LONDON Part 1

#FlightDelayedTwoHours #AirportSelfie #WhatElseIsNew

Off we go!

Steak & Potato Pasty

Not trying to toot my own horn buuuut.... my Mini Beef Curry Pie's are better LOL.. this pasty was really bland.. I ate about a 1/4 of it and handed it to the Hubs and.... I NEVER GIVE UP FOOD EVER. lol.

To view the recipe for my Beef Curry Pie's go HERE!

Hyde Park

Our Hotel! 

Centrally located in Kensington within walking distance to Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, Harrods, Luxury Shopping on Sloane St. and tons of museums & restaurants w/ a subway station or the Tube as they call it about a block away!

Absolutely adored the decor in our hotel.  Lots of luxe fabrics, chandeliers, mirrored, glass & marble tabletops!

Loved all the beautiful crown molding too!

I noticed there's a lot of Chinoiserie influence in London and our hotel was no exception it was accented with my latest obsession - porcelain blue ginger jars!

Service was excellent to boot!  

The bellhop offered to take our photo for us when he saw me snapping away :)!

Our hotel room!

Loved the floor to ceiling floral drapes as well!  

Take about drama!

Coffee, Tea, Nespresso station with complimentary Shortbread Biscuits!!

I could seriously eat Shortbread biscuits everyday.... if they weren't basically a stick of butter -___- 

And on that note I did in fact bring my jump rope with me to get my 10 mins in a day! 

LOL!

I blogged about it awhile ago the secret exercise I do for toning & weight loss HERE!

Natural History Museum

Harrod's!

Had to constantly remind myself to not buy EVERYTHING.  It was hard because everything was yummy/cute/pretty/all of the above lol!  But we were on our way to tea so I was trying to stay focused hehe!

Afternoon Tea @ Harrod's!

Roast Beef, Egg salad, Salmon, Curry Chicken Finger Sandwiches, Raisin & Black Current Scones & Mini Cakes

Everything is so cute!!  

That blue door lead to the dressing room lol!

I wanted to take this ENTIRE collection home with me.

Loved that vintage armoire!

When we were walking through Harrod's.  The Hubs said he wanted to go into Cartier to look at watches. When we went in.. I wandered off to look at jewelry and a few seconds later a young woman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the direction of these two champagne flutes on the table.

I was like 'uhh.. what?'

And then I see the Hubs walking over with another sales person holding some red boxes and sitting down!!!

I ran over and.....

Me: "OMG are you buying a watch?!"

The Hubs: "Nooooooooo.. something for you :)"

Me: "WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? NO NO NO NO NO"

Sales Lady: "It was all pre-arranged.. your very sweet Husband called a few days ago to make sure everything was ready to go.. just needed him to bring you in to make sure the size was correct."

Me: "WHAT??! WHY??"

The Hubs: "Lisa.. I know the last few years haven't been the easiest because of my career choices. We've had to move a half a dozen times in the last 3 years and it's taken you away from all of your friends and family.. and as our time in Europe is coming to a close..  I just want you to know how much I appreciate you and that your support doesn't go unnoticed."

Me: *@#(*&WKJHEKf.

(I think I was just blubbering at this point to keep from crying.)

You are so amazing booboo.

I love you with all my heart!!

#BestHubsEver #Blessed #SoLucky #Cartier

Butter Chicken, Palek Paneer & Paratha Roti

Ending an amazing day the best way possible!

Hubs favorite food in the world at our absolute favorite Indian Restaurant in London - Khan's!  I mean he did after all surprise me w/ Cartier LOL.  Their Butter Chicken is crazy delicious and never fails to disappoint!

Stay tuned for more London posts :)!

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PEEK INSIDE MY TRAVEL BAG

VALENTINO ROCKSTUDS, MCM TOTE, CHANEL MINI FLAP,  CAT PROTECTIVE KEY CHAIN, PEPPER SPRAY, ANTI-BAC, SUNNIES, PASSPORTS, CHANEL COMPACT, FIRST AID KIT (TYLENOL, ADVIL, SEA-BANDS & BAND-AIDS), COIN PURSE, JEWELRY, MCM CLUTCH W/ MY NOOK READER, LOUIS VUITTON POUCHETTE W/ MY LIP PRODUCTS, TAIWANESE VIVI MAGAZINE

And because I'm always looking for great reading material when I travel wanted to share this article I fell upon recently because of Marlene over at Chocolate, Candies & Cookies (LOVE HER BTWS! :)

CHILL by Garance

"It’s fantastic, of course, to see women succeed, to see them heading big companies. It’s great to try to pass on the message that we can “succeed at everything all at once” (have a fulfilling family life, a happy husband, a dream body, a blossoming social life, and a job that challenges us, even if I don’t think this is true, but that’s a subject for another day), and that we shouldn’t be ashamed of having no limits when it comes to dreaming about our careers.

It’s cool to just have an awesome shop without having to turn it into a worldwide chain – Colette is a great example of that, by the way. It’s cool to just be the best neighborhood baker, without necessarily wanting to write thirty cookbooks about it. It’s even cool to not work at all. Come on, what? If you have enough money and you’re happy, why not?"

Some of the article REALLY hit home for me.  I mean to the core.  I think we "accidentally" project our dreams onto others because often times they might be something we want for ourselves.  I've worked all my life (I was so eager beaver I had my parents sign a work permit for me at 15 to start work.)  In college I worked 3 jobs. But since moving to Germany I really struggled with the fact that I was no longer able to work. But not being able to work has allowed me to volunteer my time to the Red Cross & the Military which I've derived great joy and fulfillment from.  It's something I PROBABLY would not have pursued had I been working full time and it's something that I hope to continue to do even after returning to the states and I'm able to work again.

I also struggle with the idea of "being perfect".  Just as the article discusses essentially there's this imaginary "life" check list that we all subscribe to.  We're suppose to be able to check off all of the boxes and look amazing while doing it.  At every point in our lives we're seemingly faced with intense social pressure.  For my single girlfriends it's to get married.  For married girlfriends it's to have children. We always feel like we could be just a little more educated or we need a better car, bigger home (although truthfully The Hubs and I don't necessarily subscribe to the last one having lived in Hawaii, San Francisco and in Europe. Even camping out in tiny hotel rooms w/ two tiny yapping dogs for weeks even months at a time because of the Military.  We've gotten remarkably well adjusted to living in small tight spaces and with the Military it's a fact of life that at some point we'll be moving AGAIN living in a smaller place means less belongings which translates to less things to have to RE-pack and UN-pack.)

But this article serves as a great reminder for me that sometimes while we're juggling all the balls over our heads we shouldn't expect to not occasionally drop one or even a few of the balls and maybe we shouldn't beat ourselves OR each other up over it!