Sparkle Toes and Strawberry Pie

Many people have asked me "so what have you been up to since returning to the states?" Why if I had a nickel for everytime somebody.....well to be honest, no one has asked me that. But guess what? I don't care. Because I am going to tell you anyways! The highlight of last weekend would have to be my sparkle toes. I can't even begin to tell how excited I was to get them. Nor do the pictures do them justice. The first few days they were super glittery. And who I asked doesn't like glitter? No one. The color is called Lava, and man are they red hot!



So last week was Pioneer Day here in Utah. I pity the states that don't celebrate the day of heritage, because what could be better than getting 2 paid holidays in July? Nothing, I tell you. This year totally rocked because Andrew and I got both Thursday and Friday off. So it was a nice long weekend. In honor our own ancestry, I made a pie.

Now that is a good looking pie. I am always telling Andrew that I can make strawberry pies, and he never believed me until now. I am going to give credit where credit is due, and own up to the fact that I did not make that pie crust. It was made by my good friend Marie Calendar, and it was delicious, so I don't even feel bad.



This is where things get fancy. That's right, what you are looking at is freshly whipped cream that has been piped on. It was almost too beautiful to eat.


In the end however it was eaten, and pioneers were honored and we said goodbye until next year. So.... that's all I have to show for the short while we've been back. I did make some killer lasagna last night, thanks Ina Garten for the recipe and vote of confidence.

We're Baaaaaack!

I keep thinking that time stood still in Utah while we were gone and that it will pick up right where we left off. So I am thinking that it's May. And we still have 4 months of summer left. But the unfortunate truth is that we have a mere 6 weeks before school starts again. So I am thinking how many parties and picnics can one have in 6 weeks? We shall see. The first thing Andrew and I did when we touched down in Utah was eat at Bajios. So it was the second or third thing. The first thing I did was get my eyebrows waxed. Which is basically the most important. Some of you may be thinking Bajios? Why? Let me tell you why, because when you are stuck in a foreign country where the most popular flavor of potato chip is called "Prawn Cocktail" all you can think of is a tortilla filled with some meat and cheese. It was delicious. It should also be noted, however, that I do actually enjoy a good prawn cocktail crisp. Anyone know where I could pick some up? So Bajios is my first favorite, normal flushing toilets would be my second favorite. Over there its like a geyser erupting every time you hold the handle. Kinda annoying. My third favorite thing would be, no more mini-fridges. In our flat everything was mini, the fridge, stove, oven, washer, it made me feel like I was in a doll house, and since I look like barbie.... All in all it was a wonderful trip and we had a great time. For those of you who would like to seem some pictures, Andrew took 8,000. We are currently making a DVD and those should be available early fall '08.

Super Star Tourists

We are super star tourists. There isn't a single site in London or Paris that we haven't seen. Seriously. Well there might be a few, but I am telling you we've done it all. And I am so ready to be back home in Utah, all we can ever talk about is Bajios, and enchiladas, and plain cheerios. Wouldn't you know they don't have those here. Just honey nut. It's not the same! Anyways, lets just do a little updating shall we? 

First off, here is the London Eye. It is in fact an enormous ferris wheel. Not being a fan of carnival rides, I was a little reluctant to "fly" on the eye. But you are in an enclosed bubble, that can't be rocked by obnoxious teenagers, so we finally decided to give it a try. Up to 15 or so people are able to fit in one bubble, but likely we ended up with our own. Needless to say, it was pretty fun, and its a nice way to view the city.  Its top on my top 10 list, but it probably would make top 25. 

If you go to see Greenwich, get there the old fashioned way, by boat. The cruise on the Thames is really enjoyable, especially if you happen to be here on a nice day. Not only do you get to see riverside London, but you gain a wealth of knowledge about the river itself. For instance did you know that the Thames, although once very polluted river, it is now one of the cleanest urban rivers in the world? Host to over 100 varieties of fish, including salmon and trout. Amazing isn't it?  Here is the view from the Royal Observatory, were that's right the PRIME MERIDIAN of the WORLD is. If you stand directly on the 0 degrees longitude line, you cease to exist.  I am pretty sure that's what happens. 

Ahhhh Paris holds the key to your heart... I am still reserving judgment on that one. This was my second time to the city of lights, and I am going to go ahead and say that maybe Paris has a little too much attitude, and not enough toilets (or rest rooms as we save in the states). On Saturday we took Paris by storm, the next four pictures represent .3% of the pictures that Andrew took. He seems to be following in his fathers footsteps 

I can say this for Paris, the Eiffel Tower is amazing at night, when it lights up. Here we sat by the river Seine, ate some crepes, and became best friends with every souvenir traffiker in the area. 

Versailles.  This place caused me a great deal of emotional stress. Yes the palace was amazing, yes the gardens were beautiful, blah blah blah. The only thing I really took away from Versailles was the fact that for how big this palace is, there were two bathrooms, with 4 stalls each. So lets just say, that standing in line for 45 minutes, just after you downed a couple of diet cokes and a pepsi max, does little to enhance my appreciation for the amazing history that was all around me. And no I'm still not over it. Ask Andrew, I bring it up at least twice a day. I mean 4 stalls? Come on.... Oh and you had to walk by the men's bathroom which didn't have a door. That I could definitely do without. 
 

