Breath...rhythm...normalcy?

Yeah, so it's been a wild couple of weeks!!! I keep thinking there is something else I need to pack for or get ready to do or something...but amazingly, I am staying here, in London, for 3 weeks without going anywhere. Then there's a tiny blip of a business trip to Paris, friends visiting for 4th of July, and possible trip to Milan, but for now, I have 3 weeks to chill.

I had a great time in the US - landed Thursday the 15th and went straight to check out SJP's line of clothes, Bitten at the nearest Steve and Barry's in Wilson, NC, with a car-full of friends - it was great! $9 for everything in the store, very happy. Friday went in to work, out that night with people from work. Saturday I got up and went camera-shopping with my mom - mine had pretty much bit the dust so Mom sprung for the replacement as a happy birthday - thanks Mom! I ended up with a Fujifilm and I reallly like it - best deal there, and is everything I wanted and more.

I drove up to Richmond to see some college friends which was so much fun! It was my friend's husband's surprise party, so I got to hang out with her and another friend I hadn't seen in over a year, and my good friend from DC drove down. Really good trip, all in all. Sunday I drove back in time to meet my family for picnic after church, and see some people from the church I used to work for in Apex.

Monday through Friday was nose-to-the-grindstone working, with nights out to Durham a couple times, family dinner with my brother, dentist and doctor checkups, meetings, and planning Mom and my trip to Lyon and Geneva :D

Friday night, Mom and I both got on the plane for London, and the fun began. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun with my mom. It was awesome. We hit the ground running - Saturday we walked through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace through the mall/gardens to Trafalgar Square, stopped for brunch and took the tube home. Napped for 30 minutes, then went back out to Portobello market, met a friend for coffee, headed back home and relaxed, then went out to buy groceries and whack the pavement with our asses as hard as possible. Er, that last part was only for me, and really freakin' painful. There's this thing called traction. My awesome new sandals I bought in the US? They have none. My tailbone still hurts when I bend down to pick something up. :(

We cooked a yummy dinner and watched "Enchanted" - LOVED IT! such a hilarious movie! We laughed so hard I think we kept my flatmates up. Whoops. :)

Sunday was wake up at 9, um, 10, um ELEVEN and get out of the house just in time to get down to Southbank to watch a really cool Shakespeare 'collection' piece at the Globe theater. So cool! Then we did this walk through that area to see a bunch of cool sights, crossed Tower Bridge, saw the Tower of London, and headed home. Cooked another yummy dinner, and hit the sack - this time not attempting to even set an alarm clock. Which was good, because Monday was not a day to be remembered for it's weather. So we slept late, ate breakfast, and went to Harrod's! Ate lunch there, bought chocolate and ooh'd and ahh'd at things priced way beyond reason.

Tuesady I had to work, Mom spent the day at the British Museum. We met a friend for a drink at a pub, and went home to pack and wake up in the middle of the night puking because we forgot you can't drink alcohol while on antibiotics. Er, again, that was only me...sigh...

Wednesday was up at 6:30 to make it to Paddington to take the train to Heathrow. Can I just say how AWESOME it is to live 10mins walk from Paddington station?? Makes such a difference. Would have had to get up at least an hour earlier anywhere else I've lived in London. anyway, flight was fine, landed in Lyon, found the hotel, and the sun came out to show off an amazing Old City - loved it! Walked around, shopped, dined, talked, took photos, it was great. Thursday morning the sun was out again so we wandered through the 262 acre park that has a zoo, botanical gardens, and rose garden!! From there it was on to the museum of fine art, since the sun bowed to the clouds, and some shopping, and then blind spots leading to a migraine from stressing out about work while on vacation. Um, yes, that was just me again.

Friday we got up, took a taxi to the train station, and then a taxi back to the hotel and back to the train station since I forgot my cell phone. Thank you, I know how brilliant I am, no need for accolades. Arrived 2 hours later in Geneva, in the rain, found the lockers to leave our luggage, and tried to decide what to do in the hideous weather! Decided to try a museum, walked outside, and the sun came out to show off another amazing Old City. :) We were soo lucky! For the weather to be as bad as it often was, it was perfect when it needed to be. We took a boat tour and wandered through the cobblestone streets - so much fun. Met up with Zach and Marcy and their newborn, and wandered through the city, stopped for a drink, and met up with some of their friends before heading back to the house for dinner.

Saturday was local winery touring with Zach in the morning (in the rain) and then mom and I headed back into the city, and of course, the sun came through the clouds as soon as we got there so we could go up to the top of the cathedral and see the view and have another perfect afternoon. :) Dinner, highlighting fondue, that night, and early bed for early flight back to London on Sunday.

We landed, headed back home, I napped, mom un/re-packed, and we walked to buy some souvenirs, drop them off, and head over to Kensington Palace for afternoon tea with champagne. So much fun!! Then it was kill time by shopping, have a cappucino, and go see Sex and the City the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, it met my expectation of a really long episode, lots of clothes and shoes and relationship/girl talk. I feel like I need to watch only football for a week though to re-balance the estrogen levels.

So mom left Monday morning, I went back to reality at work, and tonight I just finished playing my guitar for the first time in a while and figuring out how I can afford to stay in this flat after the price goes up in August, because I really really really really really love living here....