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Heather Comes to Visit

#828 | Posted Saturday 3rd January 2009 at 07:21pm by Andi Smith

Way back at the start of October, Heather emailed us with news that she was going to be returning to London for the New Year. After her previous visit where her luggage hadn't turned up, the good people at Air Canada had sent her a nice voucher which helped her pay for another trip.

Amy and I were very pleased when Heather decided to stay at our flat during her time in England, and as the time approached we began to plan what to do.

My basic aim for Heather's trip was to make sure that a) she saw everyone she wanted to see, and b) that she saw any parts of London that she wanted to see, while also giving her a feel of rural England. I feel fairly confident that we met those two criteria.

On the first day, Kev picked Heather up from Heathrow Airport, fed her breakfast round his and Gemma's, before dropping Heather off at ours. Once Heather had settled in to the spare room, we grabbed some food, grabbed a Jimbob and headed down to the good old Skylark to meet up with everybody.

On the second day Shel came over to visit and we went for a long walk over Happy Valley, starting at Old Coulsdon and walking to Chaldon Church before heading back to the car in Old Coulsdon.

In the evening, Amy and I were going to Jav and Hannah's Engagement Party so we left Heather in Shel's capable hands and they went for a curry.

On the Monday, we headed in to London meeting up with Mr Hockley. We did the (now traditional) Green Park dance, walked around Westminster and went on to the London Eye.

We were actually aiming to go on the London Eye during the day as Heather hadn't been up in the light, but there was a bit of a wait (luckily, you don't have to queue just buy your tickets in advance) so it was actually dark by the time we got on.

Ian left us one large bag of Muffin tops(!?!) better off and we headed back home for the evening - planning to go to Winter Wonderland on the Tuesday.

To be continued...

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New Year's Resolution

#827 | Posted Friday 2nd January 2009 at 02:53pm by Andi Smith

Last year was possibly the first year I made a New Year's Resolution and kept it. The resolution was simple - cut down on junk food.

For the first seven months of the year I didn't eat a single McDonalds, Burger King or KFC. For the last five months of the year, I changed my diet - swapping my eat out at lunch schedule for a more healthy bring in lunch option, which by the end of the year consisted of carrot batons, celery sticks, grapes, raisins, a banana and a cup a soup.

While sticking to that same diet, this year I'm doing something different. Something for me. Something to say "I've lived" before life gets too complicated. I've hinted at this before, and now I'm actually getting on to doing it.

As I said in that previous journal back in October, "I'm going to try and aim to do something I've never done before each and every month. I'm not sure if I'll succeed for the entire year, but if I do just 5 new things then perhaps a few of my life's wants will be answered."

And that begins now, with learning Salsa on a Thursday evening. I'm quite excited by the prospect of not having two left feet any more. Stay tuned to find out how it goes!

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2008s

#826 | Posted Sunday 28th December 2008 at 06:30pm by Andi Smith

It's that time again - the time where I share a few of my favourite things from 2008. Here goes!

Andi's 2008 Film of the Year

The Dark Knight - There really wasn't going to be any other, was there? I actually spent the first 20 minutes of my first viewing worried that The Dark Knight wasn't going up to the hype. I was actually scared. I had nothing to worry about - it was superb.

Other notable films of the year: Juno and Iron Man. Yeah, another superhero film. Very unlike me.

Andi's 2008 TV Series of the Year

Lost - It's back. After a poor second half to season 2, and an even poorer start to season 3 (improving later on), season 4 was totally awesome. Like season 1 quality awesome. Only another couple of seasons of this left, but it'll be good to finally know all the answers!

Andi's 2008 Music Album of the Year

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night - Toughie this one. There's been so many good albums throughout the year, but the only one that really sticks in my head is the new Kings of Leon album. It's pretty damn good though. Coldplay's new album is also worth a (large) mention.

Andi's 2008 Music Single of the Year

Estelle - American Boy - I'm sorry, but I love this song. It's a now public guilty secret. I love it so much it was my favourite song of 2008. Yes, I don't care what that makes me. I LOVE THIS SONG. Kaiser Chief's "Never Miss A Beat" was a close second, and has quickly promoted itself to my favourite Kaiser song.

Andi's 2008 Game of the Year

Fable 2 - Xbox 360 - Totally awesome. Fable 2 is a British RPG where you can choose between the path of good or evil. To quote someone at work when I told them I was taking the good path: "only someone like you could be as nice in a video game as you are in real life." I have a pixellated conscience, what can I say?

Andi's 2008 Celebrity of the Year

Barack Obama - The president elect, Barack Obama. If he does everything he says he will, America will be a better place!

Andi's 2008 Celeb Babe of the Year

Mila Kunis - So, I managed to convince Amy to come and see Forgetting Sarah Marshall with me, despite the possibility of my drooling over 2006's winner Kristen Bell.

Except I didn't, I drooled over Mila Kunis instead. She's hot, and therefore wins this year's celeb babe of the year. Amy continues to win the non-celeb award.

Andi's 2008 Formula 1 Driver of the Year

Robert Kubica - So good, he doesn't need a powerful car to win. Believe me when I say Canada is just the beginning.

Andi's 2008 Craze of the Year

Twitter - And it's getting bigger everyday! When I joined, I didn't know many people using it, now it seems a week doesn't go by without someone else I know joining!

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The Zutons and Coldplay 2008

#825 | Posted Tuesday 23rd December 2008 at 10:24pm by Andi Smith

Recently Amy, Dave, Pam and I have had the opportunity to see two bands live; The Zutons and Coldplay. Both were pretty awesome.

We saw The Zutons at the Hammersmith Apollo, where they performed an excellent 90 minute set comprising mainly of songs from their first and third albums. These guys didn't stop, with there being several occasions where two or three songs ran into one another.

Coldplay were playing at a less intimate venue - The O2. Our seats were pretty high up, which made the band look like ants, but there was still a great atmosphere. As well as playing tracks from their latest album and all the classics, they came into the audience to perform with Simon Pegg. It was quite special.

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Our Christmas Tree

#824 | Posted Tuesday 16th December 2008 at 10:01pm by Andi Smith

As it was our first year in the flat, it was also the first time Amy and I had a chance to decorate a Christmas tree together. There were no Dave or Andi decorations on top this year. Instead, it was my parents who came to rescue with both the artificial tree and silver/blue decorations which matched our lounge nicely.