It's (still) a Wonderful Life.

As we straddle the end of Christmas

and await NYE celebrations,

I'm finding myself in the middle of a quick downshift

from the holiday madness.

While most of the time,

the buzz around the holidays is referred to with a roll of the eyes,

I actually love the holiday madness

and this year, we found it especially hard to give up.

After spending the first half of December in the States,

we headed back to London

to host my (entire!) family

for a very special Christmas in London.

It was magical and perfect

and all that you could really hope for...

minus the constant drizzle of rain!

So after we said goodbye to the last of our entourage yesterday,

we found ourselves moping about in our flats

and feeling a little claustrophobic.

It was time for some fresh air

and a reminder that life was still going on

and how absurdly lucky we are to be living in a great place...

even if that sometimes means you are far away from people you love.

We headed out feeling pretty fussy.

grabbed some beverages for the journey....

and wandered down to Portobello Road.

I've found that walking around Notting Hill, 

makes it hard to stay blue

when everything else is so bright and cheery.

Sometimes this place can even make me prance a little.

When we arrived to the market,

we headed straight to Poundland where we refilled

on essentials like batteries & shower gel.

Then we stocked up at Cath Kidston's after Christmas sale with £6 of goods.

The streets were full of people who were wandering around

and enjoying the adventure of being somewhere fun.

"Chinease Pears?" Hmm....

The feeling soon became contagious 

and, as the rain started to fall harder,

our spirits lifted back to a state of normalcy.

I may have even slipped on some rain water at a deli

and flailed my bulbous pregnant-self down a flight of stairs

into a horrified audience of people eating dinner

 earning me one of the world's ugliest bruises on my butt.

But somehow, 

even that didn't really matter.

By the time we got back home,

we were normal again

and I even made a homemade chicken pot pie.

{Which would indicate I was feeling obscenely better than average.}

I hope that where ever you are today between the holidays,

you find yourself happy & content!

{And far away from any slick stairs.}

*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy