Soooo much news.

I really don't know where to start!?!? First of all I suppose I ought to start with the traditional 'Happy New Year' to you all - OK, we're 11 days into 2011 but I think it's still appropriate don't you?

Lots of pics on this blog post so lets start with this fabulous picture of a celeb and me! None other than the gorgeous Ian Wright came into the Victoria again the other evening just before the NY. I say again, as this is the second time he's been in - he seems to like our pub, and after his performance that evening we really like him as well!

What a true gent he was! I confess to not being too sure who he was first time round, but this time I was better acquainted with his history, and he was by far (apart from Nick Knowles of course - swoon/sigh) the nicest 'celeb' we've had in the Victoria. He spoke to customers who came up to him, he made a huge fuss of a little lad who was a Man City supporter (his son is a footballer for the team, so I was told) even stopping on his way out to shake hands and say goodbye to everyone.

Next - our New Years Eve was an absolutely total rip roaring success.......... the bookings were a bit slow off the mark at first, but we went from half empty to full in about a day and a half and there was a fantastic atmosphere. A great party of drinkers that came in and stayed in, diners that also stayed and made the most of the evening and overall we were very happy with events, although I thought that Salcombe as a whole was a lot quieter this year. I love this picture of my very dear friend Theresa and I ............

Then for weeks now I've been keeping a secret........ for anyone that knows me, you'll know that this is almost an impossibility for me, but keep it I did! My best friend Tanya got married to Peter, with SOH and I just two of a select group invited up to London too be part of this fantastic event. Tanya and I have been through so much together in our twenty odd years of friendship, and my greatest wish in the last couple of years since her previous Husband died was that she would find the sort of happiness that I found with my Tim - and now she has!

The wedding was at Kensington & Chelsea Registry Office on a very wet day, but my goodness the love from all the guests soon outweighed what was falling from the sky!

Tanya looked stunning in her knee length designer dress, Versace shoes (an impossible 5 inches high - at least!!) her hair dressed up and make up (she hardly ever wears any - doesn't need too......!) just perfect. The groom as you can see, scrubbed up pretty well also!

The reception was at 'Toms Kitchen' in a private dining room - and I have to say it was an excellent bash all the way round - great food, excellent service and really lovely surroundings! I hope Tanya & Peter have a great long life together, filled with even more of the happiness and love that they AND all of us felt and witnessed on their wedding day.

To round off such a fabulous and memorable day, I treated SOH to seats to see Les Miserables in the West End in the evening, and flip me, what seats they were! Front row Circle almost directly in front of the stage..... I've never had such good seats to anything and they were worth every penny! Well, maybe lets not talk pennies - but hey, it's only money!!

Also, despite it being my third time of seeing this fabulous show, it still made me cry.......... with a woman sat on the right of Tim who was also crying at various points. He found that quite amusing!!! After the show, neither of us was particularly hungry (thanks to the lavish food at the wedding reception) so we had a very romantic hand in hand walk around London's sights ending up at the back of Harrods looking at the very expensive cars parked outside of the very expensive houses!! I'm sure we looked like a couple of crooks casing the place!!

So a pretty amazing start to the New Year of 2011, with a staff party that I'll talk about in the next blog. In the mean time I'm out practicing my driving skills as I'm driving myself to Portsmouth (at last!) this weekend to see my lovely son and his wife - my first ever long drive and solo as well..... so wish me luck people!!