Skiing in Val Thorens, France

Joe, Frances & I decided to take a trip over new years and found a cool week-long package ski deal to Val Thorens, France - the highest ski resort in Europe. We picked Val Thorens because its a "snow sure" resort - where we could be sure that the slopes would be in good condition for the early season. Also -the package includes dinner and breakfast, which is really nice when you're tired at the end of a long day on the slopes.

We've been here 4 days now and have been having a blast. I switched to skiing this time around and am enjoying it a lot more than snow boarding - I feel more in control and I'm not falling on my butt as much, which is nice :) We're staying in a chalet with 10 or so other people and are getting to know them over dinner each night.

Today, we're taking a rest day because the snow is coming down really strong and its hard to see, but we'll be back out there tomorrow.

Happy early New Years and happy birthday to my favorite/the best brother ever, Sean :)

Antiquing in the English countryside

Last weekend, Joe and I went to Maidwell's antiques - about an hour outside Cambridge. These people have the life that I always envisioned for myself! They live in this really cool old house on some land with sheep and peacocks and have rooms and rooms of antiques they've picked out to sell to visitors. Customers stop by like old friends, chatting with them, feeding the sheep, sipping on the tea and eating snacks they offer up in the kitchen. Their stuff is amazing too. Joe and I bought a beautiful 1920s walnut cabinet for our future living room. Its amazing that is was just £300, and in perfect condition. We also got an old wind up record player (you turn it on and are transported back in time) as well as a cool painting in a pretty frame. Fun! Annette and Robert - I want your life!

Wedding planning 101

I'm caught in a dilemma. It would be logistically (not to mention cost-wise) simpler for us to be married before we move to Birmingham in May of next year and in Joe's words - "preferably the sooner the better" (as it takes the military some time to process paperwork). It makes sense for moving (the military will pay to move my stuff from my London apartment along with Joe's) and for health insurance (I may not have any as so far my hunt for an internal position with my company where I can work from home/in Birmingham has come up dry - my company doesn't have an office there).

However, I've got a really clear vision of a country-wedding back home with all of our family and friends around us in my head that I don't want to let go of! The challenge is that living over here, it feels next to impossible to pull something like I'd envisioned together in less than 6 months time - not to mention that the weather won't be ideal for this sort of event until later in the year anyway.

What should we do?

House huntin' in Birmingham

When we were home for Thanksgiving the other week, Joe and I took half the trip (4 days) to visit our future home of Birmingham, AL (we're moving there in May of 2010). All in all - it looks like a really nice place to call home - relatively low cost of living, all the amenities of a large city (the metro area population is about 1 million people, after all), really nice historic neighborhoods set amid the hilly terrain with fantastic views (Highland Park, Forrest Park), and just all around friendly people. Joe was more nervous than I was about the location from the get go, but I think he's come around and is excited about it.

In the end, we decided to throw out the idea of living at Lake Logan Martin (too far away, not enough amenities locally) and instead focus on in-town Birmingham locations (i.e. Forest Park). One of our front runner houses is pictured above - its got a view of the whole city from its porch!

We're not going to make any offers just yet, though - we have time, so we'll wait and see what happens with a few of the properties we liked and see if anything new pops up!

The one?

OK - we might have found the elusive "one" and no- I'm not even talking about my FH (future husband) Joe here. I'm talking about the ring!

Years ago Carrie and I went to the State Fair somewheres north of Atlanta for fun. We took some visiting colleagues from abroad with us (mostly for laughs to see how they'd react to the "largest cow in the world" and arm-sized turkey legs). They loved it and so did we. Anyway, there I bought a ring which the dealer told me was a replica of a 1920s Tiffany setting. That might have been just sales talk, but I believed him and bought it for a whopping $35 bucks. Over the years, I've worn that ring nearly every day - had a stone replaced, gotten it cleaned, re-plated, the whole nine yards, probably spending 5 times the price on maintenance alone.

Well Joe has a family diamond that his Grandma, the lovely & very cute Frona, gave to him some years ago. He showed it to me a couple of weeks ago and we realized the the stone is nearly identical in cut and size to the center diamond in the ring from the State Fair! It got us thinking...what if we had that old ring made - but for REAL this time :)

So that brings us to the present - we've got emails into a few jewelers and are collecting estimates on what it would take, but I think we're both excited about this, so this one might be it!

Also - thanks for all of the input on the earlier ring pics - seems everyone's got a different taste in rings. Some (my uncle, mom, Sana) were horrified that I wanted a cocktail-esque ring for my engagement. Others (Lea, Bijal, Court) loved the idea and sent detailed choice order preferences. The best was from Bijal who printed the picture out in color and provided notes, editor-style, and sent me a PDF attachment with all the details. Hilarious!

