Dubai

The chilly fall weather has arrived in England. So this was the perfect time for David and me to escape to warmer climates! We asked ourselves, where could we go that we wouldn’t normally be able to travel to if we were living in the states? Our answer – Dubai!

Dubai is a 7-hour flight from London, so we took the overnight flight last Tuesday to arrive in the UAE Wednesday morning.

Driving through the city on the way to our hotel, we felt like we had just time travelled to the future. Dubai is unlike any other city in the world. It’s so new and so clean. I have never seen so many skyscrapers in my life… and I’ve been to NYC! Even the fancy, fully air-conditioned metro stations looked like something out of the Jetsons!

I have always wanted to stay at the Atlantis. David and I even researched trips to the Bahamas when we were living in the states. So once we chose Dubai as our warm-weather getaway location, our number one hotel pick was the Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah.

There is a section of my Dubai guidebook entitled “Audacious Projects” and while we were in the UAE, David and I were continually amazed at the number of record-breaking projects we saw or heard of. For example, one of these project is Dubailand - a multi-billion dollar entertainment theme park scheduled to be completed in 2020. It is planned to be twice the size of Disneyworld in Florida. In other words, enormous! I can’t wait!

The first “audacious” project David and I saw was the Palm Jumeirah. It’s basically a massive palm-shaped island complex. It may qualify as the 8th Wonder of the World due to its size. It’s one of the only man-made structures visible from space. The craziest thing is there are two more, even bigger, palm projects in the works.

The Palm Jumeirah.  Atlantis is situated in the top center of the ring.

#2 is Atlantis itself. Atlantis opened a couple of years ago to a fireworks show larger than that of the Beijing Olympics… so you know it had to be awesome! The hotel is absolutely amazing. The hotel has its own waterpark, aquarium, dolphin habitat, helicopter service, luxury shopping avenue, and 17 different restaurants, bars, and lounges. Everything you need is right there!

The view from our room.  The hotel not only let us check in super early,

but also upgraded us to one of the top floor rooms.

Beautiful glass sculpture in the Atlantis lobby

We literally did not leave the hotel for days. On Wednesday after checking in, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the waterpark, Aquaventure, which is free for all hotel guests. We grabbed a double tube and floated along the rapids river and then went on a couple of water roller coasters before heading to the hotel’s private beach for lunch and a dip in the Arabian Sea.

There are a few award-winning restaurants inside Atlantis, including upscale Japanese eatery Nobu. David and I went to Zuma in London for my birthday, which is very similar to Nobu. But I have to say, after enjoying dinner at both, I liked Zuma better. Both have really inventive, fun dishes but Zuma’s lobster miso soup, spicy beef, and “popcorn” with yuzu salt can’t be beat!

After dinner in the lobby in front of the aquarium.

On Thursday, we slept in and then headed down to The Burger Joint (TBJ) for lunch. We both tried the wagyu beef cheeseburgers. I don't really know what the big deal about wagyu beef is... it was good but we've had better burgers.

Hotel guests also get free admission to Atlantis’ aquarium, the Lost Chambers. So after lunch, David and I headed over for an exclusive hour-long tour of the chambers. The aquarium was pretty extensive, and the décor was all created around the theme of the lost city of Atlantis. The largest tank holds all different kinds of fish, sharks, and sting-rays and winds around the hotel so there are viewing areas in the Ground lobby, one of the restaurants, and the coveted Super Suites.

David admiring the aquarium.  He could've stood there all day.

That's a big ray!

After our tour, we headed back to Aquaventure to feed the sting-rays. Since David and I have already been swimming with the dolphins, on this beach trip we decided to try something new. So after a quick security and information briefing, we stepped into the shark tank at the bottom of the Mayan-style pyramid to feed the rays. The sharks stayed away from the shallow area of the tank where we were, which made us feel safe and sound. The rays were not shy at all though! Once they smelled the food, they swarmed around us, even popping out of the water for a snack! Some of them were getting a bit frisky and started sucking on our legs and thighs, trying to get our attention. It was a lot of fun!

