The big 2-7 Wish List

I'm slowly entering into the acceptance phase in regards to turning 27 about a month from now. As my 20s are slowly creeping towards 30, I must admit, I'm not liking the whole getting old thing. I feel like now that I've surpassed the 25 benchmark, the effects of aging are starting to rear their ugly heads. 

No longer can I stay awake past 10 PM. I eat half a piece of bread and I can't button my pants the next day. I'm starting to get dark circles. I barely get carded anymore (BUT I'm blaming this one on living in Europe and you only needing to be 18 years old to drink). I play a pick up game of soccer for 10 minutes and I can barely walk for three days. I can't remember what I did yesterday. And the list goes on... 

So, although I don't really need anything, I find myself window shopping quite a bit these days and I'm going to do a highlight real of what I secretly wouldn't mind getting for my birthday:

1. Ugg Bailey Boots - in Gray, size US6. These also made the Christmas Wishlist but sadly Santa did not bring me these. I guess I wasn't that high up in the Nice List. He did get me another very night pair, though. But these just seem springy and you can honestly wear your Uggs year-round in London so I don't think it's that bad to have a few pairs of uggs, right? 

2. Ray Bans Cats 5000 - in Brown or Black really. Yes, I just got a new pair of sunglasses last fall, but when Corinne was sunglass shopping over the weekend, I tried these on and instantly fell in love. I mean I'm no Penelope Cruz, but I think I rocked them pretty well! And with all the sunshine we've been having in these parts lately, I think two pairs are perfectly acceptable. 

3. Pandora Charms - Holy moly, after looking at the prices for one stinking charm, maybe just one is in order - if any! Some family friends gave me a pandora bracelet in 2006 in Germany and I only have three charms for it! I really missed the boat on filling that up before they became super popular! When we were in Paris, Dea had a complete bracelet and I loved it... 

4. A camcorder - I don't really have a specific one in mind. I'd be happy with a flip, but I think I would really like an actual mini camcorder of some kind. Andrew says not til we have babies, but we have had and keep having amazing experiences and I would like to remember me living them! My Uncle Greg has been posting old home movies online of our family and I have to say, it's amazing to see them. I am surprised by how overwhelming my emotions are when I see everyone so happy and young and vibrant. I want to remember my whole life like that! 

I think that's it for now. Those are the big ones. If I'm going to get old, I want to look good doing it!  

Black tie at the Savoy - Another night of Drinking for the Children..

Monday, March 14th. Andrew calls me at 10 AM and asks if I would like to attend the Duke of Edinburgh's Vintage Voyage Gala black tie at the Savoy with the usual T. Rowe crew for these things - that very eveing. Why not right? 

Once I agree and he sends me our eticket confirmation, I realized that I only have two black tie appropriate dresses - both of which I've warn multiple times in front of this group of people in the last few months. I immediately use my lunch break to research something fresh and new! 

After my quick recon of what the usual suspects were carrying, I was off for the quickest go-sees ever. I started at French Connection because they have simple, understated elegance vibes that I usually go for in my everyday wardrobe and I have some really gorgeous dresses from there, in general. The original one I went in there for was the Shelby Summer Maxi. It was gorgeous and totally me BUT I thought that other than black tie events (which are honestly few and far between) I couldn't really wear it anywhere else. That is, unless I wanted to be THAT girl at the wedding who wears white.. So after literally 3 minutes, I was onto Oasis, Warehouse, Karen Millen, Coast, Mango - anywhere and everywhere! The stores didn't stock ANY of the pieces I was interested in! I even had Andrew check out the Oasis by his work. No luck. 

Then another quick look on the French connection website and I found the Darcy Dress! I emailed it to Andrew for confirmation/reassurance that I had found "the one" and he loved it! I thought it was cute too that it was called the "Darcy" dress since my brother Jesse's girlfriend's name is Darcy! I always look for signs like that. My boss was nice enough to let me slip out to pick up the dress. In 10 minutes I was there, tried the dress on, purchased the dress, and back at my desk. That's gotta be some kind of record! 

So I raced home, threw myself together. Andrew immediately tells me he wants to leave in 10 minutes. Not happening. I got myself looking decent in about 30 minutes and then we were off to the event! I was not a happy camper because I really don't like feeling like I don't look my best. But once we entered the Champagne Reception, I immediately relaxed. Everyone took the 1920's vintage look really seriously and I wish I had had more time to join in the amazing glam theme!! It was the most beautiful cocktail reception I've been to in a long time. We saw Andrew and his wife Vicky - who we've come to really enjoy, and the newly engaged Kenna and Neil.  