Engagement photos, courtesy of Carrie

One of my best friends, Carrie, was here this week for work and to celebrate her 29th birthday. It was just in time too because first she helped Joe and me shop for engagement rings (we found lots of good ones, but are still deciding) and then later put her photography skills to the test shooting engagement photos for us.

She's still working on the finished product, but here's a sample on her website and to the left: http://www.flickr.com/photos/khakiaraki

Picking out engagement rings with Joe and Carrie

Carrie came into town for work yesterday and it was just in time because she was able to help Joe and I look for engagement rings yesterday. When Joe proposed, he gave me a "placeholder" turquoise ring to wear while we picked something out together. He knows that I have pretty specific tastes (I have my heart set on an emerald ring) and love antiques. We started by looking first in Paris and then this weekend we went all around London - the fancy shops on Bond street including Tiffany's (we liked but didn't love the Edwardian Legacy ring), Hatton Garden jewelery district (including a tour of David Marshall's workshop) and finally to the Gray's Antique Market where we found TONS of great antique rings. A collage of the many rings I tried on are to the left - aren't they all so beautiful?

We finished the day with some champagne, tapas, and live guitar music at the lovely downstairs restaurant at Fortnum and Mason, BBQ at Bodean's, and a night cap at Sketch. It was a fun day, but my mind isn't yet made up about which one to choose - so many great options! Which one do you think?? Email me :)

A weekend in Paris and...we're engaged!

Joe and I plus his parents & my mom all went to Paris last weekend for a quick trip via the Eurostar. We stayed in a fabulous apartment which Joe could only describe as "very French" in Le Marais.

The weekend before, my mom arrived and I took her for a day trip to visit Cambridge, which she really liked. We went to the lovely Orchard at Grantchester for tea and scones and enjoyed sitting out under the apple trees and walking along the river Cam afterwards.

Anyway- back to Paris. After the best tea in the world at Mariage Freres, we headed off on a cruise of the Seine and a walk down the Champs Elysees. At this point, it was getting dark and the lights had started to come on the Eiffel Tower. As we crossed the Pont Alexandre bridge, Joe was holding my hand and started to get nervous. I looked back and saw his parents video taping us and figured something must be up. He dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes so I supposed you could say that we're now affianced!

That picture of us on the bridge smiling with the Eiffel Tower behind us was taken right afterwards. And then we all went to a lovely dinner at Oh Duo (we basically took the group to all the same spots Carrie, Frances & I had gone on our whirlwind trip there earlier this year). It was a fantastic night. Thank you again Joe for making it special :)

Off to Ireland

Last weekend, Joe's parents came over from the States to visit. It was their first time in Europe and we met them in Dublin to start their trip.

We rented a car and drove to the Southwest region to see a bunch of famous sites - Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, Killarney, Cork, etc. On the way, we also saw the typical Irish countryside - lots of greenery, sheep, cows, ruins of castles, pubs, and of course - rain. All in all it was a great way to start their journey!

More pics from Turkey & Greece

To Munich for Oktoberfest

I just got back from a long weekend in Germany hanging out with some friends from Atlanta - Rebecca, Frank, Sarah & Bart (who's stationed at Ansbach, Germany). I flew out Thursday evening after work and met the gang in Munich (Joe had to work this weekend so he couldn't make it). We went to Oktoberfest on Friday morning and attempted to get a table in one of the festive tents but it was as if everyone in the city had skipped work, dressed in their finest leather leiderhosen and come to have beer for breakfast at Oktoberfest. It was packed!

We settled for a table outdoors, had some lunch and beers and then headed on some of the rides (its like a carnival with all the classic fesitval rides - with a german twist). The whole place was very clean and fun. As it started to get a bit more crowded in the afternoon, we left and wandered around the city center. On Saturday morning, we packed Bart's car (literally - it was packed with 5 of us in a 4-door Subaru sedan) and headed to BMW World - a showcase for how BMWs are made. The architecture alone in the building was awesome. After that, it was on to Bart's place in cute Ansbach and to dinner that night via train in Nurnberg. This morning (Sunday) we once again packed the car - this time for Frankfurt and I headed home on a super-cheap Ryanair flight and the gang headed on with their trip around Germany. It was great to hang out with them all weekend!

Joe and I also heard last week that he'll be re-assigned to Birmingham, AL in May of next year (2010). My aim is to move with him at that time and we're both excited about being closer to eachother and family/friends, but sad to leave the UK.

I still have some pictures to add from the trip to Greece and Turkey, so I'll have to do that in another post!

