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!