Ciao Ciao!

I think winter is rolling in. Officially, the sun rose at 7:13 and set at 6:23. And I was up before sunrise! From now on, I think I'll just say that. The conversation will go something like this: "What time did you get up this morning?" And then I'll say, "It was before sunrise, so I dunno...pretty early." Am I the only one who finds this amusing? All this to say, the weather seems to be getting crummier, so maybe, just maybe, you'll find more posts coming soon. Maybe.

Anyway, down to business. LOTS has happened since I posted last. My mom has come to visit...twice. My dad made his maiden voyage to London. Jason has traveled halfway around the world and back (literally). And I've worked 5 whole days this week! So much for part-time, eh? My fabulous Aunt Margaret is coming next week! The last time we hot footed around Europe together was when I was in college...who knows what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into now :)

Lets see...where to begin. OK, so I know ALL of you are just on pins and needles waiting to find out where we went last weekend...all two of you. Jason was in Paris and then Milan two weeks ago on business, so we decided I'd just fly up to Milan for the weekend (EasyJet really is easy). After a 8 hour door to door commute...don't ask...I made it to the hotel in Milan at 2:30am. Let's just say my first 3 hours back to Italy were not the highlight of the weekend. But it was ITALY! My first trip back to Italia since HUF...when was that...almost 7 years ago?? Sheesh. We didn't really have any plans for the weekend, just play tourist. I bought a cheap book about Milan and the lake region (which we WILL visit someday...Lago di Como is calling my name...) and we just set out to do as much of their "top 10" list as we could. Did I mention it was the final weekend of fashion week??? My "Devil Wears Prada" moments keep on coming.

So here's the Duomo. Notice the brellies everywhere (yes that's what the Brits call an umbrella)...started out a gloomy day. We were convinced we should just go back to London...we can get this kind of weather there!

This is inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle. Basically just a shopping mall. But doesn't "gallerie" sound so much more dignified? This one was built in the late 19th century...are there any shopping malls in your area that are this old???? Show me. I dare you.

Ahhhh yes, the Duomo. It was started in 1386, and finished in 1813...yup that's nearly 430 years of construction. And you think road construction in Houston is bad.

This is me experimenting with iPhoto. I heart iPhoto. You don't even really need a fancy schmancy camera...just a super sweet awesome iMac...don't get me started.

Probably THE coolest thing about Milan's Duomo is that you can climb up ONTO the roof of the actual building. Not just the top to admire the view, you can actually walk around ON the roof!

Awesome closeups of the architecture...

Beautiful views of the city...

Look, he's waving! Ciao Milano!!

OK, now this building. This is the Torre Velasca. Basically a 1950's version of an Italian skyscraper. They thought they were cool by making the top floors wider than the rest of the building...but from what I've read, this thing costs a fortune to maintain. Oops.

Hi Jason!!

This is Castello Sforzesco...an Italian castle, right?? Started in 1451, but they had to basically rebuild it after WWI, along with most of the city. It is free to walk around the grounds, but you have to pay to get into the art museum. There was some kind of political conference when we were there...camera crews and all, but they let us tourists keep walkin around amongst everything. So hospitable.

Vorrei un gelato, per favore!

This little church. Ha. So the number one thing to do in Milan is BOOK AHEAD and go see DaVinci's Last Supper painting. I mean book wayyyy ahead. Don't just email and enquire about it, don't try to book the night before you go. This was September, people, and the place was booked up for 2 weeks. I can't imagine trying to go see it during the summer. ANYWAY. If you can't get in to see the painting, this beautiful little church is just next door in the same piazza. It is called Santa Marie delle Grazie and it is worth the walk over.

Next church (come on, its Italy, that's what you do is visit old churches). This is the baptistry of Sant'Ambrogio. Fun memory, a cute little elderly couple was getting married when we walked in. That's right, the church was still open for tourists! Only Italy, right? Anyway, it was started in 379 and pretty much finished in 1080. Pretty amazing structure.

You might not believe me, but all of these photos were taken on the same day. This was just day 1 in Milan for me. Sorry, no pics of day 2...that was reserved for shopping and eating :) I can't count how many cappuccinos (or is it cappuccini?) I had in the under-48-hours I was there...maybe 8?

Buona sera, Milano. We'll be back soon...

Still out there??

For the few of you who have wondered where I went...thanks for wondering! I appreciate your care and concern :)

My excuse for not blogging sooner? The weather has been too bloody perfect to sit inside on a computer for any length of time. Seriously. I'm told that next month the sun will start setting around 4:30pm and won't come up again until around 10am. SO. I'm trying to soak up all the sunshine I can. Besides the fact that the temp has been in the lower/mid 60s all day everyday...except for one morning it was 49. I'm from Houston. That is winter, folks.

So yes, I've already broken out the scarves, the coats, the hats, boots, etc. and I'm really beginning to worry about my winter wardrobe. FEAR NOT. Anthro to the rescue!

Until I can get a proper post together (the washing machine is beeping at me), I leave you with a bit of a clue as to where I will be this coming weekend. This is in London, and the only taste of Italia I have seen since arriving 3 months ago. This weekend, however...that will be remedied!!!! Where am I going...?

