Don't call it a comeback.

Well, maybe you can call it a comeback. But we've been here the whole time.

Sorry we stopped blogging for nearly 2 years. The whole point of blogging was to share our adventures while residing in the UK, but after awhile, we no longer felt like our time here was this temporary thing. It no longer felt like a weirdly long vacation or 'work abroad' type experience. We just lived in London. It would've needed to become a blog about our everyday lives. And that felt boring and because we have zero natural 'blogger tendencies,' we lost the motivation to tell you about the normal things we did, despite doing those things while living abroad.

Anyhoo. We're back because our time in London again feels special and different. This is because we officially have a countdown. We will only live in London for another 5 months. We don't have an actual departure date yet, but we know it will be early July. We won't change our minds. And this is terrifying.

London has become our home. We speak British. We drink tea. We can differentiate between different British accents (even if we can't always identify exactly where they come from!). We queue. We don't sleep in; we enjoy a lie-in. We go for a roast. We use 's' instead of 'z' and often add a 'u' (my spelling is shot). We travel. Travelling has become a regular and expected part of our lives and we always have a trip to look forward to in the future. We have used every bit of our 5 (this year, 6!) week holiday allowance and the thought of going back to a measly, unforgivable 2 weeks is well, inconceivable (Although Matt will have 6 weeks when we get back. So I guess it's just me that will be stuck at home). And it's not just the vacation time, but many things about returning to America are a bit scary. Those we know who have lived in London for a period of time and then headed back to the states have not had it easy. Yes, eventually you re-adapt to American culture. Yes, eventually you feel at home. But not at first. We wonder how we will fit back into our old lives and how long it will take until Chicago feels like home again.

Don't get us wrong. We are so very, very excited for the opportunity for quick weekend trips to see family, celebrating birthdays of friends and friends' babies, getting together for a drink instead of planning a skype date and going to weddings. But it will be a big adjustment living in the Midwest again after living in the UK for nearly 3 years. We can be in Paris in 2 hours on the Eurostar. It takes 4-5 hours on a train to get to St Louis. We can fly to Germany, Belgium, Switzerland or Italy more quickly than we'll be able to fly Denver. And I have much love for both STL and Denver, but life will be different. We will cherish our time left here as much as we will cherish the opportunities we'll have when we return to Chicago.

So we've come back to blog again. We've decided to document the time we have left living in London and travelling Europe and beyond. And to document (and process) the feelings we have about leaving London and rejoining Chicago. Reading our early blog posts now is quite entertaining and we want the ability to revisit our adventures in the future.

So, to bring you up to speed on travel plans for the spring...

February:
No travel planned for this month. Just some local activities like Feb-giving (belated Thanksgiving), celebrating the Chinese New Year, hitting up the Natural History Museum's wildlife photo exhibit (one of my fav things!), a yoga workshop or two (for me), a beginner's yoga course (Matt), continuing to plan trips for later in the spring and crossing our fingers spring arrives soon!

March:
We will be headed to Prague in mid-March (just Matt and me) then Vilnius with a group of 8 to celebrate a couple friends' birthdays and finally, to Paris at the end of the month when my mom is over for a visit. Prague has been on the bucket list since we first arrived, but somehow we never planned a trip there. Very excited that we are making it happen! The idea of Vilnius came up as we wanted to go somewhere none of the group travelling had been to before and when the group consists of mostly American ex-pats who moved to London to travel, well, it's difficult. So Lithuania it is! It's going to be chilly, but Vilnius is supposed to be very pretty. Paris was an easy decision as a friend of mine currently lives in Paris and her mom will be visiting at the same time. So it's a girls+Matt weekend. My mom hasn't been to Paris since she travelled there when she was 18. I'm looking forward to seeing what she thinks when we go back!

April:
Nothing planned as of yet, but hoping to squeeze in a trip to Krakow. It will be a busy month for both of us as we finish up projects at work and start the process of handing things over.

May:
As of today, we are booked to go to Africa!! We'll be headed out on a safari/camping trip with Intrepid starting in Kenya, heading through Tanzania and ending on the beach in Zanzibar. It's sure to be 14 days of new experiences, culture shock, gorgeous scenery and hopefully lots of animals! And the added bonus that our trip starts on my 30th birthday in Nairobi. Yay!

June:
June starts with a yoga retreat in Turkey, which is something I've desperately wanted to do. I was thrilled when my favorite (favourite!) teacher announced she was teaching a retreat in Side and immediately signed up. Matt is joining me, but not partaking in the yoga part (twice a day, 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the evening) - although he's signed up for a beginner course starting in a couple weeks, so I might be able to convince him to join in.

Sometime in mid-June, there will be a trip to belatedly celebrate my friend Mandi's and my 30th birthdays (born 2 days apart!), location to be confirmed.

June ends with a glorious trip to Glastonbury. We managed to get tickets back in October, along with 135,000 other people and are impatiently awaiting headliners to be announced (c'mon Rolling Stones!!).

And then we move home. Weird. Exciting. Sad. Happy.

(If you're going to keep reading these posts, I'm afraid you'll have to put up with lots of confused emotions about this decision.)

That's it for now, folks. We will keep you posted on our upcoming adventures!

Spring has sprung!

Lo siento amigos. I wish we had the drive to blog regularly that other bloggers do, but well, we apparently don't. But at least we keep coming back?

To get you up to speed, I'll chat a little about what we've done since February.

February: Matt continued his travel as mentioned in the previous post with a week in Madrid at the end of the month. Somewhere in between, my favorite brother visited us for a weekend in London - we enjoyed pints at the Bull, a trip to Borough Market, 532 steps at St. Paul's, ICEBAR, Chinatown and pizza and scrabble at the Regent. Oh and we introduced him to the Wenlock. Needless to say, it was an amazing time and we are already excited for more European adventures with BJ (and Allie!!) in the future.

March: I found out the "very exciting" news that I had, in fact, broken my foot. In two places. On either side of my foot. Score. By the end of the month, I had scheduled surgery for early April. In happier news, we took a very fun trip to the Canary Islands (technically considered Spain, but geographically off the coast of Africa) with some of our friends here - had a really, really amazing time enjoying the pool, sangria, lots of sun, Spanglish and a new found love for cribbage. We also visited the highest mountain in Spain while on Tenerife - very cool. Literally. There was snow. Unfortunately, this trip was also our farewell to one of our best friends, Nick, as he was headed back to Chicago after 2 and 1/2 years in London. Miss you, Nick!! Oh and in between finding out about my "awesome" broken foot and the Canaries, we attended a frat-style "Absinthe and Green Fairies" party at a friend's flat - I wore green, sparkly wings and found out if you mix Absinthe with water and lemon and serve over ice, it is delicious.

April: I started out the month with a repair of my fifth metatarsal and removal of a sesamoid bone in my right foot and consequently spent the next 2 weeks (literally) on the couch. To keep my complaining to a minimum, I will say that it's been a frustrating injury and healing process, but I'm trying to behave so I'm healed in time for our trip to SPAIN with Kristin and Colette in June. It's been easier because I've had the best nurse/husband in the world taking care of me (i.e. putting up with me). I had been working from home, but finally returned to the office yesterday and am thrilled to have human interactions during the day instead of Two and a Half Men reruns for 7 hours. We were supposed to go to Italy this month, but cancelled due to the foot injury (Thank god for travel insurance). The highlight of the month was seeing my parents last weekend, who came into London after spending some time in Scotland on the links. Despite my limited mobility, we still managed to get around town and see some sights (mad props to approximately 14 different taxi drivers). It was so fun to show them our neighborhood and favorite spots in the city including Borough Market (yes, it's that awesome) and the shoe galleries at Selfridges. They also had their first real experience with Indian food and enjoyed more than a few pints of some of our favorite beers/ciders. All in all, a really great visit! We'll top off this month with a lazy weekend full of royal wedding watching tomorrow! It's hard to believe we're lucky enough to be within miles of such a historic event.

Next up? I turn old in 2 weeks, Matt travels to Bulgaria, Cyprus and Dublin for work and as mentioned earlier, we head to Spain with Krist and Cole in June. So excited! We're also headed to Wimbledon in July (managed to score center court tickets for the last Friday!) and are considering a trip through Eastern Europe. In August, we are planning to head back to Chicago from August 20-28 - mark your calendars! Other than that, we are enjoying the amazing (!!) London weather - it hit 80 last week - and working on getting me back on my feet so we can properly take advantage of a summer abroad.

Hope everyone is well back home!

Work Travels

Jenny's done a great job of posting the key updates from our lives abroad, but I suppose I should chime in every now and again too. As she's metioned, I've had quite a bit of travel for work lately - three of the past four weeks actually. Our travel team is mostly people from the client including some very senior VPs, but we've bonded well as a team.