A kid being swarmed by the rays

David found a new friend!

After our session with the rays, we worked up the courage to go down the Leap of Faith thrill ride that drops you from the top of the pyramid down a tunnel through the shark tank.

Right before our "Leap of Faith"

Dinner Thursday night was at Ronda Locatelli, where we were joined by TV celebrity chef Giorgio Locatelli himself for the launch of his White Truffle menu. White truffles are so rich, so David and I opted out of this menu for our main courses but we did have the white truffle bacon bruschetta to start and I had the white truffle zabaglione for dessert.

On Friday we finally left Atlantis to explore the city. Friday was the clearest day of our trip thus far, so we lucked out that this was the same day we had reservations for the Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world was our #3 record-breaker.

To get to the outdoor observation deck on the 124th floor, we had to take a ride on the fastest elevator in the world – Record #4. We went 0-124 floors in 60 seconds. Our ears popped about three times on the way up. You don’t quite realize how fast you’re going until the elevator starts shaking. Scary!

When we came out of the elevator, we were immediately shuffled outside to the observation deck. The first thing I noticed was all of the other skyscrapers far below us. I had to keep reminding myself that the buildings we were looking at are some of the tallest buildings in the world, yet we were looking down at them. It was hard to wrap our heads around how high up we really were. Plus, when we looked up, there were still a ton of floors above us! The 124th floor isn’t even close to the actual top of the Burj Khalifa. Being up there made us truly appreciate how far mankind’s achievements have come in the past couple hundreds of years. It’s hard not to believe in the impossible when you’re standing on the top of the Burj Khalifa.

View below from the 124th floor outdoor observation deck

We saw our fifth record-breaker from the observation deck – the World island project. The World is coming together quickly. We could actually make out the shape of South America and Antarctica. The islands will all be privately owned and start at $10 million.

And again, I need to point out that David did so well on top of the Burj! I kept telling him that he didn’t need to go outside; that it was no big deal as long as he used his prepaid ticket to just go up in the elevators with me. But he actually really enjoyed the view and the overall experience.

David is soooo going to win the Volusion around-the-world T-shirt contest

And for continuing to conquer his fear of heights (he can’t really go much higher now), his reward was…

Middle Eastern Taco Bell (sorry for the Pepsi cup, Dad)

That’s right! The Burj is right next to the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world (Record #6). The food court literally has EVERY restaurant you could ever think of, including all of our favorite American chains – Macaroni Grill, Potbelly, CPK, Texas Roadhouse, etc.

80% of Dubai’s population is made up of Expats from different countries. People can’t help but be drawn there by the 0% income tax incentive. Because of this cultural diversity, the city contains different restaurants and shops from all over the world. And with all that extra money not going towards taxes, people have a lot more disposal income to spend on shopping. The malls are the main tourist attractions.

After wandering through the Dubai Mall, but avoiding Candylicious, the world’s largest candy store (Record #7), we grabbed tickets for the Dubai double decker, hop on/hop off, bus tour.

Riding on the top of the bus

After passing Wafi City, an Egyptian-style shopping center, David and I hopped off the bus at Dubai Creek for a cruise in a traditional wooden dhow.

That looks familiar...

In front of our dhow

While cruising along the waterfront, we heard all about the history of the creek, from a small fishing community to a thriving trading hub. As Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world today, it is common practice for traders to unload their goods on the docks and leave them there until they are moved into the souqs or loaded back onto the boats for their next port. I couldn’t believe all of the goods we saw just sitting around, completely unprotected. Everything from carpets to refrigerators… As most Dubai residents are foreign, the threat of deportation is enough to deter anyone from stealing!

Dubai Creek

After our cruise, we got back on the bus headed to the Dubai Museum, housed inside an 18th century fort. I think the fort is the oldest thing in the city, which further emphasizes how young Dubai is.

Here, we hopped off the bus for the second time to walk through the Bastakiya quarter. We joined an Arabian Treasure walk, where our guide first pointed out the ruler’s court across the street. Then we walked behind a mosque to discover a Hindu temple complex. This mixture of religions demonstrates how tolerant Dubai is compared to the rest of the Middle East. It was refreshing to see the practice of freedom of religion in an area surrounded by controversy.

