Home Again

After 2 lovely weeks spent in England, I'm back home again.  It was a positively wonderful trip full of brand new experiences.  Some of these fun things were planned and some were decidedly not planned, but that's the best part of travel - happening into wonderful places, and doing something brand new.  

On this trip, for example, I drove in England for the first time.  That was actually not the best thing ever.  I have no idea how people drive so quickly through those scary tiny streets in the countryside.  I've probably shaved a few years off of my life just fretting about blind curves and possible cow crossings.  However, I did it and we survived so at least there's that.

There were other most wonderful things that happened that had nothing to do with me being behind a steering wheel (on the opposite side of the car than I usually am...), for instance:

I ate my weight in food during a Borough Market Food Tour.

I finally saw Platform 9 3/4 however, the line was much too long to get the super cool photo.

I rocked out with 98,000 other people who loved Adele at Wembley Stadium.

I saw one lonely little Puffin, who was most assuredly Neil coming to visit me.

I climbed to the top of 2 different castles in flip flops.

And I sat where David Tennant sat in Broadchurch.

And these were just my favorites.  The other days were also filled with amazing trips, foods, and experiences, all of which I'll be sharing in the coming weeks - whether you care or not : )

Friday Five

1. It's been a rough week full of not feeling very well and lots of work stuff, but I'm hoping to get back on track now that we have a 3 day weekend.  The fact that an 8 week course that we've been working on at work is finally over, and that Monday is Memorial Day and work is closed, makes me a very happy girl in deed!  Bring on some relaxation and fun!

2. I love, love, love the idea of a Pretty Woman musical.  I knew it was coming, but I didn't realize they were this far in the process.  Hopefully, they'll cast it with amazing people though for the life of me I don't know who they should get.  Based on their description of the Richard Gere part, I'd say David Tennant.  Who else do you know that is quite so instantly likable? : )

3. This week in Tony coverage saw the Featured Actresses out for a group lunch at a lovely Midtown restaurant, and the Featured Actors posing for an epic selfie together at the luncheon.  At what other award show do you ever see the nominees all pulling for each other like they do in the theatre?  It's ridiculously fabulous and uplifting to see!

4. Yes  I do know that the Keepers on Netflix is unbelievably disturbing, but I also know that it was ridiculously compelling.  I was hooked after the first episode.  I'm not sure I buy some of the things that were said, but the researchers really did their homework on this case.  And since it doesn't look like the police are investigating, it's a good thing they've invested so much time into finding justice.

5. The fact that vacation is just about a month a way, is giving me everything I need to power through the next month.  It's so close I can taste it, however there's so much to do between now and then.  I'm just gonna put my head down and get things done, because London is definitely calling...

My Heart is in London

It's sad to see a city I love so much splashed all over the news today for something so awful. But in the true spirit of the Brits, there were everyday heroes that did what needed to be done to help others.  These policemen and ordinary people are the true heroes of the day, and they won't be forgotten.  Stay safe London!  Know the world is standing with you and sending our love to you this evening.

Friday Five

1. I just love this statue that went up on Wall Street this week in honor of International Women's Day.  I only wish it was going to be there just a bit longer so I could see it in person, but I don't think I'd rock my visit as hard as this little girl is.  She's totally celebrating Women's Day the right way!  You go girl!

2. Since this summer will mark my 4th trip to London, we're hoping to branch out a bit and do some new things.  This article from Lonely Planet on Underground (literally!) sites to see is pretty awesome!  I'm hooked on the idea of seeing art in the tunnels.  Such a cool new way to experience a city I just love to pieces! 

3. By now, everyone and their brother has seen this video, but it's too darn adorable not to share!
            

4. I've pretty much gushed all I can about Come From Away on Broadway to anyone that will listen. And if that bothers you, I'm sorry.  You're in for some more.  Their cast album came out today on iTunes and I'm telling you it's just fantastic!  If you've seen the show or want to see the show, buy the album.  It will give you all the feels!

