9 Bloggers' Afternoon Tea at Sketch

 Laura, of Happy Homemaker UK, put up a post for an afternoon tea she was organizing in London. I was interested, but not sure how I would fit in going down to London one week before our flight out.  I began (gently!) harassing Becky to go with me, so that I wouldn't be walking into a room of total strangers- and when she agreed (which only took a small nudge!), I bought a train ticket and RSVPed. Since our temporary apartment let is in town, I walked over to Harrogate rail station at 7:30AM and caught the train down to London. While this is the first time I've gone to London just for the day, I realized how much I'm going to miss train service and the ability to go to one of the world's greatest cities on a whim. Watching the rolling hills of recently cut hay, seeing church spires, rail  car yards, and seeing livestock grazing in the fields, I fought back tears- but did my best to just soak it all up one last time. 

Anyway- back to the fun! Becky and I walked over to Sketch, located next to East India Company with a rather unassuming and deceptively simple entrance.  Our group was in the Glade room, which provided us with ample conversation to break the ice!

Despite being entirely walled, it had the feel of a screened in porch, which delighted my Southern heart! The sunlight ceiling added to the tamed-jungle feel of the room.

 The wallpaper was fascinating!

The room was dotted with cozy areas set perfectly for conversation.

The bar, adding a modern twist to the outdoor themed room.

Top left: Liz, Sarah Jane, Becky; Top right: Sarah, Sophie, Belinda;
Bottom left: Belinda, Selena, and Robynne; Bottom right: Charlotte and Laura
(see bottom picture for links to these fabulous blogs!)

The afternoon flew by as we discussed blogging, our personal lives, and, of course, our favorite bits of England! Blogs represented cover home decor, gardening, travel, and everyday English life- from English, American, and Australian perspectives!

 The table when we came in. The champagne helped us get over any nerves!

 Delicious fruit scones.

We had several tea trays, in fact, so much that we all had a good lunch and there were leftovers!

The food was just as tasty as it looked!

The ladies:

Clockwise, from top left: Charlotte, Sarah Jane, Becky, me, Sarah, Selena, Robynne, Laura, Liz, and Belinda

not pictured, as she had to get back to work: Louise

I had the best time meeting these other women and finding further connections to keep England alive in my daily life- not to mention seeing Sketch, which was a clever find on Laura's part!!

We were given a quick tour of some of the other rooms, so come back tomorrow to see them!

13 I Made a Vlog... In My "Closet"

I decided to join up with Emily from Hope Squared for her "What's In Your... Closet?" vlog linkup. 

If you know me, and have seen me wear the same eight t-shirts with the same two pairs of levi's that I've had all of for years... you'll wonder why.

Well, it seemed an easy foray into vlogging, as well as a chance to show why I don't have a regular closet.

Hopefully you like it?

disclaimers: I'm not sure why my lips are so red. I only wear chapstick.Yes, I have storage stuff in my closet. It's the trestles to my desk and two boxes of fabric.No, I don't actually wear the booby hat.  It's just from a project in my fabric structure class.I didn't mean to do the Pretty Little Liars "shhh" thing... that was unfortunate.And lastly, I wasn't shedding a tear over the Betsey Johnson- my end-of-the-day mascara had my eyelashes sticking together.
So... thanks for watching?Sorry?

edit: I think Vimeo hates me... that still that they've got as the video image is like I'm trying to drunk-seduce you.  awkward.

8 Farm Delivery Friday May 11 and Homemade Pop-tarts!

Top row: new potatoes, shitake mushrooms, 2L semi-skimmed milk, calabrese broccoli
Middle row: wet garlic, spring onions, grapefruit, cucumbers, lettuce
Bottom row: blueberries, apples, gem lettuce, baby spinach

Our farm delivery from Riverford is something we both look forward to every Friday!

Finally!  I live for fruit- particularly berries. 

These prompted this conversation, one that could only be had by Americans living in Britain:

Me, eating 125g of blueberries: Do you want some of these?

Paul: No, Piggy.

Me: Yeah... I just devoured two and a half pounds of blueberries.

Paul: That container isn't two and a half pounds!

Me: Two and a half pounds worth of dollars, not weight!

Wet garlic is something I discovered here.  Sort of like a garlic version of spring onions, it's not as strong of a garlic flavor as dried garlic but acts as an addition to the dish as opposed to just a flavor.

I love some garlic.

Gem lettuce has a more buttery flavor than regular lettuce.  It's great in simple sandwiches, as it has its own flavor.

New potatoes! I'm thinking au gratin tonight!

Two Saturdays ago I was meeting some friends for our monthly Girls' Night, and, while I was trying to figure out what to make (pretty much always a dessert, I'm a compulsive baker), I remembered this enticing post from Aspiring Kennedy: homemade pop-tarts. 

Now, while I am a sucker for all things sugary, baked, and delicious, I generally avoid processed and packaged foods as well as store-bought baked goods- I figure, if I'm going to have the calories, I want to eat the best.  Packaged and store-bought are rarely the best.