Wind towers, early air conditioning systems, in the Bastakiya quarter 

Then we walked through the textile souq before crossing the creek in a water taxi, or abra.

Crossing the creek on a crowded, open-sided abra

On the other side of the creek, we first walked through the spice souq, where David and I bargained for some vanilla tea and apricot/peach tea. We finished our Arabian Treasure tour at the gold souq, where we saw the world’s heaviest gold ring (Record #8).

Here we got back on the bus and drove past a couple more malls before getting to the beach. We caught a glimpse of the sheik’s beach-front home and the Jumeirah Mosque, the only mosque in Dubai open to non-Muslims. We also drove past the iconic Burj Al Arab.

The Burj Al Arab was the world’s tallest all-suite hotel at the time of construction (Record #9). It is also rumored to be one of the most expensive buildings ever built, although this cannot be confirmed because the cost has never been revealed. It’s a 7-star hotel that sits on its own artificial island, has gold columns inside, an underwater restaurant, a helicopter chauffeur service, and a restaurant suspended in mid-air over 1,000 feet off the ground. You’ve probably seen the ridiculous video of Tiger Woods hitting a golf ball off the roof or Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing tennis. To even step inside the hotel, you must have reservations for tea, cocktails, or a meal and a strict dress code is enforced. Obviously, David and I only admired the Burj Al Arab from afar!

The Burj Al Arab from the Atlantis beach

Our final stop on the bus tour was our own hotel, Atlantis! After we hopped off for the last time, we had dinner at French bistro Rostang. I had the lobster bisque and goat cheese gratin. David opted for the crab claws and steak frites. For dessert, we walked around the corner for some Coldstone! Even though I’m a Marble Slab girl and worked there for years in college, I had to hand it to the Atlantis Coldstone crew. They actually flipped the ice cream in the air and batted it over to the mix-in station. Why haven’t they opened a Coldstone or Marble Slab in London yet?!

On our last day in Dubai, we headed to the Mall of the Emirates to see Ski Dubai. Only in Dubai would you find an entire ski village inside a mall. This was the tenth record-breaker we saw – the largest indoor snow park in the world and the world’s first indoor black diamond.

Keeping with the cold weather mountain theme, David and I had a traditional Swiss fondue lunch at Apres, a restaurant overlooking the slopes.

We then cabbed it back to the hotel to take one last walk through the complex to check out Dolphin Bay and Aquaventure beach. Then we grabbed a couple of tubes to go through the rapids and the Torrent wave river. We ended our time at the waterpark going on the Shark Attack ride one last time.

Dinner was at Atlantis’ Saffron restaurant for Asia, Asia night. This was a casual, buffet-style restaurant offering food from all over Asia. The best part was dessert! The dessert table offered sweets from Asia and the Middle East, including peanut butter soup (strangely delicious) and a giant chocolate fountain!

To end the trip, after dinner we grabbed a couple of cushions at Levantine Terrace for drinks and shisha. We ordered the fresh pineapple hookah and enjoyed the downtown view with all of the buildings lit up at night.

This was another once-in-a-lifetime trip for us and we had such a great time together savoring the food at the award-winning restaurants, acting like kids at the waterpark, and relaxing on the sandy beaches of the Arabian Sea. To see all of the pictures from our trip, click here.

Babies!

When I was in Austin for work a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend two very special occasions – the Sylestine’s baby shower and the Watson’s baby dedication.

A lot has changed since David and I moved to London a little over a year ago! When we moved, none of our friends were even pregnant! Now most of our friends have babies or are planning to have babies, and Molly and Jeremy are preparing for the arrival of their baby girl Quinn!

One night I met up with the girls for dinner at Molly and Jeremy’s new house, so I was able to see Quinn’s adorable nursery. I couldn’t believe how much baby gear had already taken over the Sylestine home! But Jeremy had to remind me, “She’s coming in seven weeks. We’ve got to be ready!” And less than a month from today, Quinn will be here!