After an hour we were ushered into the ballroom for dinner, entertainment, and an auction. The Ballroom was unreal - completely unique and over the top. It reminded me almost of the gaudiness I saw in St. Petersburg with baby blue everywhere and giant gold fixtures and detailing. It turns out our table was situated directly next to the Earl of Wessex. We felt rather posh. 

The gala was to raise money to help children in Africa and when the Auction began, we soon realized just how out of our league we were! There were trips to South Africa, famous sculptures, and Range Rovers being auctioned for tens of thousands of dollars....excuse me, pounds! So we just sipped our wine and enjoyed the company of our table. Not a bad way to spend a Monday night!

Je t'aime, Paris

Je t'aime Paris... it's such a gorgeous city. For our first weekend in March we woke up at 4 AM to hop on the 6 AM eurostar and then it was onward to the city of love, Paris. We met up with the JVMs at L'Regent and then off to loving the city! 

First stop, Paul's. Obviously. Paul's in Paris has a full service restaurant side (haven't found one like that in London yet) so I had a divine chocolate croissant and latte while Andrew ordered the ham and cheese omelet. The concept of skim milk is completely lost on the French, and so I was indulgent with my semi-skimmed coffees throughout the weekend. After seeing Andrew's omelet, I made a mental note to never make that mistake again - always order the omelet.

Hubert travels to Paris quite often and was able to walk us through the neighborhoods and it was my first time experiencing what Paris would actually be like if you were to call it home. I have a whole new appreciation for this glamorous yet charming city. 

So after wandering in and out of art galleries and along the Seine, we spent the rest of the time sampling French cuisine. Stuffing my face was more like it, but since we went to really nice restaurants, I tried to control myself as best I could. Between the butter and cream sauces and cheese and mousses and everything else that was yummy and great I really don't know how these people are skinny. 

Dea and Hubert introduced me to the Tiffany's of chocolate, Patrick Roger. If you can get over the gigantic, intricate sculptures with chocolate dustings to look like rust and texture you are left with rows and rows of the most decadent chocolates you have ever seen. Being overwhelmed, I settled on the chocolate ganaches which are honestly the best chocolate delights I have ever put in my mouth. 

My favorite restaurant was our destination for lunch on Sunday. I think Joel Robuchon's L'Atelier is my new favorite restaurant (sorry Charleston!)after that meal. 

There were only maybe 40 seats in the restaurant, all situated around a bar surrounding the kitchen. We watched the most intimate inner-workings of this fantastic place as they created their masterpieces. The red and black interior was accented by some of the most beautiful vegetables I have ever seen - Pepper slices floating in water, cucumber and carrot waterfalls, and garlic dangles. It was all completely memorizing. 

We had asked to be seated on the corner of the bar so that it would be easier for our party of 4 to talk to one another. We were denied the seats due to a VIP coming in. I wasn't paying attention, but then I realized I could understand what the people at the end of the bar were saying. I was already excited to hear English being spoken but then it was an American accent (which made me EXTRA excited) and that American accent belonged to Nicole Richie!! I could barely contain myself. Ever since she transitioned from the Simple Life side-kick moron to Paris Hilton into mama fashionista big shot designer, I secretly love her! She was so tiny and cute!! Between trying to stalk her and watching the kitchen, I was the worst company ever. 

And then the food came. My first dish was scallops on this macaroni raft with paper thin truffles. Gorgeous. Hubert got softshell crabs that were sensational, and I don't even remember what Andrew and Dea got because I was too busy savoring every single slow chew of flavor that I was taking in. 

After recovering from that first plate, I got langostine ravioli. While not as mind-blowing as the scallops, it was still equally stunning in flavor. I finished my meal off with a lemon souffle (when in Rome right?) with Grapefruit sorbet. Fabulous.

I let Andrew talk me out of saying anything to Nicole Richie, because he told me that was tacky, but I asked him to try and sneak a picture of her on the way out since I was creepy and staring at her the whole meal, there was no way I could do it. He chickened out with the picture, and I watched as Nicole Richie leaned over and whisper something to her friend as he passed on our way out and they both turned to look at him as he put on his coat. That's right ladies, he's pretty :) And he's mine! 

(The last picture was my attempt to snap a picture of Nicole at the end of the bar!)

Steph and Paul's Weekend of Fun... well, for me anyway :)

 Living abroad, I forget all the great American Holidays that we get off work for back home. The weekend of February 18th, my bestie Steph and her fiance Paul came to spend their President's day with us in London! Yayyyy!!


My excitement requires a bit of background. Steph and I became best friends in college, our Junior year, when we took the two week International Marketing tour. We did four countries in two weeks - Munich, Dingolfing, and Auschwitz Concentration camp in Germany; Lucerne, Switzerland; Paris, France; and London, England!!! We didn't really know each other but roomed together the entire two weeks. By the time we made it to London, we were inseparable, so it was really important to me that we did a lot "walks down memory lane"... literally! 


