Chipping Campden - Day Three, Part Two

Every time we said "Chipping Campden" I heard Debbie Reynolds' voice singing "Here we are, Sunset and Camden" from Singin' in the Rain.

Marketplace from hundreds of years ago...check out Jenessa's travel purse from last year. Still such a fantastic purchase.

Not sure why I feel compelled to peak out from behind things so often.

Smoochy smoochy

It's like being in a story book...all the time.

Our hotel - Jenessa and my room was the top left window...with the curtains wide open...can't help but stare at the street.

Definitely a fan of pub food...even more so of pubs themselves...and Diet Cokes to help combat the jet lag.

Phew - we made it through our first full day....

Warwick - Day Three, Part One

Waking up in England is surreal. It's a place I travel in my dreams...and to just be there is more wonderful than I can explain. Day three began with a journey into Warwick Castle.

This definitely is one of our top five favorite pictures of the trip. Plus we were pretty excited to have washed our hair and had Cocoa Pops for breakfast.

Dad's "tally-ho/I'm going to attack with you with this umbrella" pose made quite a few appearances.

Shhhhh.....

Sassy, Gatsby goodness

SO MUCH WIND...but at least it's not raining

Jenessa decided to make friends the peacocks that roam Warwick Castle in honor of Freddie from last year. 

Not the greatest idea as the peacocks started fighting each other. (you should definitely click on this picture so you can see Jenessa's face in more detail)

Hard to believe this is real.

In the center of nearly every town in England is a beautiful old church. This one was stunning and simple....and the cute lady volunteering inside suggested we eat at the Lazy Cow for lunch. Best suggestion ever.

 There are no words....

 ...but there is dessert....

 ....REALLY REALLY good dessert. If I was given the chance, I think I would probably bathe in this custard. It was that good.

 Oh Lazy Cow - how we love you.

Quotable Quotes

I am obsessed with quotes - quotes from books, from songs, from movies, from interviews - it doesn't matter. I just love bite sized tastes of other people's world views, wit, and wisdom. Here are few that I have been mulling over for the past few months. Happy reading!

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. 

E.L. Doctorow

The time to make up your mind about people, is never. 

Philip Barry

The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. 

Jean de La Fontaine

Open a book this minute and start reading. Don’t move until you’ve reached page fifty. Until you’ve buried your thoughts in print. Cover yourself with words. Wash yourself away. Dissolve. 

Carol Shields

There are no faster or firmer friendships than those formed between people who love the same books. 

Irving Stone

There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself. 

Raymond Chandler

A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance. 

Hunter S. Thompson

Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is. 

Maxim Gorky

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. 

James Branch Cabell

The plain state of being human is dramatic enough for anyone; you don't need to be a heroin addict or a performance poet to experience extremity. You just have to love someone. 

Nick Hornby

Heck Yes!!

Sometime I wonder why little girls - my fabulous niece included - pick the clothes that they do.  They'll march into a room with striped leggings, crazy shorts, and two shirts that really aren't meant to be worn together.

While I was running today though I realized I looked like a four-year-old. Black running shoes with neon orange laces, white ankle socks, black Under Armour peaking out from under fuschia shorts with white piping, royal blue tank top over a white sports bra (that was a different strap style than the tank, so it was showing all over the place)....nothing about the outfit said coordinated runner. It screamed "Mae dressed me" except that I wasn't in pink. Thing is, I really didn't care. I realized too that people were probably staring at my hair pulled back with half a dozen bobby pins (not to mention the sports headband and crudely wrapped pony tail older) wondering what was going on. And all I was thinking was "heck yes - my hair is in a pony tail."  It's the little things in life. 


Happy running!

ENGLAND!! - Day One & Two

When you pass people in England, the English say "hello" while the Americans say "hi". So in the spirit of all things England - HELLO and welcome to the over-documenting of our fabulous trip that my mom, dad, Jenessa, and I took at the end of June. Here we go....

 We relatively awake for how early we took off from SFO. Notice that we wil be in the same clothes during day two in England. We landed and immediately began being tourists. Can't sleep when you have the chance to explore the English countryside.

 Mild obsession with cutout photos.

 What happened to those legs?

 NERD ALERT - Shakespeare's house

 Stratford-upon-Avon (did you know the Avon is a river - so the town of Stratford is on a river. All this time, I never knew...)

 Welcome to Anne Hathaway's house - no, not Catwoman - Anne, as in Shakespeare's wife, who stayed in the countryside while Shakespeare worked and wrote in London.

I don't know why I love crooked pictures...no more documenting on Day Two that can be shared though. We were starting to look a little busted. Gotta love jet lag and being in the same clothes for 36 hours.

Color Run!!

Greetings from "the happiest 5k on the planet!" Tracy and I had a fantastic time doing our the Color Run this morning in San Francisco around Candlestick Park. Thousands of people in white t-shirts and all sorts of other crazy attire lined up to be covered in colored dust. Who can't help but gleefully jog along?

BEFORE

 DURING

AFTER

 For comparison's sake...I almost look tan....almost....

ps. Now begins the real training - half-marathon in 84 days!!

Secrets of Eden

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The condensed review is I was not in love with the topic of this book - small town, murder-suicide, attempt to figure out why....but Chris Bohjalian is such a good writer. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book unless you tend to read quickly only because Bohjalian has better books. The Double Bind, for example, was excellent, and I'm reaching for it again because I keep thinking about it...versus just being glad to be done with this creepy one. That said, I love the title and how Bohjalian creates distinct voices for each of his characters. I just wish I hadn't guessed the twist in the first hundred pages...