the hummingbird bakery

a tiny store under a pink awning tucked quietly away down portobello road in notting hill might be the lone cause for me gaining 5 extra pounds while on this side of the atlantic.

darn those red velvet cupcakes for being so tasty.

all you need is...

love.

location: Abbey Road

current happiness level: 10

number of cars we stopped to take this picture: too many

how lost we got trying to find the crosswalk: very

how many Beatles' songs i had stuck in my head that day: all of them...?

being there: the best

 

a little bit of pixie dust

if you're thinking this wasn't your normal, average production of peter pan...you'd be right.
it was better.
i won't give you an in depth enough low-down of the play, but this review does.
basically my favorite parts were:
a. their scottish accents
b. tinkerbell was a ball of fire
c. the coolest lighting effect to make peter look like he was underwater that was kind of the best thing ever
and d. 10 pound tickets

lost boys forever!

the scottish play

think Knots Scary Farm meets Shakespeare with a bit more gore and Scottish accents and you've got the basic framework for The Globe's production of Macbeth.  fabulously acted and interestingly portrayed, we as groundlings got the full effect being 2 feet away from the stage and sticking our heads through a tarp to keep most some of the blood off.

yes a tarp.

we were heads in hell.

all in all it was pretty great.

or maybe Macbeth and Malcolm were just ridiculously good looking.
who knows.

the madness

Poli Sci lets out at 11:50.
English is next.
Lunchtime.
Quick, run down 3 flights of stairs.
Fight off 6 other people to find 2 pieces of bread.
Grab a knife and dip into some peanut butter, jelly, honey, nutella or a mix of all of the above.
Eat. 
RUN back upstairs.

hey if you only had 10 minutes between two 2 1/2 hour classes you'd do it too.
{I guess we should probably start using napkins down there on the battlefield to curb some of the carnage}

scotland

welcome to EDINBURGH, Scotland
(EH-din-bur-uh)

home of:
edinburgh castle

the moffat-mobile

sherlock holmes hats

the chocolate soup

rogue bagpipers

botanical gardens

the birthplace of harry potter (more specifically the elephant house)

and party mustaches

dandelions wishes

am i the only one who has always wanted to catch this on film?

museums:

a couple of museums thus far:
(1) The Churchill War Rooms

think WWII history + a personality study + the coolest technology meets this little museum tucked away a couple blocks down from Trafalgar Square
a MUST

(2)The Imperial War Museum 

how could this museum not be cool that looks like this??

Awesome exhibits on WWI and WWII that we looked through and check out the Holocaust section if you can, it's definitely recommended 

oh and they had a piece of the Berlin Wall out front

Change your life.

Consider it done.

day trip catch-up part 2

ok this is catch up from friday the 21st:
Runnymede, Windsor Castle & John Milton's cottage

for those of us who didn't know what Runnymede was here is a sign to help you out:

 aka: the Magna Carta was signed somewhere here abouts

we might have had just as much fun frolicking in the field as we did at the monument

possibly more.

Next WINDSOR CASTLE

very old, very cool

favorite part = changing of the guard (all 30 minutes of it) 

  

last stop: Milton's cottage

it was actually very quaint, but by the time we got there we were all so tired this was mostly what we did:

 

day trip catch-up part 1

alright i admit it, i've been horrible at posting this week and i'm reaping the reward this sunday afternoon...i think i've posted 5 or 6 times today so far, ugh.
ok, here's from wednesday the 19th:
Stratford Upon Avon & Oxford (aka Hogwarts)

Stratford was full to the brim with Shakespeare, but I preferred the river Avon to the poet's birthplace personally:

i mean wouldn't you?

then to Anne Hathoway's cottage, Shakespeare's wife, not Princess Diaries

Now OXFORD

 boys playing cricket

talk about some serious grass stains on those white uniforms 

does this look familiar to anyone else...?

s

say hello to the Great Hall of Hogwarts conveniently located at Oxford

so we just thought we'd have a spot of tea and cake while we were there.
no big deal.
life is wonderful.

a little burrito of home

reasons to smile: 
Chipotle has make it to the UK.

not as good as in the states, but still the same lime chips.
cheers.

3 days last week

who still hasn't blogged about our 3 day trip last week to western england?  
oh yeah, me.
and since we're leaving tomorrow for another 3 day trip to scotland i figured i better get on top of this.
here it goes:

{Day 1}
Chauten, Winchester Cathedral and Bath

What's in Chauten you might ask?  Only Jane Austen's humble abode

the whole gang out front

Winchester was quite literally gorgeous from floor to ceiling.

Bath felt like you stepped into a time machine.  Roman architecture is  everywhere and i highly recommend the museum and it's extremely stylish audio tour devices

 the Royal Crescent

making a fashion statement at the roman bath museum

{Insert stay at Bath Hostile, which was a bit dingy, but better than expected} 


{Day 2}
Glastonbury, The Tor, Wells (NOT Wales) and Ilfracombe

Glastonbury: home of 'King Arthur's Grave,' sarcastic monks and the mystical Tor

the ruins of Glastonbury

Stopping to smell the flowers on our way up to the Tor
 

Due to the fact that we climbed more than our fair share of stairs that morning to reach the Tor a photo shoot at the top was more than justified to make up for our burning lungs and thighs

Next was Wells Cathdral.
Beautiful.
No pictures allowed.
I did however eat a Cornish Pasty (soft 'a' please) which was divine

Last was Ilfracombe. 
My favorite stop of the trip because:
a. it was on the coast

b. Giovanni & Luca italian restaurant 

c. Sunsets & my feet in the sand 

d. Jack Johnson playing in the shops and Quiksilver posters in the hostile pretty much making me feel right at home 

{Day 3}
Goodbye to Ilfracombe, Tintagel and Exeter  


Dear Ilfracombe,
I will miss you, but not the traditional English breakfast we ate while we were there.
Love, Carly

Next Tintagel, fake castles and drop offs on all four sides

and the only picture i really like from Exeter...is the door

 el fin