No Chocolate Chip Cookies?!

I learn something new here everyday. Today, my lesson learned was about chocolate chip cookies, or the lack of them in London.

image from Brownie Box

Tomorrow there is a charity bake sale at work that I was signed up to participate in. Usually that's something I'm game for back home. Then I remember I don't have ANY baking supplies until my boxes from the US get here. With my dreams of homemade chocolate chip cookies dashed, I decided store bought cookie dough would have to do. I got to the local Tesco's to find nothing. So I hiked down to the GIANT Whole Foods on Kensington street. Surely they would have what I needed.  I asked them if they had chocolate chip cookie dough and they looked at my liked I had three heads. Then handed me a box of frozen puff pastry (um, not even close).

Slightly crushed, I walked over to the bakery ready to settle for store bought chocolate chip cookies. What did I find there? Four sad little choc chip cookies. With all my hopes of bringing anything to this bake sale tomorrow, I scooped them up, bought vanilla ice cream and made two ice cream sandwiches that are in my freezer right now. Sometimes you gotta know when to give up!

I have completely taking store bought cookie dough for granted. It is a genius invention. Pilsbury, Nestle, Tollhouse; please come across the pond!

Dad In London

You guys, I moved into my Notting Hill flat on Saturday and it is AMAZING. I will do a whole post on it when it's all finished and decorated. Promise.

The week I moved in just happened to be the week that my Dad had a work meeting in England. So he jumped on British Airways and stopped by for two days to help me get settled and see the city (it was his first time in London).

He arrived on Tuesday night to blue skies and warm temps. The weather was picture perfect summer while he was here; 80 degrees with a light breeze and bright warm sun (the Brits think this is a heatwave, they've never been to DC).

We wandered around the quaint little streets of Notting Hill before settling on a pub for dinner. Veggie burger and chips for him, scallops and tomato (pronounced toe-MAH-toe here, I get made fun of for saying tomato). We chatted for a few hours on life and how wonderful things can work out sometimes (like London). We've all had plenty of the opposite happen, so I it's important to celebrate every little good thing. There are plenty of those too, if we make sure to look :)

The next morning we did what is fast becoming tradition, a massive trip to Ikea/Target/insert home goods store to all the basics. This time was a trip to Ikea for some extra storage pieces, and my favorite, a cute little bistro table for my balcony!

After a few hours of assembly (thank goodness my Dad's an engineer!) we decided to celebrate with some tapas, wine and beer on the balcony. I'm in heaven here!

My poor Dad, I wore him out! At least there was no painting this move :)

The next day we dedicated to a leisurely stroll through London so he could see all the sights. We started at Leadenhall Market. It's a stunning covered market that was used (or inspired) Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron from Harry Potter. It's so beautiful there! It's filled with little restaurants and shops.

Then we continued on our way to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Who says it only rains in London? It was sunny skies for days!

We stopped at Borough Market for lunch and then strolled along the Queen's Walkway next to the Thames. We passed by London Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the London Eye and more. We finally ended up by Big Ben in all it's glory.

We also stopped at Buckingham Palace and the Churchill War Rooms. The war rooms are the original cabinet war rooms from WWII. When the war ended everything was left exactly as it was. Today you can walk through that underground bunker and see what it was like for Churchill during The Blitz. A fascinating look at history.

After this we were beat! We headed back to my place to chill out a get dinner at a not so great french restaurant (live and learn). We did get to pick up some gorgeous hydrangeas for my flat from the adorable "Wild at Heart" stand that I've seen on the Londoner's blog so many times. So cute!

The flowers are still doing well today (with a fresh mani/pedi and glass of vino). It was such a nice treat to have my Dad visit. Now for the rest of my visitors, book your tickets!

James Perse Style

Have you ever seen a James Perse t-shirt or dress? The LA based brand is know for  simple, clean lines which are incredibly flattering. The fabrics are usually soft cotton, luxurious cashmere or silk.

images from james perse

Simple California cool does not come cheap. The dresses are usually $200 plus, BUT they are having a pretty good sample sale on their website right now (65% off!). I have one James Perse dress and LOVE it. It is somehow appropriate in nearly every situation and makes me feel effortlessly chic. You should check it out.

Funny Little Sayings

image from pinterest

Since I moved to London, I've heard A LOT of new sayings. Some words just mean different things here and some sayings are just strange. I wanted to collect a few here and share them with you.

Pants= Underwear. I need to stop saying 'cute pants.' It doesn't come out right. They say trousers instead.

Instead of saying "What's up" or "How are you?," Londoners keep asking me "You alright?" At first I thought I was scowling all the time or looked tired. Nope, they are just saying hey.

Check out counters at the store are called "tills."

You don't "top off" a drink, you "top up."

I've been tripped up a few times at the grocery store. Cilantro = Coriander. Zucchini= Courgette. Eggplant = Aubergine.

Obviously soccer is football here, but they also drop the s in 'sports.' As in,  "I love sport."

One of my favorite new terms is "cheeky." It's used in a million ways and each time cracks me up. As I write this a yogurt (spelled here yoghurt) commercial came on and the girl says "chocolate sprinkles? Cheeky." I love it.

Perhaps not a "saying," but something new here, you need to hail buses. As in, stick out your arm and wave down that number 25 even if you are standing directly under the bus sign or it might pass. you. by. Speaking from experience here.

There are some of the more common words you may have heard too:
Bathroom = Toilet or Loo, Elevator = Lift,  Cookie = Biscuit, Subway = Tube, Like = Fancy, Bucks = Quid, Hot/Attractive = Fit, Sneakers = Trainers, Sweater = Jumper

People will often say "I had a laugh," if they had a good time or want to have a good time.

As you can imagine, this list keeps growing daily. I feel like a little kid who keeps asking "what does that mean?"