The Very Best of London | according to me

Having lived in London for a year, I often find it hard to sum up what I'd do if I had one week in the city. London is amazing and there's just so much to see and do. After some thought though, I've come up with my top recommendations. A lot of websites will fill you in on the popular tourist attractions, but here are my personal, perhaps less well-known, favorites. If I could go back today, you'd find me doing one of these.

+ Walk along the Thames at night. The city can be surprisingly quiet on a week night and there are twinkle lights and benches along the way, it's the perfect refresher after a long day of sight seeing.

+ Go to church. You heard me! Pick a huge, beautiful church and attend a service. Not only is this a free way to see churches like Westminster and St. Paul's, but it's an awesome way to experience a bit of English culture and see incredible architecture.

+ Go to market. Borough Market is a must if you're craving a taste of British and/or other ethnic foods. It's the most renown food market in all of England and it won't disappoint. Covent Garden is one of my favorite spots with live music, food and plenty of booths for buying a souvenir. You can learn more about London's markets here.

+ Relish Primrose Bakery. A couple blocks from Covent Garden sits the little Primrose Bakery. If you follow my blog and/or Instagram, you've probably heard me talk about it. This place is perfect for a traditional cup of tea and a delicious cupcake or two (raspberry coconut, amazing). I kind of feel like it's a hidden gem, but then again, the three tables inside are often full.

+ Enjoy a park. Everyone's heard of Hide Park, but my favorites are Regent's and Green Park (right next to Buckingham palace). And if you happen to be in Wimbledon, my haven, Cannizaro Park. In spring or autumn these parks are bursting with life - their beautiful trees and lawns just beckon for a stroll or picnic. You can find out more about London parks here.

+ Finally, if you have the opportunity, venture outside of the city! The rolling English countryside is one of a kind and a day trip to Bath, Oxford or Dover is well worth it. Some of my favorite memories are the Roman Baths, Jane Austen's home and having a pint at The Eagle and Child, where C.S. Lewis frequented. Coach tickets are cheap and there are always several time options for every day.

So there you have it, somewhat of a nut shell of how I'd spend my time if I had one week in London.  Of course, if you can manage a year, I highly recommend it. ;-)

Michaela Rae

A Jubilant Jubilee Weekend

It's been a fun Jubilee weekend. First off, I admit, we didn't go to any Jubilee events, but I've still genuinely enjoyed the patriotic spirit and cute flag draped homes. Originally we wanted to try and catch a glimpse of the royal family today, but the weather was cold and very wet. We opted for a day in with friends for lunch and church life group that we host. Besides, yesterday we got our share of crowds at one amazing Coldplay concert. Remember that anniversary surprise I had up my sleeve? Well, those were the tickets, and I successfully surprised him. They seriously put on an awesome show, complete with confetti, huge balloons, fireworks, and colorful-rhythmic-flashing bracelets for everyone in the crowd.

I wanted to quickly say thank you to everyone who's been leaving thoughtful comments (and Facebook messages) on my more recent blog posts. I know I haven't responded to each of them individually, but I really appreciate the encouragement you've offered. I decided awhile back to open up a bit more on this blog, and I haven't regretted it. It's so uplifting to know that you're willing to not only read my posts, but to also offer support as well.

Michaela Rae

Victoria's Visit to London in Pictures

The last 10 days have been manic, but in the best way possible. Now Victoria's on her flight back to Florida and I'm reliving the fun times we had.

Covent Garden all decked out for the Queen's Jubilee. 

Kurt came with us to Stonehenge and Bath.

Our favorite spot, Primrose Bakery.

My coconut and lime cupcake.

Sex Tips For Husbands and Wives from 1894

Anniversary "calligraphy" at Jane Austen's house.

It was sunny and warm every single day of her visit, which was really kind of ironic. I think she brought the weather with her because today it's overcast again. I loved the weather, but I think she was a little disappointed that she didn't get the true British experience. 

Kurt and I intentionally waited to do several touristy things so when friends visit we could do them for the first time with them, it made exploring London with Victoria a lot of fun. We even made a trip to Jane Austen's house in Chawton, Stonehenge and Bath. Which I think was all of our favorite day. 

