I Heart British Airways, Part 1

(Actual date of events - Monday, April 14th, 2008).

DAY 1

Sweet British Airways, how I love thee. Let me count the ways...

1. You were on time to whisk us away to London.
2. Your online check-in worked perfectly, and the seats you let us pick ourselves were great.
   
3. You greeted us with a complimentary mini-bottle of red wine to help us relax, even though we weren't in First Class.


4. You didn't repeat everything you said in French.


5. Your seats had lovely side head rests.


6. You gave us a mini toothbrush, toothpaste, a pair of 'airplane socks' and an eye mask to help us sleep.


7. You served us a yummy chicken & veg dinner, with another complimentary mini-bottle of the red stuff.


8. Your smooth ride lulled us to sleep for a solid 5 hours. (The wine & eye mask definitely contributed to the slumber also...).


9. Our luggage arrived at our destination.


10. You were just all-around delightful to be around.

Mmmmmm...London. How I missed you, you super-awesome lady. When we spilled out of Paddington Station onto your cobblestone streets, and wacky opposite-day traffic, I felt at home. Something about you is just so comfortable and familiar, yet exciting and limitless at the same time.

We arrived at the quaint little Hyde Park Radnor Hotel to settle in to our temporary home. But NO NAPPING. We made that mistake last time. We weren't going to mess up our inner clock again on this visit. So off we headed for a refreshing walk in Hyde Park to rejuvenate from a long travel day. But, Lady London, you weren't too into that idea. So you started to spit on us. Don't worry, we didn't take it personal and were happy to change our plans to suit your mood, because that's how much we love you.

Plan B was to head to Covent Garden to see if we could find a good place to eat an early dinner. On our way we came across a restaurant called Porters, so we snapped a photo because it made us think of our sweet Porter at home. They were all booked up, so we couldn't eat there.

Then we came across the Angus Steakhouse, and also snapped a photo. But, didn't eat there, because who flies from Alberta to London to eat steak? We never did find a restaurant with River's namesake though...

With Covent Garden turning up no real contenders, we hopped on the Tube and headed to Leicester Square and ate at a cheap place that our travel book recommended, that was a block or so away from all the tourist eateries. Warren had classic Fish & Chips, and I had Pork Chops. Warren washed down his meal with a tiny-little pint.

After dinner we unwillingly decided to circle around Leicester Square to see what movies were playing at the 4 or so cinemas, and then proceed to debate over which one we might want to see, to get out of the rain that Lady London continued to spit on us. A consensus was never reached. Who doesn't want to see Juno, honestly? But, with the exchange rate on a British Pound being so high, it wasn't worth paying to see a movie that only one of us was interested in.

So, off to the Tube again, in search for another adventure. We decided to search for the Tate Museum, since our travel book said it was open late - until 10pm. The Captain (Warren) miscalculated something on the map, and we got off at the wrong tube station, turning a 5 minute walk to the museum into a 45 minute walk. But, no matter, because the Thames is a lovely river and you can't complain about a 45 minute walk along a lovely river.

The Promanade had a bookstore, where we found the 'Profanisaurus' that Rob had asked us to buy and bring back for him. Good. One thing checked off my to-do list. Then, as the sun began to set, the trees along the promanade lit up with little twinkling lights. Awwwww. I'm on holiday. (Photo of this to come...Warren hasn't uploaded all his photos yet).

This is a photo that I snapped when the sun was setting behind the bridge that we had crossed. Lady London, you indeed have some beautiful city scapes. (And, thank-you for not spitting on us ALL night).

Unfortunately this adventure did not have a perfect ending. Once we eventually found the Tate Museum, it was closed. And it wasn't even 8pm. We were cussing our travel book's advice as we flipped frantically through it's pages to find this misprint of information, only to discover that we had misread.

Open late until 10pm, on Fridays.

But, without that misread sentence, we would have missed out on twinkling tree lights, sun sets over bridges, shrinking to-do lists, and an overall lovely walk with sweet Lady London.

Paddington & Paris.

I'm back from the FABULOUS trip that I have now dubbed 'Paddington & Paris 2008'. It was a great time, but today I'm beat. Jet lag is an ugly beast.

My plan for blogging about the trip will be to make a post for each day of the trip. I made notes on what we did each day, because we did so much stuff that by the time super rolled around, we could barely remember what we had done that morning.

My goal will be to do at least one 'day' a night. And then, when I'm all done, I'll try this whole 'turn-my-blog-into-a-book' thing and make a little blog-album of the trip. Kind of like an experiment I guess.