Ho hum

Mom arrived yesterday :)

Jason left for Kuala Lumpur today :(

Most everyone that I've befriended here in London is currently in the states :(

It was 67F today :) :)

I still heart London :) :) :) :)

Anthro loves AG

I'm having my own little "Devil Wears Prada" moments these days. See, in my former life, I worked as a manager for a small (but ever growing!) bank based out of Houston, TX. I thought I loved it. I did. Love it. It was challenging, I had responsibilities I'd never had before, and most importantly, I learned a ton about myself and just the nature of people in general. Anyway, that's another post. I was happy. THEN. I moved to London. EEK! I got a job at Anthro. And now I'm a part-time sales associate. No managerial duties whatsoever. And I'm so ok with that its almost depressing. I get to learn about/further my appreciation/bask in the glory of fashion. I know, I know, "Most girls would kill for this job." Right? Here's a glimpse at what we got to do last week...keep in mind...this was hard work!

http://youngmeyer.com/gallery/ag-fashion-show/

(And if you need it the username is anthro and the password is kingsroad. It's a big file, so just be patient with it while it loads).

That's right. A fashion show. Notice the fab-U-lous jeans we are all wearing...AG baby. And I'm in love. And a big BIG thank you to Penny at Young-Meyer Photography for the awesome photos...she is a joy and a true professional. GREAT photos, Pen!

The "fashion show" was for our AG designers who came to London to give us a bit of "denim 101." I'm talking about the brilliant Adriano Goldschmied. Don't know who that is? Shame on you! (It's ok, I didn't until last week I'M ASHAMED TO SAY!!!!)...I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful these folks were or how fabulous this company is, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out their website. A few of us were even lucky enough to walk away with a pair of these high quality denim trousers. Talk about a hard day's work...

I could so get used to this...

Who knew?

Y'all remember my friend Chelsea Kensington, yes? We went for a walk on Thursday. Just cause the weather was nice and neither of us had anything to do. We started at my place and just decided to turn right, then left, then maybe another left somewhere on down there...and look what we just happened upon....

That's right. Buckingham Palace. We decided we would get lost in London more often. After a leisurely 45 minute walk...who knew it was so close?? Think the Queen would want to stop by the house for tea? I'm sure she would enjoy the stairs...

Mini-London

aka Manchester

See, this area extensively mobilized during WWII, meaning most of the areas large producers and manufacturers stopped what they were doing so that they could help build transportation, military tools, etc for the war. Anyway, Ze Germans picked up on it and bombed the heck out of it in 1940. So pretty much the whole city center (which is where we stayed) was destroyed. Which just breaks my heart. THEN, in 1996, someone from the Provisional Irish Republican Army set off a car bomb that heavily damaged most of those same buildings that had been rebuilt from the war. I kept reading articles that predicted that Manchester would just decline into ruin after that....

Thankfully for us, it didn't!! So this picture above is the hotel we stayed in. Yeah, pretty much the tallest building in Manchester. Talk about modern. It was really nice though. I highly recommend it for your next trip to Manchester.
And this is the Manchester Cathedral. It was pretty much all destroyed in the war. Lucky for us, it only took 20 years to rebuild! Thanks goodness for modern construction equipment. There are random stones and other shards that were saved for posterity and tourists like me. There is the "Angel Stone" which they think dates back to the 8th century. Not very exciting, but wicked old. Do we have anything that old in the States??
This gave me goosebumps. This is the Regimental Chapel. Bear with me for a bit of a history lesson. It is the chapel of the Manchester Regiment from 1936 and the King's Regiment. It was all destroyed in the war (are we sensing a theme here), but rebuilt to display the regimental colors from WWI. Those are the flags hanging up. See, goosebumps. The window in the back is the "Fire Window" which was damaged in that '96 bomb, but rebuilt as a tribute to that event. Maybe its just me and my new found obsession with military history...sorry.
The Choir. We missed Evensong, but I'm sure it would have been beautiful! Again, destroyed in the war, but I'm told it was rebuilt to look as it did in the 1500s.
More modern windows...
Any Chio's out there?? I smiled real big when I turned around and saw this over the door.
So sad...
Outside the cathedral, to the right....its London! No wait, just a big Ferris Wheel. See why I feel like its a mini-London? Maybe just a mini-Eye-of-London...
Town Hall. Saturday was the last day of the Manchester Jazz Festival. Part of it was held in front of town hall. We were able to grab some Paella and a Brat and sit outside the tent and listen to the music. Great ambience, let me tell ya. Except for the drizzly rain...could've done without that...
Sunday morning, we venture out and see that all the streets are blocked off to cars. This is because of the SkyRide taking place on 12km of city streets. What was it for? Nothing. Just to give cyclists a chance to ride around the city without worrying about cars.
This guy was booming Jimi Hendrix if I remember correctly. But it was kids of all ages, a unicyclist, a couple of Olympic medalists, an actress or two, and anyone else with a bike and nothing else to do that morning. And it was free.
Snapshot of our venture to the Salford Quays (pronounced keys). Anyone have any idea what this is????? Give you three guesses, but if you've never done it before, you won't have a clue. It's Dragon Boat races!!!!
The highlight of Salford, the Manchester United Football Stadium. ManUtd is the big football club in the English Premier League...or so I'm told. I did read that they are the richest. I'm supposed to be a Chelsea fan, so I guess I can't like ManUtd. For anyone interested, Chelsea v ManUtd preseason game is this Saturday! Who is going down to their local pub to watch????????? Anyone?? Anyone?? Bueller??

Makeover

What do we think of the new background?

I really just want to hear your comments.

I know it is a bit difficult to read the stuff on the side...but come on, do you honestly read that stuff?

I'll leave you with some super cool photos that were taken on a tour I took last week of "Darkest Victorian London."

Hope you enjoy!