From snow to sun to snow again...

Well friends, if you must know for those of you lounging at the beach and bbqing or enjoying some sort of outdoor activity be thankful for the warmth! March is almost over and it snowed today. Ugh. It didn't stick, but man is it cold.

Which makes me happy to report that we had a GREAT trip to the southern coast of Portgual- the Algarve Coast. It was gorgeous, sunny, and nice. We didn't do much other than explore some of the small cities, eating steak and seafood and enjoying the local beer.

But, I'll recap to go along with the pictures I posted. (Remember to click on the link to the left of the page and enter the password to see the pics)

Friday, we arrived after some fairly offputting delays (3 1/2 hours worth) at Gatwick- loooong story- but if you are ever in Europe, don't fly Monarch airlines. I digress though... We arrived and picked up our hired car (a little thing with manual transmission- fun!) and headed out to see some sights. For lunch we came upon a little town in the mountains called Sao Bras de Alportel. There wasn't much of significance there, but we enjoyed lunch at a historic hotel that had amazing views of the city and a very friendly server who let us practice our Portugese with her. Here are the views from the hotel:

Our hotel was amazing, a gorgeous Starwood property overlooking the cliffs- I don't think we realized how luxurious it was (for a fraction of the cost too- Portugal is cheap!) so we settled into our nice room with the free bottle of wine they provided. Friday night we headed out to wander the streets of downtown Albuferia, a tacky little strip with all sorts of neon signs for bars and restaurants there especially for the English and German tourists that frequent the area. We enjoyed some good food and then headed back to the hotel to relax, drink our free wine, play cards and watch the first round games of the NCAA tourney. Another plus of the Sheraton- the US TV channels! We don't even get that at home in London! Here is the view of the beach from our hotel:

Saturday we woke up and had lattes by the beach before we hopped in our little car for some sight seeing. We visited the town of Portimao for lunch and then on our way back to the hotel hit up a little town called Silves. Both towns were cute little cities, nothing really substantial to see or comment on really.

Saturday night we went back to the tourist trap that is downtown Albuferia, had a great seafood dinner, and then hit up some kareoke and clubs. It was so fun. Somehow in signing JP up to sing a few songs, I got pulled into the mix and ended up in a duet (with some back up from the DJ) in some Oasis- Don't look back in anger. It was a huge hit. We danced (yes, JP actually danced, it was fun!) at a nearby club after hopping the faux velvet rope and acting like we owned the place. It was a very fun night.

Sunday we celebrated Easter with all the other vacationers with some relaxing, napping, NCAA basketball watching, and eating. The weather was great- it was sunny, slightly warm, and breezy. There wasn't a cloud in the sky! While we were watching the sunset over the cliffs, we talked to some other English tourists who were bracing themselves to the return to England and the snow. Talk about a tough transition back to reality today when we landed at Gatwick with snow flurries.

So friends, again, highly recommend the Algarve Coast- if you are looking for a little bit of exploration mixed in with some surf and sun.

Enough from me, take a look at the pics and I will post comments of my upcoming 30th... ugh!

Wet Rag

That is the only way to describe my trip to San Fran- I became the proverbial wet rag… Unfortunately my body chose to decrease it’s white blood cell count when I needed it the most- and as a result 300 people’s germs were allowed to invade my normally healthy body during the 12 hour flight to the US! Ugh.

I’m an optimist though, and I successfully convinced myself that I just had a bad case of allergies- until I started running a fever and lost most of my breathing ability about 48 hours into the trip.

So, JP can fill you in on most the fun and shenanigans. I was back at the La Luna Inn, taking in hours of American TV. Man, do I miss American TV. I caught up on it all- The Girls Next Door (love that show), old episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (yes, I was home on Friday night, so what!), Real Housewives of NYC- man are those women awful, and I even took in some Real World/Road Rules Gauntlet –which I am way too old to enjoy and admit but who cares? Coming back to the US didn’t make me want to hop the next flight home or anything, but man did it make me appreciate the entertainment options in the US. The UK has NOTHING on US TV.

I can comment on the highlight of the weekend though- the wedding… gorgeous! The bride looked amazing, the flowers were spectacular, the food was yummy. Our views were of the Golden Gate Bridge and the SF Bay. The music was fun, and there were ever flowing Irish car bombs being served throughout the night. There was no cheesy bouquet toss or YMCA or Macarena- just a bunch of people dancing and drinking and having a real nice time. I held fast to my wet rag status, drank my water, took it all in, and had pangs for my normal self that would have led the charge on the dance floor and would have danced with the crazy old uncles in attendance. Oh well, I can’t be fun 100% of the time. Ariel- if you read this- you looked amazing and did such a great job in planning! What is it about brides that bring tears to my eyes? Seriously, even if I don’t know the bride that well, I always get so choked up seeing her walk down the aisle. So sweet.

I’ve been tasked with taking this blogging thing to EY (well, not me personally, but using the existing techonolody) and start a blog as part of my role here. It is quite surreal. People want me to blog on topics related to Diversity in the workplace. No, not as much fun as pub life and European travels, but it got me thinking and researching. In my research I came upon a snidely written article on blogging. Basically the author asks the question- “who cares” when it comes to other people’s blogs. I was taken aback- thinking to myself- why, I blog, and people read this! Why would they read this if they don’t want to read it? This blog doesn’t automatically pop up when you turn on your computer. I don’t send out reminders to read this blog. I was so peeved when I read this, but then realized that he was a jack ass without anything interesting to write about- so I instantly wrote that off and decided to blog about him. For those of you who do read this, I appreciate it. If nobody read this, I think I would still put fingers to keyboard to dish about the randomness of life here. It is something like nothing I’ve ever experienced!

