March 15, 2017 - The Mess After the Storm and Trip Prep

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 28 DAYS

More London Trip Prepping

Wow - so, here I am the day after the big "Blizzard" - and I have to say - Did I miss something?

There was no major storm - just your run of the mill snow storm - which left, more than anything - a big mess - lots of ice - and nothing like the media made it out to be!

Geesh.  I still had to pay someone to shovel my driveway and sidewalk, and while the kids had off yesterday, in reality, the ice and treacherous conditions were worse today than yesterday - in my humble opinion.

My morning was absurd  The kids were on a 2- hour delay due to the "ice" and so that gave them till 9:25 to catch the school bus.

Since I was up since 7:30, I managed to vacuum, wash dishes, dust, windex everything in sight, throw in a load of laundry, feed the dog and make all the beds the second the kids were out of them.

For some reason, Kelsey was just going at a snail's pace and as a result, Gianna was losing her mind in fear that they were going to miss the bus.

So, off they went to catch the bus at the corner - of course, Kelsey was disheveled because she ran out so quickly and what I didn't realize is that they both forgot gloves.

Cut to, I am finally done with my morning cleaning and literally, just sat down with a glass of water and my laptop when my phone rings with a frantic Gianna.  She is in a hysterical state over how they cannot walk on all the "black ice" and that the bus is nowhere in sight and I have to come and get them and drive them to school.

I'm now "rather" annoyed and break my Lenten vow not to curse.  Of course, I'm not dressed, having cleaned in my pj's.  So, I rush upstairs, throw on some clothes - my hair is a complete mess!  And I jump in the car (dog in tow) and realize my windshield is completely frosted up.

I cannot find my scraper and so I have the front defroster on FULL BLAST and as soon as there is a little crevasse to see out of, I start backing up to head down the block to get the kids.

So, the window is clearing and I get to the bus stop - Gianna is "stuck" afraid to walk forwards or backwards with the ice and Kelsey is crying because she is cold. WTH!

I help Gianna over a pile of icey snow and Kelsey gets in the car. They are both going on about how stupid it was to have school, blah, blah, blah, as I start driving. (My windshield is now almost all clear)

Kelsey fixes her hair which is a wreck and puts it in a pony tail and Gianna did not touch her breakfast which I packed for her to eat on the bus and tells me she lost her appetite since her ears and hands are frozen.

It was like a whirlwind.  I finally get them to school and I felt like I had been through the mill and it was only 10am!

So, I took a deep breath.  I closed my eyes and I thought of 10 things for which I was grateful. And believe it or not, the day, from that point has been wonderful.

Moving right along to Travel talk...

I'm trying to fine-tune some of the details of my London trip today.  Just lock into specifics on my budget and expenses and last minute to-do's.

First, I got my cell phone service in order for traveling to England and France.  That's all set!
The customer service Representative was so nice and I even managed to work with her to save $26/month on my current plan!

Secondly, I thought it might make sense to get my tickets in advance to The Tower of London for a tour.  I was overly excited and because the tickets were cheaper online than in person (not by much, but a few pounds here or there is nothing to sneeze at), I ordered them, not really focusing on the details of that day on our schedule.

After speaking with Tanya, she was concerned that there wasn't enough time to do that and some of the other things that we had on our schedule.
​(see schedule below) 

Tanya and I spent a bit of time working through the logistics for the day.

The big issue was the time of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and realizing we needed to get there by around 10am if we were going to "see" anything.

So, we re-arranged our day as follows:

DAY 8 
(With Cousins)

• Buckingham Palace - changing of the guard
• Relax/Eat
• Tube Ride  
• Tower Bridge (27 minute train ride from Westminster Abbey)
  • Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London built in 1886–1894. The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and has become an iconic symbol of London.
• Tower of London (UNESCO Site)
  • The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London.
  • Booked Tickets for Tour.
• St. Katharine Docks  
• Camden Lock


• Westminster Abbey (UNESCO Site)
  • Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. 
• Big Ben (3 minute Walk from Westminster Abbey)
  • The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell.
  • The Elizabeth Tower, which stands at the north end of the Houses of Parliament, was completed in 1859 and the Great Clock started on 31 May, with the Great Bell's strikes heard for the first time on 11 July and the quarter bells first chimed on 7 September.
• Cousins Farewell Restaurant Dinner BOOKED 

Now you may have noticed that we are scheduling our "Cousins' Farewell Dinner" two nights before me and the girls head back to the States. 

