Weekend Guest

Chris came to visit this weekend!!  Earle went to Colorado to do some hiking so Chris decided she needed a little Fabbie time.  We spent the weekend taking the same selfie picture over and over.

On the patio.

At cocktail hour at Plum Island Grill.

We interrupt our selflies for a sun set.

Still at the Plum Island Grill.

We interrupt our selfies again for a full moon over Joppa Flats.

After sunset we went back into town for dinner at Ceia Kitchen.  We sat at the bar and watched the Seahawks play, thinking it brought the spirit of our Seattle Sister closer to us!

We ended the weekend with a Sunday selfie on the beach after a delicious breakfast at Mad Martha's.  We decided to really mix it up and put Chris on the right.

Bill was welcome to join us all weekend but opted out.  I think the tone was set when the very first conversation Chris and I launched into was about The Archers.

It was so fun to have Chris here for the weekend.  Is it really Monday already?

Newburyport has a new queen

How can Jen ever be happy in the U.S. when they treat her like this in the U.K.?

When we got home we immediately went to Newburyport town hall.

We filled out some paperwork and paid a small fee.

You're looking at Queen Jennifer of the Port

Last night in London (for now)

We wanted to spend our last night (for this trip!) at the Victoria.  It was a hot night so most people were standing around outside with their drinks and we had no trouble getting a table.  Shortly after we sat down, our old pal Ellen came in!!  Ellen worked behind the bar when we first started coming to the pub but moved to an events job at the corporate office a few months before we left.    We were very excited to see her again!

Once the Ellen excitement died down we went back to our usual posing - - this was some sort of angry pose for the boys.  At least Bill looks sort of angry.  Mike looks depressed and Jerry just looks like Jerry.

Heading home for the night.  Early flight Sunday morning.  

What a great trip - we packed in a lot and loved every minute of it.

Fancy Cocktails

Last Thursday night (yes, I'm still posting episodes from the UK trip) we got dressed up for fancy cocktails and the theater.  We went to Artisan - which was named world's best bar in 2014 (not sure who judged that). 

The boys looked dapper.

The girls were gorgeous.

The drinks were all about presentation.  Cat's cocktail (called "Spring Drifting Into Summer") was poured into a silver dish that she had to pick up and drink out of the side.

My cocktail also incorporated the silver dish but upside down as a platform for a hollow sea urchin.  My drink was called "Always Print the Myth" - which has no relevance to a sea urchin as far as I know but it was very refreshing.

Jerry ordered "Fast Money Comes at a Dangerous Price".  It was served in a gold box that was full of black stones with a short straw that you pulled off (like a juice box) and stuck in to reach the drink at the bottom.

I don't remember the name of Bill's drink but it was served in a hollowed out rock - like a cup on the Flintstones.

Mike had "You're So Gansta"- which seemed like an odd name for a girly looking drink served in a normal glass.  It was frozen like a slushy….a gangsta slushy.

Ann-Maria went non-alcoholic since she has been on the wagon all year (!).  Her beaker was called "Death of the Hipster".

It was quite fun watching each drink come out and then trying to figure out how to drink them and trying each others.  

We followed it up with a cab ride in rush hour traffic to the theater.  We saw The Mentalists starring Steve Merchant - Ricky Gervais' partner from the UK Office, Extras etc.  This is a picture from the set. I did not take any of the actors for fear that someone would break the 3rd wall and start yelling at me a la Helen Mirren and Benedict Cumberbatch (and David Sedaris - remember that?)  If I'd been alone I would have waited outside the theater for picture but since I was with Brits we hustled off right away to dinner without worrying about getting a glimpse of the stars.

Jen and Ann-Maria photoshoot

Saturday was our last full day in London for this trip.  So we made plans with Ann-Maria to have lunch in Soho and then she would take me for a tour of the London Library.

Bill and I actually got up on the early side and hit Spitalfields and Brick Lane that morning where he bought a stoat (see yesterday's post) and I bought a few fun bits and bobs at the market - including this silk and velvet shawl in an Rennie McKintosh print.  It was about 85 degrees in London though, so I only put it on to model for these shots and then it went straight back in the bag.