J was able to join at the tail end of my Athens trip for a very refreshing weekend after a very long week of late nights for work. Sadly, my 29th birthday was the least exciting that I can remember. Our work team left for the client site at 7:30am, returned around 8pm, worked over dinner in the hotel lobby and continued onto about 11:30pm.  The only saving grace was a nice 18-year old scotch before midnight.

That weekend we also saw the ancient agora and some of the other ruins at the top of the acropolis. We explored the Plaka neighborhood among others. And we really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the chance to relax, talk, and people watch in outdoor cafes each day.

Last week I was in Paris for work and we stayed out in La Defense. We had great views of the Grande Arche and distant views of the Arc de Triomphe. It was another busy work week with some late evenings, but we were also able to get out for a few great dinners.  The two most notable were at a restaurant off the Champs Elysees at L'Appart, which had standard French dishes in a restaurant that was set up like an apartment - the dining areas included a living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, apparently.  We sat in the living room. Neat concept, but I didn't get a good look at all of the other rooms. The other notable one was a fondue restaurant. I wouldn't usually subsist on a meal of bread dipped in cheese, but it was quite tasty. And we drank great French wine everywhere we went. We were also out for a few lunches, and I could get used to eating a lamb shank dish or a roast half duck each workday rather than a pre-made sandwich and a bag of crisps that I usually get in London.

After a great short weekend with J, I was back on the road last Sunday for a trip to Warsaw. Perhaps it was my Polish surname, but for some reason immigration at Chopin airport didn't want to let me into the country. While others had their passport scanned and were waived through in a few seconds, I stood for 5+ minutes and answered questions about my middle name, parents' names, parents' nationality, and whether it was my first trip to Poland (at least 3 times).  Who knows what was shown on the agent's computer, but he finally let me through. This was the least stressful and busy of the travel weeks thus far and we were able to leave the office around 5pm on Wednesday and Thursdsay. This still didn't allow for any touristy exploration of the city, but at least it was a more relaxed atmosphere and allowed us to eat a bit earlier. The weather was cold with temps around feezing and often colder with the wind chill, but I certainly could not complain given the fact that a few weeks before the temps were down to -15C.

Ah, the Polish food, what a treat! We ate two non-Polish meals that were quite good - an asian restaurant in the hotel and at "the best" Indian restaurant in Warsaw. We also drank quite a few Zywiec - local Polish lager. But the remarkable meals were the two Polish dinners. Both were in the old town in Warsaw, which was almost completely destroyed in WWII bombings, but has been carefully recreated since, including the old city wall and the palace. We only saw the area in the dark and I will certainly look forward to a chance to explore and take pictures in the light if/when we get back there.

The first Polish dinner was at U Fukier, which is one of the fanciest restaurants in Warsaw. We started with a traditional apple vodka drink and a Lebanese lamb gnocchi, which was rich and garlicky. For the main course I ordered the traditional Polish duck - a half duck roasted with Polish apples that was perfectly sweet and moist and we enjoyed a few bottles of good French wine. After some shared desserts, the most senior VP decided it was time for a round of vodka shots, which was followed by three more shots of Chopin. After another round of drinks at the hotel bar, I called it a night at 12:30 but a few of the team stayed up drinking past 3am. Needless to say, I was in much better shape the next workday than some of my teammates.

The second Polish dinner was at Pierrogeria in the old town. We started with soups (every one of our catered lunches in the office was based around soup and they were all fantastic). The menu was kind enough to provide English translations for the dishes, save one. The soup I ordered - zurek z jajkiem, boczkiem i biala kielbasa - had the explanation that an English translation didn't exist, but trust us, it's good. It had a strong kielbasa flavor with chunks of kielbasa and a quartered  hard boiled egg...absolutely incredible. For mains, everyone ordered their own pierogi and they were all very, very tasty, including: broccoli and cheddar; saurkraut and mushroom; hunter sausage and cheese; salami, mozzarella and cheddar; and ham and cheese. I don't know why I haven't fully enjoyed the family pierogi in the past, but I will certainly do so from now on. I had two local Polish beers as well - a wheat beer and a dark beer, but I have no clue on the names. We continued with drinks back at one of hotel bars where they had a live band playing covers of American and British music. I enjoyed some good Polish vodka, my favorite was Zbrowka, which is made from bison grass. I picked up a bottle at duty free so I will be enjoying it for awhile at home.

Overall, the trips have been a lot of fun and have given me the chance to explore Europe (and European foods) further. The rest of the team is in Rome this week while I'm enjoying the break in London. I'll be in Madrid next week. Unfortunately I'll miss out on the trip to Bratislava in March when we're on holiday, but the other likely trips include Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland and Cyprus. For now, we're off to dinner with the London crew to a Moroccan restaurant in Soho.

Cheers!

One more reason to love London

Again, as I type this, I guess it's snowing in the Midwest. Or snowed. Or will snow soon. The good news for me? I think we're officially done with snow here (and have been since 2010). I ran to the gym in the middle of my workday without a coat. It's warm enough some days that I've started dreaming of flip flops and sandals and spring dresses (note: mid-50s). I know I wrote in the last post that I was jealous of the snow and I definitely was. But I also love, love, love the changing of seasons. And I'm so excited to see what the coming of spring does to my neighborhood and its al fresco-readiness.

I'm afraid there's not much to report from our end. Last weekend was very low-key since Matt arrived home around 10pm Friday night and left again at 4pm on Sunday. We, of course, enjoyed some more fine London cuisine - I ate Indian on Friday night, we ate Latin American on Saturday (and then saw Black Swan, which scared the crap outta me) and I enjoyed my first (London) sushi meal with a friend on Sunday night. However, I will say that I'm already counting down the days until we come back to Chicago (possibly end of August?) for a proper meal of sushi - it's just not the same here. They do plain, but quality fish well enough, but I really enjoy the rolls with all the extra stuff/sauces/spice/etc.

This weekend will be much of the same, I imagine. Matt arrives home from Poland on Friday and is in town all next week (yay!). We're planning dinner with friends Saturday aaaaand hopefully more laziness.

Anyway, sorry for the most boring post ever, but I was inspired to blog even though I had nothing interesting to say. Oh well.

Counting down the days until BJ visits next weekend!!

Athens adventure

As I start this blog, the Midwest is preparing for a massive blizzard, one that could break records. And I'm here, enjoying 45-degree-ish weather. So why am I a little bummed? Because I love blizzards! Man, who knew I would miss being inconvenienced and getting stuck in the snow. Oh well. I guess I just have to suck it up and leave my snowboots at home.

So we were in Athens a couple weekends ago - it was really great. It definitely wasn't my favorite city, but the food was outstanding and the people quite friendly. I didn't know that Athens was covered in graffiti. And full of stray cats and dogs (due to no animal shelters). And kinda really dirty. But all that meant was that it's just not the prettiest city - the city has a really great energy despite its appearance. In addition to the good food and nice locals, the weather is awesome (it was mid-60s while we were there=Athens's winter) and there are al fresco opportunities everywhere. Seriously, I've never seen so many outdoor cafes. We spent time both Saturday and Sunday just sitting outside, drinking coffee and watching people go by. It's so nice to slow the pace of life sometimes.

I won't bore you with the details of everything we ate, but we tried ouzo (awful - unless you like black licorice-tasting liquor), moussaka (amazing!), gyros (lovely), veal stew (delicious), lamb and some cabbage-wrapped beef and onion things (mmmm) and lots of other things. Including Greek wine, which we'd never had and were very pleasantly surprised. Oh and we ate more pasta than I expected us to - but it was awesome as well. I had a simple pappardelle dish with truffles one night for dinner - I wanted to lick the plate...and would've, but Matt took my fork away.

So, on to the sites of Athens. We spent time at the Acropolis museum, which has only been open for a little over a year - I highly recommend for the recreation of part of the Parthenon and also the views of the Acropolis. We also hiked up to the Acropolis and wandered around. It's still hard for me to believe that I walked around a place that has been in existence for 2500+ years. Crazy. You also get the most amazing views of Athens and the Mediterranean from the top. We also wandered through a bunch of other old areas - I'm sure Matt could supply the names, but they are escaping me currently. All in all, I would recommend a visit to Athens, but you don't need more than 2 days to see most of the city.

Matt's travel continues - he left for Paris today for the week. Next week is Warsaw, then a week off (and my brother comes to visit for a long weekend!!! YAY!!!) then he's in Madrid for a week. He'll have more after that, but details aren't set yet. I wanted to tag along to Poland for a weekend, but it's freezing cold there right now so we're delaying our joint trip to Poland until the weather is nicer.

That's all our news for now. Enjoy your blizzard!