I think having Victoria visit will help hold me over until we get back home. Seeing friends has a way of doing that. We especially had so many good talks and proper girl time; I doubt I'll be throwing myself anymore pity parties for awhile. In fact, I feel more excited and ready for our summer adventures now.

I hope you all are having a great week!

Michaela Rae

Sharing London

This week I'm a London tourist again with my dear friend Victoria. She arrived from Florida on Tuesday and we've been traipsing all around and taking way too many pictures. And I'm pleased to say, we even saw the back of the Queen's head as she exited Buckingham Palace in a horse drawn carriage. No big deal. The city is looking so patriotic and festive this week, everyone is gearing up for the Diamond Jubilee. I love it!

It's a lot of fun showing someone from back home all the things I've grown to love here. Victoria notices all of the same things I noticed when we first arrived here, like the cute little kids following their parents on scooters and the obvious driving on the wrong side of the road. Most of all though, it's just nice to be in the presence of someone who knows me from somewhere else. Someone who's seen me in a different context and that I don't feel like I have to explain as much about myself to. I can relax a little more and let my Southern roots shine.

I wish friends from home could visit me every week; they help me remember that I'm known and loved.

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you're enjoying some awesome adventure this week.



Michaela Rae

One Month In

With today marking one month since arriving in England, I've been reflecting on our time here and figured it was a good time to blog. :-)

I'm beginning to really warm up to life across the pond. Big things like being with a best friend who I can share all my new experiences with, landing a job and finding community, have been really helpful. Small things are also helping me feel at "home" more each day, things like: Skype calls, a date night out for fish and chips, learning the tube and train routes and so on. It's amazing how much we (I'm assuming it's all of humanity) cling to familiarity. I think it's good to have it pulled from beneath us every now and again. Having my habit-slate wiped clean has given me the opportunity to re-evaluate what I hold dear and start afresh in certain areas.

My friend Kaitlin, who recently married and moved to Holland, told me that living abroad would put Kurt and me on "the fast track to becoming one." She wasn't kidding! It's such a great way to start our life together. Although being newlyweds and living in another country means more challenges, it also means the experience of being here is worlds more fun. I would gladly take the challenges over being here by myself. In much the same way that a long-distance relationship pushes you to learn good communication fast, being here is pushing us, in many ways, to build a strong marriage. And seeing as we're stuck together anyway, why not start now? haha.

I thought it'd be fun to share my first month in Instagram photos. So here we have it!

What are some ways that you stop and re-evaluate what you hold close? Oh and I'm curious what motivates you the most to work on building your marriage or relationship(s).

Michaela Rae

P.S. Thanks for all the book suggestions! I went to the library with a vary ambitious book list for only a 3 week loan. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), The Hobbit and A Severe Mercy were already on loan, but I found Austen's, Love and Friendship, and Dickens', A Tail of Two Cities. :-)

Recently

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was great; mine was :-). Instead of touring ourselves to death, like we nearly did last weekend, Kurt and I decided to have a lazy Saturday. We slept in, ate breakfast for lunch and laid around in our pjs reading and talking for the majority of the day.

As usual, after spending some time on Pinterest, I was inspired to bake. Don’t you love Pinterest for that (mine)? So for the fourth time that week (I’ll explain later), I ran to the grocery store to get ingredients for Pumpkin Pie Coffee Cake with Crumbled Pecan Topping. Doesn’t that sound like the best thing ever? I gathered what I needed but couldn’t find the pumpkin for the life of me. I soon discovered that CANNED PUMPKIN IS NOT SOLD IN THE UK. Or at least not at the three different stores where I then proceeded to look. Talk about heartbreak, I was depressed for a good two hours. 

Can you imagine Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? Neither can I. I found online stores that sell Libby's Canned Pumpkin but they're all a bit spendy. Have any suggestions? Or know of a recipe for making pumpkin puree from scratch (I might just be that daring). And in the meantime, I’d love if you made the Pumpkin Pie Coffee Cake and let me know how it is. The recipe's here.

As for frequent grocery runs, that’s just the way it goes around there. We quickly discovered that Morrison’s was going to be our second home when considering that food is sold more fresh here, we have a dorm room sized fridge and carrying two bags of groceries up 4 flights of stairs is enough for our poor American bodies.

