London, Day 6

My last full day in London started early, with saying goodbye to Andrea, who'd been by roommate during the conference, and breakfast at Pax Lodge. Kristi, Louiza, and I then headed out for the day. Our first stop was the Olympic Village. What a site!! There's a whole mini city established around the village with a spectacular mall, and the stadium is amazing. The aquatic arena looks like a stingray. Curious to find out if that was the intention. There's still tons of work being done, and it's going to be quite a sight when it's finished. We followed our trip to the official London 2012 shop with lunch. I enjoyed the official dish of London, curry! It was delicious!! Abbey Road was our next stop. Turns out that even though the subway stop says "Abbey Road," and the street signs say "Abbey Road," it's not THE Abbey Road... Oh well, we tried! Our next adventure was a trip to Oxford to see Christ Church and the college. AMAZING! It was a one-hour train trip, and then we spent the afternoon exploring. The "Harry Potter" dining room scenes were filmed there, and it served as Lewis Carrol's inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland." I'm so glad we went, especially since that's where I'd wanted to go originally on my bus tour! I picked up dinner from a local market, M&S, a BLT, chips, and a millionaire shortbread. All items were made locally from farms in the area. It was delicious! Got back to Pax around 8pm, and after packing up my things, it was off to bed!

London, Days 3 through 5

The conference started on my third full day in London. 40 people in attendance, 12 countries represented!!
Our council will be twinned with Suriname. Have you heard of it? I hadn't. It's in South America, and is the smallest country there with 450k residents. Each country identifies 15 girl leaders to work together on an environmental issues, concluding with a trip to Suriname to execute the program!!
Days were packed with sessions, and then free time. First night we went to the Garden Gate pub, which was fun. Second night we had a scavenger hunt around Lindon, competing on teams. Also super fun!! Our final day ended at noon, and I went out with new work friends, Louiza, Kristi, and Andrea to explore. We went to the Prime Meridian, took a boat tour down the Thames, and enjoyed drinks at a pub looking out onto the Palace of Westminster. It was a great afternoon!!!

London, Day 2

Day two in London was my bus trip! Started off super early with a tube ride to meet the shuttle. Was greeted by a hilarious old man who shuttled a group of us around in an old Harrod's bus to the bus terminal. My tour ended up getting cancelled because only 5 of us signed up, so we were bumped to the tour of our choosing. I chose Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. It was great, the only thing I wish was that we'd had more time at each location. I loved Windsor Castle, its the Queen's permanent residence and it is so beautiful. We got a tour of the apartments, grounds, and some of the collectables, including an awesome old dollhouse belonging to Queen Anne. Next stop was Stonehenge, which was definitely amazing and fascinating!! We had lunch in a small pub along the route near the house where Harry Potter's parents lived in Wharton, England. Our final stop was Bath, where we had time to just roam. I enjoyed a stop at the Jane Austen museum, the Roman Baths, and Bath Abbey. I met a nice mid-western couple who thought I was 18... Got home super late, around 10:30, which I was not expecting, so I was exhausted, but so glad I decided to do the tour.

London 2012, first full day!

Today was excellent! I'm writing from a pub, The Famous Euston Flyer, enjoying a club sandwich with bacon (slices of ham) and chips (French fries), and wine. There are approximately 20 beers on tap, but since I still haven't acquired the taste, I'm enjoying wine!
The day started with the Royal Bike Tour. We saw Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Trafalager Square, Big Ben, and much more!! We endured a combination of wind, rain, sun, and heat; classic London, our guide said. The group was small, only five of us, and I was the youngest by at least 20 years. During our ride, we stopped for lunch, and I chose the café inside the National Gallery. It turned out to be an excellent choice because the millionaire's shortbread was divine. It's a shortbread cookie topped with caramel and a disc of chocolate. Yum!!
After the bike tour I went to the daily church service at Westminster Abbey. Simply amazing!! It was pretty cool to think of everything that's happened there and everyone who's buried there. I happened upon Sir Isaac Newton's burial site which was cool.
I followed church with a ride on the London Eye. Very cool, though next time I'll definitely wait until dark because I bet the city is simply brilliant at night!!!
I'm headed home after I finish this glass of wine. Early start tomorrow as I'm headed to Oxford College, Windsor Castle, and Shakespeare's birthplace!

A year later. London 2012

I figured a trip to London was a good way to start up my blog again. Mainly because I want to remember everything on my first trip outside of north America!

Left 4.24.12 at 18:55, and after a mostly comfortable flight with free wine, decent food, and my own row, landed in London at 12:00 local time on 4.25.12. Brandi Carlile was on my plane, too! Do you know who she is? If not, look her up, she's rockin, literally -and figuratively!

The adventure of getting to Pax Lodge wasnt terrible, but I think it felt long because I was extremely tired and my bags felt heavier than I remembered them being when I packed them!

Made it to the lodge. It's in a cute little part of London with quiet streets and homes surrounding. After a nap I felt energized and ready to head out.

I had high tea at the Palm Court, Langham Hotel, and it was divine. I had their signature Langham Tea, finger sandwiches, awesome pastries, and of course, scones!!

