weekend, we

Hi, how was your weekend? We stuck to our plans and made a day trip to Oxford where we walked around the town center, through Christ Church, and the university buildings. I loved seeing students dressed in their "Oxford Prep" attire...it's no joke, they really do wear tweed sport coats, ties, and dress-shoes, even on a Saturday. I guess between the weather, history, and impressive medieval buildings you almost have to follow the dress code to do it all justice.

Back in London, we joined the St. Patrick's Day festivities in Trafalgar Square and watched the Irish Jonas Brothers fiddle and dance their little hearts out. It's amazing to see events like this that make special use of public spaces. London is really good about that and it's one of the main reasons that I love this city. After the set was over I took my pint of Guinness to-go and we walked the scenic route home through St. James's Park and Buckingham Palace. I felt like such an alcoholic walking around with booze in my hand but whatever, it's perfectly legal - or at least acceptable - here so I'll take it!

While grocery shopping later that night I decided to go for it and whip up the Irish Stout Brownies I mentioned on Friday. I was nervous at first since I had never baked brownies from scratch (hello box mix, add water) but they actually turned out really good! Aside from the moments of frustration that come from learning how to bake, I'm starting to understand the zen aspects of the process. I've always gotten into zen-zones while sewing and crafting but cooking and baking is opening up an entire new world of sweet and savory satisfaction. Did you make anything this weekend or try something new?

weekend, we

Hello! How was your weekend?

Things started off slow with a gloomy yet relaxing Saturday at home. I actually got a lot of computer work done but I still had more planned for Sunday. However, Sunday morning came along and as soon as we pulled the blinds up we knew that we couldn't spend another day inside - it was beautiful out!

Joe had the brilliant idea to go to Windsor for the afternoon so we hopped on a high-speed train for a quick escape. We arrived a mere thirty minutes later and instead of following the herds of people off the train headed straight to the castle, we walked the opposite direction (as we usually do) and strolled along the Thames and into the village of Eton. Eton is home to Eton College, or high school rather, which seems like the type of place where you have to come from money as old as the buildings themselves in order to get your foot in the door. The school's park was just off the high street and even though there were signs that read "private" or "for eton students only" we walked right in anyway. It was a Sunday, there were only kids around, and we figured that if there aren't any real laws against squatters taking over your home (yeah, seriously) then we could surely walk into a park without any trouble. It was beautiful and peaceful...I'll share photos separately as part of the cape DIY I mentioned last week!

We then made our way back to Windsor and to The Long Walk, A.K.A. the Queen's long-ass driveway into the castle. It was stunning. Especially at that time in the afternoon when the trees in the distance slowly faded along with the sunset. The entire day was such an unexpected treat; a perfect tease for our first English countryside retreat coming up this weekend. I thought I was excited before but now I'm really counting down the days.

brighton + {brilliant beats} the go! team

play me...The Go! Team - Ladyflash[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lT2Tq2rC9I?rel=0&w=640&h=25]

A little music with some photos ain't bad, eh? Today's brilliant beat is from one of my favorite bands, The Go! Team, who just happen to be from Brighton. I love their song, Ladyflash...it's the perfect soundtrack to a great day.

Brighton was just that, a great albeit windy day. Ten rounds of vintage penny arcade games for a pound, fresh hot donuts on the pier, the most amazing lunch at Plateau, stumbling upon the Royal Pavilion, and enjoying the ocean air. The only bummer was discovering the stores and goodies on North Road too late - both the farmers market and flea market had just wrapped up. Oh well, makes for a perfect excuse to go back!

On a side note, hen and stag parties (aka. bachelorette/bachelor parties) seem to be the thing in Brighton. Come 6pm we felt like we were in Vegas soberly watching throngs of party people gearing up for a big night out. I'm not gonna lie, I was happy to get on the train to go back to London for the evening. It was getting crazy.

Want to see more photos? Click here.

{about town} eyes on london

Now that I'm back in London after being away for the last two weeks, I thought I'd finally share these photos from our spin on the London Eye.

I don't remember why but at some point a few weeks ago I decided to plan a surprise date night for Joe. I wanted to do something that we'd probably make excuses not to do due to crowds of tourists (we live here now so we don't count!) or the weather. So, the London Eye it was.

