My niece is cuter than yours

Seriously.

I spent a week in Seattle with my parentals, my three sisters/sister-in-law and all five nephews/niece.

Apparently I was able to solidify my favorite aunt status among my niece Cambry. I'm pretty sure I'm good to go on the other kids. There are two that are too young to verbalize their choice but I can tell they'd choose me too.

Here's official proof Cambry loves me, a letter. (Her mother says she "just wrote what [Cambry] said")

Dear Aunt Shannon,

Today I made cookies. I wish you could watch the movie Nemo with me. It is about a fish. You could come to my house and make cookies. I will put them on a plate for you. They will be pink. Thanks for playing with me at Grandpas house. I like pink. I am a princess. You are not a princess I am only a princess. I love you. You love me.

Love,
Cambry

I dare you to find a cuter little girl. I triple dog dare you.

Here's Cambry in the bunny outfit. Which is of course what you wear on a hot Tuesday in late July, and not just Halloween. Duh.

Unintentionally Funny Advertisements

One thing I like to laugh at is the ads around here. I mostly laugh at them and rarely with them since they're really not that funny.

The one below made me bust up laughing. I don't know if the set up could look more contrived. This is what must have gone through the minds of those who put together this ad.

Stylist: "How can we make this guy look like a manly man. Rugged, all about beef 'cause he's a beefcake himself and we're trying to sell beef. Hum....how to dress him. I KNOW! Let's gel his hair, and put him in a sweater vest. That screams English farmer."

Photographer: "I need more props people. The cow in the background isn't giving me enough dimension. Someone get me a shovel! Let's pretend he's shoveling something."

Graphic designer: "Ok, I've got a lot of shots of this guy, but not too many of beef. How can we sell this......Let's just make 90% of the ad about this guy in a farm. That'll make sense, and it definitely will not look like a catalogue for sweater vests or shovels."

Heard of the Lake District?

William Wordsworth was a fan. So am I. A little crew of us went up there just for the weekend back in June (5th - 6th). One of my favorite trips.

Our campsite was a lovely little spot right next to the lake

Another view of the surroundings

Part of our crew. From left to right: Sian Nolan, Monica Hubrich, Mike Barnett, Joff King, James Freeman, J

Our two friends did a triathalon that Saturday. Go Mike and Joff!

This boisterous family was splashing all over us and interrupted our calm afternoon on the pier. Alas, they should have the right of way.

Me and Mon

Jumping joyously into the lake just before we headed off. (I, the pansy one that hates cold water, was the one taking the picture here).

And then the rains came. This was perhaps my favorite part of the weekend: swimming in the downpour (I think this was Monica and Dave doing flips over the edge).

I was born to be Italian

Except for the fact that I have reddish hair, freckles, and pasty white skin, I fit in wonderfully in Italy.

Back in May (27 - 31 to be exact), Colby Parish, Monica Hubrich, Aubrey Bloom and I went along the Amalfi coast. The food was AMAZING, the company fantastic, and the trip overall a complete joy.

The weekend was full of planes, trains and automobiles (and boats); I came from London through Milan, through Rome through Naples to Sorrento, then to Solerno, then to Paestum, then to Amalfi, then to Capri then to Naples then back to London through Milan again. Spent literally over 30 hours travelling in the four days but again, Italy was great.

It all started with very little sleep the night before, and traveling in my pajamas. Needless to say, I felt a bit out of place moving from fashion capitals of the world (London and Milan), all while wearing my comfy pajama pants. But the first real stop: Sorrento.

Overlooking Sorrento


Night #1 in Sorrento, overlooking the city and sea at sunset, we had an amazing dinner to start off the trip.

View #2 of dinner in Sorrento

View #3 of Sorrento

Aubrey on our bus ride down the coast. I bow to the abilities of those drivers--narrow streets on a cliff + big buses = freaky.

View from the bus.

Paestum, some ancient ruins or something. They are real old. Like, fo real.

Egyptian pose

Check out those lips. Yum.

Most of the sites were beautiful. However, this one made me cringe. Gives the term 'shorts' a whole new meaning.
Paestum
Our second night in Solerno was higlighted by a live fashion show just outside our pizzeria. Unfortunately, no pictures....so here's a drawing to help you get the idea.

