Shaken, not stirred

Happy New Year friends! I hope you all had a safe and fun New Year's Eve.

We decided this year to do it up for our first official new year's in London. Luckily, our friend Andrea from OC was in town, so she rolled out with us. We went to a bar in Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester" if you are interested) called Verve. They were hosting a new year's bash with a James Bond theme. Everyone got dressed up in their best Bond attire and headed out to enjoy some drinks, casino games, and dancing.

Here are JP and Andrea, one of many ridiculous pics they took like this!

Those of the GEP'ers who were in town for the holidays, or returned home from the US in time joined us - we had a party of 14 out for the night! It was fun, the bar was packed full of revelers (see below) and the music was fun. We managed through the night with minimal hiccups. We met lots of other people at the bar (many from the US), and had fun watching some of our single friends out on the prowl.

The crowd in Leicester Square was incredible- I think every Londoner and tourist alike was out and about. There were a zillion bobbies (cops) out for crowd control, many on huge horses, and the central part of the city's transportation lines were closed. So, at the end of the night, which was really early morning, the three of us decided to brave the crowds and head home. We thought we'd hop on the night bus like normal and head back. Unfortunately for Andrea's and my feet, we ended up walking a couple miles away to get the tube (it stayed open all night last night) home. My feet are still recovering from the hiking!

I've decided now though that New Year's Day is my favorite holiday. We didn't wake until after noon, made some food, and vegged on the couch. We can't go anywhere - everything is closed. Also, our guests are now all gone, so it was the first day we've had with nobody in town for over two weeks. Our place is clean again and quiet, it was nice! Not that we don't miss our family terribly- that much is true- but it is nice to resume to some normalcy.

If you are interested in seeing more random pics, feel free to visit this shutterfly link:

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaOWLNy4bN2Ol

Enjoy your week going back to work! I'll go back to my lady of leisure ways until January 7 when I start work- and I can't wait!