When I got to Austin, one of the top priorities on my shopping list was a gift for the shower. Even though the Sylestines had registered, I was still really, really lost and confused in the store! I didn’t understand what half the stuff on the baby registry even was… I must’ve spent about thirty minutes in the blanket aisle alone! Between swaddling cloths, regular blankets, receiving blankets, security blankets and bedding blankets, my head was spinning! Who knew babies needed so much stuff?

After that adventure, I headed straight to Sonic for a cherry limeade and chilli cheese coney and called David to say goodnight. And though I can’t say he was jealous of my shopping trip, he was mighty envious of my lunch!

Then on Friday night, I reunited with all of my Austin girlfriends to help set up for the shower at the Gristy’s new place. We planned and cooked and decorated!

The diaper basket

In lieu of a card, guests were asked to bring a children’s book. Being the avid reader I am, the girls joked my future baby can expect a Kindle at their shower!

The shower turned out great! I finally got to meet Ali and Andrew’s baby boy, Caleb, and Sarah and Hoon’s daughter, Greta! In the past six months, the Floyds and the McHams have also had baby boys! Before David and I got married, we joined a church class for engaged couples and now I think everyone in that class has had their first child, except the Scott’s and the Vennes’. I’m hopeful they’ll hold off until we move back!

Precious baby Greta in her playful pink tutu

Because of the high percentage of baby boys in our circle of friends, David is convinced the ultrasounds are wrong and Quinn is going to be a boy too! Let’s hope he’s wrong…

David and I have always said that we want to be surprised by the sex of our baby, but after seeing all of the cute shower decorations, the beautiful nursery, and the pretty little girl clothes the Sylestines received as gifts, I may be changing my mind.

Our future children will definitely be dressed in either UT cheerleading uniforms or jerseys. Jeremy's a UT alum like us and since Molly attended Baylor, he mom sewed up both of these outfits!

All of the couples that hosted the shower

Allison used her crafty paper-cutting machine

to create these Quinn onesies

Jill learned how to make the hanging poms by watching YouTube videos

The morning after the shower, I went to church to check out the new Sunday school class led by Jordan and attend Declan Watson’s dedication. Although our church, Riverbend, believes more in a ‘baptism by choice’ when children are older, it was important for the Watsons to honor Jen’s Catholic heritage and baptize their child as a baby too. David and I also grew up with these different traditions. He was baptized when he was 7 but I was baptized in the Methodist church as an infant, so it was great to see this compromise and get an idea of what to do in the future for our own kids.

Dave Sunde, who performed our wedding ceremony, led the dedication and Declan was easy-going as always! 

The Watsons with happy baby Declan

Thank goodness for Facebook and blogs and Skype and all of the other technology available that allows David and me to watch these babies grow up and be a part of their lives, even though we can’t physically be in Texas. Next time we see y’all, there will be a new baby girl in the mix. And she’s going to be fighting off a lot of little boys! ;)

Movie Buffs

In case you didn’t know, David and I are huge movie buffs! Remember the groom’s cake at our wedding?

At the first UT London alumni event we went to, David and I met another young couple, Brad and Audra, who had also recently moved to London from Texas. They’re really into movies also, so last fall Audra and I did a girl’s night out at the Eat, Pray, Love premier in Leicester Square.

I have to admit I was a total nerd and brought along my copy of the book, hoping to get it signed by Julia Roberts. Well unfortunately Julia didn’t show up until about 15 minutes before the movie started, so she barely had enough time to sign a few autographs between posing for the paparazzi and doing a couple of interviews. While I was watching her walk the red carpet, I just kept thinking how weird it would be to be a movie star. For security reasons, they are escorted EVERYWHERE. When Julia stepped out of the car, there were hundreds of people in the crowded square screaming her name. An old man literally ran me over trying to get closer to the barriers for a better view. And her picture on the movie posters was also EVERYWHERE. How strange would it be to walk from your car to a movie theatre with hundreds of people screaming your name and photos of yourself staring back at you? It must be really hard to not get a big head in that business. By far the most bizarre part that I’d never thought about before actually going to a premier, is that at every premier, the movie is actually shown. Tickets were about £200/person for Eat, Pray, Love.  So needless to say, Audra and I did not actually see the movie. Most people that are lucky enough to score tickets get them for free from friends and family that work in the industry. But for the stars, wouldn’t it get boring to sit there and watch your movie over and over and over at each premier? They must take naps or something…

But I digress.