Also - Warren & I made a little Facebook Group where we posted 12 of the 'best' photos, or the most 'artsy' photos, and we want our friends to vote on the best one! You should have gotten an invite to the group - if you didn't you may have some setting that blocks group invites or something.

Anyway - glad to be home. Not glad that real life starts again tomorrow though.

We're Off

Tomorrow Warren & I will be leaving for a two week holiday, so blogging will likely stop completely during that time. Unless of course we find a really romantic Internet Cafe on the cobblestone streets of Paris :-) I also read that Paris just got their first Starbucks. Could it be true? Only ONE? I'd love the challenge of ordering the already-difficult-to-order drinks in FRENCH.

And, here's hoping I don't gain 15 lbs on this trip. Seriously...chips & curry, pints of beer (we're going to London too), LOTS of cheese, baguettes, wine...Oy. I watch the show 'The Biggest Loser' and on that show they try to teach the contestants that when they go on holidays they don't need to make it 'all about the food'. COME ON. They tell the contestants to go to local markets to buy fresh, healthy food. But, what if the streets on the way to market are lined with cheese & meat shops and bakeries? Anyways, I'll definitely be packing a pair of fat-pants. If I come back with an exaggerated double chin, please tell me I look great and say 'you must have done a ton of walking over there, because you look so slender!'.

I will attempt to take good notes so that I can make a killer post about our trip when we get back.

Keri - I'll be absent at your shower, but Shawna is bringing my gift for Jakzen.

Take care all you lovely ladies!

New Kid On The Block

I would like you all to welcome a new blogger to Blogland.

My dear friend Shawna.

Her blog was spawned from the super-cool home business she began just over a year ago. It's kind of like if Keri had a blog that was inspired by her & Nick's photography business. Or if Erin had a blog that was inspired by her love of Real Estate and Mortgages and Tax Season. Only WAY more interesting. Joking! I kid because I love.

Shawna's business has gotten her thinking about memories, how to best capture and preserve them, how will her children look back on their lives. That type of thing. And I'm so thrilled she's willing to share her thoughts on a Blog.

I think she's a little leery of the whole blog thing, but I'm glad she's taking the plunge, because I know there are a lot of amazing feelings and thoughts floating around her heart & mind. But, like I think a lot of us felt at first, there is always that pressure we put on ourselves to make sure every post is brilliant.

Thank goodness that wears off - and it does - which is evident by looking at the crap I post about.

Please, welcome Shawna over at Small Wonder.

And, snoop around to see if the services she offers are something you'd be interested in! Seriously, I've seen her work and it brings tears to my eyes. You'd better catch her now, because some day when we have kids, she'll be too busy working on my Video Scrapbooks that she won't have time for yours.

10 Things I Love About My Office Job

A co-worker did something the other day that made me chuckle, and that has prompted me to think of a list of things I love about having an office job.

Here is goes...

I love having an office job because:

1) ...sometimes I get to leave the office for sound recordings, audition sessions, location scouts, and Starbucks runs. Having an office job makes all these things more special.

2) ...we get 'healthy snack day' on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the company gives us free fruit, yogurt and granola bars in the morning for free.

3) ...we get 'baked goods day' on Wednesdays, when the company gives us muffins, banana bread, scones and a variety of 'low fat options' in the morning for free.

4) ...of team lunches.

5) ...I can check out your blogs obsessively throughout the day.

6) ...I have a drawer where I can keep all my high heeled shoes.

7) ...it's hilarious when I realise I just emailed a question to someone who sits right next to me.

8) ...some of my co-workers are actually my friends.

9) ...somehow when you work in an office, it's actually cool if you watch Big Brother, because it gives you something to chat about first thing in the morning.

10) ...and finally, the funny thing that prompted this list. My co-worker/friend...we'll call her K (because her name is Kirsty)...peeped her head around the wall that separates us. She's on the phone, and she starts writing something on a tiny piece of paper.

This is her note:

Ha! Luckily, I had a Hershey Kiss in one of my drawers.

Happy Late April Fool's Day

I tried posting this yesterday, but I was getting the same ICAP error as Erin. Turns out my photo was just too large...

Anyways, I was out with some peeps on Sunday night at Higher Ground sipping a delicious Decaf Americano, and they pull out an ad that they found in Fast Forward.

It was for Lululemon. Here is the ad:
The Mansy. Hilarious.

I find the 'crotch hammock' area very disturbing. Is anyone else with me on that?