Coming Home

Yay for our new flat! We live in Angel, right in the center of Angel!!! BEAUTIFUL! Gorgeous neighborhood. A couple of door down there's a piano teacher that gives lessons on Saturdays. Above us are two older women that have done an amazing job landscaping our back garden. A couple things about the new house:

Pros:

Newly refurbished

Heated floors

Awesome lighting

Tons of built in cabinet space

Large 10 person dining table

Wine fridge!!!

Cons/maybe Pros really:

You have to factor in 10 minutes to get into the house because there are 5 locks you have to open.

My bedroom doesn't officially have a closet

You have to go down stairs to get home

In order to keep our street quiet, they've put size restrictions on all streets towards ours. Needless to say. IKEA truck was not too happy!

All in all, I love my London flat!

(That's my new flat mate...Cecilia)

Starry Eyed Surprise

For those of you who have wondered....what's Simon been up to? Well he's managed to visit twice so far for almost 3 weeks at a time...as promised! So there's 2 parts to Simon's last visit, this is Part 1. But before Simon's last visit, it was our 3 year anniversary. I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers!

When Simon arrived for my birthday, he planned an amazing dinner at Claridges, one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants (http://www.gordonramsay.com/claridges/)! We both decided to go with the three course meal but at the end it really felt like a six course meal. Let's say the chef is gracious in between the courses, letting us snack. I had a pate to start and then for our main course, Simon and I both had the "Crispy Suffolk pork belly, roasted langoustines, crushed white beans, fennel purée, lemon and sage jus."

After dessert, I got a special treat from the kitchen...a mini birthday cupcake! What a great surprise!

And then Simon decided to reveal his next surprise. I knew I needed my passport and had to wake up at 4 in the morning. After a gazillion guesses, I finally figured it out....(continued in Part 2).

All Along the Watch Tower

One last hurah before the GEP crew had to move from our amazing digs near Tower of London. Since most of us were still in the area, I decided to throw a shindig to celebrate!

Lots of great friends...and friends of friends, diverse backgrounds, and a variety of beverages. It all came together with the international sport of Flip Cup! There was strong representation from Finland and Canada!

Mad props to Vanessa - the hero of the party. She came with gourmet snacks in hand to feed the hungry! What a night! When the beer ran out....where else did we go but Shoreditch....