Housewarming

Hello my lovelies!

Sorry I disappeared off the planet for a while...such is life though eh? Have been cooking up a few new posts as well which took a bit of time to perfect...and this Old Cheeser is a bit of a perfectionist as you well know. Also as you'll see I managed to sort Blogger out and revert back to my original template thus restoring things nicely! Thanks Deemer for the tip.

Anyways, I thought it was high time I posted up some pics from my housewarming party!!

I actually thought it would be nice if I showed you some photos of the finished flat first of all. In fact I already posted some piccies of la apartment on my Xmas 2007 post for anyone that viewed that one... But then I think someone recently asked when I was going to post photos of the flat so perhaps they weren't seen by all of you after all. And really I'm just looking for an opportunity to show off again...Oh I'm such a bourgeois property queen now...home owing goes to one's head.

So...Here's the lounge with the new sofa in the foreground (beige is a bit of a no-no when it comes to things like food and red wine, but so far it's been fine, thank the lord!) and dining table and chairs and Rio picture in the background. It's a really excellently sized room and perfect for an erm, party...

Nice swirly chocolate rug from Dwell which sits next to the sofa.

Matching chair that goes with the sofa. And Argos catalogue on the chair. Ahem. No snobby comments please. Nice mini Warhol type pictures of flowers on the wall.

Sideboard with funky alien light in the corner. Looks like it might come alive and zap you but actually rather cooool.

Another sensational view of the dining table and back of the room!

Lampshade in the main hallway. It replaces a black one which was up there before...we thought black was a bit oppressive as a colour (darling) so went for something a bit lighter.

Mirrors in the hallway and next to the bathroom door.

Another view of the hallway with hanging pink lamp.

The cuisine. I can't tell you how great it is to have a gas cooker - gas hob to be precise - after having an electric one in our previous abode. Electric hobs are totally rubbish!

Another view of the kitchen. With very nice units which the previous owners had installed so we didn't have to get the kitchen refitted or anything. Note all the matching silver kitchen accoutrements, which come from...guess where? (See catalogue on chair in previous pic for a clue).

The spare bedroom. We've actually got a sofa in there at present and there's a desk in the corner so it's more of an "office". The Warholian divas remain (had 'em on the wall in our last abode).

Our bedroom. The other walls are a light brown with the "bed" wall red. With matching bed clothes. Works well eh? And now...ta dah!! Some housewarming piccies...

Me and my lovely hubbie before the guests arrived. The cooking's been done, the drinks are ready and the furniture has been rearranged...

And here's some scrumptious nosh prepared by my hubbie...he spent hours slaving away getting everything ready, bless him. Needless to say all of the food was totally devoured - not to mention all of the wine, beer and vodka. Heavens, parties can be expensive affairs!

Me and Gu opening a nice bottle of bubbly, again pre-arrival of guests before the party kicked off. Kind of a significant moment for us really. After months of paperwork, endless dealings with estate agents and solicitors, moving into the flat itself, decorating, painting, putting together new furniture, moving things round, tidying things up...finally, after all of that, everything was ready and we were able to properly unveil our new pad to our public! For any of you who've gone through the whole process of purchasing a property I'm sure you all know how ultra-satisfying such a feeling is. To have arrived at that point was...so completely wonderful!

No, I'm no actually that drunk, still drinking the same stuff. But I thought the mask was a nice added touch (from mardi gras in Brazil as it happens). Inevitably it ended up getting worn by everyone else throughout the night and somewhere along the line, got lost. Pah!

Some friends arrive, getting into the swing.

More party friends!

And more!

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Elton John's sister had arrived.

Who then promptly turned into Ginger Spice.

Back in the lounge, the dancing was getting...interesting.

If not a tad risque.

Erm, look this is a supposed to be a respectable party yes? Yeah right.

Wait a minute! It's that mask again!

Gustavo goes cowgirl, I mean cowboy.

It's Ginger Spice again! Except she's now wearing a polka dot top... Erm....

Gustavo is so light practically ANYONE can pick him up! That's "pick up" as in lift up, in case you were wondering...

And more wigs emerged...From the Cheeser's own personal collection I should add. Erm, not sure about what's going on below...I should add this was quite late into the night and a fair amount of alcohol had been consumed...

Is that a dude or a dudess? Clue: Look at hairy arms.

I really think I should set up my own wig hiring company... they're much in demand these days...

You can call me a sinner...

And you can call me a saint...Yes Homebase dining chairs really do have a whole range of uses.

And here's next day's debris after the party wrapped up at approximately 4.30am!! The aftermath wasn't too disastrous although you can't see the stains on the carpet here. There was an especially big red wine one. Oh dear.

Cleaning up in da kitchen...

And that's about it, folks! As you might have gathered it was a success and a very good time was had by all. I have to say though (going back to Bourgeois property queen mode) I don't think we'll be hosting a party on this scale again. Not in our new home at any rate. The main reasons being the expense involved in holding it (yeah I know that sounds stingy...in fact, me and Gustavo love being generous but since starting with the whole mortgage and associated house costs thing, it's been quite tight financially) plus, when you actually own and pay for your own place you kind of resent having to foot the bill for any damage (whereas when you just rent, it doesn't matter if things get broken etc as the place doesn't belong to you - the landlord can just pay for it. Ha ha). As said there was a horrid red wine stain which was a nightmare to shift. So it'll be sensible, sophisticated dinner parties for us from now on then! Am I getting respectable in my old age...? Maybe. After all, next week I turn 39 years old! Aaaah!!