Instead of getting Julia Robert’s autograph in my book, I got the author’s – Elizabeth Gilbert! Liz showed up over an hour before the movie started, which gave her plenty of time to meet her fans, sign a ton of autographs, and even hand out free books! I got a picture with her (which is really bad and will never be posted anywhere) and she signed my book!

Elizabeth Gilbert greeting her fans

SPOILER ALERT!

I have to admit, I didn’t really like the book that much mainly because of Elizabeth Gilbert’s character, which is kind of terrible to say since it’s an autobiography. But I felt like she was really self-centered and whiny. Plus I didn't think she learned a whole lot about herself because in the end, she just ended up with another guy anyway! But then I later found out she married the Brazilian and that made me like her a bit more, because it wasn't just another relationship she had jumped into. And then when I met her at the premier, she was sooo nice. So I totally forgave her for leaving and kind of cheating on her husband. And I eventually saw the movie on one of my many cross-Atlantic flights and thought it was pretty good!

Our latest claim to fame came in April when one of David’s high school friends, Camilla, landed the part of Princess Kate in the Lifetime movie about the royal couple. I met Camilla a few years ago during one of our visits to London for Christmas. It was surreal seeing someone we knew acting on TV, being featured in celebrity magazines and interviewed on late-night talk shows. We heard she’s going to be a regular on this season of Californicaction, but I don’t know if we’ll watch since it’s rumored she has some nude scenes! That might be too weird…

During the summer, somehow between all of our vacations and my work travel schedule, David and I managed to be in London for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 premier! The premier promised to be epic. The red carpet was rolled out in Trafalgar Square, with the road from Trafalgar to Leicester Square transformed into Diagon Alley. The alley was completely sealed off to the public so the actors could use it as their route from the red carpet to the theatre.

Thousands of Harry Potter fans camped

out in front of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

I had read in the paper about a week before the premier that because the event was expected to be so huge, wristbands would be handed out the day before, first-come/first-serve, to fans to watch the event from prime viewing locations in Trafalgar Square. What the paper didn’t mention was that the rest of the square would be totally blocked off by an eight foot wall. Apparently a lot of parents did not get this message. There were so many children dressed up in their Hogwarts costumes excited to see Harry, Hermione and Ron... but they couldn’t see over the barriers. Some even broke down crying in the street. It was really sad. I think they should have put up the small fences like they usually do, but not a wall!

This sweet girl in her Hogwarts uniform was waiting patiently for her turn

on her dad's shoulders to catch a glimpse of Harry

Luckily I had David’s shoulders to sit on. He was nice enough to lift me up so I could see the action. I couldn’t see much, but it was still fun to be out with thousands of other people celebrating the movie’s release. The crowd was enormous and there was a real sense of community with all of our fellow Harry Potter-loving Londoners. It was a great way to close out the final chapter of the series (minus the crying children).

Last week before I headed back to Texas for work, David and I went to Leicester Square to see Hugh Jackman. Even though his new movie, Real Steel, looks like rock ‘em sock ‘em robots for the big screen (aka – not good), we still thought it’d be fun to see Hugh. Plus we had a craving for Chinese food and Chinatown is just around the corner from Leicester Square.

Hugh Jackman being interviewed on the stage in front of us

When we got there, Hugh was walking right towards us but I didn’t even recognize him. I had always imagined him as Wolverine – jacked! But he was a lot smaller in real life. I'm sure under his suit, he was still really buff but I couldn't help noticing his skinny arms and legs. I'd always heard what a nice guy he is, and he really did seem genuinely friendly. He arrived super-early (unlike most actors... Julia!) and said hello to everyone, signed autographs, and even took pictures of himself with his fans.