That said, Toaster Strudel and Pop-tarts are things I sometimes succumb to- and instantly regret.

Homemade ones? Yes, please!

Anyway.  I made these:

Sorry, it's a Photobooth pic- I was running out the door!

I made half of these nutella treats with regular pie crust (shortcrust) using the Pie it Forward recipe and half with thawed store-bought puffed pastry I had on hand (I made twice as many as shown).  They were both delicious! 

Since they were such a hit, I had to make more. I had a late(r) start at work on Tuesday, so I thought that would be a perfect day to try a different flavor: apple and cinnamon.

I made the pie crust the night before, and made the double-crust amount from Pie it Forward's recipe.

side note: Gesine Bullock-Prado is a baking genius. Her two books, Sugarbaby and Pie it Forward, are both go-to staples in my kitchen.  Each book also has a blog (link is to her main blog; links to the other blogs are in the right column of her blog), which she uses to give step-by-step pictorials and videos for her recipes. Seriously, she's on my dream-list of people to meet.

In the morning I set the dough out to soften before I showered. When I got out, I rolled out the dough.
Edit (oops!): instead of rolling the dough out over regular sugar like Aspiring Kennedy (and I) did for the nutella ones, I rolled it out over chunky cinnamon-infused sugar.  This added great flavor!

When I'm making apple pie I only use real apples- I'm kind of a baking snob.  However, for these, I thought canned apple filling would be more appropriate.  I lined each section with water (to connect it when I folded it over later) and put a dollop of apple filling on one side of each section.

I used my pastry roller (or ravioli cutter, for you cooks out there!) to press the wet edges of each section together. 

Then I popped them in the Aga, finished getting ready, and threw them in a bowl-

they were such a hit, I've been "given permission" to make them as often as I can!

I bought a few different preserves and chutneys to try next- I'm going to attempt to re-create Paul's favorite Pop-tart, frosted strawberry... it's a tall challenge, but I'm up to it!

Thanks, Aspiring Kennedy!

[If you're not a follower of hers already, check her out! Her blog is chock-full of amazing travel tips, great product finds, and overall fun.  She's American, based in London, but just spent the spring in Paris- luckily she's so charming and kind it's hard to hate her!]

4 Guest Posting at 2 Cats and Chloe!

Today I'm guest posting over at

2 Cats and Chloe-

Susan is currently livin' it up in Florida,

 so I'm taking over her space

(just for today)

to tell all y'all why you should start planning your next trip-

to Krakow!

As we've been traveling our bank account hearts out this past year,

people have started asking Paul and me for travel advice, tips, and locations-

and we've found that we suggest Krakow (and Auschwitz/Birkenau) more than any other place we've been.

So if you're wondering what you're missing by not going to Poland's second largest city,

head over to 2 Cats and Chloe and check it out!

St. Joseph's Church in Podgórze

6 Spreading the Love

Yesterday, doing my nightly catch-up with my favorite blog buddies,

I (of course!) clicked on Mo from New on U-

I love to hear her updates on her wedding planning,

her hilarious tales of her two pooches, Mugsly and Bowser,

and I get serious city-envy from her posts about living in D.C.- one of my favorite cities.

Imagine my big grin of surprise when I saw that Mo awarded me with the Liebster Blog Award!!

Here are the guidelines:

1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs to pass the award to- they must have less than 200 followers.

2. Give thanks to the blogger who awarded you a Liebster Blog by linking back to them.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. List the bloggers you're awarding, with links to their sites.  Leave a comment on their blogs letting them know they've received the award.

5. List five random facts about yourself.

After going through the blogs I read and discovering several gems that are vastly under-followed, 

I've narrowed it down to these five ladies:

Nicole @ I Don't Claim to Know Much

Fran @ Being Fran(k)

Susan @ 2 Cats and Chloe

Emily @ Hope Squared

Erica @ Pocket Full of Chuckles

5 Random Facts About Me:

1. I've always been fairly indifferent to birds- I enjoy them in the wild, but I usually skip the aviaries in zoos and I'm not a fan of pet birds.  That said, I've found myself attracted to bird-related art and decor on many occasions.  In fact, the first two pieces of art we ever purchased are two large images of birds (the first and third pieces from the top of the column on the left), and I absolutely love them.

2. Despite having at least one camera attached to my hand for the past 13 years and spending years studying my passion, photography, I've always wished I could draw and paint as well.  There's something so precious and subjective about a hand-created rendition of a moment, and the expressive, one-of-a-kind movements in the brushstrokes and colors chosen are just as enchanting as the image to me.

3. I collect quotes, and carried a spiral notebook around in school to both read them and add any I stumbled across.  

4. I've been dyeing my hair red since I was thirteen, and I don't hide that fact- but I often have people argue that it's natural, which seems backwards to me!

5. I love electronic gadget noises- the sound a Mac makes when it turns on, Wii "thinking" noises, and especially Tivo noises- after our tv service in the U.S. switched to its own DVR I would actually say "bood-oop bood-oop" when I selected a show.