We ate in the garden alcove of the Aurora restaurant - black walls on three sides, a curtain on the fourth   and a bamboo roof that lets the sun peek through.  Once we realized how perfect that was for a summer day photo shoot we started hamming it up.

Ann-Maria looked great against the black background in her fancy party dress.

But of course, I couldn't stay out of the shoot for long.

I call this one "Sad to say Good-bye".

Bill gave us some direction and now, looking at the photos, I wonder what he couldn't have told us to do that would have produced this ridiculous expression??

Whatever was going on - it was fun.

The London LIbrary is the largest independent lending library in the world.  You can only use it if you are a member.  Ann-Maria joined as soon as she came to London.  Even when she was flat broke, she maintained her membership  before worrying about eating.  I so wish I'd known about it when I first moved to the mews.  By the time I found out, the annual membership fee would have been silly to pay for two months of visits.   Past members include Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie, Harold Pinter, Arthur Conan Doyle…unfortunately we didn't see any of them on this trip.

Bill waited outside while we went in for a look around.

All of the books are old and well worn, which is exactly how I like them.  They all boast this sticker (or a variation through the years) on the front.

I wasn't sure if photography was allowed and I still had my camera in black and white mode when I snuck this one.

But up i the stacks when there was no one looking I pulled this gem off the shelf.  Who do you think might have read this copy?  Agatha?  Virginia?
I love the line "Author of "Miss Mapp," "Queen Lucia, " etc."  - - as if to say "Of course, you know who we are taking about so there is no need to drone on about it."

Stoat!

As we entered our last day in London we had checked off most of goals for this trip.

Except one ...

I wanted another stuffed animal.

Dibley and I went to our favorite shop in the Tea Rooms in Spitalfield.  It was where we found Woodman the beaver.

First Dibley posed for an edgy photo in the bathroom of The Breakfast Club.

He's trying to increase his street cred.

There were a few new animals in the shop, but the thought of bringing home a baby goat was unsettling.  They also had some lovely birds, but Jen has not taken to having a feathered addition to the family.

Tucked in a corner of the shop behind a lamp, I found what I was looking for.

This is a stoat.  Or a mink.  Or a weasel.  We liked the idea of a stoat, so that's what he is.

He's got a good, friendly face.

We haven't named him yet.  It has to be decidedly English.

It has to be a bit classy.

I'm thinking he has to have a last name too.  Something J.K. Rowling would be proud of.

Stoat has fit right in.  He made it though customs in both London and Boston without incident and is now hanging with Woodman the beaver and Simon the fox.

Happy Birthday, Jules!

The boys rocked pink in honor of Jules special birthday.  I'm not sure I had ever seen Jerry in a colored shirt.  A special occasion, indeed.

We brought Jules to the Soho Mexican restaurant that is located below the sex shop signs.  No actual sex shop exists.  And no Mexican restaurant sign exists.  You just know from word of mouth.

Great place.  A bit dark.

After our bawdy dinner we decided to class it up.  Drinks at Rules.  Opened in 1778, here is a quick write-up.

In the year Napoleon opened his campaign in Egypt, Thomas Rule promised his despairing family that he would say goodbye to his wayward past and settle down. No sooner said than he opened an oyster bar in Convent Garden. To the surprise and disbelief of his family, his enterprise proved to be not only successful but lasting. 

The girl does not let the class surroundings change her.  

Nor does Jerry.  Apparently, only Jules and I have the ability to adapt to our surroundings.

This is Jen and my first London bus ride together.  We became tube experts, but never figured out the bus.  Jerry and Jules showed us the way.  

Our verdict on the bus?

Rubbish.  We had a 45 minute ride for a trip that was a half hour walk.

But we know how to pass the time.

Scary bus ride.

Boys roughing up the girls.

Happy Birthday, Jules.  Glad we were here to share it.