British Wedding Mag

Don't do it.

Do not buy it.

I know it seems like a good idea, but as you turn through the pages and see everyone getting married in the most lovely old castles, soon you will want to get married in a castle.

Guess what the USA is not rolling in? castles.

American castle:



British castle:

london treasure hunter

So I successfully made two mother figures very happy and 2 friends of mine pretty happy during my trip. I was their gift hunter. I was to find great gifts from abroad and bring them back for their American Christmas. It was a little nerve wracking and I was not given too much direction. It was very satisfying that it worked out so well. A Buckingham palace oven mit, tea cloth with a wedding feast printed on it, a rosary from St. Pauls and an ornate cross Christmas ornament form the National Gallary. Gift #2 was a very fancy whicker basket set full of all sorts of tea goodies and sweets, also a rich red scarf from Buckingham palace.

Alex’s mom got a book of tea and a lovely golden bottle of proceco.

I also collected an assortment of teas from Harrods and other little shops. I got a few kinder eggs and some chocolates. CRUNCHIE 4 LIFE

For us, 2 ornaments. A blue hippo from the British museum and a crown from Windsor Castle.

For me, woodblocks used for printing. I have been a tad obsessed with them ever since seeing Hatch Show Prints last summer.

I had hoped to do a bit more antique vintage shopping but the whirlwind travel experience worked against us.

London it is

Day One:
Red Eye flight to Heathrow
Rushmore Hotel
Kensington Palace
Hyde Park
Blackbird Pub - Blackbird PIE!
Oxford Street - Christmas lights

Day Two:

Westminster Abbey, parliment ('walking tour')
10 Downing Street
Trafalgar Square {huge Christmas tree}
National Gallery/National portrait gallery
Covent garden
http://www.coventgardenlondonuk.com/
Tube:Westminster, Covent Garden

(evening)
Harrods
Hyde Park
V&A Museum
(late drinks)
Meet up with Nikki's old college Pal at a pub on fleet street that used to be a Bank of England.

Day 3:

Tower of London
Spitafields open 10-4pm (antiques) http://www.visitspitalfields.com/
Brick lane [The Bangaldesh Indian quarter, thought Nikki could scope out some good indian]
The Old Truman Brewery,
Tube:Tower Hill, Aldgate East
7:30pm OLD VIC – Inherit the Wind

Day 4:
British Museum

St. Paul's
Millennium bridge
Tate Modern, http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
Shakespeare's Globe
Tube: St. Paul's, BlackFriars
(evening/afternoon)
6 hour pub marathon at the Founders Arms, panoramic view of the thames

Day 4:
Buckingham palace

EUROSTAR drops the ball .... 9 hours in an unheated train station.

Day 5:
Realize we are not leaving the UK, Eurostar still not working.
Greenwich
Maritime Museum
Cutty Sark
Go to 0'0'' at the Royal Observatory
See the Naval College
Pub

Day 6:
Day tripper!
Windsor Castle
Stonehendge
Bath
SNow! 4 inches shut down London, don't get back until after midnight.

Day 7:
Sherlock Holmes Museum
Walk about Abbey Road Studio attractions (aka tourist traps)
Regents Park, Rose Garden
Show Alex where I used to live, International Students Dorms
Marylebone High Street
Wallace Collection
Pub

Day 8:
One last pub
Went to the airport early
Duty Free
Airplane delayed

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

One Week

o I am sort of in love with IKEA's holiday decorations. if we were not leaving in a week (or had a date set for our winter wedding), then i might have loaded up. I am still tempted.

I hope to find the perfect shoe, purse, luggage and have an outline of our trip figured out by this weekend. However I cannot do any of that fun stuff until I finish my exams.

I just picked up my 24 hour take home exam and as you can see, I am fast at work ...

Why did I decided I wanted to be a Lawyer again?

If you like the letter:http://dailydropcap.com/ (yes I know I didnt do it right)

mutton

Sometimes I get the distinct feeling I am eating gruel.

I look forward to the day when I can savor my meals and the majority of them do not come out of a box. grumble grumble

{will be updating re ATL & t-day eventually}

dressed

So I got one. It is simple and sleek and I hope to make it pop with a fun bird cage/hat/veil thingermabob.