2011 already?

Again, I know, I know. We suck at blogging more than once a month. But I'm back for another shot at it.

We had a really great time visiting family and friends in Colorado and Chicago while we were home for the holidays. It was funny to be back because we sort of felt like we had just been there instead of feeling like we'd been gone for nearly 5 months. And even after our amazing visit, we were ready to come back to London and continue our adventure. Well, except for Cosmo. We miss him terribly and my biggest regret is leaving him behind. But oh well, a little over a year to go and then I'm never separating myself from my cat again.

We've just been getting back into the swing of work life and London life since returning. I'm enjoying my job and my co-workers and I continue to learn more about British culture/language/etc everyday. I still can't believe how many different words/phrases exist in this version of English over here. Last week, I asked my co-worker Katy what she was up to for the weekend and she told me she was going to "bugger all." I said, say whaaat? It means do nothing. Who knew? I am loving that part of my job though - it's so interesting to find all these things out about a culture that I sort of thought I had figured out.

In other news, Matt is starting to travel a LOT for work. He leaves for Athens tomorrow for a week (but I'm taking Friday off and flying to Athens so we can spend the weekend exploring Greece), then is home, then gone in Paris for a week, Italy for a week and Madrid for a week. And there is still more travel to be sorted throughout the spring. It's been a bit stressful for him, worrying about balancing work while being gone so much, but we're hoping to get some cheap weekend travels out of his need to be away during the week (since his flights are covered by KPMG).

We're starting to realize that we really need to plan some trips or our time is going to fly by and we won't go as many places as we'd like. In April, we get a bunch of holidays in a row - 2 Friday/Monday combinations 2 consecutive weeks in a row, it's amazing - so we took the 3 days off in the middle in hopes of spending those 11 days somewhere fabulous, potentially Italy. We are headed to the Canary Islands with our friends here in March and are planning a trip to Spain in June. I still can't believe we get to go to all these places that I know I never would've seen if we hadn't moved here.

So I'm off to spend the rest of my Saturday enjoying my husband's company since I won't see him until next Friday. I hear we should eat amazing food in Athens - one of my friends here said some of her favorite meals ever were consumed in Athens. YAY! Stay tuned for a food tour after we return.

Oh and p.s. I just typed favourite instead of favorite. My spelling is going to be shot by the time we get back. All these extra "u's" and "o's". And I'm a good (American) speller. Or I used to be.

Hope everyone is enjoying these first weeks of 2011!

Working girl

Howdy folks. Just wanted to let you know that pics have been updated through Josh's visit. Unfortunately, I didn't take a ton of pictures while he was in town because we were out and about, doing a serious amount of walking/touristing.

Josh arrived Wednesday after a bit of travel from Italy and we spent the afternoon catching up at one of Matt and my favorite pubs, the Bull. I never get less excited about introducing our visitors to the amazing beer selection in this country. Never. Matt eventually caught up with us after work and we enjoyed a lovely dinner at another fav, Le Mercury.

On Thursday, Josh and I toured Westminister Abbey, the site of the upcoming Royal Wedding. I thought it was enjoyable, but St. Paul's is a thousand times more awesome. Thursday was also the day of the Parliament vote on increasing student tuition, so we found ourselves sort of RIGHT in the middle of a massive protest...however, we were there early in the day and it was still peaceful. After navigating through the protesters and police, we walked along the south bank of the Thames alllllll the way to Tower Bridge. We mapped our walk once we got home - almost 6 miles!! And we felt it. And celebrated with dinner in Chinatown at my new favorite place, Leong's Legends. Best hot and sour soup ever.

Friday's outing started with an amazing lunch at the Kensington Creperie. They served up some seriously awesome savory crepes. After, we walked (just a couple blocks) to the Natural History Museum, which I have been wanting to visit since we arrived. They have this incredible wildlife photography exhibit - it was the best thing I've seen in a very long while. The exhibit had probably 60+ pictures from all over the world. Ahhhh-mazing. The NHM is a place I will absolutely re-visit.

On Saturday, Matt and Josh headed to Emirates for the Arsenal tour I did a couple weeks ago while I ran errands. We met up with our usual London gang for dinner, which was a blast, as usual. I won't bore you with all the details.

In more exciting news, I started my job on Monday. Yes, I am a working girl again. And so far, enjoying it. It's a little overwhelming because no one besides my fellow Project Officer (who also started yesterday) has this job. So this really isn't any official training. Or instructions. Or anything. Just a list of projects. So Katy (other said Project Officer) and I are working on getting our feet wet. I know things will start to make sense and fall into place and I just need to remember I am (yet again) a newbie. Luckily, Katy and all my other co-workers are awesome. And insanely nice. And funny. Oh and have I mentioned I can walk to work? My record is 11 minutes, but I think I can definitely break that time. It's outstanding.

The two of us working does mean that posts may get shorter - maybe we won't bore you with each and every detail of our days/weekends/trips. A friend of ours is currently heading home from spending a year in France and also blogged about her time in a foreign country, but she kept her blog to mostly observations about the French life with some well-edited comments about trips. We may steal her approach (if Kate doesn't mind)...I think it could be better than our current approach. We'll have to see how the blog evolves as our time here continues. I still can't believe how quickly time has passed...and that we're already heading home next week. Sheer madness.

Annnnd I'm officially out of steam. Hope everyone is getting excited for the holidays! We still haven't set plans for our happy hour, but I'll post/email them once we know details.

Cheers!

Waffles and Frites and Beer, Oh My!

When we first moved here, everyone told us that it barely snows in London and our research on normal fall/winter temps told us that it rarely drops below freezing. Well, last week, it snowed everyday and while it WAS above 32 most of the week, it was FREEZING. Seriously bone-chilling cold. And I think it's because it's that damp-type of cold. All. The. Time. And even though the rest of the country got more of the white stuff, London only got about 1 inch of snow at the most in a day. But this was enough to totally disrupt the city (as we were warned). Trains were delayed or cancelled. Commute times tripled. All for a measly inch.

We started to get a bit worried because we were leaving for Brussels (first Eurostar trip!!) on Saturday morning. And it was unfortunately justified when our train was cancelled Friday night. Luckily, Eurostar is smart. They stopped selling tickets earlier in the week so anyone without a ticket wasn't going to get on a train, meaning less madness at the train station. And people with cancelled trains could come to the station and they'd put you on the first available. So we decided we'd get up and try to get on the early train to Brussels that left London at 7:00am. And got on the train with no problem! We never would've had such good luck (and ease of travel) back in Chicago.

So off we went! The train was super cool. The ride is only 2 hours from London to Brussels; there are a couple of short stops including Lille, France. It was weird to be in 3 countries in the short span of 2 hours. And you go through the Chunnel of course - but you're only in the tunnel for 20 minutes. Madness.

We arrived in Brussels and checked into our hotel. It was snowing like crazy and the sidewalks were a mess, but we bundled up and ventured to the Grand Place (sort of a city center in Brussels). It was really beautiful. A lot of the architecture in Brussels is gothic and just amazing (pics to be posted soon). We stopped in a restaurant for mussels, frites and delicious Belgian beer. I don't really know if I drank much Belgian beer before our trip, but I know that I love it now. We spent the rest of the day wandering the Christmas markets and drinking gluhwein (yum!!). After a short rest in the hotel, we headed to dinner near the Sablon area at a restaurant called Lola. We started the meal with (and I'm not exaggerating) the best oysters I've ever eaten. They were simply outstanding. Next was a soup that our waiter (who spoke some English) couldn't translate from French. My guess is it was a butternut squash-type soup. It was served with what tasted like french onion dip, to be mixed into the soup. It was also awesome. For entrees, Matt had steak frites and I had a chicken dish with a morel mushroom sauce. We skipped out on dessert with the intention on finding gaufres (waffles) somewhere on our way home. We ended up walking back to Grand Place, where we saw the coolest light show projected on to the Grand Place itself, set to Christmas music. It. Was. SO. Cool. Probably the coolest Christmas thing I've ever seen. We watched the show a couple times and then went to a pub on the square for a beer each and then a vin chaud (similar to gluhwein) for me and a Cecemel (type of chocolate) and chantilly for Matt. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped for a gaufre liege - a type of Belgian waffle with the sugar and goodness baked right in, so there's no mess. Yuuuum.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed back to the train station in hopes of catching a train to Brugges (pronounced Brooge), a smaller Belgian city north of Brussels. In Belgium, the Eurostar will honor your ticket to any other location as long as you travel within 24 hours of your original arrival. So, for example, our original arrival was supposed to be at 11:08. We got to the station just in time to catch a 11:05 to Brugges, so free trip for us!! Barely. Brugges also has a lot of gothic architecture like Brussels, but the added feature of canals, similar to Venice, but not as plentiful. It was very beautiful - and the weather was outstanding. The snow had melted and we had sunshine on and off all day. We (again) wandered the Christmas markets and drank gluhwein (noticing a trend?) then headed to a beer pub. A beer pub in Belgium means that they carry hundreds (not an exaggeration) of Belgian beers. We took pictures of everything we drank. I stuck mostly to Christmas beers while Matt tried all sorts of things. The other thing to know about Belgian beers is that they are a much higher alcohol % than other beers. Everything we drank fell between 8-12% alcohol. Yikes. After a couple drinks at the beer pub, we headed back to a market for "street meat" as Matt called it. It was basically a giant bratwurst with onions and sauerkraut...mmmmm. We watched people ice skate while we ate - arguably the worst bunch of ice skaters we've ever seen. People were falling everywhere. We still had 2 or 3 hours before our train back to Brussels so we headed to yet another beer pub (the better of the two) and had a few more beers each. After a quick 50 minute train ride back to Brussels, we crashed at the hotel for the night.

