Happy Monday and 5 Good Things

Happy Holidays! 

Happy Monday and 5 Good Things

Its been a little while since I did a Happy Monday post, what the hell, right? 

The UK- London Calling

The flight from JFK to London was a red eye, so we all attempted to sleep and failed spectacularly. I spent my time watching a few movies and reading "Rising Strong" by Brene Brown. The quote above is a photo I took while reading on the plane. Some pretty meaningful stuff.


We were due to land around 8 or 9 in the morning, so we were just starting to fly over some western islands just as first light was appearing. You could barely make out the little slivers of land below. Eerily beautiful.

I distinctly remember the exact moment I started to recognize that we were actually flying over and about to land in London. England. Its a huge deal, especially for someone who has barely traveled outside the western half of her own country. London was something I had only dreamed about. The shot below is the Thames and reminds me a lot of The Eastenders. A British soap opera my mom used to religiously watch.

 As we were starting our descent I'm looking out the window at nondescript greenery and little towns with my headphones in, completely zoned out. I came to attention as Step Out from the Walter Mitty soundtrack came on. Anyone that knows me understands the great meaning that movie and its music holds for me. I'm listening to the words and I realize that the river I'm looking at is the Thames... the music crescendos and then I saw the Tower Bridge. Then The London Eye. Then Big Ben and Parliament. 

I nearly cried you guys. It was kind of this defining moment in my journey where things came together to create the most beautiful chain of moments. And strangely, with the addition of the song, I knew my mom was there with me. Not at all in the capacity I wanted her to be there... but it did bring me some measure of comfort. 

We landed and made our way quite easily through customs and baggage claim, picked up our rental car and then somehow, by all that is good in the universe, we drove about 60 miles to our AirBnB. I don't think I will ever get used to being on the other side of the road... and I don;t think there will ever be enough anxiety medication for me to be a comfortable navigator/passenger. It was a little rough, but we made it!!

We were staying about 10 miles south of the heart of London in a little area called Hither Green. Adorable little area in my opinion. Picturesque little town pub called The Station is very near the train station. Its the kind of architecture you think is only in books and movies... but its everywhere.

Our house was about half a mile from the train station so traveling to and from London was super easy. The home we stayed at was at the end of a row of brownstone townhouses with adorable gardens. Ours had a sunroom that was super comfortable to drink coffee and eat breakfast in, even in January. The host was the most gracious woman named Susan. We emailed back and forth and she was very happy to answer all of our touristy questions. When we return to London, we will most definitely try to get this place again. You can see more photos of this place HERE

The day wasn't over yet!!  We unpacked and grabbed real fish and chips with curry sauce from a kind of sketchy looking little shop with the most adorable little old man. I was a little nervous ordering, but as I watched him prepare our food from scratch, and then tasted it... I was sold. Don't judge a book by its cover. To this day, I still dream about that curry sauce.

We then walked down to the station and hopped on a train to spend the last few hours of daylight wandering around London a bit.

 

I don't remember why I was scowling, but it isn't an accurate representation of how I felt... I was ecstatic. Its also a bit overwhelming. You get off of the train station and are surrounded by about 30 things you want to see and do all within a mile radius. We really were just trying to get a feel for the city, get our bearings a bit. 

 

 The City is full of history, with little monuments and artistic elements built throughout is long, rich history.  I believe that these City of London dragons with shields were added throughout the city in 1994. You will find touches like that everywhere... Roses added to park benches for one of the many Queens Jubilee, stamps into the sidewalk, symbols on light posts... Its proof that there is a lot of people who deeply care about their city, and have for as long as its been a city.

Iconic sign for the London Underground. Right after taking this photo, we actually ran into someone from Boise proving that after all, the world can still be a very small place.

Dinner was at The Walrus and The Carpenter Named after Lewis Carroll. Meat pies and local brews for all!! We then ended up wandering towards the Tower of London, (which was closed by the time we got there) and the Tower Bridge. Its everything you imagine and more.

As we crossed the bridge to get to our train station, we stopped and took a few London cityscape shots... and then just stood for a while and took it all in. Such a beautiful, special place for me.

The BIG Trip- New York

I knew quite a long time ago that on the anniversary of my moms death, I wanted to do something big every year. I wanted to spend the day celebrating her, and her memory, and experiencing something new and exciting that she never got to do. 

Happy Monday and 5 good things

Y'all thought I forgot about it didn't you! Ha! I am full of surprises. I am also biding time waiting to go to work and have been up since well, I am not sure I ever went to sleep to be honest. We had a log-sawer move in a few days ago. For the record, super nice guy... but I am trying real hard to come up with a way to not hear the snoring but also let myself sleep without taking nyquil. Le sigh... I feel like this is a first world problem, but whatever. I think we should talk about 5 good things that occurred this last week.

Happy Monday and 5 Good Things

Oh my goodness guys... three weeks in a row. This will probably be a personal best. Just sayin in case you get your hopes up. Another busy week survived! Hooray! The only downside to this week was the intense amount of pollen in the air. Allergies have been insane this week leaving me with WAY too many not so nice headaches. On the plus side, today marks two weeks until I leave for Stanley and cleaner air! 

Because it was such a busy week, it was quite easy to find 5 good things...

1. Linner!!

All three of us, Jerrad, Matt and I, had an impromptu afternoon off so we actually had time to make a proper late lunch, early dinner. Hence, Linner!! We made eggplant parmesan with butternut triangioli (fancy word for triangle ravioli), an awesome salad with blue cheese, blackberries and candied walnuts and rosemary bacon chipotle bread. It was A-MA-ZING!!!

2. Surprise packages

Several weeks ago I donated to John Barrowmans No Hate campaign and wasn't expecting to see the tank top I ordered for another few weeks. Seeing this on Tuesday really made my day. I will gladly wear it with pride all summer!! 

3. Music Week

Rehearsals started quite a while ago for the actors. The technicians were finally able to attend a few of them this last week in order to get map out light cues and make notes for follow spot pickups. The creative process, starting from words on paper and turning them into a show complete with lights, sound, sets and actors is what I love most about my job. With touring shows we don't get to be such an integral part of the process very often, so participating in Music Week is quite a treat! I'm looking forward to getting it onstage a week from today and seeing what it becomes. 

4. Reckless Kelly

Reckless Kelly is a fun country band we had come into our theater on Friday. They claim Texas as their home now, but the two brothers that front the band are originally from Stanley. Small world, right? Above is a photo of on of their merch cases. It was fun to see stickers from a few of my other favorite obscure country bands like Mickey and the Motorcars (also have ties to the Stanley area) and The Crooks. Both bands that you should check out if you don't know who they are. Especially The Crooks!!

5. Nature

One of the best things about working on campus is having the river so close. It is always nice to be able to grab a quick lunch much needed coffee and head down to the river just to get away and clear your head for a few minutes. Its also useful when you need to blow off a bit of steam or stretch your legs to hop on the greenbelt and walk for as long as necessary. Thank you nature for being there when I need you!!

Bonus!!!

6. Fork and OK GO

We had a much needed night out with friends last night that started out with dinner at Fork, which was as usual, fantastic. We then walked over to the Knitting Factory and enjoyed one of the best concerts I've seen in a while. Superb job Ok Go! I would definitely pay to see them again. It was so nice to spend some time with a few of my favorite people at such a crazy fun concert.