London ('Ello Poppit')

We're back from our Euro adventure and are hoping to do a post about each of the 3 stops on our trip: London, Lille, and Paris. 

DAY ONE

We took a red eye to London overnight and left Heathrow airport around noon on Thursday to go find Jake and Marilyn's apartment.....and coffee. 

This is when I didn't want to take pictures because I was so tired from not sleeping on the flight (turbulence targets me). #precoffeekels

As soon as we got apartment keys from Jake and dropped our stuff off at their apartment, we were off for a walk around the city.

One of these buildings was in a recent James Bond film.

Walking along the Thames, Mike enjoyed snapping pictures of me.

We stopped at a playground near the Houses of Parliament.

This is a little turny wheel.... 

it looks fun, but it's actually quite dangerous.....

Here I am scared for my life....

The "Thames", which I pronounced incorrectly for about 3 days. It's "T(eh)ms."

"Look!" Mike said, "It's the Burghers of Calais! We're going to see this again in Paris!" Kelsey was clearly enthralled.

Our first glimpse of Big Ben

From the other side. Very jet lagged.

DAY TWO

After a full English breakfast at the Regency Cafe we took an uber to The British Museum.

We really liked the inside.

Kelsey very patiently allowed me to walk her through history.

Horse from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Statues from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus 

There were interesting pamphlets around here about how the British definitely didn't steal these statues and it is totally okay for them to be in The British Museum and they take better care of them than the Greeks would anyway. We were convinced.

Kelsey thought this guy was fun.

I did too.

From the museum, we took a walk to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant for lunch.  It was a long walk, but the food was worth it. Afterwards, we walked over to the Tower of London. 

And on the way passed through the City of London...

And saw buildings that didn't make a lot of sense but were very neat looking...

And made it to the Tower! We also went into the crypts of a nearby church, which still had some mosaics from a villa that was built on that site when London was still Londinium around 2000 years ago. Kelsey was not expecting more history, but that's what she got.

Tower Bridge

The Shard (where we went for drinks later that night)

We walked across the Thames, the correct pronunciation of which sent Kelsey into a giggling spree every time, and walked through Boroughs Market to the Tate Modern Art Museum.

The art was very similar to what we have at the Hirshhorn, but it had a nice view!

Then we walked over to the London Eye (giant Ferris wheel). On the way we had some incredible hot chocolate from a food truck that sold only single-source hot chocolate from hot chocolate fountains. I do what I have to do to bribe Kelsey to keep walking. We did a lot of walking.

Views from the Eye of places we had been or were going:

Marylin and Jake's place is somewhere to the upper right of the river in this picture.

We got off the Eye and went back to the Shard to meet Maryin and Jake for drinks followed by dinner at an Indian restaurant called Dishoom, where we were served warm sherry while waiting for our table and our Scottish/Italian bartender waxed poetic about how nice Americans were compared to Europeans and how he could never visit America because he would just end up staying forever.

Some of Dishoom's drink menu

Jake and Marylin and our food!

DAY THREE

For our third day we took a train out to Windsor Castle, the home of the royal family. 

Definitely a castle.

Jake and Marylin came too, since they had not seen it either!

We took the audio tour. Once again, I tricked Kelsey into history.

The inside of the castle was very pretty, but no photos were allowed.

The outside had swans, though. This is part of a canal system that leads back to London.

For lunch we went to a nearby pub that Jake certified was a "real English pub" and therefore somewhere that we could try cask ales and fish and chips.

So I did.

Jake and I re-calibrated our cameras on the way back. Just kidding. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Back in London, we stopped by Harrod's, which is like a normal department store but with single items that cost more than aforementioned department store.

Comparatively, the giant stuffed lion was a bargain.

On the way to Windsor, we went through Paddington Station. I told Kelsey we would get a picture with a giant Paddington Bear statue on the way back, but the statue was on the other side of the station. We took a picture with this Paddington instead.

For dinner, we went out for Chinese at Duck and Rice.

We had already eaten far too much by this point, but of course we ate all of this too.

And on the way back to Jake and Marylin's place we got to ride on top of a double-decker bus.

DAY FOUR

We had been very active, so this day started off a little quieter. Kelsey needed to rest her feet so Jake and I took their dog Rigby out to Battersea Park.

Rigby is a good dog.

Afterwards, Jake took us on a walk around the canals. 

The boats are all roughly the same size...

Because they all have to fit through these locks.

Our end-goal was to get here, Camden Market.