On Monday, we went in search of 1 of the 2 famous frites caravans in Brussels (apparently, the city could be divided over which cavavan makes better frites). Unfortunately, the first one was closed so we headed to the other caravan. The frites there are fried....twice...in beef fat. And quite tasty. I had mine served with the traditional choice of mayonnaise, while Matt chose bicky ketchup (ketchup with indian spices perhaps?). Did I mention yet that these two servings of frites brought our grand total to 5 servings of frites in 3 days? Yep. I am the world's best dietitian. :) However, as I type this, the thought of eating any type of frite or fry or chip makes my stomach churn. Anyway, after the frites, we shopped around, wandered another Christmas market, each ate 1 more gaufre (stomach churning again) and had a couple more Leffe Noels (beers) before heading to the train station to go back home to London.

All in all, it was a really amazing trip. It forced me to use what little French I know (and a learn a little Dutch, since that is what is mostly spoken in Brugges) and I realized that I'd really like to learn French while I'm over here. Once I start work (next Monday, gulp!), I'll get a better idea of how busy I am, but then I'd really like to take a class at one of the local colleges. Knowing more French will make subsequent trips much easier. I also particularly enjoyed Belgium because it was my first new place since we've been here (not counting Bath) - I'd been to both London and Paris before. So I've got another country under my belt now. Yay!!

Today, we are lucky enough to welcome one Josh Johnson into our home for a visit until Sunday. Not sure what we'll do this week, but I imagine we'll have a lot of fun. I need to have a lot of fun and enjoy the remainder of my freedom since as I mentioned earlier, I start my job at Cancer Research UK on Monday. I'm super excited, but super nervous. So fingers crossed for me, folks!

That's all for now. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday December 28 - we're planning to do drinks (happy hour ish) somewhere in the city. Stay tuned for more details!

See you all SOON! Cheers!!

Long. Overdue.

I know, I know, I know. We've been atrocious at blogging in a timely manner this month. We promise to improve going forward.

November has gone by incredibly quickly and we've been busy - hence, the lack of blogging. We'll go backwards again to the weekend we celebrated our friend Mike's 30th birthday. The evening started with a really, really awesome dinner at a Moroccan restaurant called Momo. We didn't have to sit on the floor, but we did sit in chairs that were shorter than the norm. I don't remember the name of my dish, but it was lamb and it was delicious. And much to our pleasant surprise, as we were enjoying our mains, the lights of the restaurant dimmed and the music became much louder and there was lots of dancing, clapping, etc from the staff - including a belly-dancer-type. It was really fun. After dinner, we had enough time for 1 drink at a nearby pub before heading to the ICEBAR for our 40 minutes time slot. Yes, 40 minutes. Prior to entering the bar, we thought 40 minutes was way too short. We were wrong. We were ready to go after about 30 minutes. Everything in the bar is made of ice - the walls, the actual bar itself, the cups you drink out of (not the floor, thankfully). You pay an entrance fee that includes a drink once inside the bar and before you walk into the bar area which is kept at a steamy 23 degrees (F), they give you a cloak/cape thing with gloves attached. If you're me, you might also bring leg warmers too (see pics for evidence). We had a wonderful time taking lots of pictures and I licked a lot of walls...because I could! It's ice!! After the ICEBAR, the night ended with drinks and dancing at another bar near Regent Street. And also possibly some yummy Chinese food in Chinatown if you're Matt and me. :)

We spent Sunday recovering from Saturday and watching Arsenal (go Arsenal!) and Chelsea (booooo) football games with Brock - and a bit of the Bears game before trying Vietnamese food for the first time. I cannot believe that it took me moving to London to try Vietnamese food, REAL Chinese food, Turkish food, Indian food...and the list goes on. I'm super in-love with the ethnic food here...I think I've mentioned that before? :) Luckily, we had the chance to frequent our favorite Indian restaurant the following Wednesday because we had visitors who wanted Indian food...

My friend Melissa (from Rush) and her fiance Matt came into London the following Wednesday morning and we took a tour of Emirates Stadium (the Arsenal stadium) - which totally rocked. Matt is a big Arsenal fan and had never taken the tour before. It allowed us a chance to sit in the fancy chairs where the directors sit, a peek at the locker room and my favorite part, an opportunity to sit in another set of fancy and very comfortable chairs down on the field where the manager, team doctor, physiotherapist, etc. sit. Very comfy. We met (my) Matt and Anas (a friend of Matt and Melissa's) at Tiger Spice (note: favorite Indian restaurant) for dinner later that evening. One of these days, we'll try another place, but it's SO GOOD there. Mmmmm.

On Thursday, my Matt headed off to work and Melissa, her Matt and I headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was, by far, my favorite place in London yet. We spent 2 hours wandering around and also climbed a total of 532 (ish) steps to take in not 1, but 2 panoramic views of the city. Our leg muscles were literally shaking by the time we got back to ground level. We met Anas for lunch near St. Paul's and then I sent Matt and Melissa back on the train to southeast England where Matt's family is from. Always so fun to have visitors here! For those of you considering a visit, please note you are fed well and we promise a good time.

But to back up for a second - when Matt, Melissa and I were "tubing" back to our flat before their departure, my phone beeped with a voicemail, but the phone number hadn't registered. I figured it was Matt and thought nothing of it...until I checked my voicemail after my visitors headed into the rain and it was the woman who had interviewed me for the job back in October (who told me that I was their second-choice). The gist of her message was that Cancer Research UK had gotten extra funding for a second position and they were offering me the job. AHHHHH! It was serious madness. There was lots of smiling and jumping and no one home to witness my celebration, thankfully. I calmed down enough to call my new boss back and VERY happily accept the position. They wanted me to start at the same time as first choice girl on Monday December 13 (and were fine with me leaving for the states the following week for Christmas - awesome). So as I sit here (finally) blogging, I have 2 weeks of freedom left before I am employed. My title will be Research Projects Officer and from what I know, a lot of my responsibilities will be figured out after starting (there is a laundry list of possible projects), but it will most likely include assisting with clinical trial work. In short, a perfect job for me. I couldn't be more excited. AND they just moved to a new building that happens to be located about 0.6 miles from our flat, which means I will be walking to work. Walking. To. Work. I might start jumping up and down again at any moment. Stay tuned for more details once I start in a couple weeks.

The weekend following the job offer was spent visiting the Tower of London during the day on Saturday - finally saw the crown jewels, wowsa - and then celebrating our friend Nick's birthday at a visually uninspiring, but super-delicious (and authentic!) Italian restaurant down the road, ending the night at this...well...pub/dance club also close to home. They have a normal pub scene in the front of the space and a dance floor with a DJ in the back room...with a floor that has squares that light up. It's a great place for people-watching and one of Nick's fav places - which is why we continued his birthday celebration there. With him donning a spectacular "birthday boy" sash (courtesy of yours truly). Another great night with great friends.

Matt and I slept in the following day and then happily wandered across the street from our flat for a Sunday roast - the best we've had yet. We really are spoiled by our location. It is literally surrounded by good restaurants and fun shopping. And pubs, of course. Anyway, the roast was followed by some Christmas shopping in Covent Garden and yet another amazing dinner in Chinatown. Upon our return to Chicago, I hope I can count on some of you to trek down to Chinatown with me so I can eat proper Chinese food.

