Major Event

The roadsigns around my house for the past week have warned against driving into central London on 29 April because a "major event" would be disrupting traffic.

A "major event," really?  I think that wins understatement of the year.

I'm assuming you watched the royal wedding - if you didn't, we might not be able to be friends anymore.  I turned on the TV at 10am and admired all the hats walking into Westminster Abbey (you can see a slideshow of them here) but, obviously, was really waiting to catch a first glimpse of the dress.

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Oh, sigh.

Of course I cried when she walked down the aisle, and then I teared up again when they sang Jerusalem.   I've decided now that not only will I need to get married in an Anglican church - for the music, natch - but that also I will need to have trees in the church.  And possibly pageboys.  That's normal, right?  Hm, maybe not...

Yesterday afternoon I had a few friends over for a garden party.  (Thanks, Kate, for arranging some sun; it was very helpful.)  I might have gone a bit overboard with the baking - I made savory muffins, a mushroom and shallot quiche, a lemon-lavender cake, an almond cake, and a Victoria sponge cake as well as my chocolate cookies - but no one complained.  We drank Pimm's in the garden for hours.  What a wonderful way to celebrate the wedding!

Dating and Blogging

I've tried several times now to write a follow-up post on dating in London - and I've hit delete every time I've gotten close to something half-decent.  I'd really like to tell you about my adventures, but I can't for a couple reasons:

1. Jon reads this blog
2. my grandmothers read this blog
3. my dates read this blog

Damn technology.  Nothing's private anymore - nothing!  Yargh.  Silly me for broadcasting my life, I suppose.  I do like sharing myself with all of you, whoever you are, but I guess I might have to draw the line somewhere, at least for now.  Hopefully one day I'll be able to revisit this time and together we'll be able to laugh about the inappropriate dates (notes to self: an ex is an ex for a reason, and a friend is a friend for a reason) and the bad dates (notes to self: just because we ordered the same drink at the bar doesn't mean we're soulmates, and your secret live-in girlfriend is not an attractive feature) and the good dates that went nowhere (notes to self: I'm not doing anything wrong, and someone will come along eventually).

I was revisiting thxthxthx the other day and I found this note.  I like it.  It's me, at this moment.

I'd like to write my own thank you note to my heart.  Maybe one day, when I have the courage, I will.

What would you say to yours?

Giveaway Winner

After an incredibly sophisticated random drawing - in which I put everyone's names on slips of paper in a top hat and then pulled one out with my eyes closed - I am pleased to announce that the winner of my very first blogiversary giveaway is...

Bridget!

Huzzah for Bridget.  Lady, please email me your current address and I will pop your parcel in the post (as we say) tomorrow.  Just to remind, Bridget is the winner of a bottle of Pimms plus a recipe card, a jar of the dry ingredients for a batch of chocolate chip scones plus a recipe card, and a set of Union Jack picnicware.

Many thanks to you all for sharing your celebration plans - I wish I could be with all of you!

Monday Laugh

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Happy St. George's Day!

Poor St. George - I think he's been subsumed this year under Royal Wedding Hysteria.  (Yes, that is a bona fide disease, but it should not be confused with Royal Wedding Malaise.)  Let's celebrate anyway, shall we?

Regent Street, 21/4/2011

Actually, the above flags are British and not, in fact, English.  There's probably a better way to fête England, but to be honest, I spent most of today outside enjoying the glorious sun - until we were all chased indoors by a sudden downpour; thank you, English weather - and so all I have to give you are photos of some gorgeous flowers.  Think of them as England's bounty, and admire them while making the Times' very English asparagus tian, the recipe of which is reprinted totally without permission below.

Asparagus Tian

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp olive oil

5 large eggs

2 heaped tbsp grated hard cheese

2 tbsp crème fraîche

150ml milk

1/2 tsp nutmeg

500 asparagus

250 fresh peas

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180*c.  Choose a round, shallow dish about 25cm in diameter.  Rub the dish with the cut side of the garlic clove and then with oil - just enough to keep the contents sticking.

Fork up the eggs with the cheese, crème fraîche, and milk and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Chop half the asparagus spears into pea-sized spears and reserve the rest.

Stir the peas and chopped asparagus into the egg mixture, then tip it into the baking dish.  Arrange the rest of the asparagus spears on top like the spokes of a wheel, heads pointing outwards, poking them down so that they are submerged.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so, until the egg is trembling but no longer liquid; it will firm up as it cools.  Serve at room temperature with chunks of hot baguette.