I'm back at the lodge now, and ready for bed. Looking forward to a full day of adventuring tomorrow: Bike Tour, and a ride on the London Eye!!

Disclaimer: I've never blogged from my phone before, so I have no idea what kind of order these pictures from high tea will be in. :)

Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair

We're off to San Francisco in two days and I'm super excited!! Tomorrow is Marcy's last day of work at Girl Scouts, which we've both come to terms with. Her more than me, but I dwell and that's a story that would lead to a more negative post, so by the by.....

We're off to San Francisco! :) Marcy and I taking eight of our 5th Grade Girl Scouts to bridge to the next level of Girl Scouting by walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. Can't get more symbolic than that!! The girls have been working hard the last five months to fundraise and plan. On Sunday, we took a field trip to the airport so they could learn the ins and outs of security, travel, and proper packing. Some of the girls have only been on an airplane once and most haven't flown in 5 or 6 years, so this will be the first time they really remember.

We're meeting at the airport at 6:00 a.m., much to the dismay of some of the parents (haha!) on Friday morning. Every day is jam packed with exciting activities, including a haunted night tour of Alcatraz, the Academy of Sciences Museum, the Cable Car Museum (this is the thing the girls are MOST excited about - and so is our trip budget, since it's FREE!), and of course the Bridging Event. The Bridging Event draws in over 3000 Girl Scouts from across the country, so that should be really cool to see.

I'll post pictures when we're back. Have a fantastic weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to all my fabulous friends who are fabulous mothers :) And, of course, an extra special Happy Mother's Day to my mom!!

Goodbye Fall, Hello WINTER

Wow, I've become LAME as a blogger, and really I have no excuses.... Here's a recap of the past 2.5 months....

SEPTEMBER:
Marcy and I traveled to Colorado for Labor day and had a great time visiting friends in Denver and Estes Park. We even got to sneak in a visit with my cousin and his wife, which was so great. We were there for a wedding, and enjoyed hiking and reminiscing about our time working at the YMCA of the Rockies.


I quit Starbucks mid-September since Marcy and I were moving to South Seattle. It was a really tough decision, but it's amazing how much more time I have...which definitely doesn't help my case for why I haven't blogged......Here's my last chalkboard art at Starbucks...


At the end of September, I spent a weekend with my Girl Scout troop at Camp Robbinswold (a Girl Scout camp on the Hood Canal). We arrived on a Friday night in the midst of a massive thunder storm, which resulted in many crying wet children....BUT, we awoke Saturday to beautiful sunshine, and the Girl Scout Gods were shining upon us the rest of the weekend - it only rained at night or when we were inside - LUCKY!!!



OCTOBER:
Most of you know that Marcy and I lived with one of Marcy's clients for the year. Linden has Down's Syndrome and needs some extra help around the house, so while her parents were traveling for the year, we moved in to their house. Our year came to an end when Linden's parents got back at the beginning of October. It was bittersweet - we were REALLY excited to have our own space again, but we loved the neighborhood where Linden's family lived...and the free rent was a nice bonus :) We are loving our new place, and are finding things to love about our neighborhood every day!! Billy's favorite is the nice front yard where he can lounge and watch over the house at the same time :) Here's a few shots of our house before we moved in....




I went to the Kappa Delta Chapter at Washington State for Initiation weekend. It was great to participate in KD Ritual again - I hadn't been part of initiation since I was in college, and it was wonderful to welcome new sisters. I'm really enjoying my work as a chapter advisor and could foresee myself staying in this role for a while.

Mid-October we had a Girl Scout field trip (I'm sure you're thinking that my life is consumed by Girl Scouts - ha! It is, and I really do love it!!). We went on a walking tour of Downtown Seattle, and it was really fun to play tourist for a day. Many of the girls hadn't been downtown, so we had fun exploring all the sites and had a great meal at Ivar's on the water.


We spent a weekend in Bellingham with friends, and had so much fun. We explored the local farmer's market, ate delicious food, and went on a beautiful hike near Mt. Baker. Lovely!!


At the end of October, I turned 29!!! Can't believe it! Marcy and I planned to have a housewarming party at our new house, but little did I know that she also planned to have it double as a surprise party. Our friends teased her that she took the cheap way out by having me clean and prepare for my own birthday party - haha!! It was really fun and a great night spent with friends. And, lame as it may be...we took ZERO pictures!!!

Halloween we didn't have ANY Trick Or Treaters, so we left the house and spent the night with friends at a bar where you can bring your dogs. Billy was on cloud 9. We also watched the lame Ranger game that night - what a BUMMER!!

NOVEMBER:
I spent two weekends in Pullman at the KD house. The first one was for Council Officer Interviews. The second one was for Elections. The women elected a GREAT council and I'm excited to work with all the women next year.

We had ANOTHER (ha!) Girl Scout Field Trip. We had a lock-in at a local campground, and the girls spent the night doing fun activities, crafts, geocaching, and games. We all fell asleep watching "Alice In Wonderland" using a giant projector - it was like our own private movie theater. So fun!!

And now, here I sit, with the snow falling outside and loving it. I finally have some time to just sit with nothing to do and no excuses, so I BLOG!! Hope all is well where you are, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Hopefully I'll be back sooner than later :)