Beautiful Weekend

Hey there – glad you could make it to this weekend’s update.

I think it’s fair to say the weekend (or at least the interesting portion of our week) started a day earlier. At the end of the week, Anne had a 36 hour trip to Copenhagen, Denmark and elected to fly at 7 AM on Thursday morning. In Charlotte, this required us to get going about 5:30 in order to make the flight. For her trip from Heathrow, we decided that 4:10 would be about right. Thanks to my parents for the intercontinental wake-up call.

So we both were dragging a bit during the day and had work-related dinners that night. Anne visited the same restaurant for dinner Thursday and lunch Friday in Denmark at the famous park there, Tivoli.

For my dinner, three colleagues and I ate at Thai Square in Bank, which led to after-dinner drinks, which led to after-dinner-clubbing at this bar called Abacus. I thought the club name was a touch ironic, given that it was four accountants. My “cool American” accent ended up getting me free shots, though I am quite certain my Friday morning would have been better had I turned them down. Clubbing led to me getting home at 1:30, after a quick stop at Maroush for a late-night chicken schwarma sandwich (the London equivalent of Waffle House or Littlejohns).

Two things Friday were amazing: the weather and the fact I made it to work on time. It was 26 – 30 C all weekend (let’s remember our conversion equation… F = 9/5 C + 32), which is 78 – 88ish F. No clouds, no humidity, light until 10 PM or thereabouts. As for the latter, let’s just admit it wasn’t my most productive day.

Anne got home about 10 on Friday night, about the same time as house-guest Number 4. Drumroll please…… Anthony McGuinness, Burr’s Camp Lincoln buddy from 2003. Anthony is a huge Everton Football Club supporter and had come down for the FA Cup Final at Wembley. The FA Cup is the equivalent of English national championship, combining the Super Bowl (size and importance), NCAA tournament (number of teams involved), US Open golf (any team in England can enter the competition).. Everton are the NY Mets of Liverpool, often overshadowed by Liverpool FC. In the Premiership, they are more like the Oakland A’s of the late-90s – competitive second-tier squad with a lower payroll. They were playing Chelsea, a London club owned by a Russian oil csar who has outspent almost every other team in the world.

Saturday morning, we picked up my buddy Eric Carter, Greenville soccer teammate studying / working in London until mid-July, and took the tube out to Wembley Stadium. We grabbed a couple of four-packs and went quasi-tailgating with about 5,000 hammered Everton supporters on the steps of the park. See the pic. Anthony is in the middle and Eric is far right.

Anthony scalped, tricked, parachuted, and/or teleported himself into the match. (You don’t question how people from Liverpool get things done. Anne tried later to interrogate him and we got nowhere.) Eric and I went to an Everton sports-bar in time to see the place erupt when they scored the first goal just 30 seconds into the match. I don’t know if this picture quite captures the 6 or 7 pints of beer dripping from the ceiling supplied by the exuberant Everton supporters.

The atmosphere became more and more subdued as Chelsea took control of the game and won 2-1.

Anne spent Saturday at the gym (working out and enjoying the rooftop deck), at the Portobello Road market and on the couch with her new favourite chick show (Privileged). She then helped prepare a delicious stir-fry meal for the sunburned and dehydrated among us. Anthony then had to scamper off to catch his train.

Sunday, we met up with our favourite group of American ex-pats for beers and Pimms at the White Horse pub in Fulham. Pimms is a British liquor, a delightful drink on a beautiful day and a favourite of the Jervises.

Dublin next weekend. Until then, have a great week.

Melissa and Nicola's creation

That is - what they turned our flat into. In order to get Burr to agree to the IKEA run (or marathon run) I agreed that this is my 28th Birthday present. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!

For those of you who would like to participate in my "Anne fit into London JL fund" please see below for a list of items your money will greatly support:

1. Tory Birch flats (so sorry I cannot spell designer names in previous blog)

2. Hermes bag

3. Hermes belt ( I think I need 2 of these, as some people - i.e. London Barbie never take them off)

4. White shirt from Harrods costing roughly $500 (can someone please make a white button up shirt with fun stuff on it that is not RIDIC. to buy)

5. $500 to get hair cut and colored (I'm not sure how much this costs but my hair needs help - you know it does, don't lie! You have seen the pictures! eeeeek)

6. Donation of 7 carat ring, no CZ's don't count Burr.

Oh, I meant to tell the story of getting to IKEA before I starting day dreaming about my birthday list - oops!