(Betsy's note: could this recipe be any more native?  Aside from the ingredients, check out the language: "fork up" and "tip it into."  Oh, hey, England.)

Frock Fridays

It's a bank holiday today - and Monday, yay - and so I would like to wish you all a very happy long and beautiful weekend.  I hope that the weather wherever you are is as lovely as it is here!

I got a million queries about what I actually ended up wearing on my date this week, but I was a total delinquent and didn't take a photo.  My bad.  Just picture: black sleeveless dress with a full skirt, a pink belt, pink and yellow ballet flats, pearl earrings, and a black longchamp bag.  (He didn't seem to mind that it wasn't the pink dress that you all voted for!)

Today's Frock Fridays is in celebration of Earth Day - wouldn't you like to climb a tree in couture?

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And also:

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Blogiversary & Giveaway

Oh em gee, you guys, I totally missed my blog's first birthday!  I am a very bad blogger indeed.  I was going to celebrate with champagne and things but clearly I missed the boat - what's that, you say?  I can have champagne whenever I want?  Fab.  Thanks.

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Anyway, in honor/honour of my blogiversary, I'm announcing a giveaway!  This weekend I will hie myself to selected bastions of Englishness and I will choose, for one very special reader, the following things so that s/he may host his/her very own English spring garden party:

1. bottle of Pimm's plus instructions

2. jar of the dry ingredients for scones plus a recipe card

3. Union Jack picnicware

To enter the giveaway, make sure you're following Betsy Transatlantically and then enter a comment on this post telling me how you plan to join in the celebrations for the Royal Wedding.  Drawing will occur on Tuesday morning (my time) so make sure you've commented by the time you've gone to bed on Monday night.  Good luck!

Passover Gastronomically

I seem to be taking a bit of a Passover haitus from my normal blogging schedule - I guess I've just been so focused on not being able to eat bread that it has distracted me from all extracurricular pursuits.  But, in honor of Passover and in celebration of my love of cooking even when mostly lacking in carbs, I give you... drumroll please... a nibble about cooking during Passover.

If you don't know, let me tell you: surviving for 8 days without any products containing leavening is hard, but doable.  (Even in Paris.)  I got lucky on the first night; I was invited to a proper seder.  It was wonderful and tons o' fun to be part of another family's traditions.  Also, I was introduced to the idea that gefilte fish don't have to be boiled but can be fried like crab cakes - yum to the max.  Last night I went out to dinner and pretended I was on Atkins or South Beach or both - whatever, I clearly don't follow diet fads - and managed to not steal my date's fries/chips (which I'm pretty sure aren't  kosher for Passover).  And tonight I'm having a friend over for dinner and we're going to have quinoa as the side to my nommy braised chicken with asparagus.  Plus, of course, we're going to have matzah ball soup!

Matzah ball soup is the easiest thing to make.

Step 1: make chicken broth.  This must be done by scratch or God will smite you down.  (I made mine with a 50p chicken carcass from Borough Market.)
Step 2: make matzah balls.  This must be done by following the instructions on the Manischewitz box or, again, God will strike you down.  You can get fancy, if you want, and you can take sides on the light-or-dense argument.  But, basically, this step is simple, too.
Step 3: make the [expletive] soup already, and enjoy.

Tomorrow night and/or the weekend's project (depending on, you know, how popular I am) is going to be this yummy recipe.  Spanikopita that's kosher for Passover?  Yes, please!

How are you celebrating Passover?  (My seder included the Two Zuzim song with full sound effects.  My seder was almost automatically cooler than your seder.)

Get Thee To...

... the Globe for a celebration of the King James Bible, which turns 400 this year.  They'll be doing a reading of the entire book - both Testaments - starting today and running through Easter Monday.  From the website:


The King James Bible contains some of the most exciting and extraordinary stories ever told and the origins of many famous sayings and phrases can be found within it. A team of actors will present these texts in full across twelve thrilling sessions, in a theatre which is constantly working to make Jacobean words become flesh.


For someone who studied the Bible as part of both her undergrad and graduate degrees, I think that this is the coolest thing ever.  I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read the bible cover to cover, but it's a project I'd really like to undertake.  It includes such incredible writing, such beautiful phrases and such powerful imagery.


