Wednesday, August 18, 2010

A beautiful country wedding to top it all off!!

I can't believe that I only have a few more days left in London! One thing you can always count on is that time will keep ticking! Here we are at the end of the internship! I think both Ryan and I are ready for the next step... Italy! and then back to the States to begin the second year of MBA for him, and start a job for me (fingers crossed!). Anyway enough of the mundane, here are some pictures of my cousin's wedding that I was lucky enough to attend last Saturday. It took place about an hour south of London by train in a small town/village (??) called Lewes. The next big town along is Brighton. The ceremony was held at a beautiful church which looked about 500 years old amidst meadows and cows and brooks and chimneys. The reception took place at the bride's parent's home with a beautiful Georgian house and rolling lawns. I am so glad that I was able to be there. 


 Isn't her dress and whole presence indicative of a 1920's Great Gatsby icon? Sensational!











Tearing up the dance floor! A sign of a successful wedding!!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

London Sights - think I'll miss this..

Liberty - The UK's oldest department store - super posh and a tribute to Globe architecture. 


Lavish chandelier inside Liberty where a plastic chair sells for thousands of pounds.. 

Gold rimmed teapots and china - not necessary for me but I do miss my teapot :(


Oxford Circus - the silver lining when you have so much rain!


Big Ben on drugs.. oh I mean at night! 


Love clocks! So the Queen's clock (Big Ben) is not quite the same as my grandfather clock at home but it reminds me of it! (Delusions of Grandeur me-thinks..)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Hampstead Heathing and an Overload of Theatre!

This past week has seen some expensive homes in Hampstead Heath, the discovery of an amazing frozen yoghurt shop (Yoghurtry) and a fabulous overdose of theatre. We were so close to seeing Whoopi Goldberg perform live in Sister Act at the Palladium but in our haste we missed her dates... Alas. but Sister Act was indeed brilliant and I'm glad we went to see it. Then a dose of Adam Garcia (the Aussie heartthrob from Coyote Ugly all those years ago) went down nicely in his new show Tap Dogs which is utterly mind-blowing and has given me a new appreciation for men who can tap... And then... the dark horse, of which we knew so little about, Avenue Q! Wow! hilarious! It may have topped the lot... It was so enjoyable and challenged a lot of stereotypes about racism, sexuality, puppets getting it on on stage and friendship. It's opening act are along the lines of.. 'I have just graduated from college with a BA... now what?!' Well you can sing and dance and live vicariously through some puppets on the West End. No, it was really good. If anyone has an opportunity to see it, you must.

The news in pictures...

Posh Hampstead Heath



Tap Dogs with Jo and Adam Garcia

Jo is so close to Adam.. look how happy she is?!

Whoopi for Whoopi!

So close to seeing Whoopi live but alas not meant to be.. She is in Sister Act from now until 30 August. I just can't justify spending money on another ticket when I've just seen it.. :( 


Avenue Q
The underdog - what an incredible production! We were in stitches!! 

Upcoming events


Not sure if I'll be able to see Priscilla but I've heard it's very very good. A girl/guy playing a girl can dream.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Million Pound Question... So, Julie, umm what do you DO all day?

Yes, yes, we're in London for a couple of months, I don't have a job due to various unforeseen circumstances (largely beyond my control... ggrr NHS grrr British governance grrr inefficiency grrr I discovered the joys of not working grr will I ever be able to work full-time again? grrr), my husband works all day and night and I am trying not to spend too much money.. so what do I do all day? 

Well funny you should ask (and you and you and you and you) but when you are left on your own a lot, it is amazing how creative one can be. We don't have a TV or high-speed internet (the latter by which I was much accustomed in Chicago - hulu - I will see you soon!) so this left me with an opportunity to buy a radio and a whole lot of second hand books on Amazon. I have now developed a healthy rhythm of doing domestic chores (which aren't a lot at all seeing as no-one is home for meals except maybe for a speedy breakfast), listening to the radio (I need to be informed about the society that I am potentially going to live in), cross-stitching (a habit from childhood to make spending time in front of the TV worthwhile..), meeting my husband for lunch and attending theatre productions at least once a week! Throw in one or two trips to the country, regular dinner with some family and London exploring and I have had a pretty awesome summer. I think once I am back in Chicago in -20 C weather working and living in the American way of life, I will look upon this time fondly and wistfully. That being said, I am excited to start work again as I don't think 'professional cross-stitcher' is a very lucrative career. Never mind the crick in the neck.. 

Evidence...