Then whatdayaknow, the next day I was reading People online and I swear I saw myself in the background of Hugh’s pic!

So now that I’ve made People magazine, I won’t be needing to attend any more movie premiers… just kidding! They’re one of the great things about living in London! It’s a fun night out and one day, we will actually get tickets to see a film with the stars. I’ve already asked David for Breaking Dawn Part II tickets as next year’s birthday and Christmas present!

Kid Commuters

Last week, kids across the UK went back to school. And that meant more traffic on the roads and on the tube.

Every morning on our way into our offices, David and I can’t help noticing the kid commuters. Compared to most kids growing up in America like we did, the commute to school is a totally different experience for the Brits. Most American kids are lucky enough to grow up down the street from their schools, close enough to walk or just a short car ride away. And David and I were both spoiled with stay-at-home moms that drove us to school and picked us up, especially in bad weather when we didn’t want to walk. In the states, where you go to school mostly depends on where you live, based on your district. But the school system is totally different in the UK. Most of the schools specialize in different studies and even for state-run schools, children have to apply to get in. So where they go to school doesn’t really depend on where they live… hence the commuting.

Kids in England start commuting from the time they’re in grade school. And most of them commute by themselves, or with friends and siblings. They’ve grown up with this schedule and know no different, so it’s no big deal when they become adults and have to commute hours and hours and hours each week to work. But for a spoiled American like me, used to an 11-minute comfortable car ride to the office, saying I’ve had a difficult time adjusting is an understatement. And to my defence, 4 hours a day is excessive, even for Londoners. But at least I’m working from home almost full-time now, which means I only get to marvel at the kid commuters two days a week, three max.

I’ve been fascinated by the whole thing since we moved here and first noticed these kids last Fall. Not only because they’re pretty tough to wake up so early, commute for who knows how long each morning, go to school all day, and then commute home at night (often in the rain or snow), but also because most of the kids sit there quietly and read the newspaper on to the way into school. They’re like miniature adults. No wonder they all seem so smart!

Just another day into the office... no wait, seventh grade!

And the uniforms definitely reinforce the idea that they’re all a bunch of smarty-pants. Suits with ties and jackets for the boys and skirts with knee-highs for the girls. Some of the smaller boys even wear matching pageboy caps!

Yes, I realize it's totally creepy to be taking random pics of kids, especially little boys, but I wanted you all to see what I see! 

And I was very sneaky about it... using my phone's camera

while pretending to be doing something else.

So it’s no wonder that when they all grow up, they dress up for work every day. David and I are also both lucky to work for American computer/software companies that definitely take the dotcom approach to casual work wear. I still wear jeans quite often to work, and since David runs his office, he wears jeans every day that he’s not meeting partners or customers. Dressing up is just so much work, and it hurts wearing heels around the city!

One last point to make – I don’t understand how the English are brave enough to send their children into the scary world all alone at such young ages. Some of the kids I see can’t be older than 9 or 10. When does a parent decide, ‘Okay, my child has taken this route long enough to:

1) Not get lost between all the different stops and lines

2) Not stand too close to the edge of the platform and get run over by a train and

3) Not get kidnapped in the throng of millions of other commuters each morning?’

I watch way too many shows like Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Minds to imagine sending my precious child out into the world all alone every morning.

If I had to go to school here, I would've travelled in a pack too, and 

caught up on my latest gossip like these girls,

instead of reading the paper!

Overall, though, I think it’s a good routine for kids to have that really instils independence and a great work ethic... Plus they entertain foreigners, like me, on our commutes!

Let's Get Madored!

In July, David and I flew to Portland, Maine for Amy’s wedding to Ross.

