A Fairly Fabulous Day

Porter and I went out to eat the other night at a fantastic burger joint.  Actually we had really been missing Five Guys and Smash Burger from home, but we found Gourmet Burger on our high street.  Porter got the Blitzen Burger (looks like Santa is down one reindeer this year, RIP Blitzen), I got a chicken sandwich, then we shared rosemary fries and a nutella shake.  It was delicious!  In fact, just writing about it has me seeing fries.  Anyhow, we had this fantastic evening.  We came home, and I walked into the dining room, flipped the light on and looked up on the wall.  To my horror this guy(or gal) was hanging out up on the wall.  This picture makes it look tiny when it was the biggest spider I have ever seen in the house.  It was about 4 inches long I think.   In a panicked voice I started yelling for Porter.  I didn't want to leave the room in case it ran away.  In my head I started chanting my war cry "Me or the S...

WARNING: Ridiculously Sappy Post Ahead Today is mine and Porter's 8th anniversary!  It is also 10 years that we've been together, a whole decade.    We've definitely had our ups and downs, like every couple, however I would like to think that our ups definitely out number the downs.  We were really young when we got married.  I was 21 and Porter was 23.  We felt like such grown ups, but we really were babies.  We joke that we were smart babies though, because we knew a good thing when we saw it.  We are different people now then we were back then.  We've each grown a lot and luckily we've worked together and thus grown in similar directions. When ever we attend weddings it seems like there is a book or frame or something in which the happy couple wants relationship advice.  During my time being married the most important words I've learned to say are "I'm sorry."  It's hard to admit that you may have hurt your partners fe...

Tonight, I learned a new number.  Dial 101 for Non-Emergency Emergencies in England.   We took the dogs for a great run tonight, 3 miles through Wimbledon.  When we got home the dogs were good and tired.  I jumped in the shower then made dinner.  After, we all tucked into big fluffy blankets on the sofa to watch our American shows from last week on hulu.  It was a wonderful night. Cue: the crazy hulk like screams outside our window. Porter and I stopped the TV and listened to the weirdest noises.  There was a man outside our front window making incredibly strange noises, coughing screaming, talking.  He was obvious very drunk.  It went on for about 5 minutes then stopped. So we turned on the the TV again (New Girl) and kept watching, assuming the person had moved on.  I then heard a rummaging noise outside our front door.  I made Porter stop the TV.  We sat in silence as we listened to what we both knew w...

Why did Humpty Dumpty love Autumn?  He had a great Fall!  But really, how could one not love Autumn in London.  It's been absolutely gorgeous.  I took Porter up to the common for some pictures.  This one above was one of my favorites.  It been really warm, compared to Utah.  I keep over dressing.  It's been difficult for me to understand that just because it's rainy or overcast does not equal cold.  But I'm getting better.  Maybe by the end of winter I'll finally know how to dress for the weather. I've got the house feeling better and a bit more settled.  This is most of the bits and pieces of the living room sorted. I've bought a super fun book from a lady in Utah that helps you create your own Stitch People family portrait.  It's pretty fun.  If you like this kind of stuff check out her site here. We love taking the dogs out in the parks and commons.  It's amazing how much green space t...

First off, isn't this cross stitch the cutest thing EVER?!  My super talented friend Ali made this for a going away/house warming gift for us.  I just can't even get over it.  She even put in a tardis.  It's in our living room and I look at it every day so I thought I would share it with you.  If you are a cross stitcher, the base for this pattern comes from Satsuma Street .  Head over and check our her fab designs. Now for the Food....honestly a lot is still the same.  Packaging is smaller, food is overall more expensive and it doesn't last very long.  England has this crazy idea that putting chemicals in food to make it have a shelf life of 10+ years is maybe bad for us.  Thus the food is super fresh and tastes delicious.  The only drawback is that I have to head to the grocery store every other day or so.  While at the store I have run into some funny items I thought I would share: Banana Milk Salad Cream (what i...

The Gates leading into Hampton Court  Hampton Court Palace is a beautiful Tudor palace that is super close to our house.  I didn't even realize it was there till I looked at the map a few weeks ago and was like, "Holy Cow!, there is a palace in our back yard!"  So we jumped on a train and headed out. Getting closer....it was a long walk from the road. The guardians that wait at the front gate.  I love all the unicorns, dragons, and lions they have on everything. Made it to the entrance! The fireplaces were huge!!! The beds were epic as well. And one of my favorite places, the chocolate kitchen.  This is a special place where the coco beans were roasted and processed into drinking chocolate for the king. These little guys were giving a demonstration of how to process the beans, and letting people taste them as well.  The beans were pretty gross.  It reminded me of when I was little, my mom had a big b...