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

SCENES FROM CLUB MAHIKI

Every lady needs a girls night out every once in a while. 

My friend Ali was able to get us on the list at Mahiki, so that's exactly what we planned. We left the boys at home and set out to have a good ole 'throwback-to-the-college-days' good time.

In a true, 'girls night' fashion, we rummaged through each others clothes, listened to hype music, ate pizza and pregamed before getting a taxi.

 I apologize ahead of time for the blurry pics, and PLEASE just completely ignore the bangs (or, fringe for you Londoners) because they were not cooperating...

Once we got to the club we weren't sure if we were going to get a table or not, so we danced around and waited to find out.

Luckily, we were saved by this group of nice British gentlemen. They invited us to join them at their table and allowed us full access to their bottle service. SCORE!

 This is where the party started! Between the good company, the good music and the free booze, we were all having a great time. 

The club scene typically isn't my scene, but hey! when in... London? 

Mahiki was a blast! We had a great time, and we didn't pay a cent while at the club. 

Every day we hus-hustlin'! 

;-)

LEIBSTER AWARD AND ALL ITS GLORY

Here's some exciting news...

I was nominated for the Leibster Award! 

The Leibster Award is given by new bloggers to other new bloggers, and it is a fun way to discover new blogs and boost a blogger's reputation if he/she has under 200 followers. Alexandra, the author of A Yank in Blighty, was sweet enough to nominate me. 

They like me, they really like me!

Without sounding too lame, I would like to thank all of you who find this blog mildly interesting and follow along. It started out as a weekly travel diary, and since it has evolved into something more. So, thank you, thank you very much!

The Rules:

1. Mention the person who nominated you with a link in to their blog

2. Answer the 11 questions provided by the person who nominated you

3. Nominate other bloggers with less than 200 followers

4. Create a new set of 11 questions for your nominees to answer

1. What day do you post on your blog the most? Do you have a set schedule? On Monday mornings I post a Weekly Update so that followers can read about the happenings of Team Starnes. I also randomly post throughout the week highlighting popular London establishments such as museums, landmarks, boroughs and restaurants. Recently, I've been posting about 3-4 times a week.

2. What do you love about blogging? I love being able to looking back on what we've done and what we've accomplished in London. When this year is over, we want to get the content of this blog published and create a coffee table book for ourselves!

3. If you can have any blog out there, whose blog would you want to have? This is still TBD. I don't follow any one blog religiously, (with the exception of my friends' blogs) and I try not to covet others' blogs; everyone's different, everyone will have something different to blog about. I like many different blogs for many different reasons. One might be a badass lifestyle blog, another might be a blog with great fashion advice, or travel experience... It really depends. I am just trying to evolve my own blog and focus on making it the best that it can be.

4. What color clothing do you wear the most? Why? I live in London. Black. Is that even a question?

5. What do you hate about blogging? I think we bloggers can agree that there are certains parts of the 'job' that we enjoy less than others.  Let me know if you agree with my list...
#1: I personally get very caught up in the design of my blog; I want it to look a specific way--I want to be proud of it! There is a lot of HTML code that goes into designing a blog and I have spent hours figuring it out. I did not use an external design template, so what you see is what I have created all by myself!
#2: Resizing and editing EVERY SINGLE PICTURE is definitely very time consuming. 
#3: It's stressful to be on a schedule (if you choose to be). I know I don't have to be on a schedule, but my goal is to upload weekly posts and I want to hold myself to it. 
#4: I am new to blogging (and writing in general), so I stress a lot about my grammar and not making a fool out of myself. I sometimes struggle at putting my thoughts into words, but it's getting easier with practice!

6. Which Social Media App do you use the most? I use Instagram almost daily. It's definitely my go-to. I still use Facebook, but not as much for social media purposes, but to promote my blog posts to family and friends that don't have Instagram. And Twitter, well I just started using Twitter.

7. What can you not leave home without? My fedora. Definitely. Or at least one of my many fedoras. I love hats! They are like a security blanket for me. Oh! And red lipstick is a MUST!

8. Describe yourself in one word. Dynamic. (James is laughing at this one!) I love using that in interviews, but it's so true! I'm constantly evolving and changing. A life in motion, stays in motion!

9. What was/would be your first dance wedding song? J and I danced to "Your Song" by Elton John. It's always been "our" song so it was very special to us.

10. Tell me something funny that happened to you. This one time, at band camp... I don't know, I will have to get back to you on that one! 

11. What is the main reason you started a blog? (Being Heard, Being Seen, Popularity, Hobby, For Friends...) The reason I started this blog was to keep in touch with our family and friends back in the States. I am not working, so I have the time to devote to exploring London and developing interesting (hopefully) content. With that being said, the blog has started to evolve and I am adding and incorporating different series' into the blog to give it some new mojo. Not only do I have my weekly recaps, I also have EAT&DRINK, the SEE Collection, WALKABOUT and I am excited to announce that in a couple weeks I am going live with a new series called ADJUSTING, where I will light-heartedly discuss the cultural differences between American and British culture.