5. Blake on Madam Secretary is my favorite!  And this photo Erich Bergen shared to his Twitter this week of "Blake" acting like Kelly Anne Conway is hilarious!  

pic.twitter.com/rSZ7FIIRIJ

— Erich Bergen (@erichbergen) March 7, 2017

Love for the Villages

Since I woke up this morning, I've been dreaming about coming home this evening and finishing up some craft projects I'm in the middle of.  However, after 10 hours - dark to dark - the only thing I could do when I got home was curl up on the sofa, where it was warm and cozy.  

Unfortunately, the craft projects were a bust, but it's ok because I did have about 30 pages in a fabulous book to finish so I dove right in.  Let me tell you, this book might just need to go in the top 10.  It's just so wonderful!

Susan Branch is a watercolorist and primarily a cookbook writer.  I actually have tons of her stickers for scrapbooking.  But I never realized she wrote other books as well.  Apparently, this is the 3rd in a series of her journals.  She and her husband live in Martha's Vineyard, but they travelled on the Queen Mary 2 to England for a 2 month adventure in the English Countryside.  I'm not I can express just how much I wish I could have gone on their trip!  What a chance!

What's really neat about the book, is that it's not just her observations about the places she visited.  Like I said, she's a watercolorist, so all throughout the book there are little paintings and doodles and drawings.  She's also included photos of the places they visited, quotes she loves, and recipes as well.  And, the whole thing is in her handwriting.  How fun!  It's not only a great tale of a trip of a lifetime, but it's also crafty and creative as well.  It's a total package for me which I think is why I loved it so much.

The other reason is that she just gets it.  She has the same sensibility about England that I have.  She loves the people for being who they are.  She loves the accents and the turns of phrase.  She loves the simple food and the very best tea.  She loves the beauty of the countryside as well as the fun of the big cities. And she loves the history and historical figures that have contributed so much to the world, that made their home there.  It's sometimes hard for me to explain just what it is about Great Britain that I love.  Reading this book, I realized it's everything I just said.  It's all of these things together that make it such a happy place for me.  And now, I'm just itching to return more so than I usually am - good thing there's a trip coming up soon!

Friday Five: 2017 Thoughts

It's almost 2017 - of course we have the awesomeness of Christmas to look forward to firs: Woohoo! - so I thought I'd focus on the five things I'm excited about in the new year today. With all the talk of ugly predictions for the new year, I'm trying to stay happy and ready for whatever wonderful things may happen.

1. I'm most looking forward another trip to England next summer.  I just can't get enough of that beautful country, and having the chance to see new parts is so exciting.

2. The ridiculous number of Broadway shows that are opening in the next few months that have fabulous casts and that sound absolute amazing.  I have a list of 11 that I need to purchase tickets for already, and I'm sure that list will grow into 2017.  

3. Focusing on the Positive.  I've decided that 2017 is the year of positive thinking. I'm going to focus on the good every day.  I mean, we have 4 more years of ugliness, the least I can do is to try not to focus on that.  If I don't, I'll just be angry everyday of the next presidential term.  I already have a few ideas, that I'll share soon.

4. Also focusing on creativity.  I want to read wonderful books and write about fabulous things.  I've been reading a bit about writing portfolios and getting writing out there, so I think I might want to try to see where the writing takes me.

5. Travel and art and museums, oh my! I've never  been a museum girl, but I'd like to become one.  Especially in New York, with some of the biggest and beautiful museums in the world - that I've never been to.  Not a single one.  I'm looking forward to exploring this new part of the city that I've never explored.  Then, of course trying the little cafes that I've been told inhabit the museums...

Friday Five

1. At this point, even I know I sound like a broken record, but I can't say it enough - Come From Away is life-changing in all the best ways!  I mean honestly, how can you not love a show and a cast that travels to the place they've been singing about for the last year, to give the residents a special concert version of the show? Just amazing!

2. I'm not sure if I've been living in the dark ages or not, but I just found eater.com this week and it's fabulous, really.  It reminds me a lot of seriouseats, but with even more food-centric content.  They have a bit more foodie news and issues too, which I really like.  For instance, this stranger than strange story on America's Test Kitchen, that seemingly gets weirder by the day!

