Cheers to a New Year!

I’m back in my second hometown after a flying visit to London for Christmas. It was quite strange going back and really showed me how much I have adapted and got used to living in New York during my four months here. I almost felt like a tourist in my own city (leading to many pictures like the one below!) but had a great time catching up with friends and family.

Here are a couple of highlights before I tell you about New Year’s Eve in New York!

Reliving our old weekend tradition with brunch back in my old apartment in Balham (with proper bacon!)

Christmassy London:

A windy walk by the beach in Suffolk:

And a more calm one by the Orwell river to Pin Mill

Deer spotting in Richmond Park:

And a walk along the Thames after watching Made In Dagenham on the West End:

All too soon it was back to the States and back to work! I’ve enjoyed catching up with my friends in NYC with drinks and dinners as the weather gets colder and celebrating New Year’s Eve. I was advised not to go within a 15 block radius of Times Square which gets crazy-busy with people waiting for hours in freezing temperatures to watch the ball drop. Instead, I went to a party in Washington Heights (very North in the city) with my friend Cynthia which was a great evening full of champagne, good food and games!

We had an alternative English breakfast the next day where I introduced Cynthia to HP sauce which I brought over from London! Poached eggs just aren’t the same without it…

My friend Emma is in town so we also did a New Year’s day meet up where we headed to Caffe Ferrera in Little Italy for coffee and pastries … so much for starting the year on a healthy note but they were so good, especially the tiramisu and cannoli!