WHEW! Well I hope you enjoyed getting to know TSTL a little bit better! Check back frequently for more updates from Team Starnes! xoxo

I nominate:

A Southern Lady in London

Girl v. London

Train Ride to Paris

Here are my questions:

1. Why did you start blogging?

2. What do you love about blogging? 
3. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?
4. What is your earliest memory?
5. What do you hate about blogging? 
6. What website do you spend the most time on?

7. What can you not leave home without? 

8. Describe yourself in one word. 
9. What was/would be your first dance wedding song? 
10. Tell me something funny that happened to you. 
11. What is the best piece of advice you've been given/found?

Alright baby bloggers, Enjoy! xx

GRUMPY MID-WEEK RAMBLINGS

I am really kicking myself in the ass for, ONE, not buying a real camera before we came to London (come on girl, you're moving to another country, an iPhone might not be sufficient), and TWO, not buying a real camera while we were back in the States for Christmas. What were you thinking? (USD, helloooooo???) It was the perfect opportunity for me to get something reasonable with all the holiday sales going on... It just burns me up inside. YOU GO GIRL!

I am still learning how to be domestic. I bought a few extra pots and pans when we got back from the States with high hopes of being a domestic goddess. They are still unused and with the packaging on. YOU GO GIRL!

In another attempt to be a domestic goddess, I decided to freshen up our white sheets with a little bit of bleach. I wasn't able to locate any laundry detergent with bleach, so I ended up buying the standard (off name-brand) liquid bleach that you would find in any home improvement store. I apparently put in wayyy too much bleach, and when I got back from the grocery store, the entire flat smelled like a community pool. I basically got green hair just by walking into our kitchen. YOU GO GIRL!

How is your week going? xx

EAT&DRINK: KIPFERL (ISLINGTON)

I'm not all that great with food porn.

I am a hungry girl that is all too consumed with her need/desire for carbs. There is rarely a second in between my plate being placed down in front of me and me digging in. Not only am I always starving, I am typically "hangry". Definition: angry due to hunger.

I was especially lacking in self-control while on a date at Kipferl simply because the food was just that damn good! 

I apologize for the shotty and half eaten pictures ahead of time. In fact, you should probably expect shitty food porn from this blog at all times.

KIPFERL.

Kipferl is located on one of the most adorable side-streets in Islington called Camden Passage. Camden Passage has great furniture & clothing boutiques, coffee shops and vintage finds. It's so quaint; it literally has something for everyone.

I am smitten with Kipferl for a few reasons--
First, it's local. Second, it is a coffee house by-day and restaurant by-night.  Third, in the world of restaurants, culturally, it's different!

James and I are not picky eaters, and we enjoy trying different foods. We are hoping to visit either Switzerland or Austria for a ski weekend, so we might as well get acclimated with the food ahead of time! I was excited to get a good review of Kipferl from a local friend, so I went in with high hopes.

I found the Kipferl menu to be on the modest side which was a relief to me. No need to overwhelm your customers with choices-- no one can pronounce the authentic Austrian names anyways!

James and I ordered a couple of Austrian beers and a couple of starters. Unfortunately, the starters didn't make the photo sess. (Revert to that lack of self-control I mentioned earlier.)

We got the Grilled Goat Cheese on Red Lentil Salad and the Mixed Salad. Goat cheese is my JAM! I love it in any way, shape or form. Seriously, I could eat it every day. This appetizer was no exception. I wanted to get territorial about it, hoard it, but then decided to share since James just got back from a work trip. 

I had better be nice. 

The Mixed Salad was very refreshing. It was a combination of carrots salad, potato salad and regular salad? Not sure if I got that 100% right, but I would recommend it if you're looking for something lighter.

We didn't have to wait too long for our main dishes. Like I told you, mama's hungry. James ordered the Panfried Veal in a Mushroom and White Wine Sauce, and I ordered the Schweinsmedaillons, which is pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon with paprika cabbage and seasonal vegetables. 

James loved his dish. I think he got it specifically for the mushrooms. I don't like mushrooms, so he never gets to eat them. Though he was thoroughly pleased with his meal, it wasn't the most photogenic plate, so we didn't snap a shot of it.

My pork dish was very delicious and visually appealing! Bacon wrapped pork, I mean, helloooo?! I will order this again before venturing onto something else on the menu. It was thattt good!

Other traditional plates on the menu were Kasespatzle and Wiener schnitzel. Obviously there is more, but you can check out their menu for yourself!

We settled our bellies with another beer for James and some sparking for moi. 

Once again, I am sorry for featuring the remains of what used to be a beautiful plate. This desert (Kaiserschmarren- thick, shredded pancake with raisins and morello cherries) passed by earlier in the night and I knew that I needed it. It looked like funnel cake, and I LOVE funnel cake! So I convinced James that I needed it and we made a little extra room for something sweet.

After feeling very satisfied with our first Austrian restaurant experience, I can tell you that I will seek out other Austrian restaurants.

Though I can not speak to the Kipferl coffee house, I am sure it is a lovely experience. I will definitely stop by soon!

For more information about Kipferl check out their website at:
http://www.kipferl.co.uk/