PS- An English dinner and the stork

As we continue to progress with wedding planning,

we are getting down to the details.

For those of you that know Neil and I, then you know we love a good meal.

So we are paying extra care to the menus for the weekend.

That being said, England is no New Orleans and we have found it more difficult than expected

to create a menu that we think our guests will enjoy.

This is an email I received about one meal we are planning:

Dear Julie
Here is the chefs suggested menu:

Starter:

Chicken liver & foie gras parfait with toasted brioche

Main course:

Whole roasted plaice with lemon & oregano dressing, pea & broad bean fricassee, buttered new potatoes

Dessert:

Summer pudding with Jersey Clotted cream

I hope you like the menu, would you like to try it on Thursday 2nd June?

I look forward to hearing from you

Now, we are trying to strike a balance between local specialties with a "taste from home."

I'm not sure anyone from home would know what they were eating by just reading this menu.

So needless to say, we're still working on it.  

Oh and PPS- Henry is on the way as we speak!

Remember the baby shower I blogged about.

Well, that's the little man who will be here any minute.

I don't think I've ever held a new newborn. 

So I'm really looking forward to meeting him. 

Brain Dump

I love reading blogs.
I have google reader set up and I'm a regular and loyal reader of about 25 blogs.

They range from food blogs to interior design and fashion blogs and travel.

Then there is my blog - about everything and nothing.

A sort of virtual brain dump, and I hope you don't mind.

So staying true to my bloggin' style. Here is the latest virtual brain dump.

Saw this, and it made me think of my mom. She's a star with laundry.

Speaking of laundry, I've gone a year with only one visit to the dry cleaners (shame).
There is only one here in town.
In New York, I went weekly. We have a washer and no dryer in Oxford, which isn't the end of the world. But take a look at this. Doesn't it make laundry look fun?

Saw this and it made me smile.

You've probably seen this already, but it made me laugh.

Saw these and immediately gained a pound (chocolate chip cookie covered oreos),
but filed it in my recipe box in the "post wedding" section of course.
You have to try everything once, right?

Saw this too, and immediately felt healthier.

Saw this wisteria growing up a building in London and I remembered how cool living in England is.

Saw this and it made me want to take my Vespa (how lucky can a girl get?) out for a drive.

(And then I thought where is her helmet, she's going pretty fast and that hat is cute and all, but not very practical)

And THEN I saw this, and thought "how welcoming does that house look?"
An English looking garden and a Vespa to boot.

Watched this, and it made me miss my own two fur balls. But really only Laser would be friends with dolphins. And he probably really would be if he had the chance.

Oxford Rugby

  Last week Cambridge came to Oxford for some good old fashion competition.

Business school vs. business school.

Events ranged from chess to tennis, cricket, rugby, and even tug of war.

It was fun to go out and watch Neil and his friends play rugby for the first time.

The WAGS (wives and girlfriends) were cringing on the sidelines with each tackle.

But everyone made it off the field in one piece, with a win for Oxford to boot.

 There was a cricket game on the next field.

 Neil getting tackled :(

 It was the weirdest weather. Sunny one minute and cloudy the next. Typical England.

 Cheers to Pete (the coach) for the successful win.

 Little Archer wanted to play too.

Don't worry, they were just practicing here. 

 Archer, aka equipment manager

Archer being 2 years old and not wanting to get off the field:)

Go Oxford!

Scotland for Easter

While England was experiencing record high temps for Easter weekend,

Scotland was cold, rainy, and foggy for most of our stay.

But we had an amazing time despite the weather.

We stayed in Edinburgh and took a few day trips to surrounding towns.

 We rented a flat at #1 Grassmarket.

I loved the big double green doors.

The view was pretty nice as well. See our green doors on the left?

 The day we picked to tour the Edinburgh Castle was probably not the best for a view.

 It was really foggy and we couldn't see down the hill.
But the fog cleared up and we enjoyed the sights of Edinburgh...

And the sounds...

We would hear bagpipes in the distance almost all the time.
It's really quite enchanting to hear.
We even caught the cherry blossoms at their peak.

I'm so tired of my green coat in every picture...
A warm vacation must be needed!
We hopped on a train to St. Andrews for the day.

 The fields of rapeseed (aka the plant that produces canola oil) were stunning.
These are blurry pictures from the train, but you would see
bright yellow fields every once in a while.
And they are beautiful from the plane as well.

 Next stop the ruins of the Cathedral of St. Andrews

 I think we were lucky it was raining on this day because there didn't seem to be many tourists at all.

The grounds of the ruins were picturesque

In fact we hiked up to St. Rules Tower (the thin one you see to the right) and had the top to ourselves.

 A charming view of the seaside town, fit for a prince and princess you might say?

 That's right, Kate and Wills met at the University here.

 The locals told us the camera crews and all the recent press was getting out of control.
"It never used to be this way when they were even living here"
But anything for a few shots for the Royal Wedding coverage.

 Anyway, we made our way down to the St. Andrews castle

And of course our trip would not have been complete without a walk around the golf courses.

We wanted to play 9 holes (of putting), but it started raining on us so we headed back to Edinburgh.

Then we took another day trip to Stirling for some hiking.

  

A highland cow, and calf.

While there, we also hiked up the William Wallace monument.

I actually feel like we did a like of hiking (up) while in Scotland.

We got some really good exercise...

We were just on that other hill in the distance

Then we went back to Edinburgh for one last day.
We went to the Queen's Palace of Holyrood - which was lovely.
It was where Mary, Queen of Scots lived for quite some time.
No pictures allowed inside but here are some of the gardens and the ruins of the Cathedral.

And we had a great trip.
Edinburgh is a lovely place. I highly recommend a visit.

And of course the blue skies came out as we left for the airport.
But what a great trip!