OK, so Sunday night Mel, Nic, and I are discussing what to do the next day. Since Melissa is the an amazing drill sergeant, I mean tourist, and we saw everything in about 3 days so we had a day to do whatever we wanted. I mention, jokingly, that we re-decorate our flat and they actually wanted to go to IKEA b/c they had never been there before. *

*Side Note 1 - I think they DEEPLY regretted that decision very shortly after

Monday am we get early to make it to the tube at 9am to catch the 1st shuttle bus to IKEA at 9:30 am....well we get to the tube station and the line we want is not running so...we go the opposite direction of IKEA for about 5 stops to switch and backtrack for another 5 stops - ugh. We finally make it to the tube station the shuttle bus is supposed to be at.

Here's where it gets interesting. We walk outside the tube station and notice (a) we are in the G-H-E-T-T-O - I mean scary and (b) there is no sign for the IKEA shuttle bus anywhere. So we ask the counter person and they direct us to the right and down....so we follow and then we see the IKEA shuttle bus sign perfectly situated behind some chainlink fence and underneath a highway overpass. So we are waiting and then we notice there is no bus, so I call Burr he texts me the IKEA number and I call, they claim the first shuttle bus is not until 10:30 am b/c its a "bank holiday" *

*side note 2 - bank holiday does not even mean anything here, its not memorial day, its nothing, its just a day the British don't work.

Anyway, we have 25+ min. to wait for the next shuttle so we decide to try and catch a cab. We call 1 cab company and the say "NO" - seriously said no, scary! Then the next one says 5 min. When the cab we ordered pulls up we know its them b/c they call my cell phone, we would not have been able to tell it was a cab b/c they are driving and old black beaten up fiat or something, there is no sign that its a cab and nothing inside showing his license. So we decide to by-pass the cab and wait for the shuttle.

Finally we get on the shuttle (the shuttle also has been now waiting at the stop for 15 min. but would not actually let us on the bus, but watched us stand in the pouring down cold rain) and we drive to IKEA that is not even 1/2 mile away!!!

So we COULD HAVE WALKED TO IKEA THE ENTIRE TIME!!! But, instead we experienced everything written above - terrible.

Hugs and Kisses

AMF

PS - Don't worry we hired a cab to take us home.

PPS - If you feel terribly bad for me and do want to donate to my "Birthday Fund" please feel free!

2 HS BF's leaving :-(

If you cannot interpret my title its "two highschool best friends leaving + sad face", as in leaving me in London - ALL ALONE (with Burr of course) but, its not the same. Burr does not like to go shopping, shows, go the markets, Harrods, or take walks in the park and THEY do!!!

Its just very sad for me. But I will say the weekend was FABULOUS - So....Monday they claim to have enjoyed spending an ENTIRE day at IKEA/redecorating our flat. Just look how hard they were working for us at IKEA below - I mean that is friendship! Yes, for everyone who voted silver sage - congrats its done:-) Pics to come. (Please note - a blog to come will describe how we almost died at least twice attempting to get to IKEA)

I had several favorite moments of the weekend, but as usual they are best described in a list

(1) The feeling I got in the morning when they arrived. Its just like Christmas morning when you are 10 years old but better! *

*Side note 1- Burr told me I was acting like a small child, kicking my legs and feet in the air SO excited they were coming!

(2) Hamley's - GREATEST toy store ever. They make really cool stickers (you had to be there, right girls?)

(3) London Eye - The experience is just pretty cool. Great views.

(4) Wicked - The show was AWESOME. Burr thought it was a "Chick flick" but he secretly loved it, I'm sure! It was really fun and Nicola introduced us to more British candy we like at intermission!

(5) Hanging out with my friends in general. AWESOME weekend.

So, now I shall list everything Nicola taught us about British food that we have been missing out on.

(1) Sausage rolls are amazing! They are these pastries wrapped around sausage that you bake for about 15 minutes - we nick-named it "The British Hot Dog" - yummy!

(2) Carmel chocolate wafer biscuts - yeah sounds funny, but its like those wafer things at home except in between each wafer is carmel and then the wafer is dunked in chocolate. Delicious

(3) Shreddies! - My new favorite cereal - look it up

(4) Jelly Babies - more candy

(5) I think that is enough and if you could not tell, Nicola loves candy! (excuse me, British candy)

All in all it was AWESOME and I'm super sad they are gone. I even cried a little but getting on the tube this morning and then I was pouting all day long. That is, until I went to Kangoo!

Kangoo is this excercise class I took tonight where you wear these shoes...

