WEEK EIGHTEEN

I took the week off from London sightseeing to fully immerse myself in the winter blues. sigh. It's just been so rainy, and glum, I could not bring myself to get out and explore. Instead, I stayed in and putzed around the flat. It was the perfect week to go into hibernation and wait for brighter times ahead-- far, far ahead.

my attempt at brightening up my day |  my attempt at brightening up someone else's day

I can't believe it is already February 2014. WHATTT?!  I am happy to announce that James and I just booked our second European trip.
We're heading to Amsterdam, y'all! 
We are going towards the end of February, so we have three weeks to get ready. We are both very excited. I've heard such great things about the city; I can't wait to experience it myself!

photo cred: Anna Gett

 Travel planning is so stressful, and time consuming, I don't even mind that I didn't make it out of Islington this week. I am soooo glad that we actually booked (and washed our hands of our Amsterdam trip) because now it's time to focus on planning our ski holiday in March or April-- hell, maybe even May... We are looking into Switzerland or Austria. I am asking everyone I know if they have any suggestions on resorts, proximity to airports, so if you have any advice, please share!

For those who are thinking about visiting us this year, please keep us updated on dates you are interested in, so we can tentatively mark them on our calendar. Between James' work schedule, hosting guests and going on our own vacations, things are likely to fill up quickly. It looks like the week of Memorial Day is spoken for-- if something changes, we will let you know. We are not looking to host any guests the weekend of our anniversary (June 6th-8th) and we are not looking to have any guests after September 15th. Otherwise, COME ON DOWN!

Alright, back to the Week Eighteen.

I braved the rain for Wine Wednesday with the girls. The Bachelor bracket is neck to neck, but I think somehow I am in the lead-- we will see how long that lasts...

Don't worry, I didn't leave James to fend for himself... We were in need of some serious comfort food, so I whipped up a batch of chili, and it was DIZZZ-ANK!

#leftovers #spicy

On Friday, I finally felt motivated, so I decided to get the blood pumping with a little bit of good ol' rearranging of the flat. Remember when I told you that James and I made a pallet on the floor downstairs? Well, we I made that permanent.  Check out our new arrangement!

my new nook!

It took only second for James to process the "new look," and he loved it! Now we are working on rearranging the two upstairs bedrooms (one, a proper guest room and two, a dressing/laundry room for us). I'll let you see those when we are finished!

It was beautiful Saturday morning, so we got ready and headed out to enjoy the day. We've been waiting for a clear day to make our way up to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral, so that's where we headed first.

I am telling you people, the trek up to the top is not for the faint of heart, claustrophobic or for the unfit. There were plenty of times where I needed a break, BUT DIDN'T!  for fear of holding up the line of people behind me.

we made it!

You're not supposed to take pictures inside the Cathedral, but obviously I snuck a few.

I will be adding St. Paul's to my SEE Collection so I will post more information and pictures at a later date.

J and I were worn out from walking all those stairs, and the anxiety of getting caught snapping pics almost killed me, so we headed over to the Borough Market for a late lunch and some day drankin'.

Um, 10£ for a bottle of Prosecco, I think so! We had a pretty good time. James loved the market, and we will definitely be coming back with more cash so we can bring home some goodies next time!

After a bit, things started to get a little weird, so we decided it best to head back towards home.

The tube ride home was interesting. I'm pretty positive that I earned at least ten karma credits with Mother Earth for my intervention.

There were these three two little hoodlums waiting for the tube when we were heading back from Borough Market (I will cut one of the boys some slack since he was obviously very embarrassed by his friends). You could immediately tell by their obnoxious behavior that they had very little respect for the people around them, adults or authority in general. When we got on the tube, I ended up sitting next to the ringleader, and he immediately turned to me and rudely said, "You're gonna to sit next to me?" I replied, "Yes." He proceeded to tell me that he has ridden this tube more times than I had and my reply back to him was, "I don't care."

At the next stop, passengers got off the train; this allowed the boy to move across from me and sit with his friends. I watched him with eagle eyes. I do NOT tolerate this behavior. James also moved closer to keep and eye on the situation. The tube was very crowded, and there were people sitting and standing everywhere. As I am observing, I watch this little shit reach out and touch this young woman on her butt. She notices, turns around annoyed and realizes that it is just a child and ignores him.

A couple minutes go by, AND HE DOES IT AGAIN! To the same girl! 

Did I mention these three boys were approximately eight-ten years old? Yeah, it blows my mind.

I was flabbergasted! I will not allow this behavior to go on unnoticed. I felt it was my civic duty to put this kid in his place. I got up out of my seat, looked that boy straight in the eyes (I'm sure with a pointed finger) and said, "THAT IS VERY DISRESPECTFUL! YOU SHOULD NEVER TOUCH A WOMAN LIKE THAT. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!"

Or so James said. It happened so fast; I think I blacked out...

But seriously! How effing disrespectful is that?! He laughed at me and got off at the next stop. The woman (and women who witnessed this behavior) was clearly upset and irritated that the perpetrator was, in fact, a child and not a man. At least she could have slapped a grown man for such poor behavior.

James told me my performance was stellar up all the way up until the part where the kid knocked on my tube window and gave me the bird-- where I proceeded to give him the double bird and use a few choice words. Eh, I'll take it!

The rest of the night was uneventful compared to the tube fiasco. We ate at our local chicken joint and then called it a night. We were beat.

Sunday was relaxing. We worked on the upstairs rooms a bit and just caught up on work.

I already have three dates in the diary for next week, so I am hoping to finish walking the Natural History Museum and maybe go explore a different borough mid week. We'll see what all gets done...

Well, until next week, Adios! xx