I spent the next week literally running around London finding Thanksgiving supplies. I did have time for a quick shopping/lunch date with my friends Theresa and Gemma (and Gemma's adorable 6-month old, Fiona) to wander Northcote Road. But yes, the remainder was filled with turkey-related errands. Because everyone was working Thursday, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday. Sandy came over early Saturday morning so we could start cooking. We stuffed our British turkey and just barely crammed him into the oven. I couldn't find turkey bags, which my family uses to keep the turkey moist, so at my dad's suggestion, we soaked a cloth in butter and covered the turkey. Unfortunately, despite our efforts, the cloth dried out and started to produce this awful burning, non-Thanksgiving-smelling smell so the t-shirt was ditched and we used foil instead. And basted the bird. A lot. While the turkey hung out in the oven, Sandy prepared a broccoli dish and I made my family's traditional carrot casserole. We made mashed potatoes and heated gravy. I had made homemade cranberry sauce earlier in the week and we served it both hot and cold. Given our limited space and supplies, dinner was fantastic. Sandy and I might still be patting ourselves on the back. I also baked a pumpkin pie from scratch (and made pie crust from scratch for the first time!!) which we enjoyed for dessert, along with Belgian chocolates that Brock brought along from his very recent visit to Brussels and Bruges. And we enjoyed a lot of wine. The evening was capped with games of Bananagrams and Trains. While we all missed our families, it was awesome to spend the holiday celebrating with our London gang.

It's hard to believe that Matt and I are headed back to the states in less than 4 weeks. And that we're going on 5 months of residing in London. Crazy. Time has FLOWN. And we still have a lot going on before we head home! We're going to an Arsenal game (my first, Matt's second) on Tuesday. We leave for a weekend trip to Brussels on Saturday (staying through Monday), planning to hit up the Christmas markets, eat frites, mussels, chocolate, waffles and drink Belgian beer. And hoping to head to Bruges for a quick day trip. Cannot wait!! And the best excitement to look forward to? We recently learned that our favorite Josh Johnson is heading to Italy for work for the next 2 weeks and has made the effort to fly back through London so we could spend a few days together here. YEAH!

I think that's about it. I know I promised updated pics last post. Epic fail. Look for updated pics - again, both October and November albums before Wednesday.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November.

We got to celebrate our first Bonfire night/Guy Fawkes' day this weekend. It's a holiday that Matt could certainly shed more historic detail on, but basically, it's a celebration of the failure of a man named Guy Fawkes in his quest to blow up Parliament back in 1605. And they celebrate with fireworks and bonfires...and more fireworks. After I enjoyed a lovely day of shopping on King's Road with Sandy, we met up with friends and headed to Battersea Park for a bonfire and fireworks. We all enjoyed mulled wine and Dutch beer until they lit the bonfire, which was HUGE, and wonderfully warm. Soon after, we watched 20 minutes of fireworks set to music and then joined the masses of people as we tried to exit the park through "single-file" type gates. It was a bit challenging to say the least. Our group of 10 got a bit separated as we made our way across the Thames into Chelsea to a gastropub called the Pig's Ear. But all successfully arrived at the restaurant and we enjoyed an extremely cozy meal complete with 6 bottles of a yummy South African Shiraz (note: I am currently obsessed with South African wines - they are the best!). The night continued with a pint at a pub in Chelsea (who may or may not now be short of 1 Staropramen pint glass) and then those of us from Islington piled into a cab and headed back home.

Matt and I lazy-ed around on Sunday until Sandy, Mike and Nick joined us for the Bears/Bills game (Bears win!!). We enjoyed libations and pizza and capped the night with a mini youtube marathon (they had never seen Handsome Men's Club - my fav!). All in all, another successful weekend.

I know I need to update pictures, which I promise to do this week - look for new pics to be added to the October link and a soon-to-be-added November link. Also on the agenda for the week is a local art/craft fair and hopefully a trip to the Natural History Museum to see an exhibit of wildlife photography. Today is another one of those insanely gray, rainy days in London - I don't know if I'll ever get used to these, but they make me appreciate sunshine more than I ever have before.

Anyway, we're looking forward to a wonderful weekend ahead celebrating Mike's 30th birthday - complete with a visit to the ICEBAR in London. Oh I am just so stoked. Stay tuned for details next week. Oh and my friend Melissa and her fiance Matt are visiting next week as well - hooray for visitors!!!

Hope everyone is well! Cheers!

November already??

We cannot BELIEVE it's November already. We've been here for nearly 11 weeks and it's flown by. Makes me think that February 2012 will be here tomorrow so we continue to make the most of our time here...

Last weekend was a bit of a drinking fest and while we had a really great time, Matt and I both agree that our post-college bodies cannot handle 3 solid days of drinking in a row. Friday night was a KPMG happy hour for other secondees - we didn't do much mingling so much as chatting up our Buffalo friends, oh well. Afterward, Matt, Sandy, Mike and myself headed to Chinatown for dinner - to the Friendly Inn where, according to NFT, Londoners go for Chinese - and it was SO good, the best Chinese we've had since we've been here (with the exception of dim sum - but that's a whole different category). Our dinner was further enhanced by a hilarious old Chinese woman that repeatedly told the boys how to treat women. Awesome. By the time we left, the waffle man had packed up for the day, but fear not, we got waffles the next day. And the waffle man officially recognized us. Score.

Saturday, Matt and I got up and headed back to Chinatown for a dim sum lunch. We went back to the same place where Scottie, Sarah and I ate dim sum a few weeks ago because I knew what to order (they don't have pictures on the menu and the descriptions are quite short, which makes it more difficult to have any clue what you're ordering). Mmmmm, it was so good. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit obsessed with Chinatown. It's my favorite place to go in the city. But back to the meal, Matt enjoyed dim sum quite a bit and we topped the meal off with the above-mentioned waffles. We spent the afternoon FINALLY getting Matt an Arsenal jersey and wandering up Regent Street.

Saturday night, we headed to a Halloween party that we were invited to by a friend of mine from yoga. The party is the only social gathering her husband's company puts on during the year so they foot the bill. For SIX HOURS OF OPEN BAR (9pm-3am). You can guess how great we felt come Sunday morning. The party was really fun and we made some friends from Canada, Australia and the states. We dressed as an outlet and plug - pictures to be posted soon.

Side note: I often update the pics but forget to mention it in a post so you'll just have to check the folders on the right side of the blog from time to time.

People LOVED our costumes, which made Matt very happy because the costume was his idea, and all night, we had to show people how you could actually insert the plug into the outlet. Yup. Most people in Britain only dress up as "scary" things for Halloween, but our party was full of funny costumes like a character from Fraggle Rock, a shark with human legs coming out of its mouth and a giant weird pink monster thing. We called it a night around 1am and may or may not have grabbed a PJ pizza on the way home.

Sunday morning was rough, but we dragged ourselves out of bed to meet friends for a roast on Baker Street. For those unfamiliar, it's quite common for many pubs to have a "roast" on Sundays, meaning they'll serve beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian roast dishes with lots of yummy roasted vegetables. So 10 of us met up to enjoy delicious food and then we all headed to Wembley Stadium, where the Broncos and 49ers game was. We had a great time enjoying real football...or whatever game the Broncos and 49ers were pretending to play. All in all, one of the best weekends we've had since we've arrived.

Day-to-day life is going well too. Matt's doing well at work and is staying very busy. I had an interview last week for a position with a group called Cancer Research UK, but did not get the job. I got feedback this week and found out I was their second choice. Bah. Oh well, I continue to apply and stay positive. Matt is considering running a half marathon in the spring with Sandy and Mike - it's in Paris! - but is deciding if training can fit into his schedule. I wouldn't argue with another trip to Paris. :)

That's it for now. Hope all is going well back at home. Oh and I'd like to congratulate Lisa and Kevin on the birth of their adorable son, Lucas Ervin!

Cheers!

Random List

So I've had a lot of random thoughts since arriving in this country, but rarely do they logically fit into a post so here is a list of things that I've decided to share whether they interest my reader or not. :) Plus, I'm curious to reflect back on these thoughts at some point in the future.

