Christmas Pantomime, Winter Wonderland and Wollaton Lights!

The first day of annual leave called for a day full of Christmas and I couldn't have been more ready. 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

After 3 night shifts, I woke up a little later than anticipated so had a little bit of a rush to get to the city centre ready for the pantomime. I was running a little late and then there was a road closure so I ended up parking at the park and ride for the first time. It was super easy and way cheaper than parking in town so I think it's defintely something I would do again when I'm heading in by myself, because a single return is cheaper than parking for one. 

I ended up being 3 minutes late to the pantomime, but they made me wait 10 minutes before I could go in, which was a little annoying. They made it way more noticeable that I was late as they paraded me in, in the middle of the first dance number. In the end, I don't think I missed much, it was just a slight shame to have missed any. It was good fun and the cast were really good, especially Steph from Steps who played the Evil Witch in Snow White. She has an incredibly voice. In all honesty though, they massively played on the comedy aspect, missing the majority of the storyline and ultimately the focus was on "Muddles" and not "Snow White" which I didn't love. 

Afterwards, I headed to the Nottingham Christmas market, now officially named "Winter Wonderland". It's been massively extended this year and it's really amazing. It has a good range of booths, activities and the paid experiences are much larger than previous years. It was really nice to go, especially because it's the first time in nearly a decade that I haven't been to London for Christmas. 

I never usually eat at Christmas markets but after rushing in the morning, I was starving. I was planning on going to a restaurant but I bottled it because they were all so busy, and I didn't want to go out alone. I ended up enjoying a bratwurst, tornado chips and chocolate brownie instead. The chips were massively overrated and not at all crispy, but perhaps I got a poor batch. 

I then raced home, picked up some Christmas presents and headed to Christmas at Wollaton to see the Christmas lights. I've been every year since they started and whilst it is very overpriced, I do really enjoy it. This year, the weather was much milder and brighter, which I think brought out more children so it wasn't quite the same peacefulness I expected. Also, there didn't seem to be as much lights, nor as much variation. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it. 

To end the night, I headed to my cousins. I dropped off some presents, picked up one of my own and then got some baby snuggles before baby D started to be super fussy and need his mummy back. All in all though, it was the first positive day I had without tears for a long time.