a Southern lady in London: last week in London-town

Last week in London FLEW by fast…which was great for me because I couldn't wait to get my booty back to Charlotte! Monday and Tuesday were normal school days. On Tuesday night, I went to my friend Ali's for a girly Christmas night! It was lovely (but sorry I didn't take any pictures!) On Wednesday, we had a huge Christmas lunch at school with our students, all the staff, and some guests. The food was amazing - I haven't eaten that much in a LONG time!

Thursday was a half day for our students…they had their Christmas nativity play which was adorable and they performed so well! They left at 12 so all the grown ups headed to Bumpkin in Chelsea for our Christmas lunch/party. The Prosecco was flowing, the food was delicious (smoked salmon, roast turkey, and chocolate tart - YUM), and we had our Secret Santa gift exchange.

al, zara, and courtney enjoying our bubblies

cheers!

pulling our christmas crackers

me in my christmas cracker crown

my secret santa gift!

gigi loving on the gift i got her

courtney, kirsten, and otterlie looking festive in their crowns

bridges at night

the party continued at doodle bar - me, zara, and ciara

silly girls

me, dan, and kirsten

It was a very fun night! On Friday, we had a workday with no kids which was mostly us just feeling absolutely pathetic and wishing we could go get in our cozy beds. We powered through though and I had a hair appointment after work. I've been desperately wanting to do something different with my hair but I really love the length. So I decided to go for bangs (or as the Brits call it - FRINGE). At first I hated it but it's growing on me now! After my hair cut, we met up with our friends James, Alex, Ali, and Paul for James' birthday dinner at Le Mercury in Islington. It was great and the food was so cheap!

my new do

alex, me, and ali at le mercury

Saturday was a busy day - full of things to do and errands to run. I had laundry and packing to do but also wanted to grab a couple goodies to bring to Charlotte with me (Celebrations chocolates and digestive biscuits!!). Later in the day, Adam and I went to see his mom's new house out in Essex. She just moved in a couple days ago and it already looks like she's lived there for months! We spent time with the doggies and I opened my Christmas pressies from her. She got me a gorgeous scarf, purse, and some jewelry. She is so good at buying presents - puts me to shame, for sure!

adam snuggling with holly

taz being adorable

After we left his mom's, we went to Charlotte Street to the very popular restaurant GAUCHO. I had heard of this place before but hadn't tried it. Adam wanted us to have a little date night before I went back to Charlotte for two weeks. Anyways, the food was INCREDIBLE; the wine was delicious; and the service was amazing. I can not say enough good things about it. It was steep prices but definitely worth it for a nice date night. I was obsessed with the lighting in there though so I took some pictures...