Fun Reads: August 29, 2014

Next week, the world of fashion will be taking over New York City for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and I never really appreciated it like I am right now being so far away. Working at a magazine for years, I got to experience the hype first hand. I truly enjoyed the people-watching and the styles that the editors rocked in the audience. And the shows were absolute productions! But I'm not going to lie, the parties were the best part -- especially for a young and totally underpaid editorial assistant in Manhattan. A girl's gotta eat, and I was thankful for so many shrimp cocktail and champagne dinners!

Since I'm not in NYC this year, I thought I'd dedicate this Friday's Fun Reads post to fashion. I decided to include the pic above because the lighted sculptures remind me of the fashionable women you see on the catwalk (I guess you can also interpret it as a gang of creepy girl ghosts…) This pic was taken in our hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland this past weekend.

But I digress… Enjoy these fun reads before you head out and do whatever fabulous thing you have planned!

I came across this fascinating article about flight attendant uniforms of the past. Catsuits, bubble helmets and paper dresses… I'm sure my sister who is one now is thankful those trends aren't still in fashion.

3D printed fashion has made its way to the runway, and a show in Russia featured only looks designed and produced from the innovative printers…

Which leads perfectly into a shout-out for my friend Hannah's 3D printed jewelry line Mynlyn. She's awesome, and you should totally check it out!

I have to admit I'm jealous of everyone in the States right now because of all the Labor Day sales going on this weekend. Here's a good list of all the good deals! You're welcome ;)

And specifically for my NYC friends, did you hear that the Palace Hotel is inviting fans to dress as their favorite Gossip Girl characters and recreate a photo of the cast? Wear your most luxurious headbands, do your best Blair Waldorf, and find Chuck Bass for me! XOXO

PS! I've heard from a lot of you that the comments aren't working for everyone, so I installed a new commenting system. Try it out and let me know if it works!

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An American's Guide to Being … Like, Totally British

Out of the 10,000 or so acts at The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, of course we came across a fellow expat doing a standup show on Saturday night. Alexis Wieroniey (who jokes that her dad explained how to pronounce their last name as "Wire on knee") ended up moving to London from America and loved it so much she recently got citizenship. Her hour-long standup act focused on the differences of living in the two countries. I haven't even lived here for two months, but I related to a few of her points:

• The difference between an American and a Brit receiving a compliment:
• "I like your dress." American: "Thank you!"
• "I like your glasses." Brit: "They're made of poop." (Needless to say, Brits don't take compliments very well…)
• "Sorry!" is one of the most over-used words here. Alexis joked about about falling down in the subway and ended up apologizing to a woman near here. "I'm sorry for falling in front of you. I'm sorry for having to make you look at me. I'm sorry for existing!"
• If British people know you're not from the UK, they always ask you how you like it here, whether or not you've lived here nine years and are now a citizen like Alexis. And I just thought we were getting special treatment for being newbies…

Alexis Wieroniey

It was fun to hear someone else's perspective on the different cultures, and I couldn't believe how many other expats were in the audience. I guess it goes to show you, you're never the only outsider even when you're 3,400 miles away.

Have you ever lived in another country? What was the funniest thing about the culture differences?

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Weekend Adventures: Edinburgh, Scotland

Monday was our first official bank holiday in the UK, so we took full advantage of the long weekend by jetting off to Edinburgh, Scotland. All of the locals we chatted with said they've had a horrible summer -- it basically rained every day in August, that is, until we came (yay!) The weather couldn't have been any more perfect than it was while we were there, besides the one downpour we got caught in on Saturday night (but the fireworks, which happen every night, still went on).

As I mentioned last week, the world's largest arts festival called The Fringe was happening, so we took in a few free comedy shows on Saturday and Sunday night. The first night, we crowded into a room the size of a closet with about 100 other people (it had fire hazard written all over it!) and listened to an American girl share her experience living in London (more on that later this week -- it deserves its own post!) The next night we marched into a larger room, equally as crowded, and saw four comics do standup. Two were hilarious, one was so-so, and one was downright awful. But I guess that's the chance you take when going to a free* show. (*Free as in you donate money at the end…)

Speaking of "free*" we did a two and a half hour walking tour with Sandemans (which we've used in both Oxford and London) and learned the history of Edinburgh. From stories of the Stone of Destiny (click on the link to read about it--it's quite fascinating) to the public square where they nailed criminals' ears to the wall (I'm still sick over that one), there were lots of little tidbits we probably would have missed if we walked around ourselves.

