The One From London - Bits and Pieces

I figured I better get a few pictures up. These are just a few of the 403 that I actually took - but it's a pretty good summary. Wimbledon will get it's own post - don't worry, and I'll try to get it together enough to write down everything we did.

Overall, it was absolutely the most wonderful vacation. I told Dawson towards the end of my trip that it had been absolutely perfect. I think I spent the perfect amount of time in London. I'm sure the Coopers were ready to get rid of me by the time Monday rolled around ... and too be honest, I was ready to get back to real life too.

There are so many seriously amazing things about London (and I think maybe Europe in general) - I can't wait to force my friends in Birmingham into a few things I've decided are good ideas.

More blogging on that to come.

Anyways, I had an absolutely incredible time and I am so so thankful to my sweet friends. Dawson was such a wonderful hostess and did everything she could to make me feel right at home (which I did), and Wil was great at forcing us to make decisions, giving all sorts of great ideas for things and places to see during the day. I'm just bummed his office didn't want him to take the whole week off to hang out with me. Oh, and he's a pretty darn good chef too - who knew!?

Also : because their sweet friend Grant told me I had to spread the word .... all this business about rain in London is just false. It was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny everyday (except for a brief stint before Wimbledon) and warm. Total bliss, and completely unexpected.

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey (round 1)

London = red telephone booths

Big Ben + House of Parliament

Wimbledon (excuse the fact that I look like a drowned rat - we were unprepared for a minor rain shower while we "queued")

A tiny castle, and a tiny human

Yeoman Warder, aka "Beefeater" and funniest person in London

Anne Boleyn's wedding present, the "Queen's House" - too bad the hubs had her head chopped off before she got to move in

Tower Bridge

The Victoria and Albert Museum

Harrod's = amazingness. Helen - this is your kind of place.

Bubble blowing - and my favorite little boy ever

Who is also an awesome photographer...and took the rest of these pictures. Word to the wise - cameras are great entertainment for 4-year-olds.

After Portobello Road market

and in the garden for a symphony concert

(am I trying to catch the "football" ball?)

The End.

** I'm just now realizing I wore white and blue clothing the entire time. This blog post is also a tiny little glimpse into my wardrobe. White and blue, white and blue. That's just ridiculous.

The One About My Lack of Blogging

a. I'm the worst blogger ever on the history of the planet.
b. Currently - and please forgive me - I'm just totally and completely over it. There is too much else going on, which I guess is a good thing - but it leaves my little corner of the blog universe sad and lonely.

I'm working on / thinking about making some changes here.

I'll let you know...

Now, off to do 17 loads of laundry, pack and clean up my house. We're having a going away shindig at my casa the day after I get home from my European vacation...so I guess I should leave the place somewhat clean and organized. I'm sure I'm not going to want to do anything about that after eight days spent in London.

The One With Pastels

The One With A Few More

Remember this?

Well, I've since found this, from a great company called Public.

And this one, from Amazon - and the much less expensive Schwinn.

The One About White Eyelet

I distinctly remember having a conversation with my mom one day that went something like this:

(we're shopping)
Mom: You do not need that.
Me: Yes I do, it's adorable, and white eyelet.
Mom: Why does it matter that it's white eyelet.
Me: Because white eyelet is a staple item.
(Mom gives me a look that says "you're insane, a black pair of shoes is a staple item - a white eyelet sundress is not")

BUT. I maintain that white eyelet is essential to every girl's wardrobe (specifically in Alabama).

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I recently cleaned out my entire closet/dresser/armoire which was overwhelming to say the very least...but resulted in a SERIOUS lack of white eyelet (from one dress, to none).

So...now I've found the absolute PERFECT replacement.

MOM?

Are you still there?

from Calypso

The One About The Silence

Remember when I was moving into a new house?

There is no internet in the new house.

It's become a problem.

Whenever the internet gets going, I might write a half-way legitimate blog post, but until then...

this is all you get.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Five Things I Meant to Tell You

1. I went to Vegas, but haven't uploaded any pictures (see previous statement about the internet). A post about Vegas wouldn't be very entertaining without pictures.
2. This weekend I'm going to a wedding in Mississippi. There will be 46 people in the wedding party (that doesn't count the bride and groom, ministers or children).
3. My parents are at the beach for a week. I'm a little ticked I wasn't invited along...not that I can take anymore vacation.
4. My friends have the most insanely fun lives. I've got one planning a wedding, and one planning on a baby!
5. My eye has been twitching for AT LEAST two weeks. Is that normal?

Have a happy weekend!

The One About Everything

Brace yourself for a very convoluted post. Sorry in advance.

First and foremost, one big huge apology for the radio silence this week and last. Last week I had a pretty good excuse, which we'll get to in a minute - but this week there is none...other than that three-day-weekend thing.

OOPS!

Last week, my best friend's boyfriend called to inform me that he would be PROPOSING to her over Memorial Day weekend. That's a good reason to not be blogging, right? Basically - I couldn't come up with anything to say that didn't involve my best friend GETTING MARRIED!

I'm finally leaving on my girls trip to Vegas tomorrow - I know y'all are excited to not have to hear about it anymore. I'll hopefully have loads to tell you when I get back. Twelve girls all in Vegas together - I literally CANNOT WAIT. I'm going to spend all weekend laying by the pool, eating (and drinking) deliciousness and spending time with some of my favorite people in the whole world. People I haven't seen in MONTHS.

Have y'all been over to The Brightside Project lately? It's so much fun to look through all the fun things people are loving (and giving away).

Also, I signed up for Pinterest. It's pretty amazing. Similar to ffffound, only better (and prettier). It's been so much fun to play with...and now I won't forget where I saw things.

We were at Paul's house last night (previously mentioned, newly engaged) and one of the guys brought his brand new silver lab puppy. OH MY WORD. He was so adorable - and named Ernest. I kind of want one right now.

AND - My little sister moved up to New York for the summer this morning.

Ok - I think that is all.