My weekend in review...

(DISCLAIMER: Very long post. I'm sorry!)

I had a FANTASTIC Valentine's weekend in England with PB. He picked me up from the airport Thursday night right after he arrived from Brussels and had Gordon drive us home in style in a souped up Mercedes with massaging seats in the back that recline almost to the point of laying down. (Gordon has been driving PB to/from the airport for something like 15 years. I ♥ him.) We were both exhausted so instead of cooking PB treated me to a lovely, healthy meal at McD's.

Friday PB had to work from home so I laid around and drank lots of tea until time for us to go to see Valentine's Day. We thought we'd be clever and go see it at 5PM before the big crowds... instead we were the only 2 people over the age of 16 in the theater. THAT was fun. (No.) We ended the evening at Wagamama (which, as I've already mentioned, I LOVE.) PB made a better menu decision than I did and I ended eating half of his... This is a common theme with us.

Saturday we got up early to go check out two properties in Writtle, which is this little village near Chelmsford, England. The first one was ADORABLE. It was tiny and built in 1897. There was tons of exposed brick, big plank floorboards, 3 fireplaces... buuutttt the kitchen was about the size of a half bath. Tinnnyyyyy. No full size refrigerator and one of those super small stoves. We really really loved it though, and are definitely considering it! (It'll do until babies arrive, and then we'd most definitely need more space.) We saw another property that I hated from the outside but was stunning inside. The kitchen in that house was perfect. Huge and open with an island. (Clarification- huge and open for England means something COMPLETELY different than huge and open in the US.) We did like it but the price was a little high and as I mentioned, neither of us liked the outside of the property. It's off our list at this point. I'll keep you updated as we keep house-hunting. That night we were supposed to go to Lamb's of Sheep Street in Stratford, but plans got derailed and dinner ended up being a PB&J.

Sunday was wonderful. As I mentioned in the post before I left we had reservations for Afternoon Tea at Brown's Hotel. We thought we were going to be late but made it perfectly on time.

*Me in the taxi queue at Paddington*

*PB and the tea service setup at Brown's. The pink champagne was AMAZING.*

*Me eating my first scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream. Also, please note the swarovski headband. I LOVE it. It was my v-day present. It's discontinued and PB snatched up the last in the COUNTRY! Best fiance ever.*

*Tea sandwiches... I single handedly housed about 2 plates full. Don't judge me. They were delicious!*

*Mango and Passion fruit tart with gold leaf. It was the best thing I've ever put in my mouth!*

After Brown's we walked around Bond Street and eventually made our way back home. PB made me homemade lasagna (which was surprisingly the best lasagna I've ever had!) and we cracked open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.

On Monday we had a really exciting day! I applied for the BBC show "To Buy or Not to Buy" because I wasn't liking any houses PB and I were finding online and was hoping they could find us some hidden gems. Turns out they loved us! We'd been emailing with one of the producers and on Monday 2 producers and a camera man came to PB's flat to interview us on camera and see if they might want to help us and film us for their show. It went really well! I really think they loved us. We should be hearing back soon. Sooooo... I just might become a reality TV star! (Don't worry, I'll be more than happy to sign autographs.) I'll update you as soon as we hear back from the executive producer.

Then I went to the airport and am now home! I'm SO behind on my work for school, so between now and Saturday I'll be catching up on reading, starting some outlines and starting my massive paper. Saturday I'm flying to Austin for the weekend!

Now, if you made it this far, tell me how your weekend was!

Wednesday Ramblings

I got up early this morning to finish a few pages of reading for International Law before my training session with Boola. He kicked my booty as usual. I was sweating within about 5 minutes. I said "Wow, can't believe I'm already sweating" and then like 3 minutes later Boola says "Wow, you're really sweating." Thank you Captain Obvious.

I showered and was going to have my midmorning snack at the gym before heading over to school when I got the text message saying all classes had been cancelled after noon! YAY! So now I'm home... What's on tap for the rest of my day?

• Finish packing for my trip tomorrow
• Write out the cute cards I picked up for my bridesmaids and stick them in the mail
• Straighten hair
• Start researching my topic for my International Law paper (China, Taiwan and Tibet- What could be more interesting?! SUCH a geek.)
• Watch 24 from last week and this week
• SLEEP!

I have to be at the airport around 5:15AM tomorrow. My fingers are crossed that I get upgraded to Club World. (If you're reading this, your fingers should be crossed too. CROSS 'EM!) By 2PM tomorrow I'll be landing in London. SOOOOOO excited. We have a lovely Valentine's Day weekend planned... Including dinner at Lambs of Sheep Street in Stratford, V-Day special Champagne Tea at the Brown Hotel, going to see "Valentine's Day" movie, and PB cooking lasagna for me. I will be back on Tuesday with pics and a recap.

What are y'all doing today? For V-day?

Valentine's Day Goodies!

While I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day, I still tend to get a little excited when all the Valentine's Day goodies make their way to the shelves and websites of my favorite stores. PB and I have decided to try to have a low key Valentine's Day and not go overboard on presents (hi, welcome to paying for a wedding) but if I could have ANYTHING given to me, these would be my top 5.

1. KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer in Komen Pink: It's completely unrealistic for PB and I to buy or register for appliances because we've decided I'll move to England, and we'd had to invest in like 9 million adapters... BUT if I could find this in England, I'd be a pink, happy lil' lady.

2. David Yurman White Pearl, Diamond and Stering Silver ring: I'm also not a huge fan of David Yurman, but when I saw this ring I just knew it would look perfect on my finger. Again, a little pricey, but maybe for my birthday PB?!?! I kid. Ok... but maybe Christmas?!? :)

3. Valentine's Dinner at The Lady & Sons: Those of you have been reading a while (or had been before I deleted my first blog) know that even though I live in Boston, my family is southern, and is split between the mountains of North Carolina and right outside of Savannah in Georgia. We went to Miss Paula's restaurant in October of '08 when we were there for my cousin's wedding. It was AMAZING! While I'm a foodie at heart and love nothing more than dining at a Michelin rated restaurant replete with truffles and other fancy delights, nothing tops good ole' southern cookin'! Her fried chicken was the best I have ever eaten in my ENTIRE life! And don't even get me started on those cheddar biscuits.

*Photo found here.*

4. Magnolia Bakery's Cupcakes: My favorite cupcakes on the entire planet. The frosting is crack.

5. Flowers by Winston Flowers: Peonies will always be my favorite but Ranunculus (Ranunculi? Ranunculuses?) is growing on me! I might have them throw in a few in my wedding bouquets with some peonies and hydrangea. This is such a beautiful arrangement! And it's PINK.

Now, those are my top 5 V-day picks... What are yours?!