Don't they look funny?! Yes, you jump on them like you are on a trampoline. So basically I took a very funky dance class on these jumpy shoes for an hour. Totally cheered me up!! Except the poor lady beside me obviously did not realize I was so new because she kept grapevining to the right and I was attempted to grapevine to the right but sometimes my totally awesome kangoo shoes just did not want to move to the right. So she ran into me several times. I never really ran into anyone b/c I think I might have jumped in place for an hour while attempting to move:-) hehehe

Don't worry I did not buy the shoes - my fancy degrees-I-don't-know gym gives them to you - BONUS.

I'm out

Weekend Re-Cap

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I hope everyone has enjoyed Anne encroaching on my weekend recap space. I have forgiven her because (a) she is excited to have her friends in town and (b) I get to tease her that she doesn’t know who Meatloaf is …. Honey, it’s a person, not a band.

Anne has caught everyone up from Friday and hit most of the highlights from Saturday, so I will pick up from there. Sunday morning Melissa and Nicola came to the flat for breakfast before we struck out for Windsor Castle via train. What should have been an uneventful train trip was made much more interesting by the International Sevens competition.

So what is an international sevens competition, you ask? Good question. Sevens is the short name for 7 on 7 full-field rugby. The main rugby stadium in England is in Twickenham, almost directly halfway between London and Windsor. The two-day event featured 16 national champion Sevens teams and 50,000 fans (approximately 4 fans and 1 player were sober). At 10:30 AM on the train platform, we saw at least 20 cases of alcohol, 30 finished beers and a tapped Heineken mini-keg.

After the revelers departed, the rest of the train to Windsor was quiet. Weather was perfect. Castle was beautiful and as you can see in the picture, the girls dressed as a tribute to primary colors. We spent about 90 minutes in the Castle (the Queen was not in residence … she’s currently at Buckingham palace) before going to Sunday roast at The Two Brewers pub. We shopped a bit in the city before catching the train home. Apparently the tournament had finished some time ago, because the stragglers that got on the train at Twickenham looked like the guys who wake up in the pasture about 7 PM at Foxfield. One girl even had the tell-tale permanent marker tattoos to prove it.

The rest of the evening was to be a low-key affair, before Anne proposed an IKEA trip for Monday morning to redecorate our flat. At that point, the girls broke out the measuring tape and I considered calling AMEX and the bank to cancel the credit cards.

Tonight we are going to see Wicked. Anne will be sure to cover the IKEA trip and Wicked at some point in the future.

Have a good week! If you get a chance, we do want to know where you think we should go next. I really have to wonder where that Durham vote came from – thanks Barb.

London eye

Our lives with Melissa and Nicola

Our Saturday...

Melissa vs. Asian dude (i.e. - for competing most about of pictures in a large moving dome of London Eye)
All of us friends running to see changing of the guards
Melissa lets friends eat lunch (if you know her Dad this would be funny)
Burr takes Melissa to see Rosetta Stone for second time in 6 days (Anne and Nicola go shopping, yes Burr choose Rosetta Stone for the 2nd time in less than a week over shopping - shocker!)
Nicola dines with her cousins
Burr, Anne, and Melissa to Ripe Tomato in Notting Hill
Melissa buys her 3rd and 4th pashmina of the trip (I think she found a new love)
Burr, Melissa, and Anne to plan day trip without Nicola thus, we will not be going to (1) Cadbury World or (2) small town outside of Liverpool - sorry Nic!

More to come later. I tried to make Melissa blog, but if you have ever met her all she did was laugh and giggle instead of actually trying to post anything, so I cannot really post "hahahha - hheeeeehhheee" for an entire blog

The Big Bus Tour

That is literally the name of the tour bus we took - original huh? *

*Side Note - If you look really hard at the pic you can see it says Harrods on the left above the green awning.

Yes, Melissa definitely wanted to take an open top bus tour so when they arrived that is what we did! So we got on for a bit and hoped off at Noting Hill to go to Portabella Market - LOVE this market. It has cute antiques, jewelry, clothes, great food. Really its cool.

We did several other touristy things all day. One of the features of the day was

(1) When Melissa brought us Wheat Thins!!! (also makeup and deodorant)This confused Burr because after Burr left for work our grocery's arrived and I put them away, along with the wheat thins. So when Burr came home from work he ate some snacks - he was very disappointed to hear the wheat thins in fact are not purchase-able from our grocery store here and they were in fact, imported and maybe he should have slowed down his wheat thin consumption.

