Welcome to world Paul the Pumpkin

So for those of you who don't know i'm British born & bred - Laura however is an All American All-star so when it comes to Halloween our experiences vary somewhat. For me Halloween was about avoiding kids who knocked at the doors wanting sweets....for Laura it was about costumes, candy and all things frightening! This year however we put differences aside and bought a pumpkin so we could get into the Halloween spirit. It's October the 16th 2011 and our lounge became the carving centre.

Once complete Paul the Pumpkin came to be and started a day of adventure....

As with all good pumpkins Paul's day started with a shower to freshen up, complete with rubber ducky and loofa.....

Then a breakfast of sausages set Paul on his way...

Straight to the beach to soak up the last of the winter sunshine!

From there we took Paul on a whistle stop tour of the world...

On returning from the tour Paul took a moment to deal with a call of nature and catch up with the local news

As the day came to an end it got a little chilly so Paul revealed his inner Boise fan by wrapping up in a 'ever so cute' bobble hat.

It left just enough time to relax and watch the sunset from our balcony

Then we all settled in with a diet coke to watch tv...

Then Paul headed to bed to snuggle up with his Spuddy Buddy.....ah not a bad life for a pumpkin!!!

Laura Turns 23!! Yay!!

October 6th, 2011was my 23rd birthday. It was so amazing, such a great couple of days.

On the 5th, after work, Sarah told me we had to go see her sister in central London to pick something up. I didn't really want to go, but tagged along anyway. We passed the entrance to the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Sarah went into the box office! It turned out we weren't going to see the sister at all, but Sarah had surprised me with 2nd row tickets to my favorite musical! I was so excited and surprised- I didn't see it coming at all!! 

Love!

As usual Priscilla was AMAZING!!!!!! I teared up at the beginning because I was so excited, and sang along the whole way through. Sarah caught me a pink ping pong ball from one of the scenes, and we bought a programme to commemorate the occasion. We went around the stage door after the show and got to meet the cast, including Sarah's childhood crush from the Aussie show Neighbors, Alf from another Aussie show Home and Away, and my favorite character in the show, Adam/Felicia. It was so amazing and I was so lucky!!!

The next morning (the morning of my birthday!!) Sarah woke me up with McD's breakfast, and drove me out to Windsor to get my hair highlighted and cut at a Toni and Guy salon. It was such a luxurious experience and while I was getting it done, Sarah saw (and said hi to) Rhys Ifans from Notting Hill and The Boat That Rocked at M&S!! 

My haircut! I'm blonde again!

From there, we went to Borough Market, and I got to buy all the yummy things there that I'm not usually allowed to get because they are too expensive! We had a delicious sausage butty for lunch.

Mountain Sausage Salami! x3!!

Yum!

Afterwards, we visited the new big M&M store in Leicester Square and took a ton of photos. I felt like Sarah was stalling, and I soon found out why- she'd organized a little surprise party at TGI Fridays for me! Mel and Doug, who were visiting from Australia, were there, and Gabi, my Hungarian friend from when I first moved to London (my black man hunting days, according to Sarah). We had a lovely dinner, and I got to open all my presents! As if today wasn't enough!

Watch out, Orange!!

Abbey Road- M&M Style!

From Gabi, I received some makeup in a cute little leopard print makeup bag! I love them! 

My parents gave me some GORGEOUS earrings, a little pink iPod (with twice the space as my old iPod- a necessity) and a lovely new handbag! Also, they sent a personalised bottle of Rose wine, my favourite, to commemorate my birthday! And a hilarious musical card with a bartender's arm shaking!

Sarah gave me an engraved jewelry box with 'To Laura, with all my love, Sarah xx' on it and a butterfly- it is so beautiful! Inside she also put two lovely pairs of earrings and an Oyster holder to replace the one that got stolen when my parents were here! She also decorated a cake, which was sweet but unfortunately got a bit battered about during our day out.

Lovely prezzies from Sarah!

Birthday cake!

I of course got lots of lovely cards from family too- thank you to everyone who sent me one!

My party!

It was an incredible day, and I feel so lucky- thanks especially to the incredible Sarah, who I'm so lucky to have, and my wonderful parents- I couldn't be more grateful for all you do for me!

My birthday loot!

23 not 25!!

The Thames Festival 2011

When we arrived in our riverside apartment on the side of the Thames on a grey January day we had no idea just how amazing it would be.....the river is like a conveyor belt of entertainment. During the day it's the tourist boats pointing out the sights and at night it's the party boats showing people a good time. However come September and the Thames steps it up a gear and hosts it's own festival.

It was by chance that we discovered it was holding a parade by Victoria Embankment and although Laura couldn't make it I went to see what it was all about. I arrived at Temple underground station and wound my way through the crowd until I found a perfect viewing spot. With a camera in one hand and my phone videoing in the other I was ready to capture the experience- little did I know that night time photography would be quite so difficult!

As the parade started I was blown away by the sound of drums leading the way and what followed can only be described as the weirdest parade I have ever seen- giant skeletons, skeleton horses, rollerskating luminous kids, go-go dancers, aliens, turtles, meercats, dancers from all over the world and my personal favourite a mouse doing the locomotion with frogs (I think that's what they were?!?). The music never stopped and I loved it - and it's already in the diary for next year :)

As if the parade wasn't enough when we woke up on Sunday there was an unusually high amount of boats on the river...after an hour of seeing small rowing boats battling the tide we googled events of the Thames and found out that we were witnessing  'The Great River Race, London's River Marathon, is a spectacular boat race up the River Thames that attracts over 300 crews from all over the globe'   so we pulled up a chair, balanced an umbrella (well it is England) and watched as big boats, little boats, boats with drums, boats with flags and boats that just looked lost rowed past us for hours. I don't think many people get to say they wake up to that!

The visit of my lovely wonderful fantastic parents

I promise we will completely catch up with this blog eventually!!

I (Laura) was very lucky, a month ago now, to have my parents come to stay for my Dad's 60th birthday. They spent a week in London, and his birthday week in Paris. Sarah and I loved loved LOVED having them here. When they arrived, we had a lovely birthday celebration with the family at my Aunt's house in Ascot. They had decorations and my Nan got a great cake- it was a wonderful afternoon out and we all really appreciated it- Dad loved it.

Nan and her son

The familia!

Us four!

The girls and the grapevines

We spent as much time with Mum & Dad as we could, and did a lot of things I didn't know you could do in London- including 3 museums (yes, THREE! Including a maritime museum! Thanks Dad!), had our photo taken at the GMT Prime Meridian, took a Thames boat tour, Greenwich, the scariest play I had ever seen (The Woman in Black- who knew theatre could actually make you scream!!)- oh, and I got my wallet stolen. All good apart from that. Here are some memories for you to check out:

On the banks of the Thames

Us on the GMT line!

Fullers Brewery tour

Trying our hands at bartending

On Tuesday evening, I pulled out the Gordon Ramsey in me and made everyone dinner- and made a cake from scratch which was pretty scrumdidliumptious if I do say so myself.

Dinner at Chez Laura and Sarah

Watch out, Carlo's Bakery!

Heck yes!

Then as a final hurrah! on the evening before they jetted of to Paris, Sarah and I treated them to dinner at our favourite restaurant in London- Kettners (http://www.kettners.com/). All of the food is fantastic, and it has a wonderful atmosphere, its just beautiful- except of course the man peeing across the street, but that can't be helped.

Our celebration dinner at Kettners!

My lovely parents

 One week was not nearly enough time to see my parents, but we had the best week ever, thoroughly celebrated Dad's 60th birthday, and I can't wait to see them again soon!!