Back in the day, criminals' ears used to be nailed to this! Ew!

After the tour, we went to a pub called Maggie Dickson's. The Scots tend to name their pubs after someone in history so they can keep their story alive. Maggie was hanged in 1724 because she concealed her pregnancy so that she would not lose her job and gave birth in secret only to have the baby born dead. She was sentenced to death and after her public hanging, she was transported away to be buried but the driver heard noises coming from the coffin. It was Maggie! She was alive! Since she already had died once, she was granted a pardon and lived for another 25 years! And I had nachos at her pub :)

Fun Reads, August 22, 2014

Happy Friday! What's on the docket for tonight? Christopher and I have been trying to make Friday nights special--our weekly date night, I guess you could say. Last week, we went on a ghost tour of Oxford. The pic above is our awesome tour guide Bill Spectre who incorporated magic tricks into the historical tour. He also wore that fancy outfit. It was quite the experience walking around the city with him!

It's our first official bank holiday in the UK, so we're taking advantage of the long weekend by traveling to Edinburgh Scotland. Everyone's been telling us about this festival that's going on right now called Fringe, which is the largest arts festival in the world! We didn't know that when we were booking the trip--I guess that explains why the hotel rooms were really expensive….

But before I head out and soak up all the art that the festival has to offer, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite artsy links from this week. Enjoy!

These gorgeous photographs make me want to travel to all of these beautiful places!

Everyone's been talking about this documentary on stencil artist Banksy for a while. I was supposed to watch it years ago when my coworker first recommended it, but I am finally planning on watching it on the plane.

Another hilarious thing you might want to watch is this Frozen/ Fifty Shades of Grey mashup. It's scary how perfect the syncing is…

Can you believe FX is airing a 522-episode marathon of The Simpsons this week? Ain't nobody got time for that! But The New York Times has created a list of the must-watch episodes and when they're airing so you can say you participated in the event (even if it's kind of cheating…)

My Twitter friend Annelies discovered quite the unique cookbook during a trip at the Georgia O’Keeffe Lake George exhibit at the DeYoung museum, which makes me wonder, does artistic talent have anything to do with cooking talent?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! XOXO

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Weekend Adventures: The Tower of London

This weekend, I saw a 530-carat diamond, and no, it wasn't on Kim Kardashian's finger. After a 40-minute wait in line, we were finally able to walk through the Crown Jewels exhibit at the Tower of London, and let's just say it was breathtaking:

via hrp.org.uk

"Can I keep it?" I jokingly begged Christopher as we stared at the massive chunk atop the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.

"I'll get you one bigger than that one day," he said.

"Nah. I'm happy with the one I have," I replied, holding up my engagement ring to it. "Anyway, you couldn't bring that thing on the subway… what would be the point?"

We ended up spending the whole day at the historic castle, checking out Henry VIII's armor (from his young and fit days to his older and much wider days), wandering in and out of prison cells (so Orange is the New Black of me, right?), and getting a guided tour by one of the Yeomen Warders (commonly known as Beefeaters--which our guide didn't know how they officially got that nickname in the first place).

Our guide--he and his family get to live on the property. I'm so jealous!

As we explored inside the castle walls throughout the day, volunteers were outside planting ceramic poppies to honor the soldiers from Britain and the British colonies who died in World War I. The installation will ultimately feature 888,246 red flowers. So happy we got to see this… it's quite the sight!

A Sea Of Ceramic Poppies Honors Britain's WWI Dead at the Tower of London

10 Beautiful Quotes That Will Make You Want to Travel

I had a phone date yesterday with my friend Megan who is the writer behind the amazing travel blog Bohemian Trails. We were talking about trips she was taking and ones that I was planning this year, and her energy about traveling got me really excited about exploring the world. Megan's been basically everywhere (she's a very lucky girl!), but I've only just begun.