Tonight we are celebrating JP’s birthday by taking in a show with our friends Stacy & Frank who are in town visiting from the OC. This isn’t any show- I’m a good sport and found a fun burlesque/cabaret supper club in Central London that I thought would be unique and fun. You can check out what show we are viewing at: http://www.volupte-lounge.com/
I think we are in for some fun- and I’ve heard from mostly girls that this is the best show of girl power you can get for only £10.

After Portugal I’ll post better travel stories and pictures. Until then, Happy Easter, enjoy some Peeps for me!

A life Derailed…

This weekend brought to light something that has been brewing in us for awhile. What happened to us here?? I’m about to divulge some secrets of our new life that you may want to judge in a negative light… However, I ask for your understanding as we are technically still in “transition” mode.

A year ago, I was in the best shape of my life (well, yes, I did have a wedding dress to fit into), kept a clean house, did my errands timely, woke early on the weekends to enjoy the day, had a challenging job, and drank on occasion a few glasses of wine or participated in a happy hour here or there.

Fast forward to March 2008. From far away it appears as it is really March 1998- my college years. We drink heavily and consistently. We don’t have errands to run really because we don’t have a car or excess cash. My clothes fit tighter due to excess calorie consumption and lack of healthy eating options here. Our house goes unkempt unless we have visitors in town. Our laundry goes undone until JP needs something at the bottom of the basket. We wake up at 11am most weekend days because we got in at 2am the night before. What happened to us? I mean, I’m three weeks shy of 30 and living like a 20 year old. We laughed on Saturday as we had all these grand plans for a great workout, lunch out in town, walking around in the city, etc. At 11am when I finally “came to” those ideas seemed minuscule compared to my new plan of just trying to get rid of my headache. We eventually made it out to the gym and such- forcibly because we only have so many weekends to enjoy in London. Seriously though- we are declining- fast.

Many of you reading this have lives that probably are more like our past life- you have kids, family nearby, plenty of things to stay busy with on the weekends. You are probably reading this and thinking- what is she complaining about? I should caveat this to say I’m not complaining per say- but when you watch yourself digress, even if you are having fun, it is disappointing. What we will do to change the situation, I am not sure. It is more of a thing that we’ve acknowledged that we are grown-up yuppie deadbeats and need to find a happy medium so we don’t lose all control here.

Upon reflection with some friends who have been here for over two years now- we have come to find our life here in London is kind of like a mini-vacation. We don’t have the responsibilities we once had at home- house projects and family plans on the weekends, etc. However, it doesn’t feel like a total vacation because we all are working, some of us pretty long hours. It just feels different here- like we owe it to all back home to go out, have fun, travel, etc. and use every opportunity to be out and about because as demonstrated above, life at home is not the same as it is here.

Also, something else that has a huge effect here is that the culture is so different than that of So Cal. I mean, in So Cal, my social life revolved around being healthy and working out- biking or swimming with friends on the weekend, after work a couple nights of the week working out in groups, etc. Here, our social life revolves around the pub. It is Monday and already there are emails floating around about plans for the weekend, plans for a mid week drink here or there. At work one of my directors comes in most days looking like death and complaining of a bloody hangover. People do go to the gym on occasion and go running, etc. But, the predominant thing that everyone has in common here is the pub. The blimey pub with your mates- where the miserable weather and not so nice people here suddenly just all seem to be a tiny detail about life in London that can be overlooked.

So, I think for your sake (because I am such a nice person) I will continue this downward spiral. I will continue to drink heavily, clean sparingly, and sleep constantly because I can… and a year from now when we go home I’ll be both excited to return to our friends, family, and great weather but equally sad to return to normalcy.

Back to Bath

Recently over some drinks, a couple girlfriends and I decided to get out to Bath to visit the dayspa and get out of the city for a night... I have been to Bath (see posts from November) but loved it the first time so thought it would be fun to go back.

We left yesterday afternoon to catch the train and spent the afternoon walking around Bath, stopping into shops and pubs. It was coooold and windy, so our walking around ceased when the temperature dropped. We headed indoors and just relaxed in a few pubs, chatting and taking in the locals. Last night we headed out for dinner and a few bars in the city. The great thing about Bath is that because it is a college town, bars stay open late! We had fun and imbibed a few too many organic ciders before finally deciding to head back to our hotel.

This morning we went to the Thermae Bath Spa http://www.thermaebathspa.com/ and had facials and spent a few hours in the 'healing' waters of the baths and steam rooms. It was good for our hangovers. We left relaxed and detoxed and had some lunch before heading back on the train. It was a nice quick girls overnight trip that was super fun and relaxing... I'd recommend the spa as well. It isn't like a Burke Williams with all the locker room ammenities (it is co-ed, kind of weird) but the pools are really cool and perched atop the spa with great views of Bath in the background.

Today is "Mothering Day" or "Mum's Day" in the UK. So, JP's and my mom get two Mother's Days this year! I thought it was odd when I started seeing signs and reminders in stores and restaurants around the city to start planning- I thought to myself "well, it is kind of early..." only to realize they have a different Sunday designated for the holiday. Father's Day is the same Sunday in June as it is in the US.

That's it from me, enjoy the week!