everything else….

candlelight play

inside the globe theatre

underground bunkers during wwII 

221b baker street

kings cross

the old curiosity shop

ye olde cheshire cheese

jake the ripper tour

the ten bells pub

paddington bear

Last post for my London Trip

1. My family and I went to the Globe Theatre, it is but a re-make of the original. We also got to see a play in an indoor theatre attached to the Globe Theatre. This indoor theatre has not electricity in it, and is based off of structures/models from the same era as the Globe Theatre. So we pretty much watched a candle-lit play and it was just magical.

2. We went to the Churchill War Rooms. These were quite fascinating. I don't think I could live underground in such small quarters for very long. I would feel so constricting.

3. Tourist spots, I mean who could not go to 221b Baker Street!!!! And of course I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts!

4. Two very old places. The Curiosity Shop, was unfortunately closed when we went to it. It is now a shoe shop and I must say they did have very cute shoes on display in their little windows. The Second place we went to was the ye olde cheshire cheese. This place was rebuilt and 1666 and still stands. It was a place where Dr. Samuel Johnson frequented, and another plus (really two) is they serve great beer and food.

5. The very last thing we did in London was go on a Jack the Ripper Walking Tour. We did this tour on a chilly night in London. The tour guide had photos to show on her iPad to help get use "in the mood" of the gruesome murders. (These photos were actually quite graphic). And lucky me, happened to be the one standing in the exact spot Jack murdered Catherine Eddows in Mitre Square. We decided to end the night at the pub where all the victims and Jack himself would have frequented, the ten bells. Of course it still stands today, with a restaurant on the second floor.

6. How could you leave London without getting a Paddington Bear?

Thanks for indulging me with three posts of my London adventure. It was definitely one of the best family trips I have been on.

st. paul's cathedral v west minster abbey

walking up to st. paul's cathedral

all alone at the stone gallery

view from one point of the stone gallery

contemplated on the steps of st. paul's cathedral

famous red telephone booth

 west minster abbey

the palace of west minster (with big ben)

Recap 2

We went to two of the biggest churches in London. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take photographs inside the churches which is reasonable. 

St. Paul's Cathedral

This cathedral is ginormous, and it can be seen in the London skyline. Inside the cathedral is truly breathtaking and extremely peaceful! There are several layers to the cathedral, there is the main floor and the crypt underneath. The cathedral has two domes, the inner dome which you can walk up and sit inside the whispering dome, and then there is the outer dome. 

I only walked up to the stone gallery, which is just at the top of the inner dome, my brother walked all the way up to as high as you could go. We were allowed to take pictures of the breathtaking views form each outer walkway. As you can tell from above.

West Minster Abbey

This Abbey is filled with memorials and tombstones of many famous people, and people I have never heard of. The stones are written in old English, Latin, and present day English. It is quite amazing. This church is extremely old, and since it is the coronation church for England's Monarchy, it was extremely crowded. There were so many people, and with all the monuments and tombstones there wasn't much space to walk around in some places. 

Inside was definitely just as lovely and breathtaking as St. Paul's Cathedral though. 

Both churches and the Palace of Westminster Abbey are just breathtaking to look at. They have been standing for hundreds of years, and are still standing. These buildings were built with extreme care and attention to detail, unlike the constructions of our homes/buildings today. Just looking at them/being near them is awe inspiring.

london…tower

charlie and the chocolate factory musical

morning walks no the thames

lions at the entrance of the tower of london

tower hallway

cobble floors all around, inside and out

famous black ravens

beefeater aka yeoman warder

london bridge

tower bridge

view from the walkway

Recap of the spring break vacation (I've broken it up into a few posts)

1. The first night we got to see was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Musical. It was definitely magical just like the book and the movies. 

