Happy Tuesday!
3 weeks until VACATION TIME!
It’s been a little over a year since we had a big trip,
and I’m so excited to share that Kip and I are heading to London at the end of the month!
Kip has a work conference, and I OBVIOUSLY informed him the second he said that attending was a possibility that my ass would be on that airplane right along with him! Whether he liked it or not, he we were attending that conference!
We have our flights and hotel booked for the week (I’d love to do an AirBnB, but with work I don’t think it’d be as easy to do that for expenses?) but everything else is still TBD.
I’m trying to keep it very loosely planned since we have a lot of time!
We take off on a Friday night, land on Saturday afternoon, and are there until the following Saturday. So luckily we have TONS of time to do whatever we like. Well…. I suppose I have tons of time…. he will be working?!
I am planning on doing my High Tea solo (at Sketch?) when he is working, and also think I might explore Notting Hill solo? And definitely the shopping will be while he is working!
One of my best friends sisters has lived in London for what seems like forever, so she has been a huge help with suggestions, but YOU are always such a help with trip planning, too!
So, please comment or email me with anything that you think we should do, places to eat, day trips, things to avoid, WHAT TO WEAR, anything! I’m desperately trying to figure out what to wear…. seeing as it’s 87 this entire week, I am not prepared for low’s in the 40s and rain!
Plus….. all of my previous international trips with TONS of walking I’ve been able to wear sandals, and sneakers are not my jam. And I worry my booties will hurt my feet after a little while….. but I’ll stop rambling about the clothes for now….
Juicing. Now, just that word bugs me. I am not a juice person. I will not do a juice cleanse or juice detox and I don’t even think that JUICE is that good for you (you lose the fiber, often times a lot of nutrients, and you can pack a TON of sugar into one glass).
Now, when I eat my fast food I KNOW what I’m doing and choosing to do so. But why would I pay to drink a sugary, processed, pesticide drink that pretty much tastes like crap or possibly decent at best? Not worth it.
Not preaching, just saying, some things are worth it (cheeseburgers) others are not (juice that is bad for you that they are making you think is good for you).
BUT.
I have been intrigued by all of this “celery juice in the morning” nonsense I keep seeing everywhere.
But juicers can get PRIIIICEEEYYY. Breville seems to be the go-to so I found a reasonably priced option and went for it.
I ordered this Breville juicer off of QVC so that I could try it out for a few weeks, but ultimately return it if it turns out to not be for me.
A huge negative is the sheer SIZE of the damn thing – and we do not have a big kitchen with lots of storage. Not a pantry in sight……
Also, the CLEANING of the thing. Woof.
BUT. With it assembled it takes no time at all to juice a package of (ORGANIC) celery. Like, seconds.
And no, it doesn’t taste good. It tastes like celery. Do you eat plain celery? I sure as hell don’t.
I dip that in a bucket of ranch or smother it with peanut butter.
So no… it’s not good.
But I don’t mind drinking a small glass of something that tasted bad if it’s good for you.
I first came across the Celery Juice perks through Melissa Wood Health, but apparently it all originates from the Medical Medium. I downloaded the celery juice podcast to learn why it is so great, and be able to share it all with you, but he spent about 45 minutes just shouting diseases and then saying CELERY JUICE!
Seriously…… it was like this :
ARTHRITIS?! CELERY JUICE!
FROZEN SHOULDER!? CELERY JUICE!
INFLAMMATION!?! CELERY JUUUIIIICEEEE!!!
and it went on and on…. and on……. with no reasoning behind any of it.
I was ready to drive my car off the road.
if that is his way of getting you to buy his book and read all about it, that ain’t happening……
So here is a blog post he wrote summarizing the benefits.
SO. I Am on day TWO of drinking about 6 oz (half a bunch of celery) and you are supposed to built yourself up to 16 oz.
“They” say to drink it first think in the morning on an empty stomach and to wait 15 minutes before eating breakfast.
I rinse everything right away to keep it from sticking, and then can wash it with soap and water later or clean it while I drink my juice. So the clean up isn’t as bad as I had thought. It’s just a lot of pieces and I need to figure out where to store this bad boy instead of on the counter.
Oh!
And line the little trash thingy with a grocery bag or a produce bag to make for very easy clean up! I’m glad the little instruction book suggested that!
So I am only two days in, which means this could be a hard no any day now, but we’ll see!
It’s easy enough as long as I have the machine set up in the morning.
I’ll report back…..
but I promise….. I will not be “juicing” and drinking a bunch of juices.
And send your LONDON rec’s please!!!!