(2) Nicola brought us 5 lb. with of granola bars - YEAH! She also taught us about British candy and she bought a "twisted" for us to share, which is basically a cadburry egg in a chocolate bar, pretty delicious. (note: not yummy - yeah for anne¬!)

The BEST part of the day was definitely the Toy Store, Hamley's - its adorable and they have all these cool exhibits/people showing you cool toys. And...they have proper Paddington Bears, so cute! Clare Bear, don't worry you have one and book on the way - hopefully in Ms. Murfin;s bag.

(3) Nicola delirious! So, she only slept for about an hour on the plane. landed, came to our flat, showered, and toured ALL day until 8pm then dinner and by dinner she was out of it - poor thing. I hope she is sound asleep now in her hotel.

Yes, Mel and Nic somehow decided to get a hotel instead of stay with us about 2 days after we posted a video of our flat online, coincidence? I think not, but its cool. There hotel is super close.

Tomorrow we are headed to the London Eye - yeah! Monday night we are going to see Wicked, so I'm thrilled for that too:-)

Hope everyone is doing well back home.
Love ya
Anne

PS - Mom look! Nicola brought me a "proper" bag that says Collegiate Spartans, just in time for me to celebrate your retirement:-) WCS!

Anticipating Nic and Mel

Meatloaf - That band that was popular about 10 years ago. Yeah, I heard twice today! Once in a remake duet in my "body combat" *



*Side Note 1 - Did you know its possible to get lace up hooker boots that are always tennis shoes? Yeah, either did I - but my gym instructor def. has'em



class and the second in the hotel where I get my lunch. I know it sounds strange to get your lunch in a hotel, but they have this tossed salad line -just like Dean and Deluca that is amazing...so I get lunch at the Hilton.



I've been working a LOT this week so please no complaining about the lack of blog. the good news is... I cannot wait for Melissa and Nicola to come tomorrow morning. I am SO excited to see them (and they are bringing my makeup, Burr's deodarnant, larabars, and gum, the US - YEAH for us!!! )

Justin's Visit

Weekend Recap:
So did everyone enjoy their view into life with Anne on cold medicine? If you haven’t checked it out yet, please see the blog post from Friday night.

That night, David Illif and I hit up a BBQ joint in Fulham while Anne laid at home in bed. Normally the doting husband, I will stay shut-in with my wife when she doesn’t feel well, but after being around Mrs. Sicky for 3 days, I must admit that I only did one “are you sure?” versus my customary 3 or 4. Karma found me halfway to the tube station when the heavens opened up and I had no umbrella. The BBQ place is owned by a Jayhawk alum and it was pretty good. Rumor has it that for big basketball games, the owner will open his basement to KU alums and open the taps to the wee hours. Need to check on this soon.

Saturday around lunch, Justin Burke (camp friend of ours) from Portland arrived and we hit up Portobello Road Market to see what all the fuss is about. Fun times and Anne found her good Mexican food.

The highlight of Saturday though was Thriller, the Michael Jackson tribute show. I am tired and would not do the unintentional comedy of the show justice right now, so we will save it for a separate post.

Dinner at Maroush (a Lebanese restaurant that will definitely be featured in an upcoming blog) before retiring.

Sunday, Justin and I were good little tourists and got up to go to the British museum. Saw the Rosetta stone, some mummies and a lot of old pottery. It’s amazing how the British dance around the fact that they have stolen many cultures’ great artifacts. It would be like me walking into my neighbor’s house, ripping the plasma tv off the wall and then putting a plaque next to it in my living room that read, “Burr came of this by way of the dude next door.”
We had lunch at a restaurant on the water in Hyde Park (sunny and great for 5 minutes, clouds and wind for 5 minutes, sunny and great for 5 minutes, yada yada yada). Anne and Justin went shopping and we met for dinner at Ted’s Kitchen in Chelsea.

PS - The pic is added by Anne b/c its the funniest pic eve r- The tube was packed and Burr just barely made it inside, loved it!

Ode to Candlewood and Realtor Anne!

Here's to saying goodbye to our house on Candlewood! Thanks to Anne Bell, aka best Realtor ever (see picture below) and Lee we finally sold our house - yippeee!

Anne - I hope you don't care I hi-jacked your pic off facebook. (For those of you who think I'm addressing myself, you're nuts*) McSwain, Anne does not have one picture on facebook of only herself - they all have you in them so (1) you have the pleasure of making a photo-op on our blog but more importantly (2) I'd be worried about your wife being slightly obsessed with you - haha!

