london, pt. 2

the london photo journey continues...


















aren't these english people so cute? in england they would say "aren't these english people lovely?" they actually use the word lovely all the time. even six-year-olds. as in, "squirrels are not lovely." true conversation overheard. :)

london calling

so...while i was not blogging last week, i was in london for the olympics! actually, i wasn't really there for the olympics but to join UK charity Amana Trust to pass out free Bibles to all the bunches of peoples who were there for the olympics. i only found out a few weeks beforehand that i was going, so it was a really crazy couple of weeks. the week before i left, i was interviewing for a job position here in atlanta (which i didn't get) AND running around like mad trying to find things like a rain coat, our volunteer uniform of dark skirt and white top, a UK plug convertor (bought on amazon, arrived the day before i left, and turned out it wasn't the right one), a sweater for the 60s degree weather there (that not surprisingly felt fantastic and not cold at all). then on sunday, i got on two flights and landed 5 hours ahead in london, took a cab with some other girls who arrived at the same time from california and texas to headquarters, and proceeded to have a jam-packed week.

highlights:
passing out Bibles for about 4 hours a day to all kinds of different people, discovering the flat white from pret-a-manger which is really just like a café crème you would get in france or italy (stronger, shorter latte), wandering around portobello road market (could have spent many more hours there, had the best falafel wrap and candy-sweet strawberries, should have bought a souvenir tote that said: "keep calm and have a cupcake"), becoming obsessed with instagram, meeting all kinds of new people, being back in europe after 9 years (not counting russia), taking the "tube", all the wonderful food we shared with lots of new friends, the lovely gardens and greenery (i swear london has more green space than atlanta!), taking lots of photos on my one day of sightseeing, hanging out with my fellow volunteer and sweet roommate, the adorable little "under-the-door" notes from the family we stayed with, having a renewed love and gratefulness for my Bible.

i was happy to be home when i touched down real early monday morning, glad to be with my loves and back in my normal life, but i sure wouldn't mind if my normal life would move to europe one day. :)

a few photos:

















p.s. anothernicole was there too! you can read her post about it here.

pink, sweet happiness

the very definition of a summer dessert:






inspired by this blog post and recipe. this was my numero first time using a springform pan. i love it! although i want to know where she got her mini pans, as mine was definitely bigger than her cute pies.

also, suggest this be made when you have a crowd of larger than 4 to feed as it doesn't do well languishing (freezing into a rock) in the freezer which means you have to eat it all yourself. no, of course i didn't. ;)

favorite thing about job-searching/house bound #1

hearing the birds outside warbling at 11 am because it's overcast and i guess they can't decide if the sun has come up yet. oh wait, maybe birds do this all the time and i just haven't been around to hear it?

now i just need suzy's binoculars and a good bird/birdcall book (online the robins don't sound anything like what i thought were robins outside). (oh, and i'd like to live in a little farmhouse with a red door on an island, too).

suggestions?

where we almost died

loverboy recently looked up the airline we took from isla mujeres in which there seemed a very good chance we were going to fall out of the sky while crashing and burning and dying very horrible deaths (ok of course probably not, but while the captain was incommunicado on the subject of the very scary turbulance, the flight attendants were cheerfully droning on about a credit card offer. why yes, thank you, i would like to sign up for a credit card as my last act on earth. go ahead and slap some fees on it for posterity while you're at it.).

and guess what?

apparently there's a whole corner of the internet reserved for people who are not exactly enamored with the airline (except for this one defense/survival guide for future customers). but really? i mean, who knew you should yelp your airline? obviously all of you do. and after paying $43 for CARRYONS (which i guess we would have known about had we been a little more review-savvy and a little less gleefully impetuous over the appearance of such low fares. fools!), we will now check with the siri before we do anything ever again.

you guys, we are in a real-life digital mother may i.

other than that, our trip to the island of women was wonderful. we remembered to read reviews. even after that one couple oddly told us in person, with their own voices, while looking us in the eye that we should definitely eat at a restaurant we were considering yelping.

much to our surprise (until we read the reviews afterward), it was one of the best meals we had there. or so loverboy thought. i personally was a big fan of the nachos.

so now i've been educated that the only way to travel is by following the advice of those who've been there and done that. but doesn't it seem like reading reviews kills the adventurous spirit (pun not intended)?

i don't know. so here are some more pictures of our vacation.



i was literally the first person in Mexico to see the sun that day! ;)
this is the last remaining bit of a mayan temple on the island.

while observing a local basketball game, i noted that the disconnecting thing is happening in mexico too.

oh ho! not as disconnected as you think! also, love the sign in the background.

and alas, as my diana film was all mysteriously overexposed, these are all the pictures we have. i have to learn not to be afraid to whip out my big camera while abroad...