3. This news right here, brightened my Tuesday and ruined my Wednesday.  On Tuesday when it broke that David Tennant would be appearing on the West End next year, I was more than a little excited.  I plan to be there in the summer, and seeing that tickets to The Cursed Child are non-existent, I was in the market for something to see.  Also - DAVID TENNANT!  Of course, on Wednesday morning when it was announced that the show would start in March and only run until June 10 - I was crushed!  My plan is to definitely be there after June 10.  Ugh!

4.  I finally schedule a workshop at the Pyramid Arts center and I cannot wait!  I've been dying to try one since I learned about their book-centric philosophy but the dates have been a bit of pain.  But finally, everything worked out and I'll be attending the class soon.  It's not the book binding workshop yet, but it's something equally as cool!  Hopefully I'll have my fun projects to share soon!

5. Is anyone, other than the Indians fans of course, upset that the Cubs won the World Series? I mean, their draught was so long, that I think even non-baseball fans were just hoping they'd pull out the W.  I always root for the underdog, so I was pretty happy to see it as well.  It was super fun to see the city and life-long fans celebrate their tails off!

Friday Five

1. I've been pretty excited to see the Gilmore Girls revival on Black Friday, but not nearly as excited as I was when I saw this trailer! AMAZING!  
           

2. I haven't quite figured out why a Welsh dragon has appeared in London, but it's super cool nonetheless.  He looks just like Smaug!

Watch out - a Welsh dragon has appeared outside St Paul's Cathedral in #London!! 😱 #bestintravel @visitwales pic.twitter.com/PQh2shBnDM

— VisitBritain (@VisitBritain) October 25, 2016

3. I've always believed that Shakespeare was Shakespeare and that he wrote all his beautiful works himself.  I've never really bought the critic's point of view that someone as poor and un-educated as Shakespeare couldn't have written these amazing works.  But with the news of Christopher Marlowe being added as his co-author on the Henry plays, I have to say I'm impressed.  I still don't believe he actually co-wrote with Shakespeare, but I do enjoy that the Oxford University Press made the gutsy move to add his name to the text.  Bold move book nerds at Oxford!  

4. Have you scrappers out there discovered The Lily Pad yet?  It's an online shop full of gorgeous digital scrapbooking elements.  I'm in love mostly with giant set of New York themed journal cards for pocket scrapping.  Why does one need all these cards you ask?  To that I reply, why wouldn't you?

5. A friend learned this week that her company would be shutting down at the end of the year, and while this is completely terrible, it's been heartwarming to see all of our friends and families rally around her and her co-workers. They've offered assistance, and love and encouragement and I'm sure have made this transition just a teeny bit less scary.

Friday Five

1. This one is just a personal preference.  I'm SUPER DUPER HAPPY that YouTube and EarBuds exist.  Because of these two genius inventions, I was able to disappear blissfully into the world of Broadway while ignoring 2 co-workers have a terribly ignorant fight over who's worse Clinton or Obama.  (Just putting my 2 cents in here - TRUMP IS!!!!)  Anyway, not having to listen 2 these 2 stubborn people go at it for 20 minutes is the highlight of my week : )

2. I'm not entirely sure how I've been to London 3 times now and missed hearing about this library, but I feel it's a travesty that no one has told me about it.  I mean, come on!  It's the largest library in the world.  And look how beautiful it is!  It's just calling out to me to be placed on my itinerary for next year.

3. Speaking of lovely things in London, check out these shots of the city taken at night.  The colors are just gorgeous!  I'm super intrigued by how the photographer took them.  I'm thinking it would be fun to get shots this beautiful, if only to have the chance to visit the city via a helicopter!

4. In a few short weeks, I have tickets to see Falsettos and I'm ridiculously excited about it.  I'm usually not in favor of the sad musicals - cut to me crying very hard during RENT. However, the cast is stellar and too good to pass up.  This meeting between the 2 original leads and the 2 current leads is quite lovely.  And the below video, is one that got me through the terrible political argument mentioned above.  Such intricate and beautiful music!  I can't wait to hear the songs fully!    
              