*Side Note 1- We came to call Anne Bell, "Realtor Anne" because Burr would say "Anne what do you think?" on a 3-way conference call and both of us would respond, so I was referred to as, "Anne Farrar" - guess who came up with that boring name?! (1 guess) and Anne Bell was Realtor Anne!

Realtor Anne - I would totally buy you those Tory Birch flats as a gift if I could. *

Side Note 2- For those girls engaged, dating, single buy Tory Birch flats BEFORE you get married. This is of up most importance. (also buy.....jeans, bags, coats, and as many facials as your blackheads can handle....don't lie everyone has 'em)

So, we officially sold the house and we no longer have to think about it or broken water mains. And....I never have to remember the day the movers came 24 hours early thanks to Mr. Genius. Come to think of it, he still owes me a Birkin bag for that mistake! Then I go finally go to the junior league meetings in London - just kidding.

It will be a little sad that our house is gone, but its nice to not have to worry about it. Here were my highs and lows of the house *

*Side Note 3 - To my camp friends who know who highs and lows are - never ask the Farrar dinner table to talk about the highs and lows of their day, they are terrible at it and moan and groan and make up FAKE highs and lows just to get out of it. (BATTEN I'm talking to you! Oh, you too Steve!) You should practice, we will play at Christmas time :-)

Highs:

(1) First house with Burr

(2) Awesome laundry room

(3) Painting the cabinets *

*Side Note 4 - I hope this counts because I did technically paint them, its just that Alley had to paint over them because I'm not exactly "artistic" If our children want to learn how to draw more than just a stick figure I need to start saving for art classes, because their mama don't have it. Oh, and I can draw boxes, triangles, and circles - thanks to international tax. (Yes, you draw in tax - don't you Annette?!)

Lows:

(1) Water main breaking

(2) Heat Breaking *

*Side Note 5 - This cannot be in Burr's low because he spent the entire week of July (yes Charlotte in July) in San Fran so I spent the entire week at JJ's - love ya!

(3) Garden without Gardener *

*Side Note 6 - I mean if you are going to sell your house with a beautiful garden it should come with a Gardner. Realtor Anne - can you make that happen on our next house? Its was truly sad when my mom and mother-in-law, and aunts, etc. all came and said "You should do this, you should do this..." to your garden and then I would just fail. Although, there could still be hope I'm not doing too badly on my new flat plant - Jemima - she is still kicking!

Much love,

MUAH

Anne

PS - I literally type @ for every " - through this whole post - thanks to the US compute rI am on now vs. the UK keyboard I was on all day - I mean this is just wrong! You don't switch peoples drive to reverse in cars, don't switch my keys. There should be a universal keyboard...a.rgh

PPS - Its Friday night and I am home, blowing my nose, coughing, etc. its really pathetic. I told Burr to leave because I promise I am zero fun....I'm sure he will blog about what a lovely sick person I am. (Imagine living with Blair Waldorf on a bad day for a week!)

PPPS - If you still don't know who Blair Waldorf is and you are going to keep reading the blog, please please watch just one tiny episode of Gossip Girl and you'll get it. Leggings are not PAnts!

I'm out.

Brilliant, Cheers!

Elevators are working again – wohoo!! Thank goodness. Unfortunately, we are so busy at work that I eat at my desk everyday….ugh. Obama is really keeping me busy these days. For those of you who don’t know I do international tax and Obama and his administration have just released a TON of new legislation related to international tax so I have been quite busy to say the least. But busy is good for me, bad for you (no blogs!)

Tomorrow our friend from camp comes to stay with us, Justin. I’m so excited for him to get here! I hope we get to go to a show or something fun :-)

I remembered that Burr wanted me to confess on the blog that I yet again got lost!! It was a small mistake this time, I mean TINY. So, last week on the way home from work I was doing my normal commute. *

*Side note 1 – I realize that anyone who has a “normal” commute should never get lost, but I just can’t help it.

And I heard the train coming so I ran really fast turned left and jumped on it. The doors shut behind me and I realized….um I never actually go left – I go right (i.e. west) so I went entirely the wrong direction just because I heard a train – not “the” train. Oopsies. I think Burr thought this was funny because it happened on a Tuesday but I did not get enough courage to tell him until the following Sunday.

Words I found horribly annoying right now are “Brilliant” and “Cheers” – its used in every other sentence constantly. In the US you might tell a taxi driver where to go and get in, but here you tell the driver and the British person says “Brilliant, Cheers!” – over and over again and in conversations! I mean, when you don’t need to say anything at all this is what is coming out of their mouths. So annoying – perhaps because I’m sick and I just want everyone to be quiet….shhhhh…its bothering me.

