lightning strikes twice

My amazing wife created a unique Christmas tree this week — the photo doesn’t really do it justice, but here it is:

Boy, was I excited about our new bookshelves being installed… well, here they are:

Great huh?  They’re super strong too… you could hang off them.

Cadel Evans on his inspiration: “I first came across Tintin in my school library, and I got right into it … They’re the best books for kids. Tintin is the best role model: he’s brave, he’s good, he helps the weak, he’s perfect. There are so many countries I want to go to just because he went there.” Fantastic.

From The Fitz Files

I loved The Sartorialist’s post today about Carine Roitfeld and how she is so happy to interact with everyday people.  I was in Milan last October for Trender Bender and travelling with my wife, and I got several chances to take her photo — she was always super lovely to me.

The Sartorialist's shot of Carine Roitfeld

All week we scoured the weather reports — would the bbq we were hosting to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our baby be ruined by rain?  The consensus was rain and the morning, and clearing in the afternoon.  And that pretty much summed it up, though we never really got the sunshine we were after (Sunday, however, was perfect!).

Really though, the weather was only a small part of it anyway — the best bit was getting to see friends we hadn’t seen in a while (this year has been especially hectic).  I was also really keen to show off our beautiful house — so many of our friends hadn’t even seen the place…. and we’ve only been here for 12 months.  The worst bit (apart from completely forgetting to take any photos!) was kids and chocolate — some dirty hands found their way on some of my favourite furniture.  But I guess I’ll just have to start getting used to it huh.

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall – I wasn’t expecting much, but this was a pretty decent comedy!  Some genuinely laugh out loud funny moments in this story about losing a longtime love, and trying to put the pieces back together again.
• Rocknrolla – A few script flaws aside, this was an enthralling and snappily edited gangster type flick.  Full of humour, the two hours flew by.  I particularly enjoyed the characterisations and the lighting (not sure why I noticed the lighting, but it seemed to particularly good!).  I was suprised to see Idris Elba (aka Stringer Bell from The Wire) in one of the prominent roles… I had no idea he was English.