2. On the next day we took the underground to london bridge and then walked along the thames to get to the tower of london. We got a tour from a "beefeater" aka yeoman warder. In order to become a yeoman warder you must serve 22 years in the british military, and also you and your family must live at the tower of london. I think that is awesome! They are living with and in history, but it's also creepy at the same time. I mean they are living in the place where Ann Boleyn lost her head, among others. Would you be scared to live there?

We saw the famous black ravens that are free to roam the grounds. [They have their wings clipped.] And we also got to walk in the towers, with their narrow spiral stairwells. (Which I especially don't like walking down) Seeing the crown jewels were breath-taking, the diamond on the coronation scepter is over 500 carats! And the diamond on the crown is over 200 carats, with a huge sapphire and a huge ruby, as well as with pearls from Queen Elizabeth I. It is a culmination of jewels from ancestors of the crown. 

3. Next stop, tower bridge, which is right next door to the tower of london. It is quite an amazing feat. It was built in the 19th century, and only 10 people died from building it. That is crazy, such a low fatality rate for something that took years to build. We got to go to the top of the bridge and look out onto the river thames. It was a breathtaking view, especially since we somehow timed it perfectly to get up there around sunset.

happy monday

dresses...

bette - jarlo london

silk maxi dress - madewell

ok, so I am attending a wedding on Saturday and therefore the idea of what to wear is always lingering. I have the jarlo london dress pictured above but I also like the madewell maxi dress.

I'm not a big maxi dress person, but with this weather we've been having in Texas, a maxi dress just seems perfect.

Which dress do you like better? Or do you have another suggestion?

big bang theory...

If you haven't heard yet… this man's theory written in the 1980s about the big bang theory has been supported recently.

Hope you enjoy another inspirational video this Wednesday.

inspiration

here is a tear jerker for your Wednesday.

Hope this video inspires you to find joy in life and help motivate you through the rest of the week.

frozen's…love is an open door

the original

real singing (not lip syncing)

twins

two little girls

The viral video of the "good looking parents singing Frozen's - Love is an Open Door. I personally love the movie Frozen and the songs are of course catchy! I mean it's Disney!!!!!

Enjoy the videos!

sorry for the hiatus...

Sorry for the hiatus guys. I have been on vacation in london. Here are two short video recaps for you and posts to come later about my awesome family vacation during spring break.

Well I'm off to enjoy the rest of my spring break. Have a great weekend.

surreal art

double take

risen

aligned with alexa

All these amazing photos/drawings are by Alexa Meade. I think her work is quite stunning and amazing. Everything looks so surreal! I can't believe all those "drawn" people are real people. It definitely adds a different dimension to it, which you can see.

Here are the some more images and behind the scene images here.

video app

so here is the awesome new app of the day. it is called Spark. It's kind of like the instagram video where you can stop the recording and start somewhere else, but it has ma few more features. They also have a few different styles you can save your video in, as well as the ability to add music to you videos.

Above is a video of my cousins playing video games for Emma's 10th birthday last month! They are both growing up so fast and it is amazing to see how mature, responsible, and aware of her surroundings Emma has become. 

useful potholes

alice in wonderland, nyc, 30th street

beer bbq, montreal, rue waverly

Above are two of my favorite images from this webpage. It is a set of different scenes that are staged over potholes on the street.

I hope you enjoy them. 

weekend recap...

 hannah and I at buzzmill

 

saritas tacos

 

puppy bath

 This weekend was very low-key for me. I went to the usually happy hour on Fridays with my friends, this week we went to buzzmill. 

Saturday morning I got breakfast at this little food truck near where I live. I have been there a few times, but going on Saturday morning was a great reminder as to what a great little taco place this is. Isn't it crazy that the smallest place can have the best food? The tacos and burritos are also reasonably priced. In the afternoon I went to Hannah and I went to hang out with a friend and helped her move some stuff, select paint color for her walls, and of course we brought her some dolce neve (our favorite gelato place in town). And Duke got to play with Hershey all afternoon! (which was a good thing because Sunday it was super rainy)

I hope you had a great weekend as well.
Happy Monday.