Betsy & Chris

My cousin Betsy and her husband Chris came to London from Ashland, Oregon for the first part of their London- Barcelona - Paris long holiday.


We had 3 days of long talks, sight-seeing, and long dinners.


It was like 'being home' to have time to connect with them again...to hear about their fantastic, active, beautiful life in Ashland, their future adventures and to get true time together.

I've always looked up to Bets and her sister Robin as the coolest people I knew....being with her makes my soul happy....and now sharing out lives as 'adults' is the greatest gift.

Heath - this time with Kona....

One of my new year's resolutions is to spend more time in the Heath. Morning walks before work, long trail runs, afternoon wanders....

Susan, and I went for a Friday walk with Kona - we saw packs of dogs he knows (out with their dog walkers,) and watched his infectious glee!







We celebrated with a late lunch at the Wells (ok, maybe it's a bit of an obsession,) where they served him water before we even were asked what we'd like.

Date Night.

I scheduled a night on the calendar (google calendar =) for a 'date night' - for us to grab some time amongst the packed holiday events to do something in the holiday spirit in London.

The conversation went something like :

"fun! what are we doing?"
"ice-skating - at the Tower of London"
"ahhh- do you know how to ice skate?"
"you don't?"
We have known each other for about 8 years now....

And this year I've learned at least two new things about my husband...


1. his voting record

2. That ice-skating was not a regular occurrence in his holiday schedule...

until now.

We had a reservation during the last time of the night. The rink was not too full, the views of the Tower were amazing, and neither of us fell.

It was a Christmas Miracle!

Thanksgiving in Vienna!

In an effort to see a European Christmas Market and make the most of what would have been a typical 4 day weekend in the US, we booked a quick trip to Vienna for Thanksgiving, with time to get back for golf & rowing over the weekend.

We stayed in the Museum Quarter, and arrived on Wednesday night. We walked through the city, discovering a small tent in the middle of the museum square with a DJ and lots of people drinking gluwine in steamy cups in the cold.

The decorations around the city were amazing - and these little huts selling hot drinks were sprinkled through out the city. We had dinner at the wine bar at Meinl am Graben and walked through the Christmas market.

On Thursday we went to the Leopold Museum where we saw some amazing huge Klimt's. Then our friends Laura and John Charecky, (we met them through Kevin and Kerry and who amazingly live on the same street as us in London,) joined us in the afternoon.

We celebrated Thanksgiving together, with an amazing 8+ course menu, and plenty to be thankful for.

As the 4 of us missed our families tremendously on this holiday, it was truly a blessing to be together and to celebrate the holiday together in this city where it was, and was not Thanksgiving.

All pictures are here!

A walk in Hampstead Heath...

I had the most beautiful day a few weekends ago. TJ was playing golf, and I had come home with an afternoon to myself after an early morning rowing outing.

It was one of those crisp autumn days and there were just a few hours of day light left. I chose to go on a walk through the Heath with the reward of a late lunch.

Since we moved to this neighborhood last winter we have experienced this vast woodland in all the seasons.

Austere in winter
Flourishing in spring
Verdant in summer
Glorious in autumn

I try and run in the Heath at least once a week - and I always leave it thinking how amazing it is to have this amount of nature in the midst of this busy city.

It feels so typically 'English' to walk here. So many people use it as their back yard - dogs are running around, kids and couples fill the paths.


During this season of thanks - this afternoon reminded me of all the things I have to be thankful for -

this beautiful city
celebrating time alone
my sweet husband
our families
our friends
travels and adventures
After almost 2 years - discovering this park really makes me feel at home.

It was so nice to grab those quiet hours before the busy holiday events start.

I finished the afternoon at the Wells, with some mulled wine, and smoked haddock on champ with a mustard sauce. YUM!

All of the pictures from this walk are here.

Culinary Barcelona - Part 3

And the last part of our trip ended with an 8 course tasting menu at Cinq Centits.

We are not normally the types to write about and take pictures of each course of a meal...(usually the flash gives us away and we are too busy enjoying the food.)

But I could not resist with this lazy, extended lunch. The highlights for me were:


The most amazing 'Lemon 5 ways" dessert...

A yummy chocolate, salty-ness...

Tuna with vanilla and smoked tomato broth...


This caramel foam...


And my favorite, grilled octopus.


We finished after a few hours, and were the last customers in the restaurant. We walked out, pleasantly full and with big smiles!