42. Day Out Saving the World / 50. Calendar

42.  Day Out Saving the World / 50.  Calendar

Choosing a theme for a calendar is a difficult prospect and it's taken slightly longer than anticipated to agree on a theme so the 2015 calendar is now a 2016 calendar...  In the end we found the answer hidden on our own to-do list - a superhero day out!

The plan was simple: dress up as superheroes and run around London finding things to save and climb and stuff, taking photos for the calendar as we went.

Having acquired costumes (from the Party Store in Clapham Junction - definitely recommend trying before you buy as the pre-made costumes seem to only fit the lady on the front of the packet and no other humans), borrowed a decent camera from Paula from the gym and bribed Alex into being the photographer, everything was ready to go until my hangover from Louise and Lori's Christmas party threatened to ruin everything.  It was a hangover worse than even the one I had from my work Christmas party; I could barely open my eyes and the idea of climbing anywhere past the sofa seemed completely unachievable.

But suddenly...

Anett uttered the immortal words guaranteed to force me to man up in any given situation:

"This is our last chance to do this"

So I made an epic Spanish tortilla and two rounds of very strong coffee and we started face painting and pulled on our tights.  Despite the availability of a photographer and a decent camera, we still had to spend a couple of minutes taking super-selfies before we left the flat.

Ready to save London

We'd made a list in advance of a few different photo ideas and locations but we started close to home at the ping pong table around the corner.  It has to be said that some ideas translated better into photos than others; the 'super-slamming rubbish into a bin' concept did not execute quite as well as anticipated!

As we mounted the bins, Anett wished her costume came with gloves too.

It's fair to say that our antics (not just the far from impressive bin climbing stunt) drew some attention and there are probably a few confused tourists out there still wondering what it was all about.  At the cinema, people found it hard to believe that we were just there to see a film...  The truth of the matter is that we just hadn't had time to go home and get changed!  Fortunately Victoria didn't mind having some slightly unconventional film/dinner buddies and even took a couple more photos for us.

Uh oh!  Looks like a chick flick!

Superhero day out / calendar list trumps!

Originality: 5/5 - safe to say we were the only people out doing this
Cost: 4/5 - just the outfits and a travelcard
Fun factor: 5/5 - hilarious AND helped clear the hangover

Anett's busily editing the photos so the finished calendar will be ready for 2016 - let us know (and give us money) if you want a copy!

12. Christmas party - bake gingerbread

12.  Christmas party - bake gingerbread

It's at this point in the blog that I should reveal that Anett and I wrote the to-do list before we decided to make it into a blog, and so some of the things on the list lend themselves better to a full blog post than others.  Clearly I have very little to say about the making of the gingerbread itself, but here's an account of our 'Wifey Christmas Date Day'.

It all started a little more hungover than intended as I'd been at my work Christmas do the night before.  I blame the free cocktails that were also 2-for-1 for everything.  After a slow and painful start, we headed out to Clapham Junction to buy outfits for our 2016 calendar (details coming after we've taken the photos!) and then hit Asda and Lidl for decorations and food supplies.

In a bid to reflect all our various heritages and traditions, we planned to mull cider, bake gingerbread and Norwegian cookies, eat Mexican food, drink eggnog and ponce around in Santa hats and Christmas jumpers watching Christmas films, listening to Christmas songs, and decorating the tree.  Later we were off to a Christmas party in Peckham.

The tree was a £12.50 bargain from Argos and at 6ft tall, the quality was definitely not premium.  Upon getting it home, we quickly realised that 6 baubles and a star were not enough decoration.  Fortunately Asda had the answer in the form of 12 more baubles and some lights and the tree (while still a budget effort) looks very respectably Christmassy now.

A few extra baubles and some lights - transformed!

The tree on the day we got it

After lunch and a bit of Christmas music I was starting to feel better so we got on with the mulled cider and eggnog prep.  In the end we didn't quite get to the Norwegian cookies but between us we knocked together some yummy cactus tacos and some super tasty gingerbread.  The mulled cider was dangerously tasty and we nailed two saucepans of the stuff in a very short time.  Fortunately the eggnog's creaminess and super sweetness slowed us down as we contemplated how much better things would be if Hugh Grant really was prime minister, and whether there ever was a time where turtlenecks really were that prevalent.

Mmmm Mexican food (ate the other one before taking the picture)

After the obligatory Love Actually viewing, we headed off in our Santa hats to catch the bus to Peckham.  It seems our hats made us very approachable and we made a few friends at the bus stop!  Fortunately we also left said friends at the bus stop.  We finished off the day at Victoria's flat in Peckham, drinking sloe gin and eating pigs in blankets and gingerbread until approximately 3am.  A Christmas party double-ender!

So many kinds of writing icing!

Gingerbread recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096
Eggnog: http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/best-eggnog-recipe/#hDJ3YuDEkfAbVMAr.97

Christmas party /  gingerbread making list trumps!

Originality: 1/5 (not very original at all but we did combine a few national traditions)
Cost: 5/5 (let's consider again how much of a bargain £12.50 for a 6 foot tree is)
Fun factor: 5/5 - probably in the top 10 days of this year