PS –Thanks to Nicola and Melissa for coming to see us next week and be so gracious about shoving their bags full of our stuff, I just keep ordering stiff that gets sent to their home to carry to us (Such as granola bars, makeup, regular deodorant). I mean you really don’t want to hang out with stinky people, do you?!

PPS – Some anonymous person posted a comment on my blog regarding dance dance revolution and I really did not enjoy it. I mean – really an “anonymous” post - its just creepy. To anonymous poster: Leave me and my blogs alone, pick on Burr!

Stairs are not my friend, NOT MY FRIEND!!

99 stairs is the amount of stairs I had to climb this morning to get to my desk. That is not including the:

4 minute walk to tube, walk down 10 stairs, 1 min walk inside tube, walk/run down 20 escalators stairs (yes, I’ve conformed to the left side of escalators!) to catch the tube, switch tubes entails another 20 stairs and 2 minute walk inside the tube station, off the final tube stop walking up 2 escalators*

*Side note 1 – if you have not read the blog regarding the ridiculousness that is there are 2 sides of an escalator then you are really missing something – yes you WALK up WALKING stairs in London !

And finally a 5 minute walk to the EY building to see I have 9 flights of stairs to climb up to reach the top floor because the “lifts are not working”

Apparently there was a flood in the basement of the building the lifts were not working yesterday, nor are they working today. Well there are a couple working but the line is seriously an hour long – so I took the stairs and am still waiting to stop sweating. I felt like I was running because there were like 50 people behind me and no one in front of me on the stairs, so obviously I was the hold up. I wanted to scream “I have a cold, my book bag is like 20 pounds, and I just straightened my hair – give me a break people WAAAGGGHHH!!!” – but I did not – I just kept huffin’ it. Burr would have been so proud.

Now I really really need to go buy kleenex’s and cough drops but if you think I’m walking 198 stairs to save my co-workers from the sound of coughing all day, you are SO very wrong. What am I going to do for lunch?! Can you eat 3 bags of chips and candy bar for lunch??? We shall see!
PS – Thanksgiving in a bun was not as delicious as actual thanksgiving.

Once a week is insufficient!!!

Was the only text in an email I received from my father-in-law this morning. YIKES!!! Since, I’m frightened I may have to endure the wrath of Steve, I will pick it up on the blogging. The reason I have not “blogged”* this week

*Side Note – Is “blogged” a verb? I bet Mr. Genius would know if he was at work with me, but he is not.
*Side Note 2 - This week at work one of Burr’s Sr. Mgr’s from NY came into town unbeknown to Burr and announced “ Well I did not think I would see your fat head here!” - You gotta know the guy, this is normal talk for him.

Was because I have come down with some terrible cold or flu, or something. Don’t tell me it’s the swine flu because if one more person makes a joke that “Maybe you have the swine flu?” to me I’m going to cough on you –I mean really the joke is OLD and so NOT funny. Anyway, I stayed home from work yesterday, but worked at least 6 hours from home (shocker!)

Wednesday night Burr and I went to meet the Kral-Hasty twins, and Christine (Townley) and Charlie for dinner. They took us to S&M….Sausage and Mash café. Yes, they serve exactly what you think they would – typical sausage and mash. Everyone got a different kind of sausage and mashed potatoes except for me – I went for the chicken pie. But, I have to say the sausage was really good actually. We will definitely be bringing guests who visit us there to try it. (Kacie – don’t worry there is veggie sausage!)

Monday and Tuesday Burr and I just had dinner and I watched the biggest loser on i-tunes in bed with my stupid cold (NOT the swine flu). I love that show, except I found out who the winner was before I had a chance to watch the finale –talk about a show stopper! UGH. Helen, I mean really?! I really wanted Mike to win. I kind of have a crush on him, I mean I know he is only 18 but he is so cute – I think one of my cousins should marry him, like Lindsay or something, so at least he could be in the fam and tell me all the cool moves the trainer’s taught him.

*Side Note 3 - Not that I could perform said “cool moves” but I would at least give it a shot.

More later…..Here’s to Steve getting back in the grove.

Weekend recap - Burr's return

So thank you to Anne for taking last weekend’s recap. I was exhausted after two whole posts, but am now refreshed and ready to go.

