I'll be home for Christmas... orrrr maybe not!

Exams are FINALLY over and by now I should have my feet up in front of the fire at our home in England with PB and a HUGE glass of wine. Where am I in actuality? 

I'm stuck in New England. 

Stuck Stuck Stuck. 

Why am I stuck?

England had about 6-8 inches of snow... LAST WEEK. Apparently they only have one runway open almost an entire week later. British Airways cancelled my flight on Tuesday. Here are problems and why I'm so angry:

1. No email: I had NO notification that my flight had been cancelled until I was trying to check in. It was only after 20 minutes of trying to check in and having the website fail that I finally was able to discover that my flight was cancelled. You'd have thought they could have at least  sent an email blast to the flights and let the people know. But they didnt.

2. No working website: On Monday, while I was trying to study for Tax both PB and I spent almost 5 hours on internet trying to get my flight rebooked. The British Airways website kept freezing and going down. Finally we got me on a seat on Christmas Day. Then about 4 hours later I just went online and checked again. There were open club seats showing on the Tuesday night flights, Weds, and Thurs flights! So PB called for me (while I tried to keep studying) and they refused to put me in a Club Seat without paying over $2k. They also refused to upgrade someone else and put me in their seat. So they are flying planes with open seats that they blatantly refuse to fill.

After numerous phone calls PB managed to get me wait listed on the morning flight for Christmas Eve and rebooked onto the night flight. I called this morning to try to figure out how full the morning flight was, and what exactly the protocol is for standby passengers for the morning. When I called the estimated wait time was 15 minutes. After 45 minutes I finally got a girl. I told her I was wait-listed and wanted to know how full the flight was and if it was a standard procedure for standby passengers. She put me on hold for 10 minutes. 10 MINUTES. She then comes back and says that she had an email saying that if I wanted I could go to the airport but I wouldn't be allowed to go to the gate and that I would have to wait in the airport. Um. What? My uncle used to work for Delta and I flew standby all the time. They usually give you a standby boarding pass and then if you get cleared you get a real boarding pass and get on the plane. How exactly would you get on the plane if you're cleared if you aren't even able to get to the gate? So I proceeded to tell her that didn't make sense and she started talking over me loudly. I said I wanted to talk to her supervisor and to stop talking over me. She then said it was a 45 minute wait to talk to a supervisor. I said that was ridiculous that I had been holding for over an hour already and she started talking over me again. I said LOUDLY, "STOP TALKING OVER ME" and then that WITCH hung up on me! Like in the middle of my sentence she HUNG up! I have never been so angry. I'm sorry... It's 4 days after my flight was supposed to leave, 3 days of not even being able to get on the line to wait to speak with someone, 3 days of a non-working website, and then having to hold for 45 minutes only to be hung up on?!

Suffice to say I will NOT be flying British Airways again. I've flown them literally 6 times last year and this will be my last. PB and I are utterly appalled at the lack of service from them and the way they have handled this entire situation. 

I'm currently on hold again (24 minutes and counting)... Well just spoke to a customer service agent and turns out that flight I'm on standby for is oversold. (Also, that witch I spoke to earlier failed to log my call!! Of COURSE she didn't.) Sooooo, I'll be flying out tomorrow night landing on Christmas morning. 

Well, I guess the upside is that hopefully I'll see Santa en route!!

I hope y'all are having a better holiday than I am and I hope you all make it to where you are going safe and sound. Check back in for a post about my favorite breakfast spot in New Hampshire, The Bedford Village Inn, tomorrow!

Here, there and everywhere...

So I promised an update on my whereabouts the past two weeks - it was marathon traveling and vacation. My fiance and I put quite the number of miles on his truck in the process...here's where we've been...

Birmingham, AL (7 hour drive from Charleston) - my hometown to my parents' house, house I grew up in, for Thanksgiving. Joining us was my family and my aunt and uncle and my cousins. I was so excited that Bradley, my fiance, went home with me for Thanksgiving this year. He was a little bummed to be missing his mom's Thanksgiving for the first time, so we tried to make it as special for him as possible. My mom even asked him to carve mini-pumpkins for her table centerpieces...which he and my Dad preceded to do...with power tools. Men.