Since it was Paul's first trip to London, I put together a 3 page itinerary, with their every second planned. When they got in on that Friday the 18th, they got settled into our flat, and as much as I wanted to go, I had them do the Big Bus Tour while Andrew and I finished our work days. I can't even begin to describe how amazing it felt to walk in from work to my BEST friend sitting in my London flat! 


We went to dinner at our favorite little Italian place, Santa Lucia in Chelsea. After sharing pizza and wine and talking about their very exciting upcoming wedding, we all hit our pillows hard pretty early that night. 


To make sure we did everything absolutely right for them, Andrew went out and got chocolate croissants from Paul's for breakfast and then we were off to Harrod's! No matter how many times I go to Harrod's, it still amazes me. I only really love the Food hall portions though! Steph found lots of souveniers in the form of teas and biscuits and all sorts of cute little Harrod's things, and then on to Covent Garden. 


In College, Steph and I ate dinner with a small group at a cafe in Covent Garden. Reminiscing about our trip continuously and pointing out "remember, there is where we did...blah blah blah" and "this is where we went that one night...", I realized that I remembered our college trip A LOT better than Steph! I guess that's a good thing for her, since I was showing them a lot of the same places we'd already been to! 


From Covent Garden we went walked up to the British Museum. I had never been to the British Museum, and I was not disappointed! I saw mummies and jewelry that David Yurman must have been inspired by and pieces of the Parthenon and the Rosetta Stone! In Miss Tubb's 6th grade social studies class, I became obsessed with Egyptian history and hieroglyphics. I had never really thought about what the Rosetta Stone was until then, but HOW freaking cool that it deciphers the hieroglyphs!? I love me some good history! 

After the museum, we went home to freshen up before dinner in Trafalgar Square! We went to this little restaurant that was a Whisky Bar/hunting lodge themed called Albannach. I felt like their were Patronuses everywhere! We opted for Prosecco to kick off the night and then stuffed our faces. The food dishes were literally infused with Whiskey! There was a beautiful dessert that Paul ended up getting served in this giant Whiskey glass that was more or less Whiskey and ice cream! It was surprisingly better than I thought it would be! 

Then Sunday was the big walking day. To switch up my standard walking tour, we started off in Notting Hill. I stand firm by my claim that the best day to walk through Notting Hill is Sunday. You still have all the fun vendors, but without the overwhelming touristy crowds. Steph and Paul got a really nice little picture collage of London then over to Hyde Park we went. We saw some of the Gardens on the Kensington Palace Property which I had never seen and then over to Buckingham. Paul was NOT happy with all my walking I made him do, but he was a realy trooper. From Buckingham, it was Westminster and then Borough Market! After that, it was time to rest at home before a lovely Greek dinner and bed. 


Andrew and I had to be back at work on Monday, but I tried to wake Steph up before we left so they could go see the Tower of London, but the Jet lag was extra bad that day so they opted to sleep in instead. 


I cried that Sunday night when I said my real goodbyes to them, she's my best friend in the whole world. It felt like home having them here. Home is a feeling that has been tucked away and almost forgotten since we've moved to London. I love London, but it doesn't feel like home, and when we go back to the States, that doesn't feel like home anymore either. It's a rather interesting place to be in - I'm a nomad! So having Steph and the familiarity and happiness that came with her was such a wonderful gift. I feel refreshed and revived. I'm so lucky to have her in my life!

Women's Institute

A little while back, my friend Vale sent out an email to all her girl friends saying that we all had talents and that we should take the time to teach them to each other. She hosted the first session at her flat last Tuesday titled "Learn to Cross Stitch."

I left work around 6PM and headed to Oxford Circus. The station was closed and I needed the Central line! It was a long day and I was tired so I started to get a bit emotional but managed to make my way to Green Park where I eventually got to Vale's stop. Of course I exited from the wrong exit and it took me another 30 minutes to find her flat, instead of 10 minutes, allowing me to explore some dodgy neighborhoods around there! 

But I arrived safe and sound and to a lovely spread of food! So after some quick catching up with the other five ladies present, it was time to get down to business. We picked our designs and fabrics and thread and we were off! Vale, of valeasc, missed her calling. We had everything we needed to become fully immersed in our new skill!!

It got a little quiet as as we all stitched away. It's a very soothing activity I must say. And although I didn't finish my Monkey all the way, he was very cute and I was rather impressed with myself! 

At the end of the evening, attendee Amy asked when the next session of WI was going to be. She said that of course, WI stood for Women's Institute. And thus our little craft club was born :)