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winter is for me synonym of warm meals, red wine, cosy evenings indoors, watching classics, knitting n bitching, but also long walks and drinks with friends... before heading home for christmas. the first two weekends of december included all of this and yet, this month is fleeing away too quickly. i have two busy weeks of work ahead to tie some loose ends and only one weekend left before a break of over two weeks which will take me away from london and the net.

but let's step back a week. last saturday we went to claire and mac's engagement party, and it was fun to dance on the tables till the wee hours. rivers of champagne flew all night long, and claire looked truly happy. yesterday we reunited with a few friends in a pub for a fat chat and then moved downstairs where an indie night was on. at first, it felt like a private party: it was just the group of us and we could even express our music preferences. later it became fuller but we still had the lead of the dance floor. genuine fun. we went to sleep at 4am, and ele stayed at mine, while lofty headed off to the east end to join friends for the boxing.

this morning we woke up at a respectable noon, and I had the most delicious cinnamon tart dressed with hand-made jam. in the afternoon, i ventured to high street kensington to check out uniqlo, a japanese chain which recently grew also in london. they sell cashmere, merino- or lamb-wool jumpers at affordable prices, which are basic, but well tailored. i haven't investigated their ethics as yet, but i appreciate their use of natural fibres. afterwards, i met up with a friend of a friend for a tea (actually for a chai!) and then did some food shopping in tuttocibo, another chain (american) which landed to london in all its grandeur: three floors of organic food spanning from japanese mushrooms, ginger cereals, provolone, to blueberry venisson sausages and edelflower yogurt/ice cream - just to mention what caught my eye/palate. what it is impressive is the amount of food piled up and the intense flavour of its ingredients. "strozzapreti alla norcina", ragu with "polenta alla marchigiana" (my specialty) and venisson steaks with potatoes were some *proper* meals we prepared out of it. i am too lazy to post recipes now, but do let me know if you want any of them and i will be more than happy to oblige. we haven't any xmas tree this year. we have flashy lights and candles lit up all year round, and this is it. we consciously resolved to bypass real trees as a symbolic gesture to discourage the cruel market of *rootless trees*. we bought a little one last year and, after it yellowed soon after the New Year, my suspicion that we were sold a tree without roots was confirmed. as every year i need to put more and more effort to switch into xmas mode, without a tree i need to find inspiration elsewhere and possibly as far as possible from the most blatant form of consumerism...