Thursday, November 22, 2012

Kristin smashed it!

Best thanksgiving feast London has ever seen! Boom!





T-DAY - the lady of the hour

Bird is out!

She looks gorgeous!

Brits are basting and arriving!

Time to grub!!









T-DAY - smuggled goods

Smuggled in velveeta and rotel, queso time a la America!

contemplating swiping a fingerful of pumpkin pie...


T-DAY - 11am update

Success on the American football purchase!  We'll see if these Brits know how to use their hands instead of their feet.

Kitchen smells like we are back home.

Too early for an eggnog and rum?  no.

gold.

Thanksgiving in London LIVE!

Raw turkey picked up from Whole Foods High Street Ken at 8.15,

Borrowed giant stuffing mixing bowls from Deena B's coffee house at 8.45,

Bird stuffed and looking beautifully succulent, 9.05,

After a couple of glamour shots, bird in oven, 9.15! Go bird go!

Grant off to buy an American football.




Wednesday, November 21, 2012

One of the many things I'm thankful for...


Well, folks, believe it or not, Thanksgiving is tomorrow!  Grant and I are hosting about 10 of our British friends for a "proper" Thanksgiving feast, so I'll be sure to report back on our American Thanksgiving in London!  It feels like just yesterday that Grant and I embarked on this new adventure in our lives, only to realize we have been living here in London for 10 months already – just 2 months short of the half-way mark.  Time sure does fly when you’re having fun :)  

This fall has truly been a wonderful time over here, especially because of the many friends who took time out of their busy schedules to hop across the pond and pay us a visit.  I am VERY thankful for my friendship with each of you, and hope you know that your constant support, prayers, and love mean so much to us.  We wouldn’t be able to do it without you guys!  Stephanie, Missy & Brian, and Stacey & Tobe…we had SO much fun during your respective visits this fall! 

Stephanie kicked off our season of visitors in late September.  Her very first trip to Europe, to visit us, boy does that make us feel special!  Stephanie, THANKS TO YOU…

I was able to brush up on my tour-guide skills...

St. James's Park

Trafalgar Square

 There's always time for a pit-stop at The Chando's Opera Room for a pint

After our walk down Whitehall to Westminster Abbey/Parliament, we boarded a Thames River Cruise boat to see a bit of London by boat

We found a Beefeater roaming around outside of the Tower!

Tower Bridge

Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard

Stroll through Canary Wharf on our way to Greenwich

Greenwich in the background

Sunday Funday at Gordon's Wine Bar

After dinner drinks at The Duke of Clarence

Cambridge for the day...first stop, lunch at The Eagle (dates back to the 14th Century!)


Roaming around one of the Colleges...such beautiful grounds

Grant taking care of his gals...punting us down the Cam

Steph and I were terrified of ending up in the water, so the deal was, if we ended up in the water for any reason (intentional or not!), we each got to pick out a new Chanel purse :)  We were almost hoping we would end up in the water after that handshake!  haha



I now know my way around Harrods (and own my first article of clothing from Harrods - insert squeal here!!!)...

We discovered one of our new favorite pubs – The Churchill Arms...
Such a great pub, recommended to us by Steph's co-workers

And last, but not least, I now know what it feels like to be treated like a celebrity – our experience at Manolo Blahnik’s flagship store was so amazing!!  You had to ring the bell to be let in, we were the only people in the store, and all of the shoes available here are made for this store ONLY...talk about a one-of-a-kind purchase.


The shoes were all displayed in interesting places, like this one.  Others were hanging off of the fireplace, some were sitting on the couches/chairs, a few were in a china cabinet...very creative!

Steph bought a gorgeous pair - so jealous!  

Next up...Missy and Brian arrived for a week-long stay, after spending a few days in Madrid!  THANKS TO YOU TWO...

Tour guide Kristin now has some new material to work with - thanks for teaching me some interesting London facts!  Missy studied abroad here one semester, and has made many return visits, so she's VERY knowledgeable about this great city.  Oh, and Buckingham Palace is basically her second home :)...



Lunch at Borough Market


The Cutty Sark in Greenwich

View from The Royal Observatory



Gordon's Wine Bar

For being there when I met all of Grant's co-workers (all men!)...that can be a very intimidating situation!  The fact that we ended up singing and dancing on top of the tables at a haufbrau house meant that I was pretty relaxed in what is usually a nerve-wracking situation...






For introducing us to your British friends!  Seeing as we didn't go to sleep until 5 am that "night", I'd say a good night was had by all :)...




I toured Kensington Palace for the first time and had THE best afternoon tea at The Orangery...yes, our "tea" consisted of one pot for all three of us to share and more importantly, an ENTIRE bottle of champagne to share as well - we definitely know how to do it right.



Sadly, Stacey and Tobe only had one night with us here in London.  We made the most of it though, and took advantage of the short time we had together.  We had a VERY important thing to celebrate while they were here with us...their ENGAGEMENT!!!!!  It happened the night before they got here (they had spent a week in France), so we were especially thankful to be able to celebrate their engagement with them, in person, the day after, in London!  And that night, Stacey introduced us to her favorite restaurant in London, Chutney Mary!  I had been dying to go there ever since she told me about it over the summer, and it was absolutely amazing (definitely lived up to its hype)!  Hands down, the best Indian food we have had!  

After dinner at Chutney Mary

Thanks again for coming to see us!  We're looking forward to seeing all of you when we're back in the states next month!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!