Feeling festive

So, Saturday came and went. After a looooong working day, I spent the evening relaxing with the good lady, enjoying food, wine and some trash tv! 5am came very quickly again the next day and I was up and out the door in my usual zombie-like daze. George's show was a good one...and before there was time to blink, we were out of one studio and into the next, pre-recording another 3 hours. This, it must be said, took its toll.

I was feeling a lot more festive than I had been on Sunday afternoon. Maybe it was because a roast dinner was in store, cooked by little miss munch. Sam and I travelled down to Surrey to meet up with a few gals, drink some wine and eat the flat right out of everything! After din dins, we raided the games shelf and decided upon Humbug as our game of choice - where you have to hum a well-known song to the rest of your team, as they try to guess. As you can imagine, I got competitive...but it was all good fun in the end.

We got back in the early evening and spent the rest of the night chilling out. There was no real need to eat anything - as we had stuffed our faces steadily for the whole afternoon. I got a good night's sleep - including a lie in and felt a lot better in the morning for such a solid slumber.

Monday - being my day off - was spent lounging. I soaked up a bit of festive cheer round Hampstead village, before the arrival of good friend and musician David Ford, who popped up to see me. I cooked us a thai curry - it went down well - and then we headed out for a walk and a pint. We eneded up at the Old Bull & Bush (famous for the song of the same name, which is an old Victorian drinking song). Although old on the outside, it was very "gastro" on the inside, so had lost its vintage edge. They served a nice pint of Adnams though, so I wasn't too fussed.

After Ford left, I was pottering on the laptop. I have recently got very into Tomb Raider 3 (an old old game, but one which I used to play as a nipper) so I spent an hour moving Lara Croft around London before the lovely Jen came to visit. She arrived just before 5 so we opened a bottle of rose and caught up on the sofa, before scooting down the road to the best Indian in town - Bombay Bicycle Club! We shot down to South Bank after dinner and another drink, to enjoy one of the first ever screenings of James Cameron's new film AVATAR. It was at the imax, in 3D and it was fabulous. I don't think Jen liked it as much as me...perhaps due to the length (it was pushing 3 hours) and the fact we were sitting too near to the screen...but I was in awe of this brilliant piece of film-making, which has pushed the boundaries of cinema and will no doubt pave the way for how we watch films in the future.

We got back late (due to the length of the film) and by 1am, I was ready to crash. Like any good host, I had offered up my bed to my guest...so I grabbed a sleeping bag and tucked myself up on the sofa. The next day, after Jen had left to do her Chrismtas shopping, I took the tube down to soho to watch Local Natives at the legendary Ronnie Scotts (a place I have frequented many a time) Champagne was on offer, as were nibbles...and the atmosphere was festive and fun. I met with Nic, from 6 Music, and we had a good ole chat before Local Natives came on and played a blinding set. They were really enjoyable, as was the whole event.

Feeling slightly tipsy, I left Ronnie's at about 3.30 (5 champagnes down) and headed back to Hampstead Manor. Rachel, one of the lovely HM residents, was hosting a party for a few of her friends...so I filled my face with home cooked treats and moved on to red wine (several glasses of it) After a game or two of charades, I was up and out the door again. This time, I was headed to The BBC Club for the Radio 2 Christmas party. Dancing, drinking and merriment were the order of the evening...and with Mr Alan Dedicoat calling us up in pairs onto the dancefloor (in true Strictly Come Dancing stylee) it would have been rude not to put down a few moves.

Having drunk my body weight by 10.15, I left so as not to cause embarrasment. I headed to the good lady wife's abode, and got tucked up for a good night's sleep - which unfortunately neither of us had, due to my snoring. Ooops