5. I'm adding this article to my favorites of the week if only to brag about my taste in donuts.  I've been eating Maryland's favorite donut shop - The Donut Shack - for basically my entire life.  The Boston Creme donut is basically perfect, and I've never felt the need to branch out. Though everyone else says everything else is equally delicious.  Now, to just try the other 49 states...Though I do disagree with Dough in Manhattan - not my favorite donut at all.  I can't believe they didn't go with Doughnut Plant!

The Time I Got Bitten by a Bug

In 2005 I was given the chance to travel to the UK.  It was a random happenstance that will probably never happen again - though I'm constantly hoping it will.  I was teaching at the time, and one of the families I was close with traveled a great deal.  They were headed off to London right after Christmas, and wanted someone to go with them to watch the kids a night or 2 so they could have some alone time in the city.  Since the kids were lovely and the family was lovely, I was totally cool with that arrangement.

Seeing as the family would pay for my plane ticket, as well as my hotel, the trip was virtually a no brainer.  That is why I found myself flying to London - completely on my own (they had left before Christmas and I was due to meet them there a few days later.) I've never felt so brave or bold.  There's not much I remember about the flight - 8 hours in a plane next to a snorer so I probably blocked most of it out.  I do remember I read "700 Sundays" by Billy Crystal and proceeded to cry silently over that for at least an hour.  Fun times.

As I'm writing this I'm just realizing I don't even remember anything about Customs or baggage claim (even then I hadn't mastered the ability to only pack using a carry on.)  As someone who's landed at Heathrow twice since, I can't believe I ever found my way out of there onto the Tube and then into a cab.  I get lost in my hometown all the time, and this was a foreign country in a HUGE city.  How am I not still wandering around Heathrow? Blocking all of that out, the very first thing I do remember is the ride in the cab to the flat in Notting Hill.  I managed to call a cab and find the flat all by my lonesome - yet another feat of bravery on my part, even if I do say so myself.

I was amazed at the row of houses on Edgware Road.  This was like no apartment I've ever seen.  When Americans think of apartments, they picture tall buildings not beautiful brownstones.  And yet here I was, on the second floor of a walk-up entering a cute flat where I'd be staying for the next 4 days.  It was Christmas-time.  It was snowing. I was in London. And it was GORGEOUS!

The family never did ask me to watch the kids, even though I offered many times.  We all went out together to see Tower Bridge, the London Eye and do some other sight-seeing. They even gave me time to myself one day.  That's when I discovered wandering around.  I hadn't a clue where I was and I could most definitely not read a map.  So I wandered.  I walked around Carnaby Street and through Picadilly.  I found Fortnum & Mason and bought massive amounts of tea. I walked the Portobello Road market - imagining bumping into Hugh Grant a la Notting Hill the entire time.  I even went into a pub - The Blue Post - and had Bangers and Mash.  It was quite perfect and utterly wonderful.

After 4 days, I left and flew home, alone again as they were headed to see family in another state.  I don't remember anything at all about that flight either.  Though, I'm assuming I slept since that's what I do in any moving vehicle that I'm not driving. It was a quick trip, but it sealed the deal for me.  I would have the travel bug for good now.  And I was bitten by the specific European travel bug - the one that says, why stay in the states when you could visit somewhere more exotic? (I suppose exotic isn't the first word you think of when you think of the UK, but you get the picture.)  

That one small adventure taught me how to travel and how I like to travel - food, shopping, wandering, no set in stone plans, as often as I can- and I'll always be eternally grateful.  

Scrappy Blues

About 11 months ago I went to England and Belgium for almost 2 weeks.  This past weekend I finally completed my scrapbook of those photos.  I certainly hope that happens to other people.  Because I was feeling like quite a slacker.  In all honesty, I had some trouble with it because I was overwhelmed.  I took over 900 photos over 12 days.  That's a lot of editing, printing and situating (my term for what I do when I attempt to scrapbook.)  And since that time I had taken 8 trips to NYC, 1 trip to Texas, celebrated Christmas, and took a trip to the ocean that I also wanted to document.  #Overwhelming

In this ridiculous process of "finishing" the album, aka starting with a plan, scrapping that plan after a month, starting with another plan, then also tossing that plan and finally deciding on the simple option, I learned a few things.