Our convo inspired me to create this blog post. I found these gorgeous travel inspiration quotes designed by others, and since they--along with Megan--inspire me to be more adventurous, I figured maybe you would get as much enjoyment out of them as I do. Who knows... maybe they'll even inspire you to come visit me (hint hint!)

via Indulgy

via Earmark Social

via Etsy

Tastes Like Home: In-N-Out Burger Copycat Recipe

They say you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, and I think that statement can definitely be applied to culinary treats that remind you of home. Last week I kicked off my Tastes Like Home series with a copycat recipe from my favorite NYC sub shop, Jersey Mikes. And in the comments, I got challenged by my sister who lives in Los Angeles to make an In-N-Out burger in my Oxford kitchen. This is one of my favorite burgers in America, so naturally I accepted.

What's in the original (full recipe found at yourhomebasedmom.com):

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions finely chopped
salt, pepper
1/4 C mayo
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
1/2 tsp white vinegar
2 lbs. ground chuck (60%)
4 hamburger buns pickles
1 C shredded iceberg lettuce
4-8 slices of tomato
8 slices of American cheese

What I found at the British grocery store instead:

• Pickle relish doesn't exist here. It's my new favorite game to ask the grocery store employees where items are because I'm guaranteed at least one "what is that?" a visit. The poor stock boy spent five minutes looking around for this and researching it on the computer before telling me they didn't have it.
• American cheese obviously doesn't exist here either. So I just used cheddar and it worked out just fine.

Step 1: Caramelize onions

Step 2: Make the secret sauce by mixing mayo, ketchup, vinegar, and relish (if you're lucky enough to have that).

The picture of the sauce didn't come out, so instead, check out these cute dancing ketchup bottles.

6 Things That Surprised Me About Moving To England

When Christopher first asked me if I'd be interested in moving to Oxford for a year while he did research, I probably should have thought about it harder than I did. But I was just like, "Yeah! That would be awesome!" I think it shocked him as much as it did me.

But it's not just the idea of living abroad that is so exciting this year. I've been wanting to be a freelance writer for a while--there's something so fun about the idea of getting to write for different publications from anywhere (although, not as exotic as I had envisioned, my "office" has been my couch this past month).

Anyway, I'm so excited that my first official published piece as a freelancer is now live! Thanks so much to the editors at REDBOOK magazine who gave me my first assignment. Click here to check it out!

"6 things that surprised me about moving to England as a newlywed" via @jmiller925 http://t.co/9XdWj9lwHj pic.twitter.com/ATWpW1yovq
— REDBOOK (@redbookmag) August 11, 2014

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Fun Reads: August 8, 2014

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein. He was a pretty smart man, wasn't he? The blackboard Einstein used when he did a lecture at Oxford in 1931 (pictured above) is preserved and hanging Museum of the History of Science. We visited it recently and geeked out. 

Other things that had me geeking out this week (in a totally different way):

Somm, a documentary streaming on Netflix about what it's like to take the Master Sommelier exam. While I do enjoy my wine, it's amazing to see all the things I don't actually notice when taking a sip. But these guys spend years studying and memorizing. It's crazy!

Speaking of wine... did you hear the latest about Trader Joe's 2 buck chuck (which I may or may not have bought in bulk in my past)? This is why it's so cheap. Bless their hearts...

But really... one of my Twitter friends did a post on how to throw shade like a Southern lady, and it's pretty spot on. I laughed out loud a few times while reading it. 

And as much as I loved growing up in the South, I equally love that I'm spending my grown-up years in NYC (minus this year of course). I mean, when things like this happen, I get homesick and jealous that I wasn't on that train...

But I'm super happy I wasn't on this one. Shudder.

Plans for the weekend? No idea what we're going to do yet--I think we'll just wing it. 

Have a great one, everybody!

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A Round of Drinks & Selfie With a Real Oxford Native

I had trouble opening up my ketchup packet during date night at the pub this weekend, and handed it desperately to Christopher, who also struggled (I swear the packets are different here!) "Let me have that," an older man sitting next to us called out, grabbing and opening it in one swoop. We thanked him and continued on with our date, talking about insignificant things, while he sat alone, sipping his beer and reading a newspaper about cars. Every once in a while I looked over to see him checking in on us, like he wanted to be a part of the conversation but didn't want to impose.

