Hi Everyone!
I have only been back from London a few weeks and I am already getting pangs for a British Christmas – fortunately it seems every which way I turn Los Angeles is feeling exactly the same way. I was at Cost Plus World Market this afternoon (buying advent calendars for our weekly Pub Quiz Prize Winners!) and was bombarded with Downton Abbey Christmas merchandise – from crackers to cups and even ‘Thank You’ notes!
I must say they do have a fabulous selection of Christmas Crackers and tins of Quality Street, Moments and Walker’s Shortbread too, but as always, your first stop should be British Weekly advertisers including the Hare and the Hounds and the British Grocer.
There’s no signs yet of the ever-lower gas prices being translated into lower transatlantic air fares, but with our exclusive Air New Zealand discount (which we can’t publish here but can be found on our Facebook page) you can save a fair bit. I saw that one Brits in LA member snagged a roundtrip ticket for under $650, (combining the discount codes with ANZ Cyber Monday deals)…result!
My nostalgia may have gone a step too far; I don’t even really like Christmas Pudding but have been compelled to start soaking dried fruit to attempt Nigella’s “Queen of Christmas Puddings”! Recipe can be found by Googling just that!…I will be sure to let you know how it turns out.
My favourite way to get the Christmassy feeling going is to visit the website adoptaletter.org and do exactly what it says on the tin. Our friend Kimberley Moore has been running this amazing program where we all get the chance to play Santa to underprivileged kids in the Los Angeles area. Make sure to visit the website and try and fulfill a letter or two – if you can’t spare any money perhaps you can spare some time? Kimberley will need help wrapping and delivering all the gifts too. So drop us a line if you would like us to put you in touch.
I am feeling very cultured this month as I spent the afternoon at LACMA last weekend and also went to see The Vortex. I will be making two more trips to the theatre this week – Matt Crabtree’s Santaland Diaries on Friday then Sandro Monetti’s one-man show on Saturday. If you fancy joining either drop me a line here – I will balance it all out with Christmas Eastenders and a few trashy magazines, I promise!
Hope to see some of you at either Pub Quiz or Breakfast Club over the coming weeks, plus we have have our Christmas Party coming up mid-month – we have joined forces with the charity UKares which means you get to drink for a cause! I think holiday sweaters are definitely in order – so get shopping now! It was only a matter of time before someone came up with a multi-holiday Sweater (pictured, left) – not sure what to make of this; however if you want one hop over to http://britishchristmasjumpers.com and for £40.00 it’s all yours!
All details for all of our events can be found on our website Britsin.LA. And finally… Ps don’t forget to visit our Facebook Page as we have lots of great concert ticket competitions courtesy of Goldenvoice! Celtic Woman, Estelle, Dave Stewart, Johnny Marr and more!
Cheers!
Eileen
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