For one, I'm apparently neurotic and slightly obsessive compulsive. Who starts a scrapbook 3 different times?  This girl right here. I originally started with a 12x12 but quickly decided that even though I had 900 pictures, only like 100 were actually good, so there was going to be a lot of filler in the 12x12.  So then I moved on to a 6x8 which was a lot more manageable. But then I also wanted to edit my photos, which is mind-numbingly annoying when using PicMonkey. So I actually relied a lot on my cell phone pics to make up a majority of the album - PicTapGo + My trusty Canon Selphy really made that process so much easier.  So - Lesson 1 I guess is - Don't mess with simple.  If it's overwhelming, then it's not fun any more.  

Secondly, even though I had the best of intentions taking journaling cards with me to write about the trip in the moment, I was much too busy enjoying the trip to take the time to write.  Also, when I did have the time, i.e. on trains, planes and automobiles, the journey was much too bumpy or cramped to spread out and write. While it's best to scrapbook on the go, it's not always practical.  I suggest just taking some notes on things that need to be remembered on your phone, and then writing them down when you get back home. What there was time and space to do though was to edit photos on my phone.  Getting them done a little at a time, instead of one enormous batch was so much easier to handle.  Then printing was a breeze. Lesson 2: Technology is your friend.

Invest in some journaling cards designed by In a Creative Bubble.  She's amazing and makes super simple and super cute journaling cards for travel as well as every day life.  All you need to do print them out and fill them in.  And they look fabulous in an album.  My 3rd lesson: Apparently I like simple designs.

Lastly, as much as I love to scrapbook, and as much as I enjoy looking at everyone else's albums, my friends do not.  I just spent months of my life making it perfect, and only close family actually wants to see it.  Unfortunately, my friends are not crafters making them simultaneously a pain in my neck and no fun when it comes to showing off.  Lesson 4: Get crafty friends!

And one last lesson I learned just as I was writing this post - I need better lighting in the room in which I took these photos of my album.  I promise they looked better on the phone screen...

To Exit or Not to Exit?

Before I go on for a paragraph or two, I'd like the record to reflect that there are many, many things I don't understand about the EU Referendum.  For all my love of England, I'm fairly clueless on this one.  I've tried to read articles and do the research, and yet it's still not making sense.  So be forewarned, if you do understand what's happening in England tonight, the next sentences may make me sound like a dunce.  I'm really not, just confused that's all.

For starters, the whole act of a referendum in the first place is totally alien to me.  A few months ago, there was a Scottish referendum on whether or not to leave the UK.  Now there's another for leaving the EU.  How do these referendums get decided on?  I know people vote on the actual referendum, but who is the deciding body that makes the decision for what the country will be voting on?  For an entire country to secede from a union, seems like a HUGE deal.  Was this a parliamentary decision, or did one of the parties just decide that it might be fun to completely re-write geography, finance, and history because they were bored?

And that's not even addressing the point of leaving the union in the first place.  I understand why some Scots wanted to leave the UK.  They wanted to exert their independence and stand on their own feet.  That I could see.  But in this case, the UK is already its own independent country.  They don't even have the same money system as the rest of the Union.  There doesn't seem to be an upside to leaving. What's the point?  

Finally there's the reporting and opinions on the referendum.  From what I've read, seen and heard over the last few months, no one has openly said they want to leave the EU (except of course the politicians - I'm speaking more on the public in general).  However, in the exit polls that I'm watching right now, it looks like the country is split almost 50/50.  It's pretty close.  Of course, on one of the paper's front pages for tomorrow, there's a quote from a pro-Brexit politician conceding the vote to the Remain-ers.  I'm confused.  Don't all the returns have to be counted first? Shouldn't he check with the rest of his party before he goes about waving a white flag willy nilly?

Like I said, I have no idea what's going on.  In my opinion, without a shred of understanding, I like the idea of staying in the Union.  How different would it be for the Brits to not have the ability to freely travel around Europe?  Passports and visas would be a bit of hassle for members that have never had to deal with them before.  Also, they're pretty much already getting the best of both worlds - support from the greater Union and their own government & financial system (which is doing better than a lot of places, it must be said.) 

