psychedelic christmas in the opium den

On Wednesday, something that potentially resolved my sticky situation materialised (fingers crossed still. .) Although I will still have to be frugal, I never felt so relieved and thankful. I convinced D we needed to do The Big Shop-- i.e. large haul at the supermarket, a.k.a. one of my favourite activities I look forward to. . and he kept going, "Look how much food there is in. . we're not going to go mad!". Of course, like two crazy people who love food shopping, we did go a little mad. Because of the spark of good news, Christmas would be Christmas after all, and I wouldn't keep holing myself up and feeling Apocalyptic. 

Blue LED lights around the ficcus tree and some white-themed baubles; cards from D's mom, my mom and a student; presents under the tree-- I asked D, "Just to be clear, there are three for me?"/ "Who else would they be for". 

I love my kitchen more than my wardrobe. It is also more diverse than my wardrobe, funnily enough. My snack bar is always loaded with all sorts of munchies-- trays full of chocolates, bags full of chips and boxes of biscuits. A large tin of Quality Street and miscellaneous boxes of truffles complete the feel, together with the Live well, love much, laugh often sign on the exposed brick walls as an everyday reminder. Bottles of booze and two new pints of icecream. . hohoho it's Christmas! 

And a sexy man lighting the fireplace ;)

Vegetables and wine heating up on a clean gas stove. . whilst D keeps laughing at me saying, "Ooh, vegetables" because a year ago, he'd go, "I am going to have words with your mother that on your own you do not buy vegetables at all". Always invoking my mother's name, tsk tsk. And even longer ago when we were friends he'd do that too, and I'd smugly tell myself, "hahaha as though you will ever be in a position to meet my mother". Now I eat my words as I eat my . . vegetables.

 

Really loving this shelf now that I've got the colour theme sorted out. . 

And the extravagant feather lashes I picked out for the night.

D: "You look like an exotic animal". Purrfect.

A roaring fire. . Oh, how do I love fireplaces :) The first morning we woke up in the flat, we were poking around and D went, "This fireplace works. .". I couldn't be more glad. The last time I played with a real fireplace, I was about 3 in California.

 The Chef in action.

Absolutely loving the psychedelic colours of this dress that I designed myself a few years back. My mother's friend brought me shopping for textiles and I fell in love with this print. What was rather ironical was that it was my mother who first introduced her friend to that complex to buy textiles when they were in their early twenties. . and then it was her friend who brought me there later. Even more memorable in this circle of events was how my late maternal grandmother would bring my two older cousins and myself there to buy textiles to tailor her clothes for many years when we were younger. . 

I wanted a slightly decadent vintage feel, so I curled my hair, slipped on some gloves, and strapped on some lace stockings. As usual, I had fun with Photobooth and kinda thought that this picture channeled Salt.

self-designed dress; ebay fur collar & satin gloves; Diva ring; vintage earrings; Raoul shoes; Leg Avenue stockings.

"You have to dress up", I told D. And so he did. And Narcissus In Denial posed away with Narcissa, his female counterpart.

Candles, crystal goblets, Port, red wine, yum.

 Us both in suede shoes; the Laughing Buddha I got him as a reminder to meditate. "Guess what it is"/ "I don't know. . feels like an ornament"/ "Well why the hell would I get you an ornament"/ (Smiling happily) "It must be a Buddha!". Another present well-chosen. Pats self on back.

 Love those shoes!

 

Somehow that photographic accident on the left has a Tron-kinda feel. . 

 We had a good laugh to ourselves and decided to watch a goofy Holiday movie, doubling over with laughter at Home Alone before savouring the 1994 Stargate flick.

  And, the flat really does look like an Opium Den that Sherlock Holmes would visit, as identified by the lovely Penny Dreadful. Exactly the effect I want to achieve but never knew how to articulate. :)

We've been watching so many films over the past few days, and the strange combinations (e.g. Stargate Atlantis and Inception) have been leading to odd dreams. Tonight we are watching Stargate SG-1 & Atlantis, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Brazil. . and I wonder just how bizarre adventures over at Sandman's Turf are gonna be. In the  meantime, food over the past few days have been awesome.

 "We must have a cracker selection, not just one type" D said, before we heard some other dude behind us saying the exact thing to his partner. Must be a male thang, I bet. So came a cheese platter with chorizo, venison sausages, Boursin, Danish blue and Brie. Complete with strawberries on the side.

I told D, "These are my first real prawns since I've been to the UK". Coming from Singapore, I am fussy about my prawns. They must not have been artificially-treated (people get amused when I call them 'fake prawns') and must be big, fat and juicy. These ones did it for me.

This morning afternoon, D asked me, "Aren't you going to make me breakfast?" as I lazily spread jam and butter over my toast. I thought he was joking and he gave me that So Much For Me Feeding You Most Of The Time Look so I whipped this up for him. He looked a little touched and surprised when I presented the plate in front of him and told him for the millionth time that I am not a lazy bitch (running joke between us). Although, the mushrooms were fried with red wine gravy for the turkey and chilli oil. Scrumptious :)

It is hard to find turkey or any Christmas meats for two people. Everything says, "Serves ten" or "Serves twelve" so much so we tell ourselves, "Serves six" will be just right for us. D kept droning on about "We'll be eating food for days and days and days you know", whilst I keep reiterating that every month during Big Shop the fridge and cupboards are chock-full and there's no problem finishing all. Then, he tells his mother we have enough food to last through a nuclear war and Holocaust. But, the turkey lasts us two days. Hohoho. I knew it. He was exaggerating. This was another leftover-turkey snack-- shredded turkey meat with chopped Ramiro peppers and hardboiled eggs, tossed lightly with some gravy and chilli oil.

Turkey sandwich with chunks of butter, served with fruits of the forest and pickled onions on a bed of chips.

 

 Baked salmon drizzled with a white-wine-and-shallots sauce served on a bed of spinach and creme fraise. New potatoes, courgette chips and garlic mushrooms on the side.

This was Christmas Day Roast Dinner. "Because we must do traditional"--D. We had Thai on Christmas eve, though. A huge pile of food with cocktail sausages on the side. "Because you're not supposed to move after eating".

Prawn salad. A fan of raw avocado with yellow peppers and cherry tomatoes. Served with a spicy sauce concoction of sweet chilli sauce, white pepper, olive oil, chilli powder and lemon juice.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Thank you all for your wonderful wishes, positive vibes and lovely thoughts. . I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas. Have a lovely Rest Of The Year and may next year be momentous, wonderful and memorable :)