I would also like to steal some of their style:

credit to the bride for the ruffles and the very cool masks.

I hope I will be able to create something enviable.

Daydreaming is so much more fun then Biz Orgs.

gone wedding

Wedding blogs. I really enjoy them. I have a feeling this blog is about to get a lot more weddingy. Plus it is a good way to organize my thoughts, share and get feedback.

http://www.oncewed.com/

http://greylikesweddings.wordpress.com/

http://100layercake.com/blog/

http://tenthousandonly.blogspot.com/

my new fav

http://eastsidebride.blogspot.com/

First things first. What do we call ourselves during this planning period? The dreaded F word? Neh. Jezebel did a little note on this topic and it doesn't seem like they came up with much. Wikipedia was no help either.

betrothed

consort

intended

promised

Jump the gun and just call him hubby?

I have all this horrible imagery in my head.

Pickled Parrot

Canton is calling and we are listening. We tried another bar just off the beaten path for a law school friend's birthday. It is just a few blocks of the square. The Pickled Parrot had half off happy hours and a nice little tent to the side which was a smokers paradise. Also for a november evening it felt crisp and lovely last night. I got tuna bites and fries and Alexander went way our of his comfort zone with a burger.

Smile a long while

I also have a headache. I think my brain doesn't know how to process this much happiness.

Also since it has been asked, neh demanded, here is the ring.

My 1910 beauty.

It feels oddly personal posting it on the internets. Almost like I don't want to share it.

The proposal

How could a girl say no to this:

He picked me up from work, told me to be dressed up. I was ball of nerves on the car ride to fells. We went to our favorite bar to take the edge off, got a front row parking space. And then it dawned on me that we were recreating our first date. As we turned the corner of the park, where we first kissed that fateful fall night he got down on a knee and asked me to be his wife.

THEN we were off to see the wizard. Toto stole the show.

The next morning I was whisked off to NYC in the always sexy megabus ... which of course decided to break down. Somehow we were half asleep and happy as hell as we waited on the side of the road for 2 hours just listening to our ipods and holding hands.

The delay set us back but we made it just under the wire to Le Poisson Rouge. It is this club on Bleeker street just south of NYU. We saw something called "Radio Happy Hour" with Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (of The Hold Steady) and Chuck Klosterman. It was a variety show where the put on an old timey radio show ("Stabbed in the Ascot") some musical performances (two acoustic Hold Steady Songs) a round table interview, and a quiz show (I wish Alex had gotten called). Even holding our bags it was awesome.

After that we grabbed some great mexican food and hopped on the subway. The upper west side is amazing, Alex's sister in-law grew up there, right near riverside parkway and the hudson. The view they have is beyond believable. We relaxed there and grabbed a nap. Next we caught a late night meal at a fancy Italian place named Cesca. It was a little much for us but still an interesting experience.

The next morning we woke up early and took a stroll through riverside park after saying hello to a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt. There were tons of dogs frolicking, sniffing and chasing. It was lovely. We stopped at a place called Popover for brunch. I had some sugary monstrosity and Alex had an omelet. Next we were off to MOMA to see some polish propaganda art. Then we strolled down to Rockefeller and saw the big tree being pieced together. Made a pit stop at Anthropologie & J-crew, and even tried on my first wedding dress.



We ended with a city walk, a slice, and a Papaya hot dog for me.

I feel so lucky.

I love him

A meeting of the minds, a ring and an exciting future. I am going to be Alex's wife. I was intimidated about telling people so I sent out little postcards. Here is the original image:

I am so in love.

You probably recognize this phrase (also a new one):

The Tale of the Deflowered Girl

I want this.

And according to the NYTimes it is back in print.

My feet in Europe

Here is what probably should be on my feet:

Here is what I want on my feet:



The european supply hunt continues ... ONE MONTH TILL LIFT OFF!





Edit: or maybe these:

Although the whole point was to try to keep my feet covered incase it rains ....

livid liberal lady

ya ya I know no one likes an angry feminist ... but it is so hard not to get angry sometimes. I think Justice Ginsberg said it best, 'Rich people will always have a choice' or something like that.