Finally, we invited him in. "So, are you an Oxford native?" Christopher asked. In the amount of time it took him to say yes, he had moved his backpack over to our booth and asked if it was okay if he sat down with us. "Of course!" we said, moving our plates around to make room. "So, have you lived here your whole life," we asked.

"No," he said. "I'm not dead yet."

We asked him what places we should go to while we're here. "Coco Noir," he said, talking about a little chocolate shop on one of the main streets in our neighborhood. "Tell them Dick sent you, they'll probably charge you twice as much."

Tastes Like Home! Recreating a Fast Food Favorite

They say food reminds you of home, so in between all the bangers and mash and cottage pies we've been consuming, I've been trying to incorporate our favorite meals from home into the rotation each week (ie., my Ritz Cracker Chicken challenge...)

On Monday, I got an insane craving for Jersey Mike's--a chain sub shop that we used to go probably once a week because it was next door to my apartment in Manhattan. I'm a creature of habit and always ordered the same thing: the Original Italian, Mike's Way (their version of the "special sauce," served with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, olive oil blend, red wine vinegar, and spices.) So, I decided to re-create it--it's just a sub after all... it can't be that hard.

Newsflash: it's actually not that hard--if you're in America. But I soon discovered even the most simple ingredients were hard to come by in England.

What's in the original:

What I found at the grocery store:

• Provolone doesn't exist here. Basically the only deli cheese here is Mild, Medium, and Strong English Cheddar. We decided to try the medium. 
• I gave up on prosciuttini and cappacuolo. They looked at me funny when I asked for cilantro last week so I didn't want to make an even bigger fool out of myself this time.
• Pepperoni also doesn't exist here either. It's called salami. How was I supposed to get salami and pepperoni if they were the same thing? So I got salami and chorizo, crossing my fingers it wouldn't be weird.

Step 1: Chop up red onion and lettuce

Making Friends Far Away From Home

One of the things I regretted not packing for this move abroad was my friends. I never took them for granted while I was in New York, but this past month has made me realize just how important it is to have people physically in your life. Facetime and What's App are great, but there's something so necessary about getting together with others--talking, laughing, and experiencing things together. And while they say a husband or wife is your best friend (yeah, yeah..), Christopher and I both agreed we needed to expand our circle this year. And because we know absolutely no one in this city, we knew we would actually have to make an effort.

Weekend Adventures: Blenheim Palace & A Jousting Tournament

Christopher and I found our dream home. Granted, we'll never actually get to live in a place like this, but at least we can visit it any time we want.

We ventured over to Woodstock yesterday--a small town about 8 miles from Oxford--and visited Blenheim Palace where Sir Winston Churchill was born. The HGTV-loving home fanatic in me was in heaven as we toured the inside, walking through the state rooms, dining room, and massive library built in the early 1700s. It was the grandest home I've seen so far. Could you imagine growing up in something this huge? Hide and seek would be AMAZING!

During lunch, we headed outside for some old-fashioned burgers and jousting. I think words would do an injustice in describing the experience, so I'll just let this video I snapped do it instead:


While Christopher sat there geeking out (as he should), I looked around and realized we were in fact the only adults out there without children...

Fun Reads: August 1, 2014

A pretty little scene we passed by in London last weekend

Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? The weather is finally perfect in Oxford (I was nervous about the cold rain when we first got here). We're planning on exploring some nearby castles or palaces this weekend--how cool is it that they're in driving distance? Before we head out on our royal adventure, I wanted to share some fun links with you that I came across this week (many of which are written by my friends who are bloggers... I love being surrounded by such talented and inspiring people in real life and on the web.) Enjoy!

It's nice to know that someone else understands my introvert life...

... and my hoarding tendencies with a strong desire to eliminate clutter.

These recipes made me desperately miss America and our barbecue pit...

...and these grilled strawberry-mint bellinis look pretty amazing too.

Christopher and I are going to London again this weekend, and maybe we'll eat here because my new blogger friend said to...

...and perhaps we'll tour these avant-garde neighborhoods my friend Megan recommended.

My sister brought up the idea/possibility of meeting her in Ibiza this month, which in turn made me obsess over this place. Just look at it!

And we're also trying to come up with an exotic place in Europe to visit during the holiday weekend in August. Got any recommendations?

Have a wonderful weekend!