All the cousins - my sister is due in February! Her pregnancy is going by so fast!

Mom's holiday china, crystal and silver

Clemson, SC (4.5 hr drive from Birmingham) - every other year I leave home from Thanksgiving early (much to my mom's chagrin) to trek up to Clemson for the big rival game, Clemson vs. Univ. of South Carolina. That's me and my best friend, Jtay (her nickname).

In hindsight, I think we should have stayed in Birmingham - but I say that only because it was REALLY cold and because the game was so pitiful, i.e. Clemson played awful and USC whooped up on us. If we had not gone, it probably would have been the reverse. Oh well...we did have fun tailgating all day and hanging out with friends.

Disney World, FL (9 hr drive from Clemson) - Bright and early Sunday morning, Bradley and I woke up and hopped in the truck again for the longest trek of our journey so far down to Disney World. We met his entire family there and spent the next four days immersed in all things Disney. I hadn't been since college and Bradley hadn't been since he was 6 yrs. old - so it was fun seeing how much Disney has changed. It's amazing how easy it is to get wrapped up in the Disney spirit.

Bradley and I doing the Walt Disney and Mickey pose, mimicking the statue behind us

It was wonderful. The weather was perfect (low 80's beginning of week, high 60's end of week, sunny) and we squeezed in about everything imaginable that we wanted to do. Bradley's older sister is like a Disney pro and had our trip all planned out - we had meal plans already set up, meal reservations, etc.

We visited Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Studios (formerly MGM) and Animal Kingdom.

Our favorite part of the entire trip was the night we went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. They close down the Magic Kingdom and only let in people who have tickets to this Christmas celebration. The entire park is decorated already with all things Christmas - but they go a step further with this celebration. It included access to all of the rides, but they had a Christmas parade, the most amazing fireworks show I've ever seen and they handed out unlimited free hot chocolate and sugar cookies the entire night (7pm to midnight). Plus...they made it snow on the main street!

Random things Bradley and I observed from our Disney trip:
1) Everyone moves in Disney at what we've coined "The Disney Pace". Even though we ate pretty unhealthy the entire time we were there, I'm pretty sure we maintained our weight or even lost weight. Everyone is speed walking everywhere...and you walk from the time you wake up (7am!) to the time you collapse exhausted onto your hotel bed (midnight-ish).

2)Disney is amazing at how they make everything seem like magic - from processes to 'herding' the crowds to setting up and dismantling parades in seconds - they are truly amazing at what they do. It's brilliant. So many companies could learn a lot about process improvement from Disney. We heard they offer 'behind the scenes' tours of the underground workings of Disney...but we both agreed that we would never want to do that. Why spoil the magic for yourself?

3) If you can go to Disney World with a five year old...do it. Five years old is the dream age for a child to go to Disney World. One of Bradley's nieces is five and it was so fun watching her at the parks - every character was real to her and her face was always lighting up. It was just as fun experiencing it through her eyes as it was to be there ourselves.

4) You become low maintenance - when you're waking up at 6:15 am to make your Princess Breakfast in the castle reservation, and not getting back to your hotel until midnight that night... you learn to not worry so much about your appearance... which if you know me, can be a challenge. I showered at night, woke up in the mornings and usually wore my hair all pulled up, little makeup, and always...always... sneakers, no matter what the outfit. I actually had cute outfits planned for each day...but you soon realize that it's t-shirts, jeans or shorts, and sneakers - comfort is key.

5) Do NOT mess with parents and their strollers. Goodness gracious I almost died several times dodging parents wielding these speedy weapons in front of them. And I don't remember stroller parking lots from the last time I went to Disney...but man oh man are they everywhere in the parks now. Guess when I go back and have kids I'll be more empathetic to the stroller thing.