Post-cruise update from Istanbul

Joe and I just got off the ship in Istanbul and arrived in our gorgeous apartment on the Bosphorous. Its STUNNING! The place is totally modern and has a wrap around patio that is larger than the interior of the apartment with a 200+ degree view of the city! There's even a little hot tub out there :)

The cruise was great - alot more relaxed and private than a typical cruise as there were just 150 guests. The rooms were all much larger than a normal ship too - the bathroom was more of a walk in closet size than just cupboard size of a typical ship and the service was excellent. When we originally checked in at the port in Athens, they had a guy that met us at the entrance and took us past all the lines directly on-board to check in 1-1 with an agent while they served us snacks and drinks. It definitely felt like 4 star service.

At each of the ports (Santorini, Mykonos, Bodrum, Rhodes, Kusadasi) we had lots of time too - often times arriving at 8AM and departing at 11PM, so we got the max time to enjoy the cities. Each place had its own charm but my favorites were the 2 ports in Turkey. In Bodrum, we took a day trip on a boat and swam and snorkeled in different coves of sparking water around the coast. In Kusadasi we saw ruins of an ancient city and a house where Mary lived after shopping (well haggling) for goods. Shopping is an adventure in Turkey...

Now we're in Istanbul and getting ready to head out on the town. More soon!

A weekend in the city

We spent this weekend in London and found some new corners of the city that we really like. On Saturday, Joe & I headed over to Covent Garden for a bit of shopping. I got a cool new backpack and a pair of Birkenstocks, so I'm an official hippie now. The area is really cool - small, narrow streets and lots of smaller non-chain stores. In the afternoon, we had lunch a Greek tapas place and enjoyed looking out the window at passers by.

That night, Joe's roomie (or flatmate as they say here since you don't share a roooooommmm - as I'm often reminded) Benji and his girlfriend Danyl came over for dinner. I made tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, stuffed mushrooms and lemon salmon but clearly didn't cook the salmon long enough. It was still a bit sushi like. I have a lot to learn in the kitchen, but all were gracious guests and ate it up.

After dinner we headed out to see Lion King. This is probably the most popular show in London - always sold out and always full price tickets. Joe got us tickets (he's awesome at that~) but they were literally the last row, on the end. I'd wished I was wearing those new Birkenstocks when we were hiking up the stairs to the seats... I loved the costumes in the show but didn't get as wrapped up in the story as in other shows (i.e. no tears when Mufasa died). Joe was the same - he slept through part of it, but that's not necessarily an insult to the show as he does that in lots of good shows :)

The next day, after some errands during the day and a yoga DVD, we packed the backpack and headed over to Primrose Hill. Its a park just north of Regent Park and it has a lovely view of the whole city. It was a fantastic day and so the place was packed. The best part was looking at all the cute dogs go by - I want one!!

A staycation and a vacation

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson last year - everyone in Europe takes vacation in August! Instead, I was working in an empty office yet again this year. That is until this week when I decided to take a 'staycation'. This is where you stay home, but take vacation from work. I'm doing an intensive dance program at The Place. Each day, I'm taking 4-6 hours of classes (Feldenkrais, Ballet, Repertory with Rambert Dance Company). I'm on day 2 and thing are going well, but I'm really sore! I got a really nice massage before classes this morning, so that really helped. I'll let you know how the rest goes...

Our real vacation comes in early September. After multiple false starts where our plans fell through to arrange a trip with a group (a private yacht, a beach house in Mykonos, a beach house in Croatia) we've decided to do a cruise with Windstar. The itinerary looks really cool (all over the Greek and Turkish Isles) and the ship only houses about 150 guests.

DATE	DAY	PORTS OF CALL	ARRIVE	DEPART
September 5	Saturday	Athens/Greece	-	5:00 PM
September 6	Sunday	Mykonos/Greece	8:00 AM	10:00 PM
September 7	Monday	Santorini/Greece	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
September 8	Tuesday	Rhodes/Greece	8:00 AM	11:00 PM
September 9	Wednesday	Bodrum/Turkey	8:00 AM	9:00 PM
September 10	Thursday	Kusadasi/Turkey	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
September 11	Friday	At Sea	-	-
September 12	Saturday	Istanbul/Turkey	7:00 AM	-

