London, Round 2

I've been lucky enough to have been sent back to London for work again. I'm here for another 2 weeks. I got in midday Monday, so I haven't had time for anything but work yet, but here's what I think so far.

The Same
The hotel, the smell of the hotel (not bad, just distinct), the 5 minute walking commute down either Fish Street Hill or Pudding Lane, the many different and delicious offerings of fruit juices, the office, the weather (still hasn't rained on me!)

Different
More daylight, dozens of people outside the pubs at lunchtime (!!)

Yeah, London doesn't change much :) I feel completely comfortable here. Just wish I had friends and family here to enjoy it with me! I'm still planning my weekend, but I'm thinking about heading out to Bath. It's supposed to be the quintessential English town.

Edit:
I thought these were in the vending machine downstairs, but it must have been somewhere else that I saw them. If I find them in a store, I will be sure to purchase them.

Catching Up

I'm a slacker. I know it. It's hard do to do anything extra in a day because I've been so busy! Here's what's been going down.

Early June: My grandfather passed away at the age of 83. He had his ups and downs after having his stroke last year, and his body just couldn't take anymore. I plan on doing a tribute post at some point; he had a really big impact in my life.

Mid-June: My sister turned 20, my brother turned 9! We also attended the PA reception for Jonathan's brother and sister-in-law.

Early July: Celebrated 4th of July in Baltimore with Jonathan's friend Victor. Went to wedding #3 of the summer. I was a bridesmaid in Sara and Todd's beautiful wedding. It was at the Dorito church in State College, followed by a reception at Tussey Lodge. It was fantastic seeing everyone again. Pics stolen from Ashley.

She smacked his hand out of the way :)

The wedding party at Tussey

Weekends in Jersey

I've gotta catch up here!

Memorial Day weekend was spent planting the garden and hosting a BBQ. We planted lettuce, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers. I also planted a bunch of flowers around in the various dirt patches we have, so we'll see how everything grows! The BBQ was really nice because family and co-workers and Jonathan's sister and boyfriend came over. And I made excellent sangria :)

Last weekend was spent furniture shopping on Saturday and hiking on Sunday. We hiked Mt. Tammany in DEWA (that's the Delaware Water Gap for you non-NPSers, HAHA). It's located at the last exit in NJ on I-80 before going into PA. It was a good hike, steep and rocky (for the Northeast, anyway). The view at the top was pretty, and I think it will be absolutely beautiful in the fall.

Awwwwwww

Can you find the puppy who got in trouble by a park ranger for being off her leash?

Florida for 2008 Wedding 2 of 3

Jonathan and I spent last Thurs-Tues in Florida. His brother Jeremy finally got married to his girlfriend of 10 years (engaged for 5), Maria. They live in Miami and got married down in Key West. It was a small wedding because it was so far from family for both of them (PA and Long Island), but it was really nice.

We arrived down in Miami on Thursday night, along with Jonathan's parents, grandma, and his sister and her boyfriend. We headed down to Key West Friday morning, stopping to feed some ginormous tarpon along the way.

Some of these fish are 5 ft long!

Most of Friday was devoted to driving and rehearsal stuff, but we got a chance to hang out a bit at the pool and beach at the gorgeous hotel. Definitely the nicest place I've ever stayed.

Back of the hotel. The pools are hidden in the pic, and the beach is right behind me

Saturday was the wedding. I don't have any pictures from the wedding itself because I was the videographer (haha), but from the pictures taken before the wedding, you can see how beautiful Maria was in her dress.

Jeremy and Maria breaking tradition and getting pictures before the ceremony

The reception was held at the Grand Cafe on Duval St in Key West. Excellent food, strong drinks, and great entertainment provided by Jonathan, who had a really good best man speech, and then managed to spill an entire glass of Pellegrino in his lap.

On Sunday Jonathan and I wandered around Key West for a bit, ate some excellent key lime pie, and headed back with his family to Miami. When we got back to Miami, we could smell the smoke from the wildfires in the Everglades. Crazy! Unfortuately, we got rained off South Beach on Monday, but it was nice to relax, eat good food, and go out dancing.

8AM Tuesday, the only time we had a little sun

We're back in Jersey, and Jeremy and Maria are on a cruise in the Bahamas. They'll be up to PA for second reception in June for all the family that couldn't make it down to Key West (and there are a lot of them!) There is a link to my pictures from the wedding in the picture links on the right, check 'em out!

2008 Wedding 1 of 3

This past weekend Jonathan and I went to Hazleton to see his friend Phill get married. The bride and groom made their own pretty and tasty cake (they're pastry chef graduates of the Culinary Institute of America)




Victor was there as well. Ceremony was nice, dinner was good, dancing was ok (the DJ was kind of crappy). Congrats to Phill and Kate!



By popular demand, I've included a video of Cade. She's running around with Jonathan's parents' dog Lady. Cade's about the size of Lady now, which is surprising. She's almost real dog size!

RIP Albedo

Sometime over the weekend, dearest Albedo passed on to the big fishbowl in the sky. Jonathan and I said a few words this morning before he was given his royal flush.

He lived a good two and a half years. Albedo started his journey as the mascot for the Lair of the Sexy Weather Ladies. He traveled more than some people do. He traveled between State College, Pittsburgh, PJ, NYC, and NJ. He rode the subway. He took a NJ Transit train. He survived under the care of numerous people while I vacationed. Thank you to everyone who took him in at some point.

Unfortunately, his quality of life was not so great in the past six months, due to the fact that Jonathan and I are cheap and didn't keep our house above 60 degrees. We tried to keep him warmer, and I was hoping that with the start of spring he would get better. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

RIP Albedo, you were a great fish.

From Girl Dog to an It

Tuesday, 5-month-old Cade was taken up to the vet my mom uses in NY to get spayed. Surgery went well, and she came home a little groggy. Wednesday morning she was back to her old self. Less than 24 hrs after surgery. I was completely amazed. She's not supposed to be overactive for the next week, and it's taking real effort to keep her calm. Can you imagine having some major internal organs ripped out, and then going back to whatever it is you do in a normal day...the very next day, with no pain pills? Dogs are amazing.

Jonathan was calling her a shim, but there's no him part. So now she's a sh-it.