Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a wonderful and Merry Christmas! Right now I am waiting for my friend Sonya from NYC to come visit for a few days! We had a fabulous Christmas! So much fun! This was actually me and Norm's first Christmas together (physically) since I usually go and visit my parents or grandparents when I'm in the states, which made it extra special! The house looked lovely, stockings hung, Norm worked away on an incredible Christmas Trifle and hard sauce! Had a great time stuffing each other's stockings! The big hits this season were the hard to come by current magazines such as Vanity Fair, Us Weekly, and Esquire! I got a real Hermes scarf!, a beautiful ring... this one I swear I won't lose!, we each got socks and scarves, and many other little presents. We each plan on getting a suit made, and we are going to buy a new camera (The one I have he gave me 3 years ago for Christmas and is now considered ancient!), and also a poker set!
So we got up, did stockings, ate breakfast, made some phone calls, opened more presents, and then rode our bikes 3 blocks away to a gorgeous, huge lane house where our friends were preparing Christmas dinner! We had a party of 12, hosted by the lovely Sophie and Peter, who are both designers and are also expecting their first baby in March! The house was unbelievable! Old fashioned with 2 staircases, 5 floors, all redone... gives me something to aspire to, though I think it is meant to have a few generations of family live there, because I don't know what else you would do with all that space! So we had 2 Brits, one American (me), and the rest Aussies, who really went all out! My lovely parents sent over a bunch of goodies for us and the party crackers (with the party hats and prizes inside) were a huge hit, along with the pudding! The rest my parents sent me has either already been eaten, or is about to be! Such a nice edition! Everyone was so pleased and surprised to see such items, as they are impossible to come by here! We had several rounds of food, almost everything you could ask for! We had champagne and cocktails, and many good laughs around the dinner table! We all ate with our 'party hats' on, something new to me, but very fun! YOu will see the pics! The party went on into the night, and is truly one i will never forget! My first Christmas in Shanghai! It was also my first Christmas away from home believe it or not, and as much as I did miss my family and wished they could've been there with me, I felt very blessed to be in the company I was in. I will post some pictures very soon! Hope you all have a happy new year! Until then.... love and best wishes, Amelia