We knew it was Camden because of the sign.

The best part of any market is the food.

Who would have known that dough with powdered sugar and Nutella would be delicious? Everyone. Everyone knows that.

Giant paella.

Pork in a steamed bun.

Cupcakes.

Cupcakes and cake-cakes.

Marylin met up with us at Camden Market and we started walking back through the city. On the way, Jake announced that we were coming up on something that I, as a music person, would think was cool. It was not Adele's house. That was my first guess.

A road! Abbey Road, specifically. We spent about twenty minutes watching people block traffic and take pictures of themselves standing, sitting, lying down, and otherwise not crossing the crosswalk as cars honked at them.

Then we walked back to Jake and Marylin's place. For dinner we went to a nearby burger place that had live music.

Whether they were a band or just eight people who brought different instruments to a burger place and started jamming together, we appreciated them.

The burgers were also good!

DAY FIVE

We woke up early on Monday to get to the train station.

Goodbye London!

Staying with Jake and Marylin was a wonderful way to experience the city. We saw everything that we wanted to see and logged around 40 miles of walking in the short time that we were there. Most importantly, we were able to spend quality time with our friends and with each other. 

More to come from Lille and Paris! 

Spring so far....and getting ready for Europe!

This week is our last bit of work before leaving for Europe Wednesday evening! We've both been working really hard lately trying to square things away at our jobs, seeing many of our friends, and enjoying Spring in DC while we can!

Last weekend, we said goodbye to one of our good friends, Ross, who took a new job on the West Coast. We also saw the cherry blossoms in "peak bloom" with friends Cara and Jake. We also went to a beer and wine and food truck festival with some of my coworkers and managed to also visit my family for Easter brunch. We were definitely (good) exhausted on Monday.

Cara and Jake with the Blossoms

Cherry Blossom-Frame Jefferson Memorial Picture

And us, for good measure.

Kelsey found a high school friend at the Beer and Wine festival! She called him by his twin's name, because she's bad at remembering people. Especially twins.

Ashton at Easter Brunch

Uncle Mike and Ashton

Ashton and Aunt Kelsey

We also decided to celebrate Mike's upcoming birthday with our friends here since we'll be in Europe on his actual birthday. I'm sure we'll find a way to celebrate over there as well:) We hosted a small group of people for dinner (which, yes, we were making) and I obtained a funfetti cookie cake from Captain Cookie (good decision). We ended up with a menu of cheese/crackers/olives to start followed by lamb, crispy potatoes, caprese salad and tabouli from Kay, and cake and ice cream. Mike had also bough several beers from TJs for tasting. 

Then we played a game called CodeNames which I applaud as the perfect game for people who hate board games. Simple rules, flexible on number of players, short, and amazing fun. 

It says "Happy (Almost) Birthday Mike!"

CodeNames

I've been sending Mike emails for the past week counting down to our Europe trip and filled with memories of previous adventures we've had together. I love sharing new experience together (whether it's a show, food, or travel) and this is going to be an awesome trip to add to our Adventure Book:)

Mike Edit:This is Kelsey's ten days to Europe memory countdown, copied and pasted for blog form:

10: When you almost talked me into letting you buy the stone carved shark in Puerto Rico<3 

9. When we literally sprinted across NYC to make our phantom showing and we made it on time! Bet we could sprint even faster now:)

8. Remember when we bought peanuts from that guy in a town in NC and I think I gave him $20. Best peanuts ever.

7.  Do you remember when we got our kayak turned around in the dark on the return trip tree grove part of the bioluminescent tour?  And I was terrified of iguanas in the trees. That was an adventure.

6.  One of my favorite memories of us traveling is when we went to NYE right after our wedding and we were so exhausted from people and celebrations by the last day that we went to see two movies back to back: hunger games and the Benedict cumberbatch movie before going to the Mae concert.

5.  When we did little workouts in our Puerto Rican gym overlooking the ocean.

4.  When we tried chestnuts in New York and they were the worst! We saw couples get engaged and bought all of our Christmas presents at a little market. And then we got stuck in a crowd stopping for a light show!

3. Remember when you came with me to Williamsburg to see me run in a half marathon? 

2. Remember when we went to Disney together and you got me to go on Tower of Terror and it dropped 12 times?!! I bet flight won't be as bad as that:)

There is no 1, because 1 is tomorrow and we won't have time to update this before we leave. Hoping for on-time flights and for Kelsey to not realize that going to Europe means we have to fly over the ocean. 