• There are a LOT of different types of a British accent; however, I still get excited when I hear a certain "twang" that makes me think for a second that I'm in a Harry Potter movie.
• In some areas of the city (Northcote Road, Islington after 10am), I really think it's required for women to be pregnant or pushing a stroller/pram/pushchair. It's like babies/baby bumps are a hot, new accessory. I, of course, feel happily left out of this trend.
• Some things really are more expensive and it doesn't bother me until it crosses into ridiculously more expensive. For example, I wanted to buy a clear OPI nail polish. At home, this would cost me $6-8. Here it costs 10 GBP, which equals $15. That is just not right.
• I miss Chicago shopping. I do. Mostly Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. Besides Selfridges (and I guess Harrod's), I am unimpressed in the department store arena. There are a lot of other great stores and boutiques here. But I really miss Nordstrom.
• Because there's no Thanksgiving here (boooooo), they start creating holiday/Christmas displays in the windows and putting up lights sooner. Like 2 weeks ago. I love Christmas, but there is a line.
• Starbucks does not have pumpkin spice lattes here. And they don't sell candy corn. C'mon - autumn totally exists here!! Where is the love?
• I miss Cosmo. A lot. There is a nice man named James with an orange tabby cat named Bob who frequents the entrance to our tube stop in the morning. James is a "musician who has fallen on hard times" so I suppose you could also call him a panhandler. But Bob is the coolest cat on this side of the pond and every time I pass them, I consider stealing him and running for home.
• Are you bored with my list yet? Too bad.
• We are loving it here, but I am missing the following things in my life: Cosmo, family, friends, the Chicago skyline, Target, normal peanut butter (thanks to Sarah and Scottie and a jar of Jif, I am doing ok in this category right now), GOOD Mexican food, those tortilla chips that come in the green bag, normal health care system, Panera, Portillo's, Jimmy Johns...is it sad that it's mostly food-related?
• And here is why we love it here: we live in a very cozy flat in a very amazing location, Le Mercury, Rabieng, Nakhon Thai, Selfridges (namely, the shoe galleries), Chelsea, shopping in Chelsea, pretending to be able to shop in Mayfair, the beer, the pubs, drinking said beer at said pubs with our favorite ex-pats from Chicago and Buffalo, the tube, people-watching, the history, theatre, the Waitrose in Canary Wharf, Borough Market, Tiger Spice, dim sum, special Chinese waffles, the Inbetweeners, the Lion Man, learning how to live in very cool and old city.

Ok I think that's helped get some random thoughts out. Sorry for those who were hoping for a post about a fun, new experience. Hopefully, Matt and I will do something more culturally-interesting this weekend.

Cheers!

Bonjour!

Our weekend in Paris was amazing! We arrived Friday morning and after a couple rides on public transport, we made our way to our hotel in the Louvre district (we were about a 10 minute walk) and dropped off our luggage. We walked to the Louvre and strolled around the Jardin des Tuileries and ate baguette sandwiches (shocking choice for Paris, I know) and just enjoyed the sights of Paris for a little while. Then we headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit and then headed to dinner at Spring, a restaurant also in the Louvre district about 10 minutes from our hotel.

Dinner. Was. Amazing.

Seriously. We've been lucky enough to eat some amazing meals in our lifetime, but this one rates in the top 3, no contest. The owner-chef of Spring, Daniel Rose, is American, but the food is unmistakenly French. And delicious. Spring opened just a few months ago in July (they apparently had another location previously) and the wine bar that we sat in just opened in September. Here is a link for my foodie buddies out there if you want more info for future trips to Paris: http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-spring-restaurant/

I pushed myself to learn as much conversational French as possible before our trip, but was relieved that our waiter spoke good English and the bartender in the wine bar was originally from the UK. The menu was still overwhelming so we literally told the waiter that we were hungry and we were up for anything. What followed was a 8-course meal (including dessert) that was out of this world...Matt and I certainly wouldn't have chosen quite so well and we were happy to have put our meal into our waiter's hands. We started with oysters, which was followed by a course of foie gras with lemon gelee served with rustic warm bread. I had never been a huge fan of foie gras, but after that course, I now understand what the fuss is all about. Next, we had a plate of...well, smoked ham pieces? I am no food writer (clearly evidenced by the last sentence), but I'm not sure how to explain what this dish was besides pieces of smoked ham that they freshly carved off a pig's leg from the bar...little crazy, but yummy! Especially since we had begun to drunk the bottle of red that our waiter paired with our meal. He originally suggested a shiraz, but I think we ended up with a French syrah. We took a picture of the bottle in hopes of tracking down a bottle in the UK. It was (again) one of the best wines we'd ever had; every taste was as good as the first. Sigh. But back to the food. Our fourth course was deep fried squid with what I think were carmelized shallots - so essentially calamari, but so light and crispy and delicious! Next, they served us 2 dishes simultaneously: lamb stew and sauteed mushrooms with pomegranate. The lamb stew was perfect for the season and the pomegranate seeds with the mushrooms was unexpected and a variation I will absolutely try on my own. Our last "dinner" dish (yes, we know - lots of courses - luckily most were modestly-sized, but we weren't sure when we were going to be done because we hadn't ordered any of the food) was a tarte of veal sweetbreads. And not a tarte like you'd eat in the states, but more like a savory pie. It was another very seasonal and cozy dish. The whole meal was actually incredibly cozy. For dessert, we were leaning toward a cheese plate until our waiter told us that we could get a "surprise dessert." It's really the only sweet option and the diners never get to know what it is...so obviously, I wanted that because I love surprises. Good decision. Dessert consisted of peanut ice cream, chocolate ice cream, and creme fraiche topped with chocolate wafers, served with an olive oil ganache. The last item seemed an odd choice to serve with the dessert, but the combination of flavors was outstanding and a perfect way to end our perfect meal. After a very cool tour of the wine cellar below the restaurant (accessed by a staircase from the 17th century), we left around midnight and walked back to the Louvre for a view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower at night. It was incredibly romantic. Especially when I called Colette to tell her about the view. :) But I had to pay homage to my first date in Paris - the lovely Ms. Gallagher.

Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready for our trek over to see Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle. Unfortunately, we had some phone/time/clock issues and realized it was actually an hour later than we thought. That was a bummer, but we continued on. The line at Sainte Chapelle was incredibly long so we took a detour to the Latin Quarter to find a boulangerie that supposedly makes the best baguettes in Paris (Eric Kayser). That also took longer than expected and we ended up splitting a baguette for breakfast/lunch. It was good, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. We walked back to Notre Dame, wandered through and then headed back to Sainte Chapelle, where we stood in line until we realized it was not meant to be because we had to head to our next destination.

I had booked us on a 4-hour bike tour of Paris through a group recommended to me by a friend who used to live in Paris (Paris Charms & Secrets) and we needed to meet our group at 2:30pm in the Place Vendome. Upon arrival to the square, we realized we were smack dab in the middle of the finish line of some crazy car race/drive/something called Peking to Paris. At that point, all we know is that it involved lots of people driving old cars and popping champagne all over the place. And honking. Lots and lots of honking. After further research, we now know it's a "motor challenge" to drive the 14,000+ km from Peking to Paris in just 37 days. Here's the website for more info: http://www.pekingparis.com/. Anyhoooo, our bike guide, Siul, found us and informed us that it would just be us 3 on the tour. Score. What followed was a seriously awesome experience. We rode on electric bikes so effort wasn't really an issue because the bikes essentially drove themselves. However, the tour did require us weaving in and out of busy Paris traffic, which I still cannot believe I did without getting hit by a car, but we got to ride all over the city and see the sights in a way that was really special. Because there was only 3 of us and Siul had some serious connections, we got into places that the public isn't usually allowed, like old churches and a small courtyard that contained some of Paris's most expensive addresses (because he knew the gate code, crazy!). But we would hands down recommend this tour to anyone headed to Paris. It was a really, really amazing experience.

After, we wandered around for awhile trying to find something to eat (remember that a baguette=breakfast and lunch), hoping to find something small because we were planning to go to Le Chateaubriand for dinner around 10pm. Unfortunately, our hunger and exhaustion got the best of us and we ended up happily eating pizza in our pajamas and hitting the hay early. Oh well. Next time, Le Chateaubriand.

Sunday, we got up early (and checked that we were accurately aware of the time) and headed to Sainte Chapelle in hopes of avoiding the long lines - mission accomplished. It was my second trip to Sainte Chapelle and I loved it every bit as much as the first time, despite the renovations of part of the stained glass. It's just a beautiful, beautiful church. After, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and wandered over to the Eiffel Tower so Matt could see it close up. By this point, it was freeeezing outside...somewhere in the neighborhood of low 40s with a nasty wind so we took some quick pictures and got back on the metro. We made a quick stop near the Concorde for a crepe with Nutella (for me) and waffle (for Matt) and then went back to the hotel for our luggage and headed to the airport. All-in-all, it was a really memorable weekend and the perfect way for us to celebrate 2 years of marriage.

The only other news to share is that we will be home for the holidays! We'll be in Chicago Dec 27-30 (and Colorado Dec 23-27) and hope to organize some sort of night out in the city to see as many of you as possible. As much as we're enjoying our time here, we definitely miss home. So yay! Christmas!!

Alright, I'm done typing for now. Time for a gym visit to work off some of those good French eats!

Left, left, past the bikes, Harry Potter

The title of this post will make sense by the end of this post. Promise. :)

Matt and I are celebrating 2 years of marriage today. I honestly cannot believe it's already been two years. Insanity. In two years, we've had a lot of amazing times, but have most certainly learned that a successful marriage requires work and effort. Our best advice? Continue to date each other. Forever.

