One thing I’m loving about December in London is how I can sleep in until 8am and still have that slightly-type-A satisfaction of having gotten up before dawn to “get stuff done”.  Today specifically, the cozy grey pre-dawn hours were devoted to wrapping all the presents while Justin slept (thank heavens for jet lag!).

He climbed out of bed at the crack of noon and so we headed out for some breakfast and/or lunch.  I was already craving a spicy German sausage with grilled onions from the Christmas stalls.  Justin turned hippie and opted for some vegan porridge with quinoa and coconut milk.

Thus fortified, we began our marathon Christmas Eve’s Eve errand-running.  First stop:  Flowers!!

Just kidding — I already have flowers coming out of my ears.  Instead of purchasing, we just stood and soaked loveliness for a minute and then got down to some serious grocery shopping.  This being my first Christmas in London, I really have no idea whether anything is going to be open the next three days — I figure we need to have enough cheese, raspberries, sparkling water, and gravy to withstand a three-day lockdown.

While we were out, we got an email from Kipferl, the Austrian restaurant where I had made reservations for Christmas Eve dinner.  “Sorry,” they said, “that reservation was a mistake — we’re actually going to be closed on Christmas Eve!”  This of course validated my bunker mindset in the grocery store, and also motivated us to get reservations for tonight instead.  Justin got the stroganoff; I got some sort of schnitzel with potatoes and mushrooms.

With this hearty Austrian fare in our tummies, we hopped into the tube and went south.  We had a secret mission to pick up a package from a hotel in the Borough neighborhood.  This took us right past the Shard, the tallest building in London (and I think Western Europe).

Once the package had been retrieved, we returned to finish the crafting project we had started last night.  We thought we were making good progress until I realized I had screwed up the antlers, so we had to unpick the glue with an exacto knife and redo it.  It kind of made me want to die, but in the end it turned out really well.

A wearable paper deer mask!

Which I intend to use as wall art.

This is Justin being meta-meta — taking a picture of me taking a picture AND of himself taking a picture of me taking a picture.  Here’s how it looks in its final state: