The Nightmare Before Christmas

No, not referring to Jimmy and Leslie (above) - although that was the theme at Bungalow 8 this past weekend...these two just hadn't seen Tim Burton's claymation story, so came, well... a little more North Pole than eccentrically dark and Victorianesque. Ha! It wasn't till they got there and saw people with white faces and dark circles around their eyes that they fully understood...

Anyway, the nightmare before Christmas that I'm actually referring to is something of what the lead up to this year's holiday has been for me. I don't even mean it a smidge metaphorically; the proverbial 12 days of Christmas have been more of a walk through uncertain gloom and doom than bursting with new surprise trappings of holiday cheer. Each day of advent felt like opening a gift of coal, or maybe more accurately, nothing at all.

You see, I applied for a visa to remain in the UK, which involved shipping my passport and plenty of other documents off to the "UK Home Office" - and even though everyone else that I know who applied for the same thing got theirs within a month, mine, for whatever reason (I theorize that the Brits think I could be a Communist spy since I've traveled to way too many subversive countries, and my passport and neither of my visa photos look anything like each other) there was no sign of mine.

As a result, I moved out, but was unable to the leave country the next day as planned, and found myself, not only stranded in the UK sans family, but homeless.

Yet, as my sister told me when she departed for her flight to the States that I was supposed to be on, we wake up from our nightmares. And so we do. On Tuesday my visa came (a day late), and I was miraculously able to get a flight leaving today.

So while you all hold your breath for me that I do indeed end up home safe and sound, please enjoy these pics from one of our last 2008 nights out in London (and Kasey's last as a resident Londoner - for now) - a much more enjoyable version of "A Nightmare Before Christmas" a la Tim Burton at the uber exclusive Bungalow 8. Enjoy!

Madame Kasey caught in spider webs.



Scary snake that Jimmy found on the floor next to our table... after he terrorized people with it sufficiently, it ended up in Kasey's purse...



Who ya gonna call? Jimmy, Kasey, and Bosaina in a wretched struggle over the phone in the St. Martin's Hotel lobby.



Jimmy with me after he figured out that he should rethink the Santa theme.





The group.



Ahh... sisters... (Kasey, London and I will miss you!)