Look its my Mom! Yes she came to visit me, and we had a great time! We were are eating some crepes. I do believe we met the crepe quota for that trip to France. But I should bring up the fact that last time I went to Paris with the Laws' there were bathroom issues. So it has to be them and not me. 

Andrew and I on the Eiffel Tower, having a great time! Regardless of anything any one has ever said about Paris, you should go at least once. I think I've had my fill of the french for a while. 

So that's what we have been up to for the past weeks since my last post. And although we've enjoyed our time here, I think we will both be happy to go home.... basically I am already counting down even though we have two weeks left. 

Fit for a King

On Sunday we took ourselves out to Hampton Court Palace or for you history buffs, home of King Henry VIII. (That's 8).  King William and Queen Mary also lived there some time later. Although it rained on the way to church, by the time we got to the palace the rain had subsided and it was quite warm. Still cloudy, but at least it wasn't raining.  

The palace is surrounded by a number of gardens, you have the formal gardens, the pond garden, a maze garden, a rose garden, and while its not really garden it still deserves honorable mention the oldest grape vine in England. Andrew didn't find this vine in the least bit fascinating so he failed to document it. Needless to say I reamed him good for that one. The oldest grape vine in the UK, come on!!! People come from all over to see it!

This is the front of Hampton Court. I think, I actually don't remember, but we'll just say it is. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Here is some delicious looking medieval stew. I was gracious enough to stir it for the castle cooks. Annie B can thank me later.

Now I know this is the front. I remember the statures surrounding the entrance. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Monday was a Bank Holiday, although I referred to it as Memorial Day. It was also the worst weather we've had since being here. We ended up going to Westminster and the Imperial War Museum. Thanks for the reference Adam, the trenches were really cool. We were trying to figure out what they wanted them to smell like. I felt that the sound effects needed to be really loud, great big booms, I think it would have been even more realistic. 

Bath-time Fun

Welcome to Bath! Home of - The Roman Baths, and The Jane Austen Centre. Both of which were extremely enjoyable.  I am going to go one the record and say that so far, Bath has been my absolute favorite place we've been whilst in the UK.  Bath was beautiful, it was surrounded by lots of green countryside and picturesque hills. We first when to the Abbey, where Andrew became obsessed with stain glass windows. Apparently we are to have some in any future home we may live in.   

  Here is a picture of the Roman Baths with the Abbey in the background. Andrew thinks himself some sort of professional photographer. 
 Andrew wasn't feeling well so he decided to partake of the healing powers of the waters of Bath. I am pretty sure it was blessed by some Roman goddess afterwards.  My favorite thing about the Roman Baths were the holograms of fat Romans bathing . Well one wasn't fat, but the others were. Let's just say bravo to Bath for getting the holograms anatomically correct. 

After Bath we took the train back to London via Salisbury to see the Cathedral.  It was amazing. Once again Andrew took an extreme fondness to the stain glass art work. This is one of at least 100 pictures he took of the cathedral.  I think it looks like a postcard. Salisbury was totally worth the trip out there, it was really old, and really big. We liked Bath so much that we will probably buy a vacation home there one day, visitors will be welcome and encouraged. 

Museums...

London has a million and one museums. Literally. The thing that I find interesting about all of the museums is that they are free, however, every time you turn around there is a "suggested donation" box, or someone there to ask for a handout. They don't make you pay for entrance, they guilt you into it. The suggestion boxes always say things like "please help keep this museum open" or "please help the museum employees feed their starving families." Maybe that last one is an exaggeration, but you get my point. Another thing about the museums, is that they don't stop you from taking photographs, they just make it impossible to get a picture. Either by adding glass, or windows, or by the weird lighting they use to illuminate their treasures. Regardless two of my favs here in London, are the V&A museum, which just seems to be full of really cool junk, and the British Museum, which by the way got an honorable mention last night in IJ4....awesome. 

Here is  a Buddha from the British Museum. It reminded me of the Simpsons episode where they up Homer as a Buddha and cover him in gold paint in order to get back the Chinese baby girl. 

 This is a Mayan artifact, and as you can see it was quite impossible to get a good picture. When I turned off my flash, you were unable to see from the picture just how brightly colored it really is. 

 This is the V&A Museum. I didn't get any pictures of the inside, because my camera died shortly after. But this is actually one wing of the museum as seen from the inside courtyard. It was in this very courtyard that I actually considered killing a pigeon for the first since being here. 

 Here is part of a bust of Julius Caesar from the British museum. I am finding that I really enjoy the classical Roman and Greek sculpture. There were some really amazing sculptures are the Louvre, but my camera battery had died the day before, I forgot to take the charger to Paris.  But no worries, if you never get to the Louvre, I'll invite you to a backyard garden party, and you can view my sculpture garden that will be full of replicas....once I get a house, with a garden, so just sit tight. 

 This is my all time fav. No I didn't take this picture, and I can't tell you anything about it at this time because my computer battery is about to die. So go research it on the internet. It looks like I need to work on charging my electronics. 

One more thing

Now you can't really appreciated the awesomeness that is his fohawk in these pictures...but its there trust me. Sorry Andrew I think I am going to have to be a Man U fan.... I like to be on the winning teams' side. Oh and here's some more pictures of another famous Man U player...just because I like them: