A few of my favorite things...

I have made it to Florida safe and sound.  A great friend that I haven't seen in years picked my up from the airport and we got to hang out for the day visiting some old friends.  We were hoping to get out on the Intracoastal Waterway for a paddle, but the wind was up and the water was choppy, so instead we took a walk along the water and out on the pier in the new county park next door.  Mullet were jumping and there was even a frigate bird overhead.

We went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on Clearwater Beach.  I absolutely love the menu (at all 3 Frenchy's Restaurants).  Seafood is caught locally and served fresh, We shared an order of Buffalo Shrimp and I had She Crab Soup as a starter.  For my main I had a Carribian Jerk Grouper Sandwich!  I was so full by the time my sandwich was served I could barely eat half of it. 

It was a great night, I think I was at the restaurant for 5 hours as friends came and went.  I was there so long I had another order of buffalo shrimp.   After all that time there, I nearly forgot to get my brother his bottle of hot sauce, good thing they have the store on the way out of the restaurant!

The American Suburbanite in Suburban America

    Well it has been 4 weeks since I left the UK and my visa application was delivered to the British Consulate in NY on Tuesday.  It took a bit (a lot) longer than I hoped to get it submitted, but I think it will be a hard application to deny at nearly 100 pages of supporting documents.

Whilst in America, I have been catching up with lots of old friends and spending time with my nephew.  It has been great to see some of my friends and family again, but I do miss my home and look forward to going back. 


That being said, I have slipped into suburban life again,.   I am driving on the right side of the road from the left side of the car with no problems, ok almost no problems.  I drove on the left side of the road once, but it was on a tiny little private road, there were not really 2 lanes, at least by American road standards! 

I have gone shopping a few times, but have not bought much.  I am a bit concerned I have lost my American zest for shopping, for now I am blaming it on the desire to loose weight before buying too much.

On that note, I have gone back to the gym here in PA, they have a weekly plan so I can cancel as soon as we get any news from UKBA. The gym here is so big compared to our little one at home, but I am starting to feel comfortable in such a big space.   I had a great meeting with the trainer and a crazy upper body work out.  I would love to have a trainer on a regular basis, but have to keep a close eye on the budget as I have not worked in over a year now.  I was reminded of some basics of working out that I had ignored for a bit.  Strength training will become more of a part of my routine and I will stop doing the full body circuit routine so many times a week, more rest time and more work on each muscle group...  

I wonder how much weight I can loose by Tuesday, I am going to Florida and I am far from bikini ready.  We had great weather in April in England, but it was not swimsuit weather and springtime in PA was slow to come, but we are in full blown summer as temperatures  soared into the 90's today.  I put on an old bikini to get some sun (don't want to burn when I go to FL), and I definitely have some work to do.  I am so excited to get to Florida (bikini ready or not)  It was my home for 14 years before moving to England, it is where we got married, and it will be our home again some day.  There was no way I could come to America and not spend some time in the Sunshine state.  I am looking forward to that feeling I get when I sit on the beach and watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.  It is a feeling I get no where else in the world, and I have missed that sense of renewal I get from it.  It will help me get through this waiting period and the time I am away from my husband.

Application Submitted

Nearly 3 weeks after our arrival in the US, my lawyer finished his end of the work (finally) and I had my biometrics appontment done and I went to the UPS store to post it all to the British Consulate in NY, now all I have to do is wait... fingers crossed it will be nearer the 2 week end of the scale as opposed to the 24 week time frame.

American suburbanite is in America again

After a long and cramped flight, my husband and I are in America staying with my family. My husband is only staying for 1 week, I must wait 2 to 24 weeks to determine when I get to return. Fingers crossed we are on the shorter end of that wait!

Recovered from the Royal Wedding

The Royal Kiss

As the Nation celebrated for their prince and his bride, the world celebrated with them, and I am one of the billions of people who participated in this process.  My husband and woke up at 0400 so that I could get to London before things got underway.  By 0515 we left the house on schedule and by 0555 I was on board my East Coast train which departed promptly at 0600 hrs.  It was with such precision that the Royal  Wedding was also scheduled.  The announcers for BBC commended Kate Middleton on her scheduling and attention to detail, but especially her ability to keep a secret. Operation Meringue as it has been referred to even gave some reporters the idea of the new Princess working for MI6 with her ability to keep things top secret!  The bride to be used a standard tool of mine, Skype, to help keep her designer under cover until the big day.  While some may be disappointed in her dress or their kiss, I think the day was beautiful and well thought out for both the Royal family, the brides family, the United Kingdom, and the world.  

My Royal Wedding Outfit

Prince and Princess watching flyby as planes flew over park & palace

I opted for comfort and am glad I did.  I ended up in a park most of the day and when they opened the park, a number of the tube stations were closed so I did a lot of walking (which is fine, no guilt about not going to the gym!)  Not pictured are the gloves I wore most of the day, I am still a wimpy Floridian on the inside!   A pop of color with my blue blouse under my cashmere sweater (nice light layers).  The scarf helped keep me warm in the early morning and late evening, and although I wore my bright yellow rain jacket (fabric not plastic!) the rain was a minimal drizzle when I first arrived in London, but we were lucky to have the sun come out in the afternoon.   I mustn't forget my all important accessory, my hat.  I do have to say I think mine was a bit better than a few of the others out there:

And even now that the  long weekend has passed and most are back to work, signs of the joyous occasion are still present.  My little village shop is still flying its flags proudly as is the Curvy Bridal Boutique in the next town, check out their window displays!  We saw these on the way to the gym on Monday and I cycled in to take photos (and go to the gym) yesterday. 

 

The American Suburbanite has Royal Wedding Fever

The village shop getting ready for their party tomorrow!

 Up until a few days ago, I did not expect, nor really want to be anywhere near London for the royal wedding.  But then it happened, I was bitten by the wedding bug.  I found out a friend from the States was going to be there, and decided, I would be too.  We bought my train ticket yesterday, I will be spending 12 hours in London tomorrow.   I have been studying the tube map and am just waiting for the name of the hotel my friends will be staying in to meet up with them. 

What things does one do when going to London to hopefully catch a glimpse of the royal wedding?  One goes shopping!  That's what every girl does before a wedding isn't it?  I bought the ever important accessory, a hat.  I am not wearing an over the top hat, just a cute little hat that will serve a purpose and be a bit more fashionable than my Steelers ball cap I generally wear when there is threat of rain.  We went to 4 different stores before I found a suitable hat a TK Maxx (same as TJ Maxx for all of my American friends out there).  It will not keep a driving rain out, but a light rain should be kept off my face, and yes, they are calling for rain tomorrow.  

It is a shame really as we have had glorious weather for the last couple of weeks, Tuesday was cool and grey, otherwise sunny and pleasant is all the weather people could say.  But look at the forecast for Friday, and check the link for updates.  I have only seen lightening twice in the UK in 2 years, and tomorrow may be the third... This really does play havoc with what a girl wears to such an occasion!

London Weather

9°C | °F	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: N at 14 km/h
Humidity: 76%	20°C | 10°C	20°C | 13°C	20°C | 11°C	19°C | 10°C

I do have an exceptionally cute pair of welly boots, just what to wear with them!  I will post pictures once I have returned to my little rural village!

Guilty Pleasures

The theme of Dancing with the Stars this week was guilty pleasures, as such, I figured it was time for me to admit that DWTS is (one) of MY guilty pleasures. It does not hurt that one of my FAVORITE players of the NFL is a competitor this year either.  His smile is infectious and has even won over the judges.  You have guessed it, Hines Ward of my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers has been a contender from day 1.   My indulgence in my guilty pleasure has come to new heights this season as I have even started voting.  I use the online voting system, and vote as many times as it lets me.  I often vote before I have even seen the dance.  Pittsburgh is hoping for a mirror ball trophy.  I think it would look great between the Lombardi trophies at Heinz Field, what do you think?
 
Here is the video of this weeks performance as Hines admits his guilty pleasure is singing in the shower.