the big 3-O...MG!

I love birthdays, especially my own! Never in a million years did i think we would be celebrating my 30th birthday pregnant (sober) and in London- but we did and it was amazing and a tad overwhelming! The birthday surprises kicked off at exactly midnight with Tom bringing out a cheesecake (my ultimate craving- P.S. my birthday was a diabetic free day) with a 3 and a 0 candle lit on top as my in-laws, on one computer, and one of my bestest friends on the other, sang happy birthday to me via skype! 

As I was eating my cake surrounded by my 3 favorite men,  Tom handed me two cards - one from him and one "someone asked him to pick up".

this is the most perfect card b/c when your 9 months preggo, you can't do much more than sit on the couch! 

First order of business on the big birthday was to go for our last ultrasound. I planned this appointment purposely as a little gift to myself... i mean who wouldn't want to see their baby on their birthday. Well, not only did we get to see Jackson, but we were also told that he will be arriving a little sooner than expected, and by sooner i mean he is days away from arriving!!!!!!!!!! Excited, Nervous, Happy, Scared, Surprised, Overwhelmed... is it even possible to feel all this at one time?

Well after that emotional roller coaster, a birthday nap was a must!

And now for the main event...  As it was Tom had taken the day off work to spend it with me, surprised me with song and cake,  was cool, calm, and collected at the drs office (at least one of us pretended to be),  cooked  up some pancakes for lunch, and made sure Elvis arrived here safe and sound- what more could a girl want. Afternoon tea at The Ritz perhaps?! YES PLEASE!

 English afternoon tea is a serious tradition here in England and the best, most luxurious place to tea... none other than the legendary Ritz hotel. Once you arrive, it is completely understandable why there is a 12 week booking wait to have tea here. You feel like you have entered a movie and are about to sit for tea with the Queen. Little finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off, mini pastries and scones, cakes, jams, and of course all the tea you could ever imagine. It was a real life tea party complete with silver tea pots, elegant china, a pianist, and waiters dressed in suits with gold buttons, tails, and white gloves. It was AMAZING!

30th birthday, 36 weeks preggo

so proper

Even though it was tough not being surrounded by my friends and family- my 30th birthday was definitely the best birthday ever because I was able to share it with the three most important men in my life.

OUR BABY IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahaha who got scared?! i couldn't resist. By baby I mean fur-baby, ELVIS! Elvis is finally home and the 4 of us couldnt be happier! He was so excited when he saw us and tom called his name- i couldn't even hold him b/c he was going crazy! After the first hour of excitement had passed, he settled down and has been jetlagged ever since. Well, i dont know if its jetlag or just having the peace of mind that hes back with us, or just resting up after two months of puppy humping, but he is sooo tried and is very content sleeping all day and night- and honestly now that he is here and is safe i am too.

Its not just Tom and i who are happy to have him back- Jax has been kicking more the last 2 days since he has arrived. I guess he missed hearing his bark and snoring :o) London finally starts to feel like home.

we went to the pet store and Elvis got to pick out a treat

The Food Crawl

Being 8 1/2 months preggo theres not much that excites me more than food :o) Turns out London is known for its markets. there are dozens of famous food markets, flower markets, clothing markets, a huge Mexican market, organic markets, and... I cant think of any other type of market, but there are a lot. Borough Market is the biggest and the best food market in London. Go there hungry and indulge in all the fresh made cheese, chocolate, bread, pastries, spices, meats, sweets, sandwiches, and fresh sicilian style pizza (closest we've gotten to NY pizza) you could ever desire. Soo good... we spent 2 hours there just walking around sampling!

Try to find Waldo (me) in these next 3 photos

british summertime drink

 

gross

just too funny to pass up

 Next stop on the food crawl.... the search for the American Hot Dog

If you know Tom and I, you know we love hot dogs- we had a dirty water cart at our wedding for goodness sake :o) Well here the Brits love there sausages but can't do a hot dog to save their life. the hot dogs here are mushy, gross, and usually served on a baguette. well after speaking with our first friends in London (yes, we have friends, two of them- they are from new york but they still count) they mentioned that they shared in our need to get a real hot dog.

