Win Ice Skating Tickets!

I love ice-skating.  I’m not very good at it, but enjoy it immensely.  Coming from Australia, we don’t have outdoor ice-skating rinks (well, none that I know of), and certainly none during the festive season, which is the height of our summer.  One thing I’ve loved doing each of the 12 winters I’ve endured in the UK is go to an outdoor rink and stumble around.  I have been lucky enough to do this in Edinburgh, Kew Gardens, at the base of the Tower of London, Canary Wharf, and even in Berlin.  I missed out last year, as I was pregnant with Pickle; and this year with a newborn and recovering from SPD (more on that later), I will eagerly await the opportunity to return at the end of this year instead (though not the return of winter!).

The fabulous Westfield Stratford City has kindly offered a family ticket (for 2 adults and 2 children) for this weekend, so some of you out there can enjoy their outdoor real-ice rink set against the backdrop of the Olympic Stadium and East London skyline.  You’ll have to be quick though, as the rink is only open until this Sunday, so the competition closes at 5am on Friday 6th January.  Skating sessions are open:

• Saturday 7^th January:  9:15am-11pm
• Sunday 8^th January:  11:30am- 6:45pm

There are three ways to enter - please see the Rafflecopter form below.  The blog comment is mandatory, and you can get extra entries by following me on Twitter and by tweeting the message detailed below.  

Happy skating!

4/366 - My First Birthday

Today is my first birthday.  Well, my first birthday as a Mummy.  I was spoiled by BoyWonder and Pickle, so I thought I'd share with you the picture of my best boys taken at the start of my birthday lunch at Thackeray's.

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While Pickle may have BoyWonder's looks and personality (so far), his eyes and one other attribute he obviously gets from me!

Our meal deserves a blog post of it's own, as it was possibly one of the best meals we've ever had.  It sure beats our meal at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.

Cheers, KangaRue :)

3/366 - Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch

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Today is my birthday eve.  I really wanted steak for dinner, so we popped to the supermarket - if I'd planned it better we would have gone to the fab local-ish butcher.  BoyWonder did a perfect job of cooking it medium-rare, just how I like it, along with double-cooked chips and a stack of garlic veggies.  We'd been saving this bottle of wine for a special occasion.  The "Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch" isn't just a cute name, it is a serious Victorian Shiraz.  Blackberry, pepper and cinnamon added to the depth of flavour.  I wish all wine tasted this good.  And yes, the name is cute!

Cheers, KangaRue :)

2/366 - Pickle's recovery sleep

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Poor Pickle woke on New Years Eve with a nasty cough and cold.  It's the first time he's been sick, and it's been horrible listening to him cough.  I'm surprised at how lightly I've slept, as I wake to every snuffle, just in case.  He's starting to feel better though, and has been sleeping well to fight against the last of his illness.  I'm loving how pudgy his hands are, and his dimpled chin (just like his Daddy's) is my favourite bit.

Cheers, KangaRue :)

Update
I discovered Project 365 last year when following The Boy and Me on Twitter, and was inspired to do my own this year.  She is doing a weekly link-up for favourite photos of the week.  I was debating between sentiment and technique, but think this photo meets both criteria, hence it being my linky this week :)

Project 365* - A Photo a Day

I love the idea of taking a photo a day to reflect back on the year.  I will endeavor to post them here at least weekly, but ideally more often.  Sometimes I'll include details, but no doubt there will be "silent" posts too.

We spent New Years Eve with good friends, having a fun and relaxing evening, though Pickle has his first cold and is not currently the cheeriest.  Today we caught up with some other friends, and I was seriously impressed with their Gingerbread House.  While I didn't think to get a photo before we started demolition, it was fairly early on in the process...

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It was a quick snap with my camera phone - after getting home at 2am, Pickle still wanted to get up at 7am and I almost forgot about Project 365 in my sleepiness.  So it will be good to see my photography hopefully develop throughout the year (no pun intended).

* While it's known as Project 365, 2012 is a leap year so there will be 366 photos.

Cheers, KangaRue