While shopping.....

Today on my way home from work, I decided to take a different route home and I made a stop at an antique store along the way. I have been to this particular antique store a handful of times before, but hadn't been back in a few months. While I was there, I spotted a BEAUTIFUL antique desk and now I cannot get my mind off of it! We'll see if I am able to convince Scott that we need to make an investment in this antique desk when he gets home....

I can already picture the desk in a corner of our house with a beautiful chair sitting in front of it! 

These photos really do not show how beautiful and detailed the desk is, since they were only taken with my camera phone. The wood is actually black and then there is the red leather padding in the middle. The leather padding is quite worn but I think to replace it might be too sharp for the shabbiness and character of the desk. 

The edges of the desk are then light brown wood which  makes a nice contrast. It is a desk from 1900 and frankly it is in pretty decent shape for being so old! While this desk does cost a bit more than say, our IKEA desk we currently own, I do not think we would be able to purchase such a desk in the US for anything close to this reasonable price. Antiques do seem quite a bit less expensive over here since there are just more of them (given that the country is so much older than the US). 

To add to my "vision" of this desk being in some future house of mine, I think I would have the desk in the same room as this chair I reupholstered last winter since the black theme might carry through......I can envision this rocking chair being in an opposite corner of the room - maybe I feel a living room with a black and crisp tan theme coming on in a future house of ours???

Can you tell that I really would like this desk for my future house???? Let's hope my husband agrees! :)

2 Years!

Yesterday Scott & I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. How lucky we are to be happily married to each other!  

I made a cookie cake in honor of our anniversary. 

We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant - the food was actually quite delicious! (service was another story but what can we expect???.....)

We exchanged a few gifts. I stuck to the 2nd anniversary theme of china gifts, Scott did not....but lucky me, I received the nice gift he purchased! :) 

And then we lit a candle in our cookie cake and sang a Happy Anniversary song to ourselves....because we are just that silly and are still pretty crazy about each other! 

Our first two years of marriage have gone by really much faster than I imagined they would, but the best part about our time together is that it gets better with each day! I look forward to MANY more years to come. Happy Anniversary Scott! xoxo

Another weekend in London

Scott had a meeting last Friday in London so we decided to capitalize on his location, and I met him in the city after his meeting and we stayed overnight so we could take in a show as well. 

While I had the afternoon to wander around the city myself, I found my way to Partridges grocery store. Yes, it is just a grocery store but they have a very special American food section so I wanted to stock up on more American items that I could not fit in my suitcase the other week....

After an afternoon of shopping for me, and a day of meetings for Scott, we were ready for a nice night out on the town! We ate an early dinner and then went to see Calendar Girls at the Noel Coward Theater. 

I took a photo of Scott in front of the theater and then said he could take my photo....but for whatever reason he could not take a clear shot! 

The clearest photograph he took of me! 

On Saturday we relished in the fact that we could spend the entire day with no schedule and so after an American breakfast at one of our favorite (overpriced) restaurants - Automat - we wandered the city....and ended up at Hamley's toy store.

This store is the most fabulous toy store with floors and floors of treasures! 

Scott was a bit hesitant to wander around a toy store, but then it was pretty clear he was in heaven upstairs in the "boy" sections once we were inside. 

I wanted to buy all of the plush, soft stuffed animals! 

After playing in the toy store, we caught the tube and headed towards the Borough Market. 

Scott riding the escalators up from the underground tube line.

The Borough Market entrance. 

I am not sure how in all of our time here in the UK so far, I have missed the Borough Market - frankly I knew nothing about it until someone back in the US mentioned it to me. I LOVED it! It is the most wonderful food market with all kinds of speciality stalls and vendors. I could have spent hours wandering the market, just inspecting every type of vendor there but since I was with Scott we spent only a few hours there, opposed to the entire day. 

Standing at the "entrance" of the market with the crowds of people everywhere. 

A fresh fish vendor.

A pile of brownies at a bakery stand. 

Fall vegetables for sale and on display.

The largest pot of Chicken curry I have seen in a while! 

That same vendor who was selling chicken curry was also selling other stew type dishes. 

I was on a quest to find this vendor. It did not dissapoint. They sell these AMAZING toasted cheese sandwiches and some type of potato type dish with warm raclette cheese melted on top. 

I was on a mission to taste this toasted cheese sandwich. It was grilled in front of us on some type of griddle. There is cheese on the inside along with some type of relish (fresh, good relish), and then it even had cheese toasted on the outside of the bread. DELICIOUS! Sadly, it was partially wasted on us since we were SO full from our American breakfast earlier in the day...

I still ate almost every last bite of the cheese sandwich and it was delicious. I will most definitely be headed back to the Borough Market to pay a visit to this sandwich stall vendor again! 

An American Consumer

I have just returned from a short and a bit of a whirlwind trip back to the US for a dear friend's bridal shower in Virginia. While I was in the US, I had to take advantage of stocking my suitcases full of US goods.....clearly I am still an American consumer through and through! After a large TARGET run, my suitcases grew close to the 50 lb weight limit but I successfully transported the "necessary" goods back to the UK. Given the strange items I had packed in the suitcase, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find this notice in my bag when I unpacked it. 

A notice telling me that the TSA checked out the contents of my bag for security purposes.

And here is part of what they found inside my bag......terrible, isn't it - that almost everything I had to bring back is sugar?!?!? The fall just isn't the same without candy corn and American Halloween candy!!!

Phew!

Thank goodness I do not have to be the dedicated driver in this household....Scott passed his driving test this morning! Woo hoo!! To celebrate his achievement, I got him this funny card...

NO MORE "L" plates for our car!!!

License to Drive...

After too many pounds spent on application fees, driving lessons, "L" plates for our car, and other driving exam preparation materials, I am pleased to report that I am an official UK Driver now! I passed the second part and practical part of my driving test on the first try yesterday. Whew! 

At the end of the exam, my driving examiner, filled out (in ink, in the car) this very "official" certificate above (name, etc covered for security purposes) that I am supposed to keep as proof of my achievement. I am now a licensed driver here in the UK until I am 70 I believe. 

Now, the pressure is on Scott as he prepares to take his test on Tuesday. I hope to report more good news afterwards!