(Side note: I've got some of my wedding and funeral music picked out - what, you don't plan these things? - and I'm actually very frustrated by the fact that, as a Jew, I'm limited to the Old Testament.  There's obviously some gorgeous music written for the New Testament, but I'm pretty sure that my rabbi would keel over if he knew I wanted Stainer's God So Loved The World sung at my memorial service.)


Anyway, if you can make it to the Globe please do let me know what the event is like.  I'm going to try to head down there sometime next weekend.  I don't have Easter plans, but what better way to spend the holiday (yes, I know, I don't celebrate it; shush) than appreciating the Bible?

Another Post on Walls

Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.
- Old School


All the John Lewis things are in, but the camera on my phone is failing me and I'm not coordinated enough to take Photo Booth pictures of anything but myself, so I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait for my improved homey home!  However, I will share with you some images of the artwork that I'm going to get framed tomorrow to hang on the walls.


My mother and I found two gorgeous vintage fashion prints in Paris when we were there last weekend.  I'm going to get them both framed in a thin navy metal frames - que'st-ce que vous pensez?  (Sorry about the fingers on the edges!)  They'll both go over my bed.

And then also I have three small matching prints that each say "LIVE LONG" and "LAUGH OFTEN" and "LOVE MUCH."  Hey, look, there's me holding one of the prints!  Oh, wait - perhaps find a mirror.

These are going to go on the wall between the window and the French doors, vertically, framed in thin black metal frames with no matt.  And then, of course, is the adhesive chalkboard, which I ordered online the other day and should arrive next week.

There's still much work to be done!

Perfect Little Saturday

Good morning, all!  Yes, I know that it's an obscenely early time to be awake on a Saturday morning, but - having gone to bed early yesterday after a week of late nights - here I am and here you are and here we are together.  So good morning!

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Today will be busy in the best way: the nesting way!  My fridge has been bare since I moved in two weeks ago (where has the time gone?) as I've been too hectic to do a proper shop, so I have both a Borough Market trip and a Sainsbury's trip planned for this morning.  (You know how I delight in grocery shopping.)  I've also got to head to John Lewis to pick up some more bits and pieces for my studio.  Once I've returned from that, I'll set to rearranging the flat.  My mother and Alex came over the other night and, while they liked what I've done with the place, had some great suggestions as to how to maximize the space even more.  I'll do my best to take a post photos with my laptop - I cleverly left my camera battery at work yesterday, oops.  But yay for a day of homey things!

Frock Fridays

When a girl is preparing for a date - especially for a first date - she has to ask herself one very important question.  (No, it's not that question.  The answer that that question is always no if you're going on a first date!)  A girl has to ask herself...

Am I a Marilyn or a Jackie?

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I never know which I am - I tend to combine the two.  I love that early-60s look, so I amalgamate Jackie and Marilyn whenever I can!  For my current preparations, therefore, I'm thinking about two possible options - which involves two possible frocks, of course!  (Ladies and gentlemen, the daily double...)

Nanette Lepore Sunny Day Dress

Kate Spade Violetta Shirtdress

What do you think, dear readers?  Good for dinner and drinks?  (The look has to be work-appropriate, too, you know, as we're talking about a weekday date here.)  Any other suggestions greatly appreciated!

Elbow Elbow Wrist Wrist

What with the international news media going absolutely bonkers over the upcoming royal wedding, I've sort of assumed that you haven't needed to get your information here.  (What are you doing getting the details here, anyway?  Silly dear readers!)  However, even though I won't be able to stake out the wedding in person - explanations to follow next week - I'm still enthusiastic about all the goings on.

Part of the reason I'm entranced, actually, is because of that whole every-girl-wants-to-be-a-princess issue.  Now, there are those crazy girls - mostly American, I believe - who take the whole thing a bit too far; these girls call themselves Harry Hunters and stalk the younger prince's favorite haunts in the hopes of ensnaring him.  I'm sure that a lot of girls fantasize about marrying an actual prince, but what I've been thinking about lately is how most girls more want to be treated like a princess in their relationships with their significant others, regardless of who these men might be.

I don't mean that girls want to be waited on hand and foot - although some definitely do - but rather that each girl has her own ideas about what constitutes being treated well.  Of course, there are the girls who just want to be with someone who can take care of them financially.  (The women's college across the street from my university was sometimes unfairly described as a place you could get your MRS degree as you might meet the future leaders of American industry and finance there.)  But for most girls, I think, absolutely including myself, being treated as a princess is more of an emotional thing.