But then again, there's every possibility that I'm wrong...I suppose I'll just wait to hear what Twitter says in the morning to determine my real feelings on the subject : ) 

52 Lists: Week 7

Apparently, when I was deciding what lists to do in February, I was in serious need of a vacation.  Because I chose 2 different travel related lists for this month.  This week's list is my most favorite travel destinations.

I can say without a doubt, my most favorite travel destinations are most definitely cities. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach and quiet little towns have their own charm, but if I'm deciding where to for any extended period of time, it's always going to be a big city.  And most often, it's a big city that has a big food culture.  What can I say?  I love to eat!  The last factor in my most favorite destinations - the second I got to every one of these places, I was ready to move there immediately.  I'd be quite content to live in any of these cities. 

London

New York City

San Francisco

Unfortunately, my San Fran trip was about 4 computers ago so I have no digital photos of this trip - boo!

Boston

Austin

Edinburgh

One Little Word - 2015 in Review

In 2015, I tried Ali Edwards' One Little Word Challenge.  The goal is to choose one little word for the year and focus your energy on that word.  I chose Explore for 2015, and I believe I was quite successful this year. It was such a wonderful year full of loads of trips and travel.  

  

In 2015, I EXPLORED:

 NYC: I LOVE New York City at Christmas!

 Alexandria VA 

 Austin for the first time - May very well be one of my most favorite places in the world!

 San Antonio - May very well not be one of my most favorite places...

 Washington DC

 Annapolis - Too many times to count, though the L'Hermione docking in port was definitely a highlight

 Central Park - One of our faves was the fountain that appeared in White Collar (though I'm sure it's appeared in tons more too...)

 DC SPN Con where I saw the "boys" and was on cloud nine for the weekend. 

 Brussels for LOADS of chocolate

 London - My other most favorite place on earth

 

 York, England

 The Cotswolds

Hay on Wye - the absolute best place to geek out over books in the world.  Love at first sight!

 Oxford, England

 

 OC MD for the annual girls trip

 My very first Navy Football game

 Austin again, (and I LOVED it again!)

 NYC for the third time.

And while I may have another little word for 2016, I plan on continuing on Explore this year as well.  I'm just in love with traveling and seeing new things.  I can't wait to see all I can see! 

Thanks 2015 for some awesome fun!

London: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good: I know I say this a lot but pretty much everything in London is good.  I love every part of my time there, and even the bad isn't particularly bad.  However, there were some parts that were better than others.  I loved seeing the Globe finally.  It's pretty much just as I imagined it and it sort of comes out of nowhere when you're wandering the South Bank.

Speaking of the South Bank - I loved all the little pieces that make it summery in the city. There was a beach with sand for kids to play in; a skate board park for teens; lawn chairs and food stalls to enjoy the time near the Thames.  All of that on top of the usual National Theatre, the Globe, the Eye, the Tate and tons more.  It's a great little area of town and I just loved strolling through it.  

My other favorite was strolling around Kensington Gardens soaking up the sun.  It started as a matter of convenience - the Tube was going on strike and we needed something relatively close to bide our time.  Kensington Gardens was just a few blocks from our hotel so we chose that.  We spent the entire morning checking out the sites like the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, Peter Pan, the statue of Prince Albert and a few more fun little places.  And it couldn't have been a nicer way to spend a beautiful day in the big city!

The Bad: Like I said, I'm not sure there was anything that is truly bad about a trip to London.  The worst I can say is that the Tube went on strike while we were there.  That messed up the city pretty good.  But we were able to take a bus then a cab to get down to the Barbican - both were a little pricey, but we made it there in plenty of time.  It even gave my friend the chance to see Robert Pattinson drive by on his bicycle so I suppose the strike wasn't bad at all. 

The Ugly: I hate to sound like a broken record but there wasn't much to complain about. The ugliest thing I can think of is the teeny tiny hotel room that was made for people much tinier than us - maybe hobbits?  And of course the walls were paper thin so there were many slamming doors to contend with at night.  But even with the close quarters, we were able to manage without any fights or stepping on toes.  So even the ugly wasn't so ugly in London.  

Are you sensing a theme here?  London I {heart} you!