6) There are a LOT of people riding motorized scooters in Disney parks who should definitely NOT be riding scooters. I don't know what you have to prove to get a scooter, but I was really taken aback by the amount of people riding motorized scooters through the parks (and in the stores, and in the ride lines, etc.). Now I'm not heartless...if they have an ailment or are elderly, I get it... but we saw several folks that looked our age, healthy (well, smoking cigarettes, but..healthy enough) and average weight riding around on a scooter. Really? Are people just that lazy? They'd have their three year old sitting on the front with them, riding along. Well that's teaching them healthy lessons at an early age. :-/ In our hotel parking lot, we actually watched one lady (cigarette dangling from mouth) ride her scooter to her car, back it up to the trunk, get off the scooter, lift it, put it in the trunk, then walk around to the driver side and get in the car to drive. Maybe I'm cynical...but seriously? That was probably my only complaint the whole trip about Disney - I hope it becomes an issue where Disney will put a wrangle on scooters.

7) Why did we not intern, co-op, or just work over a summer at Disney World when we were in college? Bradley's older sister was a dancer growing up as well, and we were both talking about how awesome it would have been to spend a semester working at Disney as a dancer, performer, character, etc. I have close friends who did the Disney semesters while we were in school and they still rave about it today. Opportunity lost - I'm pretty sure they don't hire nearly 30 yr. olds. If you're in school now and you love Disney... do it!

8) Fanny packs...while hilarious and very 80's in theory, these were indispensable during our entire trip! Bradley's mom bought all of us one and I really didn't think I would use it - but I did. It was a life saver. People may laugh and point and your friends may post "Is that a fanny pack I see?" on your pictures after you post them to Facebook...but I don't care, it was crucial! :)

9) Visit Disney in the off-season. We hardly ever waited for rides, transportation, etc., which allowed us to squeeze in more fun stuff. I could not ever imagine being there when it's packed and hot...no way will I ever go other than off season months! And we loved that the parks were covered in Christmas decorations.

10) Your hotel doesn't matter - not exactly anyways. We stayed at Disney's All Start Movies resort. It was way cheaper than the large resorts that are actually 'in' Disney World... way cheaper. It was still a Disney themed resort and we had Disney 'towel' characters each day from our cleaning ladies like you get on cruises. But the room wasn't much to write home about - two small double beds, a 1990's style 20 inch TV with limited channels, and a small bathroom. But the only time we were ever in our hotel was the six or so hours we were there to sleep. That was it. So we both agreed that next time unless we're miraculously wealthier, we'll keep the same hotel or something similar - hotel isn't an important factor of your Disney experience.

11) Return from a long Disney vacation on a weekend...with days left. We drove back to Charleston on a Friday (6.5 hour drive). I can't even explain what a relief it was to have Saturday and Sunday to unpack, do laundry, and just relax!

We're going back for our one year wedding anniversary. We already decided. :)

So I did spend most of Saturday and Sunday doing nothing but a staycation from our vacation...but we did plan one thing that we knew we would probably be tired for, but we didn't want to miss... Charleston's Reindeer Run 5k!

Jtay and I dressed up as Christmas trees. Before I left for my marathon vacation, we went to the dollar store and purchased all of this random stuff and created for ourselves some pretty creative and fun costumes. The lights on our costume blinked! And yes, we ran the entire race in these...lol. We even won the group costume contest...coming in second place! :) I saw our photo on the local paper's website, and we've had several people tell us we were on the local news... ha ha.

Bradley was Santa's gift to women...and he got a few laughs as well. And yes...sadly..his costume was my idea for him, lol. He wasn't even planning on dressing up. His gift tag says "To: Women, From: Santa".

So phew...are you tired of reading yet? That's about it in a nutshell... even though this post is so long it doesn't seem anything like a nutshell. Hopefully I'll be better about keeping the blog updated in the upcoming weeks since I won't be riding in a car or running around theme parks. :)

Note: These photos are not high res - so ignore the 'made for web' quality. :)

P.S. Please come back tomorrow and visit my blog - I'm hosting my very first giveaway and the prize is pretty awesome, so you don't want to miss out! Yay!

