• Tucking the children up in their beds before escaping on the train to London.
• Enjoying the novelty of travelling without buggy, masses of luggage, bored children or grumpy partner. I read my book and dozed all the way to Paddington. Bliss.
• Wondering when (if ever) pulling into Ealing Broadway station won’t feel like coming home.
• Drinking hot chocolate and eating a mince pie at my Mum’s flat.
• Getting my hair done with my Mum and sister. Before I left London I had been going to the same hairdresser for over 20 years. That is to say, she started cutting my hair when I was a toddler! When I first came to Devon I used to travel back for the odd trim but it became too expensive. It was so, so nice to sit in my usual chair and feel completely at ease. She probably knows my hair better than I know it myself!
• Jumping on the Central line and heading to Oxford Street. (This did make me feel slightly touristy… a Londoner with any sense probably wouldn’t go up town on a Saturday two weeks before Christmas… but it was so much fun!)
• Being joined by my best friend and eating yummy food at a restaurant in St Christopher’s Place (one of my favourite spots in London).
• Hitting Selfridges! I bought some fabulous goodies but to be honest I was restricted by how busy it was. In the beauty hall it was almost impossible to get near some of the more popular counters, let alone get served by anyone.
• Worrying about the children. I only phoned and texted home a few (hundred) times.
• Wandering down Regent Street and marvelling at the beauty of the Christmas lights. My favourite was the Eros statue in Picadilly that has been turned into a giant snow globe.
• Treating my Mum to dinner.
• Watching ‘Legally Blonde’. It was absolutely brilliant. The script was incredibly witty and I loved some of the songs. A musical with real dogs on stage and a song that asks whether someone is ‘Gay or just European’ is guaranteed to make me smile!!
• Waiting by the stage door and meeting the stars of the show. My sister has some great pictures.
• Eating a yummy breakfast before travelling back to Devon.
• Coming back down to earth with a bump. Three days worth of washing to catch up on, no food in the house, laundry to put away etc, etc.
• Missing the sound of the A40, the taste of London tap water, the 207 bus, crazy people on the Underground, the abundance of kebab restaurants/polish shops/halal butchers, oyster cards…

Loveaudrey xxx