Canoing on the river Cam

Joe and I alternate weekends between his home - Cambridge - and mine in London. I infinitely prefer Cambridge :) This past weekend, we wound up doing a bunch. On Friday night, we went to a going away party for a friend of Joe's from work - Jessica. A big group assembled for dinner at D'Arry's - a cute wine bar restaurant. Afterwards, we went to a dance club for a few minutes and headed home. On Saturday, we went to the base to meet a group coming back from a 2 month deployment. I'd never been to Mildenhall - its great going on base. Just like visiting a US city! They have Taco Bells with super sized cups and ice and Burger Kings. They have BX stores that sell everything you'd get in a Wal-Mart in the US and all at average US prices. There are some big benefits to being in the military! Anyway - at Joe's office, I got to see where he spends his time and his picture was on the wall as the instructor pilot of the quarter. Congrats, Joe! That afternoon, we went to a friend's BBQ in Newmarket, which is a really nice town closer to the base than Cambridge. Its a big horse racing town so there are paths for horses everywhere and big green fields.

On Sunday, after a gourmet breakfast courtesy of chef Joe and a viewing of Iron Man (awesome), we headed to the city center on the bikes with a picnic packed. We sat out by the water, ate yummy guacamole and had my colors read by a wandering philosopher. He said I was a creative person who needed to find a better outlet for my talents. How nice :) After lunch, we rented a canoe and proceeded on a 2 hour paddle (?) to Grantchester. 2.5 hours later, we asked directions and realized we'd actually passed it! The town has a pretty famous tea garden called the Apple Orchard that had just closed as we got there. Darn! The canoe ride home was infinitely easier, mainly because Joe did all the work, but also because the current and wind took us home. Dinner at Wagamama's capped off a great weekend.

To the seaside

On a whim and at the advice of one of our guidebooks, Joe and I set out on Saturday afternoon for a hike on the South Downs Way, a trek that follows the south eastern coast of England. We packed a few things in a backpack in case we decided to spend the night...and so another great English country weekend began. Every time I leave the city, I really fall in love with this place!

Back at home in London before we left, a car or other alarm had been going off steadily for over 48 hours keeping many neighbors and myself awake. In the country, its green and quiet and the air is fresh :) The trip to Eastbourne took just over 1.5 hours by train from London, but it felt much farther away.

We pretty much decided to stay as soon as we got there and found a hotel on Saturday night down at the edge of town, but still along the coast. The town reminded us of an old time NJ shore type place. An old pier with games (we played Dance Dance Revolution!), a rocky and not so pretty beach, lots of old timers, but the English addition of lots of tea rooms - how civilized! We stayed in The Grand Hotel - the city's only 5 star and the home of Debussy while he was composing La Mer. The common areas were fantastic and this place just had ambiance. At night, a band played and they rolled up the carpet to reveal a wooden dance floor. Couples (some who seemed almost professional) danced the night away. Joe and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at a Thai place and then danced outside to the band.

On Sunday, we did the actual hike - well 4 hours of it until I started to get seriously sun burned. I keep forgetting this country has sun. It was beautiful - just along the cliffs with stunning views. I love too how in the UK there are lots of restaurants and pubs and even the occasional ice cream vans along the way on hiking paths. Joe and I stopped for lunch at Beachy Head and the place was packed with other like-minded folks out for a stroll. After the hike, it was back to the hotel for a dip in the pool, showers and the easy train home.

Off to Neverland...in Hyde park

Joe came back from Seattle last Sunday and came straight to London to visit me. He got 3 days of post-mission leave, so from Monday-Wednesday we painted the town red, as they say, doing all sorts of fun things after work and during my lunch break. Each day, he came to my office in Piccadilly Circus to take me out to lunch (sushi from Itsu, dim sum from Chinatown). Monday night, we found a fantastic Mexican restaurant (finally!). All my complaining on the topic to fellow expats had yielded a few suggestions and this one, called Mestizo, kept coming up, so we checked it out and it was actually really good. Joe experienced a bit of sticker shock when we got the bill and realized we'd paid nearly $100 for the meal, though. Good old El Amigo in Atlanta would have charged us under $25 for the same thing. Oh London!

On Tuesday night, we went to Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens - it was great, very magical. The best part was the setting - right smack dab in the middle of beautiful Hyde Park. There's even a long standing statue of Peter Pan already present in the park, so that was fitting. Speaking of Neverland - I don't want to grow up either!

Hanging out with Jude Law

Jody & Kit accidentally bought tickets for the wrong date to Hamlet with Jude Law, so they left them with me to use the following week - thanks, guys! I took a colleague from work, Helen, whose children and husband just happened to be out of town that week and we had a great time. The show was fantastic, Jude really showed why he was a star and in particular the setting was great. It was an old West End theater, pretty intimate (maybe 1,000 seats?) and the set was very cool and modern. An image from the show where snow is coming down is particularly vivid. The costumes were modern - very DKNY. All in all, it was a great show. The theater is London is truly the best in the world and I'm lucky to have that at my doorstep.