Stories are Important

Three weekends ago, Kelsey and I picked up Jake and Marilyn and drove to Williamsburg to celebrate Alex and Kelly's wedding.

I can't look at the camera because safety first.

This was a big reunion for the group of friends who introduced me to Kelsey back in 2011 (and got a quasi-mention in my first blog post after meeting her.) 

Harking upon the gale just like old times.

The rehearsal dinner happened at one of the delis, where we used to eat food that was terrible for us but tasted great. The menu was the same, but since it was a rehearsal dinner it was classy.

I was a big fan of the "Norton for Mayer" buttons.

The actual day of the wedding Kelsey was busy all day doing bridesmaid things and so I flitted about Williamsburg with the significant others of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. It's still basically the same, which is a good thing to check up on every now and then.

The wedding party in front of the Alumni House.

After the wedding, the reception was held in the Alumni House. The wedding party danced in, which Kelsey hated but soldiered through admirably. 

The Best Man, Adam Cohen

The speeches from both Maid of Honor and Best Man were exceptionally good. Cohen's speech was all about stories- how they structure our lives and understandings of each other, and how they are ultimately the basis for everything important we do. By the end of his retelling of Alex and Kelly's story, Kelsey and most of the rest of the room was crying. 

Alex and Kelly listening to the speeches.

We ate, we danced, we took pictures and we celebrated with our friends.

One of aforementioned pictures.

An aforementioned picture of aforementioned celebrating.

Kelsey and the bride.

Everyone at the Leafe.

Kelsey and I shared a room with Jake and Marylin, who we are about to see again very soon when we head out to London. After we got back to our room on Saturday night I took out my contacts and put them in a cup filled with saline and placed on a high shelf, because I had forgotten my contact case. The next morning we discovered that someone (Jake) had, in the middle of the night, drank my contacts after mistaking the cup for a cup of water. It's a good thing we were going home that day. Kelsey drove. 

ACEd it & Hungry Harvest

There are a number of reasons why I decided to pursue a personal training certification. However, none of those reasons seemed good enough when I found myself with two weeks to go before the test, having not yet taken a practice test, and sure I would fail and be faced with paying another $200 dollars to retake the test. In my defense, I had not planned on starting a new job right after purchasing my study materials last summer, but there never really seemed to be a great time to hunker down and study after that. I also wasn't super motivated to study because I had no clue when I would ever apply any of the knowledge. If I could barely find time to study while working full-time, how was I going to find time to practice personal training while working full-time? So I still haven't figured out the answer to that questions, but here's the good news: I passed the test! And I actually passed by quite a bit, so I feel pretty validated in my new skillset!

It turns out I'm still pretty good at cramming, especially when it comes to multiple choice, long testing periods, and using information I have some background on. I took the ACE personal training certification test and I even have a fancy certificate and card that arrived in the mail. I'm indebted to Mike and my coworkers who put up with all of my "No, but I'm actually going to fail this test" talk. They probably now all think I was completely overreacting, but I actually did fail the practice test  and I just had to study my butt off after that! Mike also helped a lot with cooking dinner and picking me up from work when I studied late. He also didn't shame me when I watched all the Netflix instead of studying.

I mostly took the test so that I have a certification in my back pocket if I ever want to train on the side or if we end up moving somewhere, and I can't immediately find a job. Also, personal training overlaps a lot with coaching and counseling, and I love working with people one-on-one. While I don't think I'll be training actual clients anytime soon due to lack of time, I am going to try to shadow some personal trainers in the area, and I am going to try to get Mike to be my first client;)

Studying at Captain Cookie one night after work. Will study for cookies.

We celebrated me passing my test with a new sushi/ramen spot in Shirlington!

Mike and I recently signed up for this thing called Hungry Harvest. If you live in the DMV metro area, you MUST check them out!! I know I'm easily excited about things, but I'm honestly obsessed with Hungry Harvest. My co-worker actually introduced it to me after she saw them on an episode of Shark Tank (which they won on). Basically it's a business that gives produce that would otherwise be literally thrown out because it's not the right size or shape (yes, this is a thing) a new home and for every box of "recovered" food they sell, they donate a meal to a family in need. Even if you don't live in the DMV area, you should read all about their story here: http://www.hungryharvest.net/ A young 2014 UMD grad started the company, which makes me love it even more.

