Scotch Beef is Back

Remember this poster? Well, here's round 2.

Stylist: "Ok. The hair gel last time was a bit too much. Let's put him in a hat. And we have to do a vest again. Vest screams farmer. Yeah...in earthy tones."

Photographer: "Don't even think of taking away the shovel. That MADE the last shoot. Where is it? I need the shovel. That's what farmers do. They shovel. Good...we've got the shovel. Let's pretend he's shoveling more stuff."

A UK Thanksgiving 2010

Last Thursday, while Americans were off already nibbling on leftovers, napping, watching football (the American kind), or just plain enjoying their holiday, I headed off to the Old Dairy Pub after work.

The place is just down the road from my flat, but I hadn't visited before. And boy, do I wish I'd discovered this place earlier! The atmosphere was great and the food was even better.

Even though I was pretty homesick that day, I did remember some things I was thankful for. Like...

My awesome friend/roomie: Monica Hubrich


Ah-mazing pub food

De-LICIOUS sticky toffee pudding

Keat's House

Now that it's winter, I'm dreaming of the fun warm summer days I spent wandering about the city with joy.

For example: the day I went to John Keat's house (July 17, 2010) and watched an outdoor
performance about Keat's life by a couple actors. It was all perfect timing since just the week before I saw a movie about the poet (for all those period drama lovers out there, check out the movie Bright Star).

Lounging out in the sun, where the poet actually lived near Hampstead Heath followed by a nice lunch in Camden market with two of my best-ies (Dave and Erika) and it was a pretty lush day.

Erika and I messing about outside the house.

California Love

I went to LA for the last week in October. It was a quick trip for work, but I was able to fit in a few nights out to see friends / family in LA and Huntington Beach.

I knew I had arrived in the states, and particularly California when the airport announcements were in English and Spanish, the 'single room' I was staying at in a hotel was about the same size as my flat in London for 4 people, and I saw the plethera of fast food joints and restaurants I yearn for when I'm in the UK.

Anyhoo, the pictures below aren't in any particular order, nor do they best represent the trip (I have only one picture with a person - shout out to Jason), but here are some highlights. And yes, I know. I'm obsessed with American food....

A view from the window of my 9th floor suite. Yes, I did see the sunrise. And yes, the only reason I was up early enough to see the sunrise was because of my jet lag :)


Check out that pool. Ah-maz-ing. Unfortunately I always got home too late to really test that sucker out.


The bathroom. Yes, a roomy room with a bath. We should rename these things in London to be called "Small area with a toilet" or perhaps the "smoilet" for short. Thoughts?

Check out this room; I was rolling around the floor in joy of the amazing amount of space.


The bed. You might be able to tell from the looks of it, but in case you still don't get it: I was in heaven sleeping in this thing. Remember, I have a huge thing for comfortable beds. This one gets 5 stars.

Good ol' U-S of A. Land of the free, and home of the: toilet seat cover. it's the little things you miss.

Had a burger, sweet potato fries and root beer from "The Office". It was taaaasty!!!

Driving at 70+ MPH! Never averaging more than 10 mph when traveling around London, this was amazing. (And no...this picture was definitely not taken while I was driving. Definitely not).

Aaaaand to balance that, here's me driving at 5mph in traffic in LA. Ok, so there are drawbacks to cars...

Pork Salad from Cafe Rio. 'Nough said.


Classic run with Jason Ramin to Pinkberry. New coconut flavor gained my approval.

Sour patch kids. You've expanded your product line since I left. And I love you all the more for it. But the originals are still my favorite.

Target. What can I say other than your logo exactly corresponds to what you offer: it's on the bulls eye my friend. Love, love loved the one-stop-shopping here.

All in all, a fun trip and probably a bit too short. But I'll be back again, America! Don't you worry.

I like doughnuts

Lately I've become obsessed with the doughnut. Its sweet pastry qualities mixed with frosting and even topped with sprinkles (the good kind), makes these things pretty tasty in my book.

Saw these at the grocery store a while back and could resist a picture. How genius is this marketing? Maybe it's a bad sign, but I figure if these things get the nod from the old Homer Simpson, then I'm definitely bound to like it as well.

Unfortunately, I think Homer and I have similar food preferences...yes, he is an overweight cartoon man, mocked for his stupidity and eating habits. That's sad. I know. So...maybe this marketing doesn't appeal to a broad audience afterall. But it works for me!

An Insider Tip: Tower of London

To visit this awesome landmark in London (the Tower of London)...


You could (A) wait in line, and pay a chunk of change or (B) skip the whole paying too much and waiting in line part, by going to the church service in the chapel inside for free!


This is was a few friends and I did way back on Sunday, July 11, 2010. We rocked up in our church clothes, walked past the line, and went right on inside for the service. It's got an amazing choir, filled with world renowned singers. Awesome experience and a great way to spend a Sunday morning, before our own church services!

And in case you're wondering, there are a bunch of notable persons buried in the chapel, like Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard (both wives of Henry VIII) and Lady Jane Grey. Nothing like aspiring to God in a former prison / execution site!

*Note: if you don't have a paid ticket, you won't get access to everything inside, like seeing the Crown Jewels. But, if you're coming to London on a budget, this is definitely a cheap option to seeing the most important parts of the Tower.
**Note 2: We also saw a famous actor here worshipping: David Suchet. (I know him as Hercule Poirot. Poirot mom, not Parrot).

Bad Customer Service #2

I know I've already blogged on customer service, but I needed to do it again.

I was really annoyed with my cell phone service, but instead of getting irate, I decided to be cheeky with the customer service rep. I have to admit, it made me giggle. Which was better than make me fuming...Alan, bless his heart, when he did eventually show up, wasn't able to help me.

Here are some screen shots of our conversation.

At the top of my wish list

I saw this little gem on the tube the other day: an armadillo purse. And yes...I believe the owner was an American woman from the south. Was that even a question?

I was on a boat!

Way back in August, during a bank holiday weekend, a few of us took a cruise to Esbjerg, Denmark. We hadn't booked anything else for that weekend, so why not, right?

Well, the "cruise" was really a freight ship with some rooms, the journey was 12 hours there and 12 hours back (after spending 4 hours on shore), and let's just say the boat was a rockin' ALL night long. I think we all got seasick and I know I didn't get a wink of sleep for fear of falling off the bunk the whole night, but it makes for a good story :)

Along the way, we did do some fun things. Like...

We enjoyed our amazing view from our room. Yes, the deck which overlooks some awesome freight boxes.
We had a dance party

We watched a balloon artist make animal balloons for the 5 kids on board. I don't know of a worse job: child entertainer for an overnight ferry.

We copied weird street signs. You got that right people. No "parkering" here.
We saw the one thing to see in Esbjerg. 4 giant status. Here's the view from the back.

Here's the 3/4 profile

And here's the front view.

I discovered the only situation where I will willingly touch a bare foot that's not my own.

We learned modeling techniques from Monica

We walked the very quiet streets of Esbjerg. Note: if you ever happen to visit this tiny industrial port in Denmark, don't come on a Sunday like us. It's really, really....no seriously really creepily quiet.

We tried to learn Danish in Danskeland. We did not succeed.

We saw some nasty looking posters for the hot dogs. Even with a genuine recommendation that these were good, we opted for other food.

We took random pictures in a pub. I like this picture of Monica. I also liked that fizzy drink.

We say rays of light. As Lou says, God must be blessing those fish.

We had fun! The crew: Monica Hubrich, Lou Hough, me and Jeff Lark