I'm actually going to stop here because I know that anything further would be considered commentary on my relationship with Jon and, honestly, I'm not sure I'd be able to deny it.  But I do want to get you thinking: what does being treated like a princess mean to you?  Or, for my four male readers out there: how would you treat a girl like royalty?

Whatever your answer may be, make sure that in the next 15 days (the wedding's on the 29th, dontcha know) you practice your princess wave.  Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist...

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Swimming in the Sea

You know how people always say, post-break-up, that there are lots of fish in the sea?  Well, in the past week or so I've started to notice these fish, which has made me realize that I'm ready to jump back into that sea and start swimming.

Actually, let me clarify that: I realized that I was ready to jump back in when I looked down and noticed that I was doggie-paddling in the kiddie pool.  I realized that I should probably get my act together and start doing some freestyle in the actual ocean.

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I've always been incredibly proactive about dating.  In high school, my dad joked that Starbucks was my prime hunting ground because I picked up a barista while he was working when I was in the tenth grade.  My come-hither line to Jon was, "Kiss me."  In the dating world, I know what I want and I'm not shy about trying to get it.  In fact, my approach to dating can be summed up by the law of large numbers: as the number of samples increases, the average of the samples is likely to reach the mean of the whole population.  What does this mean?  This means that the more dates I go on, the more successful dates I will have.  (If I don't understand the law of large numbers correctly and you, dear reader, happen to be a statistician and desperately want to correct me - don't.  I've very happy with my theory, which hasn't failed me in ten years of boycraziness.)  Also, mathematics aside, the more dates I go on, the more chances I have to prove the truth of the snazzy venn diagram that I just made:

And so - just to bring my overstretched metaphor full circle - I'm going to start swimming properly.  No more doggie paddling, no more kiddie pools.  Into the sea I go.  I hope you'll enjoy reading about my adventures!

Parisian Weekend in Photos

I'll recap my weekend very briefly here: we walked, we ate, we enjoyed the sun.  I wasn't very cultural and I didn't spend tons of time at any of the important sites.  Mostly I just soaked up Paris.  The best way for you to understand what a gorgeous weekend we had is through a selection of the photos I took.  Enjoy!

Paris, je t'aime.

Americans Abroad, Online and Off

Am at a café on the Boulevard St. Germain at the moment, sipping a glass of white and catching up on all the blogs I've missed over the past two days.  (You know you have an addiction when you go to Paris and yearn for a decent internet connection so that you can check in with your favorites!)  It's an absolutely gorgeous day but, to be honest, my feet are so worn out from walking everywhere in inappropriate shoes that this is the best place for me to be.  Hey, at least I'm outside!

Just wanted to let you know quickly that I've updated my blogroll and cleaned up my list of links.  It's now focused completely on the London/expat life. I've taken out all the other fluff - that I absolutely still read, don't get me wrong - that isn't really as relevant to the message of this blog.  I've added some new expat blogs that I've been turned onto in the past few weeks.  And over the next few days I'll be fleshing out the "London websites" section.  Check it out and stay tuned!

And, just because I can't resist the opportunity to make you jealous, please take a moment to admire me by the Seine earlier today:

Oh, bonjour!

Parisian Pause

Salut mes chers!  Ça va?  All is lovely in Paris on this beautiful spring morning, and I hope you're enjoying your weekend, too.

I'll do some serious posting on my trip when I've returned, though obviously I have already taken a memory card full of photos; clearly there are some aspects of looking like a tourist that don't phase me.  (Wheeling around a suitcase all day?  No thanks.  Being surgically attached to my camera?  Yes please.)

For now, though, I'm on the hotel's computer, which means you're only going to get this teaser of a post.  My Mac doesn't seem to like French wireless (pronounced "wee-fee" here) and so alas I can't begin to upload any photos or even write a proper post because this keyboard is practically upside down.  (The "w" is where?  Really?  Totally unnecessary.)

Apologies for this - but I wanted to whet your appetite for stories of Parisian adventures!  And adventures there have been, I promise you.