Did you miss me?

I know I've been a blogger missing in action lately - with Thanksgiving holidays and then a glorious week vacation to Disney World, I haven't had much time for blogging. And getting back to work today was a struggle as I trudged my way through 100+ emails... bleh. I was physically there, but my mind was still in Disney World!

If you are planning a trip to Disney, go in December! The parks are virtually empty and the Christmas celebrations are amazing.

I will try to update the rest of this week with more photos from Thanksgiving and my Disney trip. Until then, enjoy these Cinderella castle photos from the Magic Kingdom!

A weekend in Athens...

I flew into Athens bright and early Saturday morning. I was literally pinching myself as we flew in while looking at the Aegean Sea and all of the gorgeous mountains. BLC & Mamatella weren't getting in until late that night so I busied myself at the pool. (By busied I mean read OK magazine, sunned myself, and people watched.) Then I was a bit famished so I decided to have a lazy lunch at the hotel. I ate at Cafe Zoe at the Intercontinental Athens, where I was staying.

I had the Greek salad, which I showcased yesterday. It was AMAZING. No lettuce, tons of fresh juicy tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, thinly sliced red onion, oregano, feta and whole wheat croutons. I'm not going to lie... I ate 85% of it. If I could have found any space whatsoever left in my stomach I would have shoved the rest in. It was delicious. Then I took a nap (hey... a week of 5AM wake ups, and I had been up at 4:00AM to get to Heathrow) and headed over to BLC's hotel.

I won't go into details but I did NOT love the Intercontinental but they did provide a complementary shuttle service into the city center to Syntagma Sq. which is where my ladies were staying (and where the metro is to get to all of the main sights.) BLC & Mamatella had a delayed flight and didn't get in until quite late. Then Mamatella treated us to a fancy dinner at their hotel. It was delicious and SO generous of Mamatella! We took one terrible picture with my camera. Ha! Hopefully Mamatella's version is better.

The next day we saw EVERYTHING.

Behold... The Acropolis.

We had to walk ALL. THE. WAY. UP. Surprisingly, the walk up was gradual and therefore didn't kill me. However, BLC & Mamatella wore MUCH more appropriate shoes. By Monday my plantar fasciitis was back in FULL force. I should have taken sneakers!



There were all sorts of stray puppies all the way up!

It was gorgeous!

Then we ventured over to the huge Athens flea market... where we may or may not have shared the biggest donut I have EVER seen. It was delish!



Then we searched for the famed custom sandal maker of Athens. BLC & Mamatella had the most gorgeous sandals custom made! If *THIS* girl didn't have the most un-fittable feet on the planet... well I would have snatched up a pair myself!

Then we made our way to two gorgeous museums...

(and I can't remember the names of them! BLC HELP!)

This was at the Acropolis museum. Apparently these amazing ruins are likely found under the majority of the buildings in the city. Kinda makes you want to just tear everything up to see what all is underneath!



We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but on the way out there were these amazing singers... Like a Greek mariachi band.



The next day I met my two ladies at their hotel and we had a delicious breakfast in the restaurant before watching the changing of the guard at the Parliament building from their balcony.



Then we shopped and shopped and shopped... until we literally dropped. We were pooped!

(Please excuse my ratty hair... or and my big butt. It was rainy and I was rocking a high messy pony to keep my curls from unleashing themselves.)

The girls rode with me to the airport and deposited me right at the door. I literally wanted to grab them and RUN to the plane and force them to go home with me.

I had an amazing time and I am SO thankful to BLC & Mamatella for letting me tag along and for spoiling me! We're already planning their next trip... TO VISIT ME!

PS- While it was a great weekend and I had a blast... Athens is NOT a beautiful city. It's heartbreaking to see all of the trash, graffiti and poverty. However, it was worth it to see the major historical sights! just a warning for those venturing that way.

I'm BACKKKKKK!