We found a review that claims this guy... The Dogfather... makes the best American style dogs in the city- we had to see for ourselves. Well, and hour and 15 minutes later we arrive at this little street market and dig our taste buds into some close tasting NY style dogs. I mean the hot dogs were good and totally worth the trip and the 10 pounds for 2, but nothing will replace the dirty water or Yankee stadium dogs.

Blue, the Dogfather mascot

this guy was cooking food in the back of this mini car and people were waiting in line for it!

Royalty for a day

Finally!!!!!!!! Since we first decided to move to London the only thing I wanted to do was go to Buckingham Palace. How could you not... a really fairy tale goes on in there (at least in my mind there does). Queens, Princes, Princesses, and i am sure there are some singing mice dressed in little t-shirts who help with the chores. Anyway, we went! The Palace staterooms, where the Queen spends most of her time, are only open to the public from July to October while her Majesty is vacationing in Scotland. Why the Queen vacations in Scotland is beyond me- why not Bali or Figi- I dont get it, but again, I digress.

The Palace was awesome. It was surreal to think that you werent walking through a museum but the actual residence of the Queen.  When she return to the palace all of the coverings and red rope are removed so she does not feel that she lives in a tourist attraction. We were able to walk through the main entrance, walk through various rooms she uses to entertain, not to mention we were in the actual room where the royal wedding pictures were taken. And the of course there was THE DRESS. The dress was amazingly beautiful, elegant  and so small! of course no one was allowed to take pictures while in the palace but, Tom tried until some other tourist squealed :o) Needless to say, the palace was cool, the gardens however, a bit disappointing.

.

Our Countryside Road Trip- yes, I did just say "countryside"

Since we have moved here we constructed a list of To Do's- places we have to visit and things we have to experience during our time here. Well this past weekend we marked a whole lot of sights off the list. Our first car rental experience was our trip to Bournemouth so the next was to the countryside.

First stop....Windsor Castle.
If your me, or any of my friends, and you visit England, Ireland, or Scotland one of the first thoughts popping in your head is- I have to visit and possibly sleep in a castle! Well, the Queen and the Royal family actually still do stay in Windsor Castle, but its sooo not the castle we had in mind. Windsor Castle looks like a castle from the inside, yet its very much a museum on the inside. It's settled in a very quaint town with a lot of tourist shops and high end designer stores. Now, don't get me wrong its a cute town to spend the day, but if I had my own castle I want it secluded from the rest of the town by a draw bridge and moat. Also, a dungeon and fire breathing dragon of some sort locked in a tower are both a must- not so much at Windsor Castle.

  

wannabe moat

yes, he did this

the crooked house

Next stop....Stonehenge

Stonehenge is something we had to see because it is so close and after all it is Stonehenge. We got suckered though. we paid 7.50 quid (slang for pounds) each to see a bunch of rocks standing up- the same thing we saw from the street for free. Word of advice for your visit- save the money and just get out of the car on the side of the road. However, if you do decide to go in- the gift shop has the most amazing lemon and raspberry curd!!!!!!

it took about 15 pictures to get this right- he was not happy!

Rest Stop....Farm House

For those of you who know me you are probably like- WTF?! yes this is true- we slept at a farm house B&B. It was cute, comfortable, and different. In the morning after our homemade English Breakfast we got a tour of the Polo Pony farm we were staying on.


Last stop....Oxford

Not so much the college town that the US may be thinking. More like Princeton with the small town feel- little cafes, restaurants, and shops. Really pretty to town to just spend the day walking around... we bought Jax a shirt from his future alma mater :o)

scenes from Harry Potter

carfax tower- does carfax really sponsor this tower? we climbed the 100 steps to find out

ok picture 100 steps on a narrow spiral staircase and....

and giant preggo- not a great mix

 On our way out of Oxford we stopped at the restaurant that Lewis Carroll became inspired to write Alice In Wonderland.

following the white rabbit

"you're late, you're late. for a very important date"!

look closely at this picture......

we didnt see the white rabbit, but we did see George Washington crossing the Delaware!!!!!!!!!!!!