Continental really disappointed us during this trip. We usually love flying Continental, especially since that’s our frequent flyer program. When we got to Newark, though, our flight to Portland was delayed for almost three hours because of storms up in Canada, which was delaying our plane getting into New Jersey. Since this was a tiny puddle-jumper, it couldn’t fly up into the clouds and bypass the storms like larger planes. On the way home, the same thing happened with our flight back to Newark because of storms in New Jersey. So we left Portland two hours later than scheduled, landed at exactly 10 PM and sprinted across 50 gates to get to our 10:10 flight to London. Thankfully, they were holding the flight for us and we didn’t have heart attacks after that mad dash across the airport. But even though we made it on the flight, our bags did not. And for some reason, they didn’t get on the next flight out. So I had to leave for Bratislava the next day missing half my toiletries, my nice suitcase, and some much-needed clothes. I did receive an apology email from Continental so we’ll see if there are any vouchers coming our way…

The theme of the weekend (besides a beautiful wedding of course!) was the high temperature in New England. A record-setting heat wave swept through the Northeast the weekend we were there. Most buildings in Maine don’t have A/C (much like London) because it just doesn’t get that hot. In fact, this was my third trip to Maine and all the other times I’ve visited, the temperature has never gotten above 70 degrees. That was NOT the case the wedding weekend. When we got to Newark, the airport did have central A/C but it was not working well enough to offset the heat coming from all of the open causeway doors. And the fans just blew around hot air instead of cooling down the terminal. It was a miserable delay, to say the least.

But we eventually got there! After we landed, David headed straight to the bachelor party. Amy drove me back to the house Karen had rented for the family for the long weekend. She warned me in the car that the house didn’t have A/C either. I toughed it out on Thursday night by sleeping spread-eagle in shorts and a T-shirt on top of the bed with the window and door both open and a fan blowing right on me. Karen ended up curling up on the living room floor and Jeff slept in the creepy basement to escape the heat!

The next morning it was nearly impossible to put on makeup and blow dry our hair because of the humidity level. That was not going to do, since all of the bridesmaids were scheduled to get ready at the house the next day before the wedding. So the landlord stopped by on Friday afternoon and installed a window A/C unit in the master bedroom. That made all the difference in the world! The rest of the weekend, the entire family had slumber parties in this one bedroom to get a good night’s sleep. Amy came in late after the rehearsal dinner on Friday night to find David and me on a double mattress on the floor with Jeff on a single mattress (all of them moved in from the other bedrooms in the house), Laura in the bed, and Karen in a cot next to the bed. We did the same thing after the wedding on Saturday night.

Slumber Party!

On Friday, Karen hosted a bridesmaid brunch at a delicious diner in downtown Portland. I had some real American bacon (not English back-bacon, yuck) with country potatoes and dark chocolate strawberry waffles.

We also walked to Willard Beach just down the street from the house. It was way too cold for me to get in. It had to be about 60 degrees. My feet actually ached after being dipped in. I’m a baby, I know! Karen and Laura did go swimming though. Then we took a trip to the local grocery store and stocked up on American food. David and I had brought a completely empty suitcase just for food. :) The woman at the checkout looked at us like we were nuts as she scanned 20 boxes of Kraft mac and cheese, about 10 packets of taco seasoning, 5 Pop-Tart boxes, and 3 different Betty Crocker cake mixes.

Then we stopped by Wendy’s for lunch where I had my favorite – a junior bacon cheeseburger. David got the #1 and Jeff had the BLT Cobb salad. Karen and Laura also ordered some Frostys. I LOVE Wendy’s. In high school, we had off-campus lunch and I was given an allowance of $15/week for food. So Wendy’s was perfect because it’s delicious and I could get two Jr. bacon cheeseburgers and a small fry for only $3. As we were pulling through the drive-thru, the guy at the window told Karen the total was $16. Karen couldn’t believe the value and asked to be read back our order. When she still didn’t believe how cheap all that food was, another person came around to read back the order. Finally she exclaimed, “Wow! What a deal!” I guess us Londoners are just used to really, really expensive burgers back in Europe. We tease her about it all the time now…

That evening we had the rehearsal for the wedding, which took place at a gazebo in a beautiful park overlooking the Portland harbor. There are so many islands off the coast of Maine, a couple of Civil War forts, and a ton of sailboats. And obviously it was sunny, so the location was stunning.

