I went to see the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre.  It was the best production I have EVER seen.  If you can go and see it Go.  Get stall seats near to the front, although not too near and prepare to be amazed.  I wandered through Covent Garden on the way back, it was wonderful.

This was a lovely hour spent walking around the Christmas Store.  Although I must say, the Christmas Pudding tasting was the piece de resistance of the outing.

I was in John Lewis one evening when there was a call, a call that made me giddy deep inside my belly and one that made me giggle out loud.   Would we like to go and see Monty in his Roof Garden, would we?, you bet we would.

The garden was cool and quiet and very beautiful as the trees twinkled in the dark of the night.

And Monty was his usual well attired self.

Showing off his hosting skills to good use.

Free wine tastings. 

There was biscuit making, I wowed them with my use of subtlety .

And Monty’s personal home to rest in with the use of warm hand knit Rowan yarn blankets and deep cushions on which to relax.

And then of course the views, oh the views..  Oxford Street at its finest. Another magic moment.

As I have been mooching around London for a few years now I thought I would try and make my own calendar for my parents and family.  Being in the middle of Warwickshire they have mostly never been to London and I thought it might be of some interest to show them what I get up to.  So here is a snap shot of what I put together.  Some of the pictures were cropped in the calendar, which I knew before I published it, so these are not exactly ‘true’ as to what my parents received, but you’ll get an idea.  Bear in mind most of these have been taken with a small camera and all without a tripod, I make no proclamations as to the standard of the photography, just taking note that ‘I WAZ ‘ERE’.    This first photograph I used as the cover and then they went from January to December.

Regent StreetBig BenEros. Victoria and Albert Museum. Westminster taken from the London Eye. Buckingham Palace.St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge taken from Tate Modern.   Tower Bridge. Liberty.The British Museum. Westminster at night viewed from the Southbank.  The London Eye. Trafalgar Square.

Last week before the weather was set to turn quite violently – it mostly missed London – I decided to take a turn in the park on what was promised to be a bright and sunny Winters day.  It was beautiful, St James’s Park turned out to be everything a girl could hope for.  I took the tube to Green Park and walked through the park of the same name, whereupon I crossed The Mall to enter St James’s Park.  It was the prettiest walk, Buckingham Palace on one side, green parks on the other, the view of The Mall, red London buses and black cabs a plenty.  You knew where you were in the world.

As I entered the park I saw squirrels, I was so pleased.  And then I started to see more squirrels and more and I’d never seen as many fat grey squirrels in one place before, it did make me laugh.  And people had bought nuts and biscuits and were feeding these very friendly and very fat squirrels.

And talk about being bold.

Some were just lunatics in the quest for a tasty morsel.

I must say that this chap happened to remain quite calm, I’m not sure I would have done, but then I know how sharp a squirrels bite can be, having tamed our own fat squirrels that used to live in the Oak tree at the bottom of the garden and their poor eyesight not being able to distinguish between nut and thumb.

These geese were so pretty with their pink feet, quite adorable.

A view of Buckingham Palace at the end of the lake.

And a view of the other end.  And then the object of my affections came into view. The reason I had trekked across London.

Pelicans !!!  What fun to see Pelicans.  There are four Pelicans in St James’s park and they were waiting in the feeding area for their supper.  They were three quarters of an hour early, as was I. 

I can’t tell you just how pleased I am that I have at long last seen the Pelicans in the park.

And one day when its warmer I shall come back and watch them being fed, I suspect there may well be some comedy to that.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying their winter walk.

I found some very pretty ducks – Ruddy Shelducks. 

And some young swans.

Squirrels playing, oblivious to everyone else.

Friendly swans who came over for a chat.

Wonderful views of Horse Guards Parade and the Old Admiralty.

And trees so brightly lit by the sunshine displaying their autumn colours.

Prince of Wales Feathers, swishing and swaying in the fading sunlight.

And pigeons that had hunkered down against the cold wind that had started to bite.

There were more pretty geese.

And one very cute duck.

And some very hungry Coots.

Not to mention some more friendly swans.

There were leaf blowers wIth huge machines, the sight of the leaves being whirled into the air and being caught by the sunlight was glorious.

And then with light fading and feeling a bit chilly it was time to head home.

Bidding a fond farewell to Queen Victoria.  I must say, she has a lovely view.

As you can see my bejewelled December Birchbox has arrived. 

So, lets have a look to see what goodies are inside this month.