Parisian Chic (Or Not)

My sister's friend Leigh, who is living (and blogging) in the south of France, had this to say about the unattainable Parisian chic:


Looking Parisian is no easy task.  Nonetheless, I decided it was worth a try.  Now that I’ve tried, I’ve learned that it isn’t worth the effort.  No matter how much black, how much leather, how uncomfortable the shoes or elegant the scarves, Americans look like Americans in Paris.  If they are attempting to pass as French, then they look like Americans in a Halloween costume.  “Wasn’t that silly holiday of theirs in the fall?” they whisper as we wobble past in navy striped shirts and high-heels.

And so, although I wish I could wear this and get away with it:

I'm sporting a vintage dress that I found in Berkeley last spring:

Oh well - I'm embracing the American-in-Paris thing.  Foreigners are sexy to natives, right?  Though when I lived in Paris I dated a Brit, so what do I know...

April in Paris

Yes, dear readers, that's right: I'm going to Paris this weekend!  My mother's over there for a conference and I'm joining her at the tail end of her trip.  I haven't been to Paris in two years - I'm so excited.  You'll remember that I lived in Paris for eight months as a student, and so the city is very dear to my heart.  I have such wonderful memories of the time I spent there, memories of....

cherry blossoms at the Petit Palais...

Notre Dame at dusk...

and the Eiffel Tower in the sun...

Le sigh.  I love Paris in the springtime!

Oh, hey, I feel another song coming on:

(All photos taken by me on various trips to Paris.)

Home Sweet Studio

You know you're home when...

... you're beyond excited about hopping into your newly assembled bed with your pink heart hot water bottle and your trusty MacBook!

(Apartment Therapy is focusing on small spaces this month - make sure to check it out!  Plus, they've got their smallcool contest running at the moment.  Maybe I can enter next year?  Here's to hoping!)

Moving Day - Settling In Edition

It's done!  I have done it, and it is done.  I drink from the keg of glory; bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land.  (Oh, hey, West Wing quote.  How did you sneak in there?)

Okay, to be completely honest, its not entirely done.  There are two boxes of clothes and shoes hiding in my bathroom.  But everything that needed to be assembled has been put together and everything that can be put away has been stored.

Also, I lied slightly in that I didn't do it alone... Jon helped me.  He came over and essentially constructed my wardrobe by himself and assisted me with the bed.  Go ahead, get mad at me.  Yes, you, dear readers.  Yell away.  I'm ready for your castigations.

But anyway, moral squishyness aside, it is done to all intents and purposes.  I am pleased as punch and even the nasty cold that has come down on me like an biblical plague cannot ruin the joy I will feel tonight at sleeping in a bed and not on the floor.  Huzzah!

So.  As I have probably explained a gazillion times, when you walk in my entrance, situated off the side of the house, you come into the kitchen/laundry room, which is space I share with the family.  (It's my kitchen and our laundry room, just to be clear.)  It's fabulous - I cooked my first proper meal there last night - though it severely lacks storage space.  I'm not sure yet what the solution to that is; I think I'm going to have to end up storing a lot of my serving things in my room.  We'll see.  Here's the kitchen in all its stuff-on-the-counters loveliness:

on the left: oven/stove and fridge

on the right: freezer, sink, and washing machine (and some cupboards)

That door at the far end leads you into... drumroll please... my studio room!

Before:

After:

And from the other side of the room:

The door at the far end of the first studio photo above leads into my bathroom, which isn't really photographable at the moment because (a) it's hiding my unpacked boxes, and (b) there's nothing to see because I haven't decorated it yet in any way.

Voila, ladies and gentlemen: my new flat.  There's still a lot of cosmetic work to be done  - the artwork on the walls belongs to the family and I'm going to find my own cool things to put on the walls when I go to Paris this weekend (more on that later!) and I need a single futon for the space between that first bedside table and the shelving unit in the corner by the door and I'm looking for unique tidbits to dot around the room and and and...  You know how it is.  But I'm well and truly in and it's so exciting!  Hurray!

The English Wedding

Well, I can't blog about my house move because it is still in progress - you'll have to wait a few more days for photos!  However, I did manage to find the thingy that connects my camera to my computer and so I have photos to share of the gorgeous wedding I went to on Saturday!

First, the picture you've all been waiting for: dear readers, I give you my fascinator.

And now - and, honestly, much more importantly - I give you the sneaky photo I took of the beautiful bride and her amazing dress.

(See?  She's wearing a fascinator, too!  They're all the rage, really.)

When I get married, I will wear a fascinator and have a cream tea with champagne immediately following the ceremony.  Reason number 309593 I love England... sigh.