomorrow (with McDonalds. I definitely want McDonalds upon your return)

With love,

CT.

Post Script: I definitely, totally, 100% also hate the Counting Crows/Vanessa Carlton version of Big Yellow Taxi. It's awful.

PPS: I now completely understand why people think we're a married couple. It's a bit sickening, isn't it?

A View from a Bridge (sort of)

Me and the Lurch have this thing where we go on crazy long walks. From Elephant & Castle to Battersea via Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Green Park and Victoria. We'll go out and be out for hours. We've done the Elephant & Castle to Soho walk quite a few times, too. It's fun to do it at night, to see exactly what London has to offer when the lights go out. Sometimes, it's hilarious (drunk guys singing along to Britney Spears on Oxford Street is never going to be a bad thing!) but sometimes it's a bit disheartening (fights, arguments, general nastiness). 

We rarely take walks around my neck of the woods. South West/West London is a lot quieter than Central London. Yes, we still get the sirens and the drunk people, but my little area is built up mainly of high earning professionals or young, middle class families. When I was growing up (a mere 30 seconds from the Thames) I had a playground and park on the river banks. That's since been replaced by apartment and office blocks. Sad, but a sign of the times.

Yesterday, I managed to persuade the Lurch to take a walk around my route. Forget the chaos of Central London and the gazillions of Olympic tourists, and take in the serenity of my neck of the woods...

This creepy little statue can be found next to Battersea Bridge. It's titled something like "Family's Day Out" but their faces are genuinely quite creepy.... As you can tell by the Lurch's face....

Albert Bridge. The greatest bridge in London. Taken from Battersea Bridge. Looks even more amazing at night (I'll prove that to you soon)

This sign has fascinated me for a good few years. The entrance to Chelsea Harbour; this sign introduces the Design Centre held here.

Look at that little face!

Chelsea Harbour

I can see my house from here (sort of)!

View from Chelsea Harbour/Imperial Wharf of my little neck of the woods. My little flat is hidden behind the brown/green tower block.

It's so bizarre seeing the heliport from the Chelsea side of the river.

Route taken: Battersea Riverside - Battersea Bridge - World's End - Lots Road - Chelsea Harbour -  Imperial Wharf - Wandsworth Bridge - Battersea Riverside

How did you spend your weekend?

My Lurch

Kids, this is the other half. The partner. The dude. Anything but “the boyfriend.” I've never liked that word. I don’t know why. It’s one of those weird things I have where I don’t like things that pretty much everyone else does. It’s like an illness or something. I totally need help for it. Anyhoo, this is the Lurch. I don’t know why I call him that but I called him that one night and it totally stuck. FOREVER!!!! (Excessive exclamation points definitely get a point across). I can't remember why he looked so snazzy (my memory truly is awful, it was only a month ago) but I'll let him get away with looking so snazzy because he's so beautiful.