In Love

"You know you're in love when you
can't fall asleep because reality is finally
better than your dreams"

-Dr. Seuss

For Papa

This post is just for you!



J on the beach at Zandvoort


St. Bavo's

And again

A wonderful scene in Amsterdam

I hope this keeps your appetite sated, for now.

The List

Towards the end of the summer when all the excitement of our wedding and trip to Bali was fading, Mr B & I made a list of all the things we would like to do over the next few years...

So far we've accomplished two - visiting Buckingham Palace (which was amazing) and going to the Open Air Theatre at Regents Park (we saw Gigi in the pouring rain, it was great fun).

We have a lot to look forward to...

Seeing Phantom of the Opera
Seeing Les Miserables
Doing a pub crawl in town
Going to a concert at St Martin in the Fields
Visiting St Pauls Cathedral
Watching England at Twickenham
Watching England at Wembley
Visiting the Tower of London again
Going to the British Grand Prix
Going to Thorpe Park to scream and feel queasy
Having afternoon tea somewhere very posh - The Ritz? The Berkley? The Savoy? Where is best?
Visiting Big Ben (we've heard you can go up to the top?!) and the Houses of Parliament
Going to the Natural History Museum
Flying on the London Eye
Watching tennis at Wimbledon, with strawberries and cream of course
Visiting Stonehenge
Visiting Westminster Abbey
Going on a helicopter tour over town
Going on a Thames cruise
Going on the Thames on a RIB (google it, it looks great)
Going on a Ducktour
Having a picnic in Hyde Park or Regents Park
Rowing on the Serpentine
Visiting Whipsnade Zoo (guess whether this was my idea or Mr B's)
Visiting the Old Water Mill in St Albans for delicious waffles
Visiting the National Portrait Gallery
Looking round Hatton Gardens and Mr B hopefully buying me something
Going to a polo match
Eating at The Fat Duck
Visiting Hamleys at Christmas
Visiting the V & A
Visiting Hampton Court Palace
Watching a movie at the IMAX
Eating at Foliage
Eating at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

We are so lucky to live close to one of the best and most exciting cities in the world.

Do you think we have enough to be getting on with?

The Glorious Dead

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

Brunette

I'm a brunette!

Photography

I've really become so much more enthusiastic about my photography since starting my course. There are only 2 more lessons left, I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I'm trying to convert my digital-classmates to film but until yesterday's class it seemed a losing battle. Then my classmates saw the photos I had taken on our 'field-trip' to Windsor.

They were impressed.

I was proud of my ancient Minolta.

I'd love to know what you think...

This is Windsor, I promise.

The shortest street in Britain

I'm an auntie

This weekend was filled with family visiting from The North. On Friday I rushed out of the office as soon as I could to be with Mr B, our sister & her boys (marrying Mr B has given me newphews!) We had a lovely meal together. We visited Legoland in the most horrid weather on Saturday. I felt so unwell from the cold, rain and wind that I ended up watching the spectacular fireworks from the comfort of the car, sniff, sniff. Saturday evening was spent thawing and drying out. Even with the terrible weather I had a truly wonderful weekend. Why does nice time always fly past so quickly?

I was very excited to discover a Rituals store in the UK, as Mr B & I walked through St Pancreas station. I just had to buy a few bits. We also discovered a big Ed's Diner - I haven't seen Mr B as excited for a long time. Ed's is one of our favourite places in London - it's a tiny, fabulous Soho diner with 60's dukebox, fabulous burgers, bottles of Bud and chips that are to-die for.

There's a massive Ed's in Picadilly that we never knew about. I hope we will be able to try it out in the next few weeks.

I have ordered 2 of these today and I can't wait to start trying them out! I'm going to attempt cleaning my camera in preparation...