Eslor Firming Collagen Day Cream.  Full price £50.00 for 50ml, this gorgeous sample is 10ml so worth £10.00  – That’s the box nearly paid for.   This is an ultra hydrating lotion infused with hydrolyzed Marine Collagen.  Massage into cleansed skin morning and night.  I don’t know about you, but my skin is starting to scream from dehydration from the central heating and then spells in the cold dry weather, so I am looking forward to trying this one out, not least it has good reports on tinternet.

Next we were asked to choose our own nail polish colour from a selection of four colours and I chose the purple – I would have chosen the red but it had gone.  This is a sparkly nail polish that dry to a velvety matte finish, which is a bit odd and if I don’t like it, I shall just put a top coat on.

This is Models Own Nail Polish in Amethyst, full size £5.00

Some shampoo for hubby.  Electric Hair, Electric Hydrate Shampoo.  Full size is 250 ml for £17.50, this tester is 30ml so worth £2.10   It says it helps to repair damage and improve shine with this nourishing, moisture-rich formula.  If nothing else, at least I have a bit of shampoo in for him eh.

This product seems to be talked about in glowing terms, me being my age, I’d not heard of it.

It came in a lovely Christmas cracker from Benefit and its called Highbeam.  Full size is 13ml for £19.50 and I think is about 2ml so its worth approx £2.69  It says its a liquid illuminator which suits all skin tones. You paint a small amount onto cheekbones and brow bones and blend, blend, blend.  I’ve had a little swatch and it has a slight shimmer to it, so it might be quite pretty and add a dewy glow to your skin.

Next was Vasanti Brighten Up.  An Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator, full price £26.00 for 120 ml this was 20 ml so worth £4.33   This is a multi action exfoliator to ensure a renewed, refreshed complexion.  I’ll give that a go.

I thought this was an interesting product to try.  Eyeko Fat Eye Stick in Smoke, full size £8.00 its just a large pigmented jumbo pencil, but it is a modern take on an eyeshadow and I’ve never tried them, so that could be good fun.

And lastly we have a lifestyle sample a small purse from Sophia Webster herself worth £25.00  <– really ???   I don’t think I would be paying £25.00, but then I often think that sort of thing as I am trotting around London watching what people are happily spending serious amounts of money on.  Although I have found a use, its going to be perfect for putting all those store and museum cards in that I don’t want to cram into my purse.

Seven products for a ten pound box, (plus p & p) without the purse the products came to £32.12 and I thought there were some really interesting items to try this month, Birchbox have done it again, its a really good box.

My long awaited beauty box from Look Fantastic arrived a few hours ago.  Just the sort of pick me up a girl needs when coming to the end of a cold in mid winter.  It felt heavier and is larger than most beauty boxes I know.  The price comes in at £15.00 including packaging, November’s box was amazing, it was sold out in 24 hours so I thought I would give this a try.  This box is not a rolling subscription, you just buy it on a month by month basis.

In it came the Hut Groups magazine, a booklet telling you about the individual products contained in the beauty box and a £10.00 voucher for Coggles, their sister company.

Contained within the box was…

An infused comb by Macadamia Professional.  This comb is infused with macadamia oil which detangles while adding shine and smoothness.  Price £6.00   – I’m not sure how this works on a scientific level, but it will go in my box of hair products to be decided upon later.

Essential -C Cleanser by Murad.  Containes Vitamins A, C and E, plus lots of other things.  Full sized price for 200ml is £34.00 so this sample of 45ml is £7.65.   Good sized sample.

Papaya Enzyme Peel by Elemis.  Full size 50 ml £29.50, sample size 15ml £8.85.  Really excited about this one.  I’ve been offered samples which have been tried on my wrist of enzyme peels and they seem to do an amazing job.  But they are always out of my price bracket, (one was over £150 !) so I am quite happy to try this out.

Pure Gold Collagen – liquid food supplement.  10 pack is £35.99, one bottle is £3.59.  Your meant to take for four weeks before it has any results, so one bottle is not going to have much effect, but its always interesting to see what is out there.

Lord & Berry Silk Kajal – Kohl eyeliner. Full size £10.00, sample size £4.00 approx.   Its a deeply pigmented black, nice and creamy goes on easily.  It will be a nice item to sample.

Bourjois eyeshadow and eyeliner compact in Intense Smoky.  Full size £7.99  Pretty colours a purple with a moss, I will be happy to try this.

OleHenriksen Pure Truth Youth Activating OIl.  Full size 30 ml bottle £47.00 sample size 15ml is £23.50.  Very happy to try this, great sized sample and it will be interesting to see how my skin looks and feels at the end of the trial.

This is my first Look Fantastic box, my samples and voucher add up to £61.53, which is a fantastic deal and I can’t wait to try them all.