Anne and I kicked off Friday night by opening a vintage 2008 screw-cap Shiraz (approx. £2.50 for the bottle from the grocery store). We then met Ed (my fraternity brother) and his work crew for dinner at Buddha Bar on the Victoria Embankment. Very trendy, very hip. Food was decent, atmosphere was good and we didn’t end up leaving until about 1 AM. Of course, by this time, the tube has stopped running, but by our calculation, it is only 5 tube stops away, so we guess that we can walk it back. We did walk past Big Ben and Parliament in the moonlight, which was cool. However, we decided it might be time to grab a cab right as we got to the park holding the all-night “Stop the Tamil Tigers” protest in some darkened corner of Westminster.

Saturday morning we found the grocery store with the one aisle of American food (pack of Fruit Roll-ups was £5.50) and Anne recovered from her hang-over by chewing out the department store sales-clerks who dared ask her for photo ID (admittedly not her finest moment). While Anne prepared veggies for her fondue party (apologies to all the Brits if there is a shortage of broccoli and/or peppers this week), I met up with Stewart Todd (one of my clients from Charlotte who moved to London in 2007) and a couple of his friends to go to the West Ham – Liverpool football match.

West Ham plays in East London, which is by far the roughest section of town either of us have visited since we arrived. It took about an hour for us to get out there. British football matches have the feel of a college football game, except for (a) they sell beer in the stadium and (b) there are sports books on-site. Both made the game more fun; however, our betting outlook grew bleak 79 seconds in when Liverpool scored its first goal. The home side never truly threatened and none of our bets paid out. Liverpool ended up winning 3-0 and I learned some new songs that will not be in our niece’s sing-a-long books. The tube station on the returning trip had a 45 minute wait, so we grabbed a couple more pints and tried to avoid the stares from the tattooed skin-heads that apparently arrived to dominate that particular pub.

We then came back into the city and hit up the casino in Leicester Square. Note to all UK travellers with a desire to play blackjack (Dad), drinks are not free. Also, if you find out drinks are not free and refuse payment on said drinks, you are not encouraged to play cards at said establishment. After a couple of hands, I got back to Knightsbridge in time to grab a Quarter Pounder (my first McD’s experience in the UK) and retired for the night.

Anne can describe the fondue party at another time. As far as I know, people used sticks to dip various foodstuffs into vats of cheese and chocolate. We did learn that if you (Burr) lock the door from the inside and leave the keys in the lock, the person on the outside (Anne) can’t unlock the door. Our whole building learned this lesson when Anne was forced to bang on the door loudly at 1:30 to get me out of my lager-induced slumber.

Sunday was fantastic weather. We woke up late and cruised through Chelsea, stopping for lunch outside at The Big Easy, a BBQ joint with decent American food. We then met the Illifs and other friends at a pub to watch Chelsea FC (geographically the team we should be following) destroy Arsenal (the other major London-based team) 4-1. As pay-back, we then had to go get gelato.

Hope everyone has a good week. Until next time…

Burr

Thanksgiving in a bun

The shoe shiner man, I have come to realize, sits on our floor every Friday right in front of the door leading to the restrooms. (Here they are toilets, always toilets! I do not like that word but if you say “Where is the ladies room?” at a resturatnt they look at you all funny, so toilets it is!) Anyway, I think its funny that the shoe shiner gets business in our office all day, meaning men must walk around in socks because obviously their shoes must be shined! So weird.

These past 2 days, I have had the unfortunate experience of sitting near the admin’s desk again. And they really never stop talking. Which is fine, if they don’t have stuff to do feel free to chat – but why do they sit RIGHT in the middle of everyone who is doing work!? I heard about what type of snack/treat/chocolate they were all going to choose for their mid-afternoon snack for at least 3 hours yesterday. I mean, really?! SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Last night I went to a junior league transfer happy hour and it was really fun! I met some normal girls who were not decked out in Tory Birch or Hermes, thank goodness! We went to this place called "Tini" - it was adorable and I hope to go there lots more. And tomorrow night I’m meeting a bunch of other Junior Leauge girls so hopefully I will fit in a little bit better with those ones too!

Burr is going to his first official football match tomorrow with his client. I’m excited for him, but I think its an expensive hobby! Tickets are £60 and that does not include drinks. I mean, if I was going to spend £100 (tickets plus drinks) on something I would rather buy some clothes or right now, some curtains – but of course you cannot find curtains for even close to that price here so scratch that idea.

I’m so excited for lunchtime today. Burr and I are walking to Borough market for lunch - this place full of veggies, fruit, pastries, cheese, fresh stands everywhere and last week I saw it – Thanksgiving in a bun!!! I’m not even remotely joking. They take like a 12 inch baguette and put in carved roasted turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce – see Thanksgiving in a bun. I’ll let you know how it is if we try it.