Here are the things I love most about our harvest boxes:

• We get a 1/2 recovered harvest box ($15) every week (we can always pause a week if we're going out of town) and we find out what we're getting on Friday by email so I can meal plan! They also offer recipe ideas with the fruits and veggies they are giving you.
• Not only has it definitely increased our fruit and veggies intake, but we have gotten to try lots of fruits and veggies I would never buy on my own. In the box below, there's a rutabaga and acorn squash which I can't ever remember having. I had to learn to cook them, and they were delicious! It's so fun learning to experiment with new foods every week, and they also try to give you foods that are in season.
• They text you when they are about to deliver AND after they deliver the box. Plus you can exchange your old box when they deliver so that they can reuse it. I've never had something wrong with my box, and sometimes I have something extra thrown in. I can't believe I've never had any issues with all the growing they've done in the past month or so.

One of our Hungry Harvest boxes! Look how pretty!

My new Fitbit!

I don't know how much we've talked about our budget on the blog, but I'm sure you can guess that because Mike is in charge of it, it's pretty complex and intense. I have a love/hate/mostlylove relationship with it. We have a bazillion different "funding categories" and I hate tracking everything I spend, but sometimes it's super sweet to be saving money for random purchases in advance, the most recent example being my new Fitbit. Over the weekend at Kelly's wedding, I saw a Fitbit that tracks your heart rate and, since I know about heart rates and health and fitness now, I instantly wanted one! Unfortunately, I'm not known for having a lot of personal fund leftovers, but I realized that this counts as technology (another fund), and we were able to get it! It tracks my steps, heart rate, tells me the time, how many flights of stairs I've climbed, wakes me up, and tells me how long I slept! Mike told me he was going to wait to decide if he wanted one after seeing if it was useful for me, but I think he's basically already decided to get one:)

And finally, this is my treat to everyone who waited so patiently for this blog post....

Has there ever been a better face ever? No, there hasn't. You're all welcome.

-Kelsey

Wetting down, Macbeth, Valentines, Food

Kelsey's top priority for the past week has been reminding me to write this post. My great achievement has been forgetting to do so. Well, tonight she is at a work event the dentist (the work event was last night when I ALMOST finished this post) and so I remembered.

First, some more pictures from my promotion ceremony:

Kelsey pinned on my bars...

They let me talk for a few minutes...

And we all shook hands and hugged.

That Thursday, we went to go see GGSS's production of Macbeth. Emily Goo was in town, so it was a true GGSS reunion.

Getting some food before the show.

The next day was my "wetting down." This is a tradition that I believe exists because everyone in my office told me it exists, and it involves me buying all of them drinks for several hours. 

Since that wasn't starting until 7PM and I finished with work around 3PM, I took the opportunity to go tour some museums. Since Kelsey wasn't with me, I got to go to the insect exhibit in the Natural History Museum. 

And then I sent her this picture. I named him Shuffles.

Then I headed on over to the bar that Dan and I had rented out (Dan promoted as well). The night was bittersweet because it was also a farewell to my first boss, Andrew. He was a big part of what made my trial rotation something I looked forward to almost every day. In court I would hand him notes - sometimes with useful things to say on them, and sometimes with quotes from movies. He would read off of both. 

Current and former Blue Team members gathered to commemorate the occasion.

Alex, Kelly, and Absi also came out!

We stayed until midnight, which is officially the latest that Kelsey and I have been at a bar in D.C. since the night we met. We are not late-night partiers and have difficulty pretending to be so.

Of course, we couldn't stop celebrating because it was also Valentine's Day weekend. So...

Brunch at Tazza Kitchen the next day.

Part of our Valentine's Day meal. We made this: http://www.eatout.co.za/recipe/jamie-olivers-skinny-carbonara-smoky-bacon-peas-almonds-basil-2/

The card I gave to Kelsey. She cries at every card so at this point I've just started getting cards that I enjoy.

For Valentine lunch we went to Daikaya. 

If you have lived your life, as I have, assuming that ramen only comes in dry packs and should be eaten only as an indicator that you can not afford anything else, then I highly recommend finding a Japanese restaurant that makes real ramen. Then order a dozen or so extra eggs, because the best part of real ramen is the soy-poached egg that sits inside it and tastes like a savory custard. 

For after-Valentines meals (I mean, we still had to eat, right?) I roasted a giant lamb something. Leg? It might have been leg. It lasted for an entire week of lunches alongside the pictured roasted potatoes that Kelsey made.

So that catches us up to mid-February. More to follow from Kelsey.