What do we call this new decade? "The Tenties"?
That's right folks, it's not just a new year but a new freakin' DECADE. In the next decade I'll be 30. YIKES!
Thank God I'm not there yet! (No insults meant for those 30 and over...)
Well anyway, before I dig myself a very premature grave, I would like to take the time to review last night.
My cousin asked me to attend "The New Year London Fireworks Display" (a very made up title by me) to which of course I jumped at the chance! I've always seen it on TV and now was my chance to experience it.
Being wrapped up in leggings, high socks, boots, 3 quarter length top, 3 quarter length cardigan, coat, woollen scarf and woollen hat was apparently not enough - it was bloody freezing.
Anywho, first stop was Hyde Park's "Winter Wonderland". It's basically a German Market with a lot of stalls selling different things. People in Essex always complain about things being pricey so good thing they don't live in London otherwise they'd have keeled over by now from shock. A tiny cup of mulled wine cost a whooping £4. Four pounds!! I kid you not. My hot chocolate cost £3 and it was gone in sixty seconds.
Anyway, here are some (fabulous) pictures (from yours truly).
(excuse my fringe, it's not meant to look like that...)
The magic you can produce from a 10 megapixel camera, eh? Eat your heart out Jennifer Alice Boydon! ... (I kid. Jen's amazing at photography.)
SO, after spending some time looking around this very picturesque little village, we left and went on our merry way to Westminster, where we could grab a bite to eat (McDonalds, I'll have you know) and then find a spot and...well, wait.
For 6 hours.
I'm not kidding! We claimed our spot at about 6pm. And we were pretty darn freezing! London looked very pretty all lit up, though.
To waste our time we played some music since there was no DJ there at the time and played Trivial Pursuit on Tom's phone. After a while nature called so I queued up for the toilets...and I was in the queue for half an hour. Got to the end eventually and it was filled with vile drunks, there was no toilet roll (they didn't even have any spare!) and there was pee all over the toilet seats. Classy.
I went back and someone suggested going home because of the cold! Nuts! Yes, we were freezing, but we knew we would be and had got this far (it was currently 9pm) plus we came specifically to see the fireworks! I wasn't going home!
So someone suggested we find a pub to keep warm for a couple of hours and come back out again...so we lost our amazing spot. A spot where we were right in front of the barrier and had nothing blocking our view. I was annoyed and upset but also welcomed the walk as it warmed us up a bit.
We soon discovered that nothing was open, areas were blocked off and if we went out we weren't guarenteed entry, which I wasn't surprised about to be honest.
Things just started to pick up; the crowd was getting bigger and music had started to play. Mike and his girlfriend ended up going home while Lorraine, Tom and I stayed to brave the weather and watch the fireworks.
We kept walking up and down amongst the crowd to stay warm and to keep the feeling in our feet, filming a few things along the way. The London Community came together to party!
The London Eye also began to start changing colours round about 10pm.
We claimed a new spot which was actually in the road behind a curb. There were (tall) people on the curb and, being only 5", this was a bit of a pain nevermind the fact that I had a freakin' tree right in view. Oh well.
Anyway, there were times when the DJ ordered us to get our cameras and phones and start flashing the lights towards the London Eye because there was a helicopter near it (I can only assume it was the BBC up there, or something).
Time was ticking away and eventually the countdown started.
I don't know why but it was...a hard thing to do. The seconds were dwindling quickly and we were a few short moments away from entering 2010. Like I said in a previous blog, 2009 was a brilliant year and it kinda feels like...maybe my luck is up now. Last year I was quite free and this year I feel like I have a lot of responsibility and growing up coming my way. Maybe "luck" isn't the word, but...I don't know how to describe it, really. I went through a lot from 2000 - 2009 and I feel like I've been through a lot of bad moments but came out of the decade as a stronger woman and ended it on a high. But now I feel that's behind me. This is a new me. I feel like I have a lot of changes coming up.
There's always a bit of hesitation when entering a new year I think, because you never know what's coming for you. I have no idea what's in store for me and...it's scary. This is my first year as an adult.
As soon as everyone chanted out "ONE!" the fireworks started and Big Ben chimed. There's something about those chimes...it's a sound that defines finality or authority, in my opinion. It was like...2009 is officially over. It's gone. You've no choice but to leave it behind.
I didn't want to wave goodbye to be honest, it was the best year I've ever had.
But you know what? It's not about looking back, it's about looking forward and taking everything you've learned from the past and applying it to the present to help your future.
As apprehensive as I am about this new year and decade, I will try to remain positive.
I'll dance all the way, I know it's gonna be okay.
I'll live for glitter and myself, not for anyone else, because I'm not what you think I am; I am made of Gold.
Spray on the cheese.
Hope it's a good'un, guys!
x