Matt is taking me out to dinner tonight to a surprise location. Yay! And then we leave for Paris on Friday morning for 3 days. I. cannot. wait. My first trip to Paris with Colette was fun, but Paris wasn't what I expected. This time around, I have very different expectations and a long list of recommendations from a couple folks who've lived in Paris. And not that I didn't love our anniversary trip last year, but I think Paris just might trump Galena. :)

Anyway, enough about that. We had an outstanding time while the Kolmans were in town. We took a day trip to Bath 2 Saturdays ago, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Matt wasn't as big of a fan, but can't win 'em all. We did a 2 hour walking tour of the city, had an amazing Italian lunch (thanks Whit and Kate!), walked/shopped/toured the Roman baths, had dinner at a Bistro where Sarah and I enjoyed some delicious french onion soup and headed back to London on the train.

Last Sunday was another day of sports for us - Arsenal/Chelsea, Ryder Cup, a little football at a pub called Jetlag. A much better choice than our usual trip to Bodeans.

Monday, I met Sarah and Scottie at the Tate Modern. I loved the photography exhibits and enjoyed some of the abstract pieces, but I still have trouble understanding how some things qualify as art. The 3 of us met Matt in Chinatown for dinner and finished the evening with a trip to see Les Miserables. It was fabulous!! Really outstanding voices, great stage production. Loved the rotating stage circle.

I took it easy Tuesday-Thursday while the Kolmans were out exploring England countryside and Paris. I did something to my right foot a couple weeks ago - not sure what, but it might've been the combination of 30 day shredding and not wearing shoes (whoops?). Dr. Colette says it sounds like I pulled a ligament (or something) so I'm supposed to take it easy. It's gotten better (which makes me hopeful that I didn't actually break something), but it's been annoying that I can't walk around for hours without pain. Bah.

Friday, Sarah, Scottie and I met for a lunch of dim sum in Chinatown. It's my new favorite thing to eat! It's basically Chinese steamed appetizers. Our lunch was seriously amazing. After a quick trip for Chinese waffles, we started our Harry Potter tour. We ended up just doing a few things noted in our Rick Steve's book. We started at King's Cross/St. Pancras for a trip to see Platform 9 and 3/4. Rick Steve's directions were...nonexistent, so when we arrived near Platform 9 and saw that we needed to pay to get on to the platform, we were confused and spent a few minutes discussing. I saw a man on the other side of the turnstiles so I went up and said only these words "Excuse me, I have a question..." and without any other words, he immediately said "Left, left, past the bikes, Harry Potter." It was awesome and needless to say, the Kolmans and I were very amused by this. We found our way to Platform 9 and 3/4, which was pretty awesome. It was well-done and not cheesy. We had a lot of fun taking some pictures pretending to run into the wall. Next, we headed to the Borough Market to see a pub where a scene had been filmed and then to Leadenhall Market to see "real life" Diagon Alley. It was a neat little back street, but did not necessarily give the feeling of Diagon Alley. So the highlight of our tour was definitely Platform 9 and 3/4.

We met Matt for dinner at an Indian tapas place in Soho. It was good, but the food wasn't spicy enough for me. If I'm eating Indian food, I expect serious spice. We then headed to see Chicago, which I was super excited for...but expectations were definitely not met. The actor who played Roxie had the same hair as Catherine Zeta-Jones in the movie version; Velma was a red head. It was weird. Plus Roxie couldn't dance to save her life, but I suppose somewhat made up for it with her voice. I enjoyed that they tried to make the performance unique, but overall, I was unfortunately disappointed.

Saturday, we met Sarah and Scottie for lunch before their flight back to Chicago at a gastropub called Anchor & Hope. The menu was a little intimidating so I made a safe choice of skatewing with lentils, which was good, but I feel like I could've done better if I would've been more brave. Lucky me - we then met friends for dinner at the Eagle on Saturday night, the gastropub we'd eaten at previously, where I made a very smart choices of pork stew, which was tasty and cozy and autumn-y. Matt ordered a simply amazing steak sandwich. The Eagle is one of our fav places, it's just such a neat atmosphere and has a menu that changes at each meal time. We continued our night with pints at the piano bar in Soho and then ended it at a club-y place called the O Bar (I think?).

Yesterday, we took advantage of our new subscription to NHL Center Ice and watched the Hawks game from Saturday night. I made guacamole and confetti chili and our friend Nick came over and we watched the Bears game from his NFL subscription. What a strange football game, but another Bears win, hooray!

And now you're caught up again! Enjoy your weeks - and congrats to all the marathoners!

Cheers!

Yes, we're alive.

So our temporary internet stopped this past Friday and we don't get our permanent internet until sometime this coming Monday...so, yes, I've been disconnected from the world. It's been painful. But alas, I come to you from a delightful little cafe around the corner from our place called Mocchacafe. They aren't even judging me for sitting in front of my computer, eyes glued to the screen, for the past 2 hours. I'm afraid this post won't be long because my vision is getting blurry from staring at the screen for too long.

We continue to get settled into our new place. It's really starting to look/feel like home. We hauled a massive load home this past weekend from Ikea - Keibler-style, if you will :). I've put my freakish organizational skills to work and it's really looking homey. Pictures next week, promise.

Our friend Chris was in town last week so we headed to dinner with him on Tuesday to a pub near us called Elk in the Woods. Crazy menu, good food. Chris has something called frikadeller or some version of the word I just attempted to spell. I think it was pork meatballs? Or some kind of meat...ball? It was yummy. I had a board of pea guacamole, pita, beet salsa, feta and some other delicious things. Matt had rabbit paella, which was also good, but nothing to write home about. We ended the night with a Guinness at a local pub, where Chris was able to sample his first REAL Guinness (not the crap they pour in the States), yum!

Saturday, Chris was able to score tickets to the Arsenal/West Brom game. Arsenal hadn't lost in their own stadium to West Brom since the 80s...or something ridiculously long. Unfortunately, Chris and Matt must've been bad luck because Arsenal lost. Oh well. Better luck next time. The Arsenal stadium is only about a 25 minute walk from our place, which is pretty convenient. Matt continues on his search for the perfect Arsenal jersey...

Saturday night, Matt and I went to dinner with our friend Nick at a local Mexican restaurant...possibly the only decent Mexican restaurant in London...called Desperados. It was quite good despite Whit's warnings against Mexican food in London...which we mostly agree with. Desperados did not serve unlimited chips/salsa, but the food we ordered was good and satisfied our Mexican fix for now. However, I'm already planning on a Mexican feast when we come home at Christmas. Be ready El Burrito Mexicano!!! And all the other amazing Mexican restaurants in Chicago. We continued our night at a pub in Soho...after a short stroll through London's red light district (hey, we were curious! Cole - doesn't hold a candle to Paris)...that was apparently a piano bar. While it was crowded and full of seriously drunk people (we weren't quite there), it was really fun. Everyone sang along to the piano and we heard Journey. Enough said.

Hmmm, what else? The Kolmans arrive tonight...otherwise known as our first friends visiting for fun and not work. Hooray!! I'm excited for companions during the work week! We're planning a day trip to Bath on Saturday and other fun outings, including...YES...a Harry Potter walking tour. I CANNOT WAIT. Luckily, I brought my HP shirt that I scored at a Champaign Salvation Army shop so I can be in full HP nerd mode on the tour. You best believe I'll have a picture at platform 9 3/4 to post soon. :)

Some of you have asked about my job search. Well, not that I didn't expect it, but so far, it's been fruitless. Not that I haven't tried, but a dietitian looking for non-dietitian jobs is difficult. That's all I'll say about that for now, except that if anyone has any magical London contacts, I'll be your BFF.

One day Matt will blog and comment on his work over here. From my end, he seems to be doing quite well.

I think that's all for now folks. I am officially starting to go blind from computer-staring syndrome. Time to head out into another glorious gray, raindy London day (FYI, the weather hasn't been bad at all, lots of sunny days to combat the rainy ones and lovely fall temperatures...the scarves have been busted out!).

Cheers!!

Pics!

Just a quick post to let you know that pictures are updated and we have temporary internet at our place for the next 4 days so we'll be able to post at some point this week. I'm also hoping to add more pics so you guys can see what our new place looks like.

Moving weekend wore us out so we're off to bed. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend!

MOVING DAY!

We're excited...can you tell? ;) We are mid-moving process - had our walk through the new flat this morning to check that everything was in working order. I'm not sure how it works in Chicago since I never officially rented a place, but the walk through was extremely thorough, which was comforting to us. Only a couple things that require attention - nothing too major thankfully. But the walk through took an hour and a half by the time we got through everything. There was an agent from the lettings office and an independent guy who was our representative (i.e. to make sure we didn't get screwed). The agent walked us through the place and then "our" guy walked through with a recorder noting EVERYTHING. Together, they make a extensive list of the inventory and state of the flat to ensure it's all the same when we move out. Crazy. Enough about that.

