Love actually is everywhere.

I am sitting in my newly decorated room and the rims of my eyes are slightly burning from the long day I have had. It was one of those days that was perfectly balanced. I was able to work out in the morning, clean, wrap presents, get my teeth cleaned and fit in a chapter or two of Breaking Dawn in between the flossing and errand running. I impulsively showered for a second time and felt much better having done so, and before I knew it, it was dinner time with mom, Don, and poppy, who arrived yesterday. And of course we went to Spirits and had the most incredible mac and cheese on the planet - which naturally is the perfect end to any meaningful day.

While I can still taste the delicious blend of warm cheeses as I write, I think the best part of the day was watching Love Actually with the family. It has always been one of my favorite movies, but it had been a long time since I had really watched it intently. So often we get wrapped up in multi-tasking that it becomes hard to just sit and watch a movie. So funny that as humans we spend our days complaining and yearning for relaxation and when we finally get it, we don't quite know what to do with ourselves. But tonight was a rare occasion (most likely encouraged by the mac and cheese coma) in which I was engaged in just one thing and utterly content.

The message of that movie makes me so happy inside. I absolutely love it. And I love that it takes place in London. Seeing the double decker red buses, the millennium bridge and Embankment in the scene setting shots reminded me of how much I loved it there. My time in London, now being over a whole year ago, seems like a dream - a part of my life that is so compartmentalized from anything else I have ever done, sequestered away in the back of my mind until it is stirred awake by the charming sound of Hugh Grant's accent, or a pan of Trafalgar Square in a film. I think the best things in life should feel like a dream, which is perhaps why they consider the best things in life a dream come true.

Now it is time to let myself slip into a dream of my own. I usually try to write something more profound or engaging, but I think this blog is going to be more of a free write than Little London Lady, because well - let's face it. My daily life here is not nearly as exciting as far as events and experiences. But this is what I need. To just say whatever pops into my head, and have that be okay. After all, with Lynnie coming home tomorrow, Christmas, my 21st birthday celebration in downtown Raleigh, New Years Eve and my internship in Nashville all on the horizon, I've got a feeling I will need my rest.