XMAS SPOILER ALERT!  YOU ARE NOW FULLY WARNED.

Thanksgiving at Soho House.  Sublime.

Example:  Who’s Sarah Brown?  It’s true, we asked the question when told she was in the house, so to speak.  Oh yes, she’s the woman whose husband, Gordon, used to run a country called Great Britain and uttered these words a few short weeks ago after enjoying our Thanksgiving menu:  “my compliments to the chef.”

Festive Food Fair at Bluewater.  Ridiculous.

Example:  Teenage girl decked out in jeggings, a pair of Uggs and toting a lovely Louis Vuitton bag.  “Are dem free?”  “No, dem are not.”  “Can I get a free sample?”  “No.”  It was a tough call between this example and another which prompted the reply “nothing in life is free.”  It was the fashion sense that tipped the scale.  Along those lines, I can happily report fashion is, indeed, cyclic:  high-top blindingly white Reeboks preferably with Velcro straps are strutting up and down the mall at Bluewater.  Circa Richard Simmons, early 80’s or so.  It was a memory best left blocked but, alas, it’s back to haunt me.  Better hair, though, this time around.  It’s good to see gender parity when it comes to hair care, styling, color options (including but not limited to highlights, lowlights and frosting) and product usage.  Progress if ever there was any.

Oh how quickly the spirit of the season can be crushed.

Toss into the mix a quick jaunt to Aberdeen for a book signing and our most successful festival event ever, and you get a fair idea of the past few weeks.  Christmas looms but we’re buzzing along nicely if not consciously.  Plenty of cranberry pies (our answer to mince meat) are in the pipeline, but you never know when a Sweatin’ to the Oldies flashback could paralyze us and shut production down.

It’s our best guess that with the Christmas clock ticking down, we will not be blogging prior to the day.  With that in mind, both of us wish you and yours the happiest and healthiest of the holiday season. Be merry and enjoy.