winters arrived

The past few days have seen "winter" embrace this little island. 

We have had rain, wind, thunder and lightening and it is f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g. And when I say freezing I mean the temperature dropped below 15 degrees. Anyone in the UK is laughing at me right now, but seriously, after months of plus 30 degrees, it feels so cold that my bones are constantly shivering. 

I even wore a hat on my walk to work this morning so my ears would be spared that cold burning sensation.

With that being said it seems like the perfect time to discuss the John Lewis christmas ad. I think the christmas ads from these guys are amazing. Somehow, they always suck the emotion out of you and this years is no exception. Maybe its something to do with the soundtrack. I really feel like its christmas when I catch a glimpse of this. As well as the coca cola ad obviously.

What do you think?

hibernation?

For the past few days my head has been all over the place and forming proper sentences was not a skill I could manage. Which would explain the lack of activity around here. If I were to give you a visual perspective of what my brain felt like it would probably be something like this....

source

I big white haze of nothing-ness. A weekend of sleeping, lunch with girlfriends and sex and the city seems to have done me the world of good as I emerge from my haze, well not quite, but ready as I will ever be for another Monday.

Maybe it's my inner desire for hibernation?

music to my ears.

When me and the boyfriend first started going out; way back when I was just 16 and he was 17 and teenage love was blossoming, our first discovery of mutual musical love was a Moby song. 

Everytime I hear it all those emotions and memories come flooding back. I remember the first time we saw each other [because the first time he saw me, I wasnt paying much attention], the first date; he got a projector and made a homemade cinema for us and the first time we realised, as we sat in the park in the middle of winter, freezing cold [don't ask, its what teenagers in England do] that our situations were more similar than either of us thought possible. 

And here we are 8 years later, living in together in Cyprus with a dog. His mum always says to me; "if someone had told you all those years ago that you would be living in Cyprus, you wouldn't have believed them". And she is right. I didnt even have a passport let alone aspirations of living in abroad. But if we survived the teenage years, university, long distance and many more challenging times, living together on the other side of Europe is like a walk in the park.

It's amazing to think how far life can throw you in 8 years.

the expat blog awards

The lovely people over at expats blog not only found my little online diary of love and life in Nicosia, but nominated me for an award. Expats blog is a great little (or should I say large) online community for expats the world over and I have had the pleasure to get involved (as I informed you here) and follow along with the adventures of all sorts of expats from Africa to Asia. 

And every year they launch the expat blog awards; they find the best expat blogs out there and award top blogs per country. 

So now my shameless plea for help - the awards for Cyprus are fast approaching and I would really appreciate if any of you out there feel like vocalising your thoughts to head on over here, and leave your comments at the bottom. Or click on the big blue expats blog badge on my sidebar - the same rules apply.

And while your there go check out some of the other fantastic blogs from around the world.

so december's here.

Don't you feel like this year has just flown past and suddenly December has crept up on us and its nearly the end of another year. Seriously. I remember January like it was last week. But here we are, counting down to christmas already.

source via pinterest

And this years countdown is a little more exciting than usual; because I'm going home to London for christmas!! 7 whole days of consuming everything christmas-y and London-ish I possibly can; inhaling the cold smell, seeing the lights and eating, well eating just about everything and anything I can get my hands on. (I have warned the boyfriend that he should expect me to return with at least an extra 5 pounds and im not talking money.)

Im pretty sure a christmas trip to London is bad for my waistline and bank balance but you know what, you cant put a price on happiness. And christmas should be spent with family and friends right - while its always nice to get a tan, christmas day is for roast turkey, chocolate and an afternoon on the sofa watching christmas films and opening presents.