Our tickets were for a thirty minute ride, or one full rotation, but once we were up there it felt more like five minutes! London is an impressive city from the ground up but it was even more beautiful to see the town from a birds-eye view along the Thames. It was especially fun now that we're familiar with different areas and buildings and could spot things and places as we went up, down, and looked all around.

Post-spin, we walked to The Archduke for dinner, drinks, and live jazz. The restaurant is set underneath the railway arches of the Waterloo station and the integration is absolutely beautiful. Needless to say, Joe loved his surprise!

weekend, we

 

Hello everyone, how was your weekend?

It's just after 4:30pm and I've been awake for about three and a half hours. Totally embarrassing but I think my jet-lag finally caught up to me.

It was a go-go-go weekend starting on Saturday morning when Joe suggested that we head to the beach - Okay! We got on the train and traveled south to Brighton, just one hour away from the the city. I'll share more on Brighton in a separate post but it was definitely wild to be on a beach in the South of England when just last weekend I was in Malibu in Southern California.

From sand (or pebbles in Brighton's case) to bright green grass and lush trees, Sunday was all about the park. I attended a London bloggers picnic, Blognic, at Regent's Park and spent the afternoon meeting new people, talking about shared interest, and eating lots of homemade goodies. It was really great to meet so many friendly people who share a common love for blogging and living creatively. I even got a few tips on some good car boot sales (aka. community rummage sales in the States) -woo hoo!

After Blognic, I arrived home with energy to burn so I suggested that we go for a bike ride in Hyde Park. We hired/rented Barclay Bikes and spent the evening riding around enjoying one of the Royals' public spaces (thank you, Windsor Family). After a few hours of pedaling - and finally getting some dirt on my new white Chucks - it was time for dinner in Little Arabia and an end to the weekend. Home. At. Last.

For the blog curious, here's a list of some of the bloggers I met at the picnic + their respective blogs. Let me know if I missed you!

Marianne of Nordic Bliss Michelle of I Ripple. I Dance. Carole of Mademoiselle Poirot Lisa of Me Old China Kate of Fabric of my Life Amy of Daisy Fay Interiors Elizabeth of Rosalilium Megan of Meg Gets Crafty Katie of What Katie Does Tori of Wellies and Vogue Andrea of Lotus Events Bethan of Decorator's Notebook Thank you to Lynne of Tea for Joy and Ellie of Home Shopping Spy for coordinating the day!

weekend, we

Hello! How was your weekend?

We decided last minute on Friday that we should take advantage of our proximity to England's coastal towns and get away for the weekend. We picked Margate for no real reason other than having casually heard about it and then reading this article to seal the deal. I'm glad that we were feeling spontaneous because it ended up being a really fun and  easy going trip.

Just an hour and a half from London via a high speed rail, Margate is noticeably making strides to reclaim it's glory days of being England's "Original Seaside." The revitalized Old Town is sprinkled with charming vintage shops, boutiques and cafes, the Harbour Arm boasts art galleries and dining options, and there's the beautiful new and modern Turner Contemporary. It was interesting to have our hotel be a ten minute walk from the all of the action because we actually got to see what the town is trying to revitalize itself from....let's just say that most of it still looks like a run down, semi-impoverished, and forgotten 19th century seaside destination. It's a shame because a lot of the rundown buildings are actually really architecturally beautiful.

Grungy stuff aside, Margate offered the perfect amount of things to do and see for a quick getaway. Saturday was all about shopping in Old Town. We particularly loved the retro shop Helter Skelter (pictured above) and the recently opened vintage store Paraphernalia. There's a handful of other tiny shops too, each with their own personality and attentive owner on hand. On Sunday we hit the boardwalk for some hot doughnuts (YUM!), a walk on the Harbor Arm and a visit to the Turner Contemporary. I'm glad that we saved the museum for Sunday because it was a good excuse to be indoors and away from the bone-chilling winds. However, the BEST excuse to be inside was having afternoon tea at the Mad Hatter's Tea Rooms, where every day is Christmas and the cakes are lovingly made by the Mad Hatter himself.  It was what I always imagined a traditional and quirky English tea room to be and made for the perfect setting to wrap up our first visit to a traditional English seaside town. Let's just hope that next time we can make use of the beach :)

More photos here!