We've decided to attend Queens Road Church, and we're pretty excited about it :-). I love how integrated it is, young and old, obviously from all walks of life. People seem really down to earth and have been really welcoming. We've already gone to a Life Group that they have during the week and on Sunday we went to the park with a group of 10 or so to eat lunch. Good community was one things at the top of our list when looking and it definitely seems we'll find it there. Oh, and it's a three minute walk from our flat, nice bonus. :-)

In other news, you guys should really consider going without internet at your house for a week so. It's been quite great. You'll find more time to enjoy reading, talk to your spouse (haha), play board games (Rivals for Catan is really fun), go for walks, and just reflect. :-) Although we'll probably have internet by the end of the week, I'm going to try and spend less time online knowing how it benefitted me the last 3 weeks. 

Cheers! 

Michaela Rae

Flat 3

Today I want to give you a virtual tour of our flat! It's been crazy trying to settle and we don't have internet in our flat yet - it's made blogging difficult, so I'm really excited to show you these photos. I also have many future blog posts in mind, I can't wait to fill you all in on everything.

Our living/dining room area before and after we moved in. 

Excuse my painting supplies on the right...hehe.

Our itty bitty kitchen. On the left we have our sink and fridge, right our washing machine (funny, huh?), stove and oven. 

Our bedroom. Yes, that's a pink bedspread, haha. Kurt was ok with it because it was the only one we could find for 12 pounds. 

The guest room before we put all our empty luggage in it & stood the bed up on itself and put it against the wall so we could put a desk in for Kurt. Don't worry, when you come to visit we'll make it all pretty & cozy for you.  =D

And that's about it! I don't have pictures of the bathroom yet, haha...but you're not missing much. I love having a little home; this is really the first time we've settled since being married. I must say though, homemaking is more work than I expected. Did I mention our flat is on the 4th floor? At least I don't have to worry about fitting in a daily work out. We've only been here a week and I can tell I'm "getting in shape"...it's great!

On our first night in the flat we invited Kurt's friend, Daniel, over for dinner. Kurt met him 3 years ago on a bus when he was visiting London and they've kept in contact since (a very Kurt like thing to do). Daniel brought us several little house warming gives: bread pudding, a bottle of chardonnay and a really delicious smoothie drink called Innocent Smoothie. It was fun to have a visitor and in a strange way it made us feel home. I'm praying we have many more visitors to our flat. ;)

Here are a few other pictures from the week. 

We don't have a dryer, so hang drying it is!

Central London

Flat view

Flat warming gift

Cath Kidson shop in Wimbledon Village

My two new favorite things

Michaela Rae

Settling in to Life in England

Ello from London!
The last few days have been a blur, but we've made it in one piece to our home for the next one, possibly three, years! We've been learning how to open a bank account/transfer funds, use the bus and tube system and the best way to flat hunt. Today's been exciting and I feel nearly recovered from jet-lag so I wanted to share some about it.

Yesterday we started to feel discouraged. All the flats we viewed were either out of our budget or too far from transportation. To make matters worse, most of the letting agents we spoke with were a little greasy. We weren't sure we could trust anything they said. But today the cloud finally broke over-head (actually, literally, it was sunny), we found a flat in Wimbledon. It's right across the street from the tube station, in an awesome part of town, on the main road full of shops and restaurants, has two bedrooms (something we definitely weren't expecting) and move in day's tomorrow! Kurt also excited that it's located above a Subway restaurant, haha. It's in need of cleaning and cute decorating, but all things considered, a great catch. I'll be sure to post pictures soon. It's such a relief to have a home.

After finding the flat we decided to venture into central London. The city is beautiful by night! A bit different than I expected but I love it. I snapped a few photos but I can't seem to load them now. I'll be more on top of things in the future. ;-)

England is beautiful. I knew from the moment I looked out the plane window, and saw all the clay-shingled roofs and luscious green below, that I'd like it. I've also been surprised by how friendly people are. I love all the conversations you have throughout the day on the tube, in the grocery store or waiting in queue. I definitely don't feel like a fish out of water as much as I expected I would.



Cheers!
Michaela Rae

Link up to my sister's blog to share your Thursday adventures: Alicia's Homemaking.