London, First Peek

Yesterday we made it to London! The flight was pretty painless baby-wise since Lois slept almost the entire way, but woah, it was a bumpy ride! It felt like we were in a speed boat on rough waters much of the flight.  But I just put my headphones on, turned up the music and tried to take those bumps in stride along with the beat.  It's great to be here now. We're staying in the same place, in the same neighborhood (Bloomsbury) as last time, so it was really neat to walk around last night and this morning and know our around.  A very good feeling when you travel, or in this case, move to a new country!  Woah, that sounds weird still.  Can't believe we live here now.  Here's a peek from yesterday's ride and the neighborhood this morning.  It's very cold here (with a bit of snow on the ground!), but it looks like it will be a beautiful day.

At My Grandma's

Yesterday I went over to my grandma's to check out her new house. You might remember that she moved here last year, and moved into my mom's. But she decided she wanted her own house and found a great place right nearby. She's one crafty, decoratin' diva (more about grandma here). As you can probably tell, more is more is her decorating philosophy! Here are some pictures around her great, new house.

And a blurry, grainy me attempting to take pictures!

Hawaii

We had a great, short trip to Hawaii, and now we're in Atlanta.  We'll be here one week before we leave for London. Hawaii was just as I expected--amazing weather and just beautiful in general.  The water and sky were so blue, and it was great to be on a beach where it doesn't get crazy hot (or too cold like in SF).  Here's a last look at Hawaii.  Do sunset pictures ever get old?  I think I took about 50 of them!

Greetings From Hawaii!

Aloha!  Our plans probably seem confusing--you might be thinking, wait, you're moving to London but going to Hawaii on the way?!! Well, obviously it's not on the way at all, quite out of the way, but Andrew needed to attend a conference here this week, which just happened to fall right before our move.  I almost didn't tag along because of the LONG plane rides we'll be taking from here to get to Atlanta and then London, but I sure am glad I came now.  It's so beautiful here.  Hi 70s, sunny, breezy--perfect.  Me and Lois were in bikinis and flip flops earlier today.  I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that attire in January, but it was great.  Here are a few pictures from today using my iPhone.  More pictures coming soon!

Lofty London Thoughts -- The Big News!

Some of you already know this (or have figured it out from some comments), but my big news is that we're moving to London!! I haven't mentioned it on my blog because we've been waiting on our visas, which will arrive today.  I didn't want to say something and then have to say, uh, just kidding, in case something didn't work out!  We'll be in London by Feb 1.  The move begins this week.  We're heading to Hawaii this weekend (for a conference that Andrew's going to), then we'll go to Atlanta for a week to see family and friends, and then to London.  I haven't had much time to look for apartments this week, but as soon as we get there, we'll be on the hunt.  I hope we can find something decent, with two bedrooms, that we can afford.  It's so expensive there! I'd love to live someplace like this amazing house here--a girl can daydream, right?

The Pickled Hutch is Back!!

You may have noticed it's been a while since I posted about The Pickled Hutch. You might remember that Lisa closed up shop to start a new venture for a while, but Lisa has re-opened The Pickled Hutch! And she even re-opened in her old Pacifica location. The shop has a whole new look, though.  Everything is airy and bright and filled with the colors of the sea and sunset--perfect for its beachside location--cool shades of blue, whites, yellows, reds, pinks. You can practically feel the sun on your face and the breeze in your hair when you're in there. And of course, everything is time-worn and loved, just like we like them, right? Here's a peek of the NEW Pickled Hutch. Lisa, I'm so excited for you!! Click here to see a lot more pictures of The Pickled Hutch in its previous location.

PS. That's not my big news, by the way, though it is big news.  Mine is coming soon! Maybe the day it happens--eek!

The Pie Queen

Lois The Pie Queen.  Great name; great food.  That's where we ate lunch last weekend.  And, mmm, mmm, it was get-down-good.  Fried chicken n' grits.  That's what I had.  I only wish they had t-shirts with the logo so I could get one for Lois. Oh well, no t-shirts, but that's okay.  Just wanted to show you how fun the sign was.  I've been too busy to post much, but I have some big news to tell you soon.  Maybe early next week I'll spill the beans (or grits!).

Big Sur

The last few weekends we've been re-visiting some of our favorite places in California that we went to when we first moved here, and one of those great places is Big Sur. We went to Big Sur yesterday and it was just as beautiful as we remembered. Big Sur is on the coast along HWY 1 between San Francisco and LA. It's one of those places that looks fake in person--the water and the sky are so blue; the hills and cliffs are so grand. California is beautiful! Here are a some pictures with our Canon 7D and then some with my iPhone (using Shake It).

And some of my favorites!  Dew drops on a spider web, using a macro lens.

Shake It iPhone pictures:

For some pictures, I experimented with using both cameras for the same shot, which was a lot of fun.  Like these below:

And, last but not least, the loves of my life.

PS. There are so many cool iPhone photo apps.  Just check out this blog with a ton of information!  Also, you can read about some apps here and here.