*Side note 1 - I just wondered if they put mashed potatoes in there too - I mean that would be kind of gross to think about, but why not if its truly Thanksgiving in a bun....yum yum yum.

*Side note 2 - Mom don't worry I won't get fat I worked every morning this week...mostly because I hate getting on the tube at 8:30 so I get on at 6:30 (approx. 1000 less people around), go to the gym next to work and get ready there just so I don't have the same " I cannot move" incident on the train again - see previous blog.

Tonight we are going to dinner with Ed, you should all know him his picture has been displayed here before. If you ask Ed where he lives I think his answer would be "London/D.C" - he apparently no longer has living place in DC and lives in hotels in London, sounds good to me!!! I think the headcount for Sigma Chi to Pi Phi dinners is like 5 to 1 or something pathetic like that – lets get a move on it girls!

Love ya lots
MUAH MUAH (one on each cheek!)

Weekend Update (by AMF)

No weekend update from Burr! He is so slacking…his 2 apperences on the blog must have been so strenuous on him!

OK I will fill in, but not like Burr does.

So we went to Amsterdam on this airline called KLM and I am TOTALLY in love with this airline. Everyone is SO friendly and they give you free drinks (yes alcohol) and food (sweet or salty choice) or in my case – both! I mean these people should train the stewards at US Air, it was awesome!

Anyway we did not do much Friday night except see Lindsay and Greg’s humungo flat! Seriously ours could fit in about ¼ of it! Saturday morning Burr and I got up and rode Lindsay and Greg’s bikes to the Anne Frank house. Then went to the Van Gough museum only to find a way too long line so we decided to go on a beer tour.

Lindsay and Greg were going to join us on a beer tour of Heiniken, but again the line was too long – so we made our own beer tour! Of the city that is! It was great. Lindsay and Greg showed us all around. *

*Side note 1 – while walking around, I keep hoping to run into some fabulous shops or something – but there is nothing of the sort, sad. If Burr really was Mr. Genius he would have us move there and I would not shop at all! Oh wait…online shopping. OK bad idea – shipping costs would be a fortune!

There was a nice market though, where we purchased a small suitcase since I no longer want to ever share a suitcase with Burr ever again! *

*Side note 2 – Burr does not really “share” – I mean he gave me half the space but once we got there he pulled everything of his out of the bag in a pile on top of my stuff – I could not find anything all weekend long! Shannon – Is Burr as messy at work as he is at home/on a trip? I think I’ve named him “The Tornado” – because he sweeps in out of nowhere and BOOM!!! Stuff is EVERYWHERE!

Sunday Burr and I actually stood in the Van Gough line and saw the museum. Oh yes, starry night!

*Side Note 3 – I mean its not that I hate museums, but really the painting looked the same as the fake posters they were selling outside! (Mom, don’t kill me – I promise to like the Louvre!)

Oh, I forgot the BEST part – Greg cooked a “traditional” Dutch breakfast Sunday which is basically cooking bacon in a pan and then pouring pancake batter on top, so it makes bacon cooked in your pancake. Absolutely FABULOUS. I do not know why we did not think of it before….YUM YUM

Let’s hope Burr will show up for this week’s weekend update soon

PS – I will post the pics of the “paddle boat” ride down the canal when I get home. Greg and Burr would very good at peddling, while Lindsay and I barely got the boat to move :-)

Flat Video Tour

Dance dance revolution

Hey family and friends! Burr and I are leaving Amsterdam tomorrow morning. I'm just sitting here on Greg's computer and thought I would let everyone know that I did beat Burr in "Dance Dance Revolution"- which is a game on the Wii (for those who don't know, its ok Mom you don't have to know - but its the new version of Nintendo!)

So, that was awesome. But I have to say Burr game me a run for my money - pictures to come soon. And...Greg took a video so if you are lucky you can see his moves - ha!

Amsterdam was awesome this weekend. I will let Burr tell you all about it in his "weekend update"- I will try to proof it this time so we don't have any one falling asleep on us!

More tomorrow.

Lovya

PS - You will be happy to know Lindsay and I cooked a Mexican fiesta tonight (typical Dutch food I know) and it was amazing. The Cooley's have this amazing kitchen gadget that chops everything up for you super fast - wayyyy faster than my chopper in the kitchen (aka Burr!) Note to self: must get an upgrade to new chopper ASAP