Christmas has Arrived with the Annual Oxford Street Lighting

With Halloween now over and no Thanksgiving celebrations in sight, Christmas has officially arrived in London. The air seems colder, storefront windows and shop displays have changed, and lights are going up everywhere.

On Sunday, we decided to brave the crowds with our Seattle friends and get in the festive spirit by heading to the annual Christmas lighting of Oxford Street. Every year the busiest shopping street in London is transformed into a twinkling spectacle of holiday cheer. The road was closed for the event, but it didn't make Oxford Street any less busy!

The evening featured Kylie Minogue, who sang a few songs and then did the honorary 'flipping the switch' for the lights. We ended up finding a spot near the stage that was set in the middle of the road, but as the time got nearer to the concert, the crowd organizers came in and cleared out the area we were in. We were pushed past the stage so we couldn't see it, but we didn't mind because we weren't there for Kylie. The whole event started 20 minutes late, so after an hour and a half of standing around, they finally turned on the lights (before and after pics below).

Let's just say our experience at the Oxford Street Christmas lighting was a bit of a bust. It's not very often that I our activities are but this one definitely was. The organization was terrible (this coming from an event planner) and the lights were a little underwhelming, but... it still made me very excited for Christmas!!

As a side note, Aaron's in Germany this evening for work, and I'm gearing up to head to Brazil next week for work. Then we are headed home for Thanksgiving... get excited!