  I finally finished this Oriental lady - I started her at the beginning of the year but never really got round to finishing her. Finally. Not sure what I'm going to do with her or where I'm going to put her.. 

I think this one will be for our kitchen in Chicago. The walls of our apartment (which I haven't seen) I assume are very bare and need some cheering up. 

Books
All the following books are available from Amazon. I borrowed a few and found a few in the local supermarket and ordered some for 1p second hand (excluding postage) from Amazon - wow a great service - wish we had a local one in SA - Kalahari.net just doesn't cut it. Here are some good suggestions for summer/winter reading which I highly recommend.









Enjoy!

P.S. after to listening to LBC (London's Biggest Conversation) radio station, I am not sure that I want to live in the UK... seems to be a few problems to say the least.. When I am back in the States, I am going to have to give it the same treatment and brush up on my current US economical, political and social affairs so that I can make an educated decision about where to settle down!

Monday, August 9, 2010

A Change of Scenery..

As some of you may remember, I spent a month in Florida earlier this year on a dolphin internship. There are lots of photos from that time on the blog in my earliest posts. Most of those pictures show the dolphins above water. What I have been waiting for are a few underwater pictures that we snapped to show what it's like 'under the sea'! It is remarkably difficult to steady oneself under water to try and take a complete picture of a zooming dolphin so excuse the haphazard photography. The pictures of us diving were taken in a fresh water spring where the water was incredibly clear and incredibly cold!



 Nipping in to get the nose... 


That's better - now add the nose from the previous picture onto this one.. 



Thursday, August 5, 2010

A trip to the country, a trip to the Globe and a rendez-vous with a Boris bike

So with only a few weeks left in London, we (I) have been trying to do a couple of varied activities. This post is a mismatch of the past few highlights. But first some background... 

I am very mindful of complaining too much particularly about Ryan working hard. Without being whinge-y, I must say that I completely underestimated how hard bankers/future bankers work. My word! Ryan's working hours which are utterly mind-boggling (<120 hrs per week) have given me a new appreciation of doing things last minute and spur of the moment and for what hard work really is. No longer will I ever complain about working 9 hours a day - there are in fact many more hours in a day that one can work, including weekends. All I can say is that I am glad this internship is nearly done - a US MBA seems a breeze in comparison! 

So with that in mind, we managed to escape to the country to visit some old friends. We literally were there for about 18 hrs so I don't have many pictures. It was a spur of the moment decision: catch the train at lunch time on Saturday, train journey about 3 hrs, arrive around 5, have a drink, Ryan works, have dinner, Ryan goes back to work, go to sleep around midnight, wake up early the next morning, shudder if the Black Berry tings/buzzzes, hope for the best, have breakfast, catch the 9h30 train, back to London, I take an afternoon nap, Ryan goes to work. BUT at least we got away and I got to meet Parker for the first time!

Parker-licious

Staring lovingly into each others eyes.

Meeting Parker, the bionic chocolate lab (bilateral hip replacements at around 6 months and now he needs a revision at 3 years - poor Parki - more metal than muscle), made my acute dog neediness pang. I have been struggling within myself to be logical about owning a dog and that perhaps now is not the right time to own one. I also read up about 'puppy love' and how it doesn't last... Well if you get a new puppy every year maybe it could! 



OK now that I have indulged the puppy love for the morning by posting this chocolate dachshund, I can move on to non-canine related matters. 


Lyndall and I decided to increase our culture meter by attending a performance at The Globe. Naturally, we (well definitely myself) assumed that Anne Boleyn which was being staged at The Globe was imagined by ol' Willie. Um.. no. Apologies Herschel.. Although I didn't remember Anne Boleyn cropping up as one of the popular plays, I didn't investigate further. I know that he wrote all the Henrys which are showing at The Globe and which intimately relate to Anne Boleyn as she was the first wife to be tried for treason (framed!) and beheaded. A smart rhyme for Henry VIII's wives: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded survived.

Lyndall at the Globe. Right next to where she (we) was standing, one of the kings in the play (James I) collapsed flat on his back with the loudest thwack! Interestingly this king had what we thought was Tourette's in the play and perhaps he had one massive twitch and fainted because of it. It was pretty scary, I must admit - hope he hasn't sustained any skull fractures for his art!


Boris bike: If you've been in and around London recently (since 30 July) you may have seen the new initiative launched by Barclay's and Boris Johnson (London's mayor) to place bikes and bicycle stations throughout London (mainly in Zone 1) to reduce traffic congestion and promote a healthier lifestyle. If Boris can pull this off (which I hope he will), I think it'll be a great contribution to London. 

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