WEEK TWENTY-TWO

I know the blog has been slacking these past few weeks, but I promise things are going to pick up! 

Things in London have been good! James jumped back into work after our Amsterdam trip and I got the flat back in some sort of working order from being gone last weekend. The weather is leveling off, thank god!  There has been much more sun recently and there are little signs of spring popping up all around. I pray this is a sign that we are heading in the right direction. 

This week started out slow. We were both exhausted from our Amsterdam trip-- all the early morning wake-ups and exploring really took it out of us. We had such a great time, but taking it easy and catching up on sleep wasn't on the agenda. 

On Tuesday, I walked Oliver, worked on blog stuff and met the girls for our Bachelor date. I'm officially out of the running. My girl, Kat, got the boot last week and I had her winning the whole thing... Damn, I guess my Bachelor match-making intuition is off.

Wednesday, nothing memorable. I was actually a little bit hungover from my girls' night; I guess we had more to catch up on that I expected!

I pretty much kept to the flat, working on pictures and blog stuff for three days, so I was determined to get out on Thursday and finish a project that James and I started six weeks ago-- The Natural History Museum. Luckily, I only had a small portion to finish, so it didn't take me too long. 

Since I was already in South Kensington, I took a walk around to stretch my legs. It's such a beautiful area!

I wasn't ready to head back just yet, so I jumped on the tube and headed over to Leicester Square. I didn't have anything in mind; it was just a stop along the way back towards Islington. About the time that I got there, James sent me a text message asking to grab a beer after work. Cool! Love beer! I told him sure, and we started making plans to meet up. While I was in the area, I checked out the Leicester Square Discount Ticket Office to see what was available and get an idea of prices. I was happily surprised that they had Phantom of the Opera tickets for a reasonable price and passed the news on to James for future reference.  

To my surprise, James said, "Buy the tickets! Meet you there after a bit!" This very ordinary Thursday (no make-up, converse trainers and fedora) transformed into an extraordinary Thursday and one of the best nights in London so far! Turns out, James was actually researching shows for my birthday, so when he realized I was already there, it worked out perfectly!

James met me at Assaggetti for dinner and drinks, and before I knew it, we were settling into our seats!

The show was amazing, and I cried like a baby throughout the whole thing. *Phantom is one of my favorite musicals. I have VERY fond childhood memories of Phantom and I have been desperate to see it again.

During the day, Friday, I worked on blog stuff and walked Oliver. We were supposed to go out for my birthday dinner, but ended up pushing back to next week due to schedules. Since we had such a great time last night, we decided to stay local and keep it low-key. We ate dinner at home and met Ali and Paul out for a drink at the Winchester. Our low-key party of four morphed into a lively party of ten, and we ended up stay out until about 2:00 AM. We had a great time and I was glad that James was able to meet more of my friends!

We were very lazy Saturday due to our rowdy Friday night. We lounged all day and then went out for an early dinner to Mem&Laz Brasserie in Islington. Great food-- will definitely go back! 

We got after dinner coffees (hot chocolate for me!) at Costa and then went back to the flat to relax.

Sunday, James went into the office and I did what I always do on Sundays-- write my weekly recap post.

Overall, top week! Next week is already looking pretty good-- BIRTHDAY WEEK! Whoop! Whoop! I already have a few dates on the calendar and I am really looking forward to going out to a nice dinner on Saturday with all my faves! On the separate note, I am super excited that THREE of our favorite couples have booked tickets to come over to see us! The Kings are scheduled to pass through London May 3-5, the Cigarys are coming May 23-June 2 and the Carpenters are coming over from June 18th-25th. AHHH! So excited! I can't wait to show everyone around!

Well folks, that's all I've got for you! Check back later this week for the Natural History Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral and Flat Iron Steak, all (hopefully) coming to you within the week!

Peace!