So our moving van (basically a big white GMC-type van) arrives in about an hour so we'll start the sad, long process of carrying all our stuff down the hall to the elevator, then outside to the curb, then load it into the van, ride in said van to Islington (our new neighborhood), take everything back out of van and carry up 1.5 flights of stairs. Whew. My back already hurts just thinking about it. But after this, NO MOVING FOR 18 MONTHS!!!!!!!!! We have moved more in the past 13 months than any human ever should. But no complaints because it all brought us to this point. We finally get to start to create our new home in London.

After we dump our stuff and manage a shower, we're heading out with the London gang tonight (if you haven't figured it out yet, London gang = Mike, Sandy, Nick and Brock) in Islington (we'll most likely be able to walk home, gasp!). Tomorrow, we're heading back to Bodean's to watch the Bills/Packers game because Mike and Sandy are Buffalo fans and Brock is a Packers fan...no one's perfect though, right? ;) They are showing the Bears game elsewhere, but we'll manage a week without seeing the game.

Oh and it sounds like we should have internet up and running by Sep 27 or so. I'm hoping to blog again from a coffee shop with wifi, but no promises. Hope you can all hold out until then.

Enjoy your weekends! And a very HAPPY HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY to my favorite brother BJ on Sunday!! Wish we could be there to celebrate!!

Cheers!

t-3 days

Only 3 more days in our temporary flat. HOORAY!! There really are no words for our excitement. Tonight, we're heading to pick up a bunch of housewares from a girl who is finishing up her rotation here and then Saturday morning, we head to the new flat for a walk-through and then move our stuff in - YAY! We are still in the stage of trying to figure out what company to go with for internet/cable, but hopefully (fingers crossed!), it doesn't take too long for us to get set up so we can get back to blogging, finally post pictures and regain the ability to skype from my computer. That will be a truly amazing day.

Last weekend was another enjoyable time. Friday was a low-key night, but we headed to dinner for Thai food with our friend, Nick, at a place in Islington which is literally a 30-second walk from where our near place will be. Their Tom Yum Goong soup was tasty, but not as spicy and amazingly delicious at the Thai place in Canary Wharf that we've hit up a couple times. My main dish was a spicy noodle dish with chicken, chilis and peppers and was my favorite Thai entree thus far though - we are really enjoying all the different types of cuisine that are so readily available. We continued our evening at a pub down the road on Upper Street and had a few pints and called it a night. Sunday was, of course, the start of NFL football. Matt had done a bit of research on pubs that might show NFL games so we headed to one called Bodean's that was walking distance from London Bridge. It was apparently started by a guy from KC and served BBQ - not usually something I would sign up for in London, but I do love KC BBQ. We were insanely pleased when the first thing we saw walking into the place was a Hester jersey sitting at the bar and the Bears game on the big screen. We took a spot at the bar and enjoyed Coors Light (yes! they had Coors Light) and soon realized after the 89-yd touchdown run by Forte that we were surrounded by Bears fans - the whole place went nuts. It was SO fun! We made friends with a couple Chicagoans at the bar and learned that we had most likely chosen the best place to find Bears games - score! If only we could find a place that shows Illinois football...and also find a way to make Illinois football worth watching.

London has the pleasure this week of the company of Jilen Bouwer and the three of us headed to dinner last night at a little Italian place near St. Paul's - super tasty. It is insane that since we've arrived, we've pretty much had 1 person in town visiting (for work so far) every day. Crazy. And also really nice. While we are so excited for our adventure in London, we definitely miss home sometimes, especially our favorite orange fuzzy man. I'm so glad we didn't put Cosmo through the trauma of coming to London, but we miss our little guy. And our friends and family. And knowing how everything works. And the US dollar. :) But we really hope that everyone who is able makes the trek over here or is up for meeting us in another European destination.

Alright, time to start packing some stuff up. We'll try to blog once more before Saturday in case internet set-up takes awhile. Happy Wednesday everyone!

9 days and counting...

Well, we are STILL in the middle of paperwork for this flat, but things seem to be progressing nicely and we just found out that we get to move in on September 18! In 9 days!! YES! No more temporary flat. It's a nice enough place to live (you'll get to see pics eventually), but after 3 weeks of being here, we are ready to settle in. Which we can't do here. Because we cannot REALLY unpack. So we've essentially been living out of our suitcases since our arrival (boo). I want to unpack and organize and clean and settle in. Plus our new place is just adorable - tons of character, located over a little clothing shop on a cute street, and a fair amount of storage for a London flat.

This week hasn't been overly exciting. Matt is getting more familiar with what his work role will be and I've been on random exploration adventures, including a lengthy walk through what will be our new neighborhood yesterday. Halfway through, I decided to venture out to the IKEA that was supposedly not too far away. The tube ride was only about 10 minutes, but then there was supposed to be a free shuttle to IKEA because it was essentially suburban where I was. Well, let's just say waiting for the shuttle took considerably longer than expected, but I eventually made it to IKEA. Overall, it was disappointing. I am well aware that IKEA products are not the highest quality, but well, eh. I didn't even buy napkins...and that's saying a lot (right, Abbie?). Oh well. We could definitely get some basic dishes/glasses but not much else. Maybe other UK locations are nicer?

Today, I got an email from the London edition of Daily Candy alerting me to an Orla Kiely sample sale at the Chelsea Old Town Hall. Ummm, YAY! I love Orla Kiely. Love, love, love. As mentioned in a previous post, I've already made the trek to one of her UK stores...I think in the first week we were here. So needless to say, I set out for Chelsea this am. The sale started at 11am, but I arrived around 11:30am. It. was. madness. I'm not kidding. People were walking around with up to 20 bags on one arm. I've never seen anything like it. I made out with a wallet and a make-up bag for 50 GBP, a huge deal. I saw some people with some pretty amazing finds, but I think you had to be there at 10:59am to get the good stuff.

I've also been keeping myself busy trying to decide where Matt and I should celebrate our 2-year anniversary next month. No official decision yet, but we're leaning toward Paris. I mean, it's no Galena, IL (where we celebrated year 1), but I think it would make do. :) If anyone has an recommendations for Paris or other locations, let us know!

Cheers for now!

Fifth time's a charm

Hooray! We have an accepted offer on #5!! The landlord responded just this morning and the next steps involve some paperwork, but we will hopefully move in around September 20. Unfortunately, this means more expensive time in our temporary flat, but as long as this goes through, I don't care.

We had another wonderful weekend. You already know about Friday so I'll start with Saturday. Our original plan was to head to Camden market with Annie, but tube closures made the trip ridiculously long so instead, we headed to Sloane Square in search of new shoes for Matt. We happened upon a small market in the square and had a great lunch. Matt tried a pie (I believe made by the Pie Minister? Or some similarly catchy name.) called Porky Pig (again pics to come later) - it was awesome. I've been hesitant of the traditional English pies thus far, but this one was really delicious. I had a Carribean Roti wrap - it had hummus, spicy lentil sauce, tomatoes, avocado and a bunch of other tasty things. We shopped around for a bit - found shoes for Matt at Russell and Bromley and picked up some fun things at a store called Muji. It's one of my new fav. stores - most of the packaging is in Japanese (I think), but it's a sort of container-store-meets-west-elm-meets-a-cute-clothing-store. And relatively cheap - yay!

We then headed to dinner with our London gang of friends - Mike, Sandy, Brock and Annie (our temporary London friend - she'll head home in another week :( ). Sandy had heard about a neat-o Asian restaurant called Inamo. We had to go at 5:15pm because it was the only time available, but the deal is, you get your table for a specific amount of time (we had 1.5 hours). Basically, each seat at the table has a computer built into the tabletop so you use your mouse pad to order everything - drinks, food, etc. It was SO fun. Then they would just bring it to you. I started with spring rolls that were outstanding and then had grilled tiger prawns, which arrived with the heads still on. That was a first. Luckily, they popped right off - I had visions of wrestling with my prawns, trying to decapitate them. After dinner, we headed back to Chinatown to introduce Sandy, Mike and Brock to our favorite Chinese waffles - yum! Next up was pub #1 then pub #2, which was where we parked ourselves for the remainder of the night...and proceeded to have a few too many pints. Whoops. But all in all, it was another great night out in London.

Sunday was spent mostly sleeping, then lazying around the flat and watching Charlie Wilson's War and the Pursuit of Happyness - both great flicks.

I'm off to do a little grocery shopping. Hope everyone back home is enjoying their Labor Day!