Home, Sweet Home

Extensive traveling does two things: (1) allows you to see and appreciate other cultures and (2) allows you to yearn for and appreciate your own. I have such an intense fascination for learning that I was {almost} overwhelmed with going abroad. The history is unparalleled, and the nuances in lifestyle genuinely piqued my interest. In Prague, I fell in love with the wall graffiti. In Germany, it was the endless bike paths. Paris amazed me with the Arc de Triomph. As for London, I am still boggled why they chose to drive on the left side of the road, but their public transportation system more than makes up for it {plus, I have a small obsession with their style}. One of the other things that I loved about Europe was their abundance of fresh fruit stands. It's no wonder they are all so thin. They eat fruit like Americans eat Snickers bars and gas station hot dogs. 

While traveling, I quickly learned the priorities of my regular life's guilty pleasures. Aside from the standard yearning for my family and friends, my body craved some American specialties {most of which are comparable to Snickers and gas station hot dogs when it comes to caloric intake}:

1. Powerade Zero {orange