This is because the last day my gang is in London, I wanted to keep relatively low-key and open and not have to rush out to a restaurant OR stay out too late since our flight on Friday is pretty early.

So, our last night in London will be spent having a very informal dinner at the apartment.

I made good progress today on my trip budget, although I'm awaiting for a few replies from the hotels I'm staying at regarding the costs of taxi rides.  I'll share my entire budget for this trip upon completion!

I hope you have a great day!!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 5 DAYS

Holiday and trip prep

Well hey there!

How's everyone doing out there?

Let me tell you (and show you) I woke up to such a wonderful surprise today...

I love surprises! (c)travelincousins.com

It is a monthiversary (our 91st) for Dave and I and isn't he just the sweetest thing!
​
Where did I find such a sweet guy?!

We have been together for over 7.5 years and are still acknowledging our monthiversaries! 

It is really so super sweet and something I highly recommend ;)

Now as far as yesterday went, boy was it a productive day - however most of the productivity was spent working on the unpacking/organizing of clothes.

And let me tell you, there was a point that I felt as though I was in a sea of clothing - there were piles and mounds completely surrounding me and it was kinda hard to see how I was gonna make it go away!

Well I'm still not 100% finished with this task, but it shouldn't take me all that long today to wrap things up and then be able to tackle the laundry.

Super fun huh?! lol

​Anyhow, I did also get to order my birthday cake!
​
But instead of a birthday cake, I ordered birthday cupcakes. Well Cosette wasn't too happy with me based on two reasons:
1. That I ordered my own cake. And I totally agree with her, but sadly I've been ordering my own birthday cakes for years - seems like I'm the only one who "knows" how to order cakes around here. LOL

2. Because I ordered birthday cupcakes instead of a cake. And guess what - I totally agree with her yet again! I am really not into birthday cupcakes and would much rather a cake - it's just so much more festive.

So you might be asking yourself or wanting to ask me why then did I order birthday cupcakes instead of a cake???

Well it is because of where I decided to order from - Two Birds Baking - if you are a fan of Food Network and watch cupcake wars then you would recognize this little baking company out of Huntington Beach, CA.

I had the pleasure of indulging on some of their cupcakes a few years ago and they were DELISH!

So I opted to go the cupcake route, which also meant that I could get a bit adventurous with flavors and not just stick to one.

Here's what I ordered:
​

• Chocolate Caramel Kahlua (Choc/espresso/Kahlua cupcake topped with van buttercream and caramel)
• Sunshine Cake (Lemon cupcake filled with lemon curd and topped with a cream cheese frosting)
• Ding Dong (chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and a cream filling)
• Afterschool Special (Vanilla cupcake filled with boysenberry jam and a peanut buttercream frosting).

                               YUM! 

My sweet tooth can't wait to dig in and try each of these flavors!


Today as we all know is Travelin' Tuesday and I'll start off with giving you the update that Dominic will not be joining Cosette and I on our upcoming vacation. So it's gonna be a girls trip!

I think it works out better this way, so not to burn Dominic out before we head over to London.

I've gotta keep in mind that we just got back from a big trip in Europe and this time around the flight is gonna be twice as long as it is leaving from the east coast.

Usually when heading out over the pond, I like to stop somewhere on the east coast and spend a night or two. Both to begin adjusting to the big time difference and to also break up the 12 hour flight up - just a tad.
​
But this time I did things a little different and we are taking a direct non-stop flight both there and back - which tends to be slightly exhausting. 

​And speaking of exhausting I opted to just throw it out there and invite some members of my home-body family to come out with us on this trip to Park City, Lake Tahoe and San Francisco.
​
As you could imagine - the verdict was one big fat NO. And a comment as to how if I didn't plan as much, then they would be interested in joining us. And how they just don't get it - the amount I do is simply not-human...

Well last I checked I was human, I just like to do a lot and usually that is a lot more than others are simply interested in.

Oh well,
​-T