Third night we spent in Amalfi. Saw a renaissance parade, I tried to take part. Turns out the Italian women weren't so accepting of that idea. I felt like the step-sister in the crew.


The girls with Amalfi in the background

We thought our first dining night in Sorrento couldn't get better, but then we found Donnastella in Amalfi. Words can't describe the charm, but I'll try. There was fresia surrounding the big patio, lemon trees growing over the courtyard, amazing food, and a band with an accordion.

Our last day we spent in Capri--it was toasty and the sea beckoned to us. That water was ah-maz-ing.

Capri

Capri beach

Our last night, we made our way to Naples. Ah Naples, how shall I describe thee. One word will to the trick: SKETCHY. Never felt so out of place / weary of another city in Europe (so far). I didn't have any pictures of this one either, but you're not missing much. Good pizza though. Drooooolll...

Falling in Love with the Cotswolds

The parentals visited me in London way back in the last week in April. A fabulous time was had by all. They even scored some nice weather (it was touch and go there, but the sun was generally shining).

During their 10-day visit, we spent a weekend in the Cotswolds and then the town of Woodstock to visit Blenheim Palace. For those of you unfamiliar with the Cotswolds, I'll break it down: a series of quaint English towns, surrounded by beautiful hills and countryside.

Here are some shots from the trip.

I love this house. I will live there one day. This, and several of the following, are from the town of Chipping Camden.


I felt like we were walking through the scene in a book. A scene in a Jane Austen book to be exact. I wondered why I didn't rent a period outfit and sit around waiting to be swept up off my feet. I guess that would have been a touch too dramatic. Just a touch.


A thatched roof.


It was a bit cold, but we meandered around and stumbled upon this lovely scenic view.


What kind of place has streets like "Sheep Street"? I'll tell you what kind of place: Chipping Camden.


This house was in the town of Woodstock. We were there for the 900th anniversary of the town, or something. Whatever. Everything is so old here, 900 years probably isn't that big a deal. Ok, it sorta was...Oh. And funny story of the week: we show up to the town late at night, without the hotel's correct name, its address, directions or phone number. Hummm....that was a little tricky. Thanks to some local folks we did eventually find our B&B.


Blenheim Palace. Thankfully we were there for a special medieval weekend event: jousting. Don't worry that everyone else watching had children under the age of 3...


The lovely lake/pond area. I'm gonna make me one of these on my gigantic property when I have a house.


More scenes from the lovely grounds around Blenheim Palace.


All in all, a lovely weekend. More photos from the remainder of their visit to come!

I Live in London, Not in a Movie

In case you were wondering, here are two ways my life is not like a movie....

Public transportation. I'd say 'nough said, but it's not enough said if you don't know what it entails. Think crowds and crowds of people. Nasty brake dust in the tube and never averaging more than 10 miles an hour. Seriously. It takes me 45 minutes to get to my nearest friends' house. In the states, it'd take me less than 4.5 minutes.


Lack of modern conveniences: aka a clothes dryer. Our tiny flat constantly looks like a laundromat with clothes strewn about everywhere. You have to time the washing of "intimates" to make sure people won't be over at your place before they can dry. We also don't have a dishwasher, nor insulated walls, nor double paned windows, nor proper heating, nor AC.

Trip to the Land of Ire

So over the Easter holiday, the first weekend in April of this year, I headed off to Ireland with a few people. It was totally worth it.

Here's the math: 55 hours of work in the 4 days leading to the trip, 20 hours of driving over the weekend, 5 people in a tiny tiny car, 3.5 hours of sleep the night before the flight, 2 rainbows and 1 head cold, 0 leprachans/boxes of Lucky Charms/four leaf clovers = 1 awesome trip.

Blarney castle grounds. Yes, I did kiss the Blarney stone.

Blarney castle grounds #2



The windows weren't so big back in the day.

Some awesome fort.

Some cool random street.

Another random street

I loved the old Irish men.


This dude was just drivin' down the street on his electric wheelchair, and I was jealous. It'd take an electric scooter over a Harley any day. Ok, not really.

Look familiar? Think the cliffs of insanity from The Princess Bride

Some stone slabs