I had the BEST time with BLC & Mamatella... I got back late last night and had to rush straight into work bright and early at 5AM this morning. Suffice to say I am tuckered out and taking it easy today. I'll have a full recap of the trip up tomorrow but for now... a picture of one of the most important bits of the trip.

Greek Salad.

IN.

GREECE.

Y'all, they don't use lettuce.

And I *L.O.V.E.* it... It was literally had by us all at every stinkin' meal because it was THAT good.

Stay tuned for more delicious & fun pictures!

How was your weekend?

The Queen and I...

Last weekend PB and I ventured into London to visit the Queen. I mean, I guess we were among hundreds that day visiting Her Majesty... but still. I mean, I should also admit that she was not in residence when we visited, but I'm sure it's simply down to an error with her NOT being notified that we were coming.

Obviously.

We saw the State Rooms the summer before last, but I we decided that since *THE DRESS* was being shown that perhaps we needed a re-do.

PB had booked us "Royal Day Out" tickets which got us into the Dutch Landscapes exhibition in the Gallery, the Royal Mews and the State Rooms. The landscapes were gorgeous! However, there was only so many landscapes I could handle before I wanted to move on.

Although there was some beautiful vases on display... I think they would look gorgeous in our house, no?

Also, all royals need a diamond encrusted sword. I told PB this would be a great addition to my stocking this Christmas...

After exploring the Gallery we moved on to the Royal Mews. This is where all of the Queen's carriages, cars and horses are kept. Interestingly enough, the Queen names every single horse that is part of the Royal Mews. 

We first wandered past all of the State Carriages and finally came upon this beauty. Do you all recognize it?

It is the Rolls Royce that the Duchess took to her wedding! It was gorgeous in person. I apologize for the wonky picture but the display was set up in such a way that it was almost impossible to get a good picture.

We then moved onto the stables. They were absolutely beautiful The aqua tiles were simply stunning...

Unfortunately only 2 horsies were in residence. Too bad I didn't have a carrot or a mint to treat the fuzzy royal to!

After the stables we were able to see the carriage that the Duchess & Prince William took from Westminster back to Buckingham Palace. It was bigger than I expected it to be!

Then we walked passed the macdaddy of carriages. I can't remember, but I *THINK* this was from the Queen's Coronation? Maybe? Regardless, it was HUGE, grand and quite ornate!

 Finally, it was time to hit Buckingham Palace. When you enter the Palace to see the State Rooms they require you to turn your camera off, so no pictures for us! In addition to the State Rooms, a portion of the Queen's Faberge collection was on display. There was one egg literally encrusted with a gazillion diamonds. It was my favorite, naturally!

 We also saw THE DRESS. Let me tell you. It was beautiful in person and you can really tell just how absolutely tiny the Duchess is! It would have maybe fit my left thigh... on a good day. We ended with lunch at the Cafe on the terrace before walking through the gardens to the exit. We were lucky that we stopped to eat when we did because it absolutely POURED the rain and we would have gotten soaked!

After our Royal Day out, we went to check in to the Intercontinental Park Lane. While we only live 40 minutes outside of the city, PB thought it would be fun to make a weekend of it! We have been staying at the Intercontinental since my first trip over 2 years ago. It's a gorgeous hotel in a perfect location. It's only about a 5/10 minute walk to Buckingham Palace and sits adjacent to Hyde Park. We checked in only to find out we had been upgraded! 

We walked in to this entrance... and about collectively peed our pants.

We had a dining room.

Desk & bar area...

Living room with a stunning view over the Park... (the chaise on the left by the window was MY spot.)

Our bedroom was gigantic.

Well appointed bathroom... I mean, a bidet?! Come on, now.

And to top it off we had plush Frette bathrobes waiting to be snuggled into...

We rested (meaning I sat in MY chaise by the window in my fancy bathrobe and read my book while PB did the same on the sofa with his book) and enjoyed our fantastic upgrade before we headed out to dinner in Notting Hill... Stay tuned for the rest of our fabulous mini-staycation in London!

Are you going to visit the Queen before the State Rooms close in October?