Ross’s parents hosted the rehearsal dinner, a lobster bake, at their home. I love lobster… I just don’t like actually preparing it. Laura and David were so sweet and offered to take care of me, so they did all the dirty work while I just got to eat! The Madores also cooked up some seafood chowder, clams, barbequed chicken, and baked potatoes.

Then before we knew it – the big day had arrived!!

All of the ladies were able to get ready at Karen’s house because the landlord came back and installed a second A/C unit downstairs in the living room. We did our makeup ourselves, but I cannot be trusted to style my own hair for anything important, so Amy gifted us all with hair stylists.

Huge rollers that my hair had to set in for hours!

Then the wedding party met up at the park, where I got to walk down the “aisle” with my hubby. Right before the march started, we all put our hands together and shouted, “Let’s get Madored!” This lightened up the moment and made Amy much less nervous. Actually, once she got her gown on, she turned calm and collected and ready to go!

Waiting for Amy to arrive

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was awesome.

Post-wedding pics in the park

Brothers and Sisters

The reception was held down the street (literally, we all walked from the park) at this spot called the Portland Company, an old warehouse in the shipyard. Ross and Amy visited Paris when they were in London a couple of months ago for Jeff’s graduation and absolutely loved it. So they converted the warehouse space to look like a Paris metro station. There were lights strung from the poles and the tables were named after different metro stops. Ross and his Dad even whittled a Metropolitain sign that displayed the seating chart. In lieu of traditional flower arrangements, the bride and groom opted for herbed potted plants, which doubled as favors for the guests so the room was really fragrant. And on top of all that, they brewed their own beer and then made up names like "Wedding Saison" for each of the different types. The entire event was really unique. They did a great job in a short amount of time - from their engagement in December to their July wedding, it came together perfectly! 

We danced the night away to a great band, tried lots of different cake (the bride and groom chose six smaller cakes in lieu of one big one) and drank a lot… of water! There were fans all over, but even when the sun went down, it was still really hot inside the Portland Company. But that didn’t stop everyone from dancing and having a great time!

The bride and groom making their grand entrance

After the reception, David went out with some of his old TASIS friends that he hadn’t seen in a long time, but I was exhausted so I headed home with the rest of the House clan.

The next morning, we were woken up by Mrs. Robinson, Eric’s mom. Eric is one of David’s best friends from high school and was a groomsman in our wedding. His family lives in Maine and we were lucky enough to visit a couple of years ago during Memorial Day weekend. Well after the wedding, Eric started feeling a lot of pain, so he was rushed to the hospital. Turns out he had somehow bruised his spleen – probably performing all those crazy dance moves! ;)

Mrs. Robinson promised to keep us updated, but in the meantime we had to get to the post-wedding brunch back at the Madore house. We ate some yummy Quizno’s subs (sometimes I just miss the simplicity of a turkey sandwich). Then we hung out with the Bales cousins, watching funny YouTube videos and reminiscing about old times (which I have now convinced myself I was a part of, after hearing these hilarious stories so many times)!

The weekend went by way too fast and before we knew it, we had to pack up our bags and head to the airport. We couldn’t fly out without checking on Eric though! The poor guy was sound asleep in his room after spending all night in the ER, waiting to get his test results back and for the doctors to figure out what was wrong with him. But David was told to wake him up, so we did! Eric is the funniest guy, so if this had to happen to anyone, at least it’s someone who stays in such good spirits. We cracked a lot of jokes and wished him well before heading to the airport.

Oh boy...

We waited out our flight delay at a restaurant in the airport, where I had a traditional lobster roll and David ordered hot wings… which he deeply, deeply regretted after racing through Newark airport a couple of hours later!

Maine is such a beautiful place and we’re really lucky to have been able to visit so many times. One day, I hope our kids can join the thousands of other youngsters at Maine’s famous summer camps. I’m sure Amy and Ross are sad to have left New England, but I know Texas has welcomed them with open arms as they start their new life together in Austin! Congratulations – we love you both and are so happy for you!