I understand that they needed it to pass the bill,
but the Stupak Amendment is Stupid.

If you want to see what got me really steamed:
GOP Gone Wild: Unruly Republicans Silence Women Lawmakers With Screams, Shouts, And Delay Tactics

This morning, the House began consideration of the rule for debate of the House health care bill. As the Democratic Women’s Caucus took to the microphone on the House floor to offer their arguments for how the bill would benefit women, House Republicans — led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — repeatedly talked over, screamed, and shouted objections. “I object, I object, I object, I object, I object,” Price interjected as Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) tried to hold the floor.

http://www.awomanisnotapreexistingcondition.com/

pictorial webster's, more my speed

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

Many leather bound books?
I own the non-leather version, more my speed. I really like old stamps & wood carvings & printing presses. Eventually hope to take this love to the next level.

I should own this

Don't be bashful about buying it for me.

Propaganda Success

Yes We Can!

creative carvin

I got these white ghost pumkins from whole foods. They looked great but I feel like they went bad faster then regular pumkins. I also toasted the seeds and added a bit of bacon salt. It was yummy & festive.

Mickey is in honor of the trip to Disney by our roomate & the tower is for the big Europe trip less then 2 months away!

Couples Costumes

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October is great, beyond the leaves and the pumkins there is Halloween. I love the candy. I love the costumes. I love getting creative. I love making them. I also really enjoy other peoples costumes.

Wall-E was gold last year, but Eva was mistaken for a feminine product. Working together on something you both can be proud of can be difficult. No one wants to look like a fool. This year we are going a bit more patriotic. Uncle Sam & Rosie the Riveter, propaganda posters in love. I am not sure how to create a cheap but on point look for Uncle Sam. I may break down and buy something (oh the horror). Rosie should be much easier.

Other then costume parties my October wants are: Where the Wild things Are & Pumpkin Patch/carving.

Fingers crossed that this all comes together in time.

Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in

Are you aware the shape I'm in?

I found out what all the hype was about. That place is great. Even in the rain.

Looked at some shiny objects, ate some yummy dogs, and got to pretend I was a superhero. I would like to go back. Alex has promised to take me to the Botanical Gardens where his brother got married on our next trip.

Starbucks to go

One of my sisters worked at a Starbucks for a good while. She made it seem pretty complicated. She would give me odd recipes to order from the baristas. I normally forgot half of what she told me to say.

~

I am not a huge Starbucks person. I normally drink tea and have been really big on loose tea recently. (I am not good as an over caffeinated person.)

~

BUT I digress. I just tried the new Starbucks INSANT Coffee. One of my friends from law school works at Starbucks and she picked up some for a few of us to try.

It was actually really good. Caffeinate me suprised.

Weddings & propaganda

Alex sends me the sweetest things

Happy Banned Book Week

Let Them Eat Advil

Yellow Dog

So I got a double gift, both classes canceled (Trial Ad & Business Orgs). It was a dream.

I have been curious about the Yellow Dog Tavern. It was sprinkling but we found a close parking spot. I need to explore Canton more to see if that is really where we want to buy.

I had a fun salad with hazelnuts & a dry martini. Alex ate his usual burger.

As an extra treat there was an art show taking place. I thought about helping myself to a glass of free wine but it felt wrong. Plus the guy was really working the house. He was an interesting character. I really liked his work. Scott Speck, he used a pin hole camera & natural light. I liked this picture with the pillars.

Choo Choo

So we had our Fantasy Football draft on last Saturday. It was fun, but I wish I knew more. Last year I won a league so I am hoping things go the same way :D

To round out our weekend, Alex & I went to this Steam Engine Show in PA.

We actually just went to look at his grandparent's antique booth but ended up hanging out for a while. They had all of these old steam engines set up from the industrial age. (The industriAL revolution must have been loud as shit) It was also next to a closed down amusement park which is always sort of fun & creepy to walk around in. Also some great people watching. People in PA have some of the most interesting facial hair. Every man's face was some kind of fashion statement.My favorite thing that we did not buy were these Harry Potter nesting dolls (russian dolls) from this lady with a wonderful russian accent. I think if the Hermione had been a little bit better looking I would have gone for it as a gift.