If possible tour Buckingham Palace obviously, it’s only open when the Queen stays at Balmoral part of the year. It’s really beautiful. Also we did fancier restaurants right off the bat and the food isn’t great, I would recommend more pub fare for price and quality.
Thanks so much for the suggestions Lindsay! Good call on the food – I’ve looked at some of the restaurants and thought “ehhhhh”!
Obviously you have to go to Bumpkin (a la Ladies of London!) I went there pre-Ladies of London back in 2011 and remember really liking it! If memory serves correct, they do a “Sunday Supper” that was really cozy and delicious. Please also go find Kate & Will 😉
I’ve also had luck w/the “Petty” Chelsea Bootie by Sam Edelman – I have the tan ones (and am on my second pair I love them so much!) they
are super comfy and I can walk around all day in them 🙂
Have fun!!!!
Thanks so much for the suggestions Meredith!! I actually just ordered those booties in the Shopbop sale and am so glad you love them – it’s hard to tell without wearing them (and then not being able to return) if they’ll be comfy, so I’m so glad you like them so much. I was thinking about Bumpkin I’ll definitely add it to my list 🙂
Fitflop f-sporty uberknit in black- comfiest shoe ever, in between a boot and sneaker, don’t look bad on! They have them at Nordstrom and everywhere else. I’m going to Europe in a month and bringing those and now looking for a pair of leather fitflop boot/shoes for when it’s really rainy
Thanks so much Jenny I appreciate it!!
As you know I was just in London and it was amazing. I’d say do Sketch by yourself if Kip isn’t up for that, but you also don’t have to do the pink room. We sat in a front room where they took walk-in. There is also a bar in all three rooms on the first floor, be sure to go to the bathroom there too. I did some damage at Topshop while I was there and a couple local boutiques. I’m still working on a post about what I bought in London and Paris. Have so much fun and DM if you want for more suggestions. Oh and bring a couple scarves, I saw fashionable girls wearing scarves and plaid like crazy.
http://www.forthewonderer.com
Go to dinner at The Edition Hotel. I’m blanking on the name of the restaurant. We went twice because we loved it so much. Do a Sunday supper/roast, Soho house has a good one. Sketch was great for tea but expensive. I saw a great tea that is in a double decker bus so you get sights and tea. It wasn’t running the week we went. Have a lot of pub beers. Go to Liberty, Barbour, all the UK brands, etc.
I was just in London a few weeks ago and the temps were already v fall-like! Dress in layers and people in London go for it, I felt the need to dress up more than I would living in Chicago. I stayed in Mayfair which is an affluent neighborhood with a bunch of celebrity hotels, restaurants and clubs. It’s a small neighborhood so good chances of seeing someone (I saw Blake Lively and died). Kensington and Portobello Market are worth visiting (my husband was semi bored at the market so may be a good one for solo shopping). Oxford street has great shopping. Covent Garden is really busy and can be touristy, but if you have a lot of time may be worth going to. Best fish n chips – The Mayfair Chippy (and I don’t even like fish n chips). Go to some classic pubs, they’re everywhere but Churchill Arms in Kensington is actually really cute and has pretty good Thai food, there are a bunch in pretty much every neighborhood but we found some lively ones in Mayfair. I also ate at Bumpkin and would reco, also echo that fancy food isn’t worth the $ there. All the parks are awesome to walk around in too and they have city bikes you can rent if you want. If you have time for day trips Oxford and York are close enough to go by train and are v cute, plus you get to see some of the gorgeous English countryside. Enjoy!!
London is one of my favorite cities! We spent almost a full day at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Definitely less crowds than the other museums – lots of interior design artifacts, furniture, art, etc. They also have a lovely cafe! Mayfair is super cute so definitely walk through there. We took several long walks through Hyde Park – lots to see and do. You can get really close to Kensington Palace. We stayed near the Gloucester Road tube station – really cute neighborhood with cute pubs/cafes/houses. We got really good indian food at Little India near there. West End shows are great – we went theater to theater until we found a great last minute bargain before show time. We took a walking tour with an actual guide (just google) but we also brought Rick Steve’s books which were super helpful – lots of walking tours and blurbs about historical things/must sees/things to skip. Also recommend a day trip to Oxford – I studied abroad there and it is so so cute. Enjoy!
Tower of London for sure – you can see the Crown jewels! We also did a tour of Buckingham (check to see if it’s still open), and of course Westminster Abbey. Harrod’s was AMAZING and we loved eating in the food court there – not the typical mall food to say the least.
Going to London at the end of December.. Please post recap of what you did/where you went!
I definitely will!!