That was quick...

Well - apparently Summer in the UK is now over, or so everyone in London is saying. Its been raining pretty much nonstop with no signs of quitting and the wind is getting so strong and cold it nearly knocked me off the street on my way to Waitrose (the local gourmet grocer) today.

Last week was a fun one with lots of American visitors. On Wednesday, I worked from Cambridge to spend some time with Joe before he left for Seattle for a few weeks for work. Then on Thursday, I came back into London on the early early (6:45) train and headed in to work. That evening, I met up with friends from Atlanta - Erin K and Kit & Jody B who both just happened to be visiting at the same time. We had dinner at Moro - a fantastic Spanish restaurant in Exmouth Market. We originally had an outside table, but as the rain started to come down, they graciously moved us inside (this place has a weeks long waitlist, so I'm just glad they could find room!). We had a great time catching up and sharing stories of our travels. On Saturday, my friend Josh from GT came in town (he's doing a Law degree and studying abroad at Oxford) and went with me to our office's summer BBQ at our office manager's house in Chiswick. It was nice and sunny for a couple hours but quickly turned cold and grey again in the late afternoon.

I guess this means I'll need to start planning our summer trip to Greece again! Joe and I were originally going to rent a yacht to tour the Greek Isles and we were in touch with this couple that takes you all around the islands and then just as we emailed them to book it, they told us that the day before someone had renting their remaining 2 weeks in August! So now, we're back to the drawing board. I've just come across what could be a winner on my favorite website, VRBO, though. Its a beautiful old house on the island of Skopelos (where Mama Mia was filmed). It looks perfect...and sunny.

Summer in the City

Summer has arrived in London and everyone is outside and loving the new-found sunshine. Joe and I went to Regent's Park today to try out our new trick kite...we could barely get it up in the air! So much for tricks.

Our new favorite place to eat is Chilango in Angel, just up the street from my flat. Good Mexican food is REALLY hard to find in London, but this place gets it right. In the US, it would be just another one of those good, but standard burrito bars but here its a godsend & always packed! I love it!

During the week, I kept my trend of trying out new shows around the city. I saw Midsummer Night's Dream at The Globe on Wednesday and a really funky cabaret show and later dinner at Bistrotheque on Thursday. I even made it to ballet class on Monday, so it was a great week.

Weekend in Derby & Joe's new (old) Land Rover

This weekend, Joe and I took a trip up to Derby & the Peak district to pick up his new Land Rover. Its actually a quite old Land Rover (25 years!), but new to Joe. He's been looking into getting one of these classics for a few years b/c he wants to take it home with him to the States. The one he got in the end is a 4 door complete with extended truck bed and black with "diamond plating" - which is just stainless metal sheets added to certain areas as an accent. It drives great (a little noisy) and is all around fun to take around the countryside.

In Derby we stayed at the fantastic Cathedral Quarter Hotel. It was just renovated in April, so everything is really nice and modern - big bathrooms, cool damask decorative features, flat panel TVs, Aveda bath products - while still enjoying the old shell (high ceilings, stained glass windows, grand staircase). The breakfast was really great - served in this great hall/dining room - and the bar downstairs has all of these really nice cocktails.

On Saturday we went to the Peak district and hiked the 9 mile Monsal Trail. It was set along an old rail line, occassionally vearing off along the creek below. Highlights was the stepping stones laid across the creek and a gorgeous sunset back at the start after a taxi had returned us safely at the end of the day. We only lost our way...once!

Corey's wedding in Chicago

On Wednesday of last week, I went to Chicago from Atlanta for Corey & Pat's wedding, which was a blast! Carrie and I hung out on Wednesday, Thursday was the bachelorette (we went to Nacional 27 for dinner, Pops for Champagne for dessert and Y Bar for dancing). On Friday, we headed out to Arlington Hights for the rehearsal dinner. Saturday afternoon the wedding was held at St. James church and once pictures go up, I'll post the link here. The weather was great & Corey looked amazing. I was the maid of honor and stood up at the front and kneeled alongside Corey and Pat during the ceremony. Afterwards, the bridal party went to the racetrack and Corey & Pat won big on their wedding numbers (6-2-7). They bet $1 and won $75! At 5pm it was on to the reception at the pretty Metropolis ballroom downtown. The whole day was a blast.

On Sunday, Carrie, Angela & I all got together for brunch. Angela came in town from Atlanta for the weekend and it was great to see her. Then it was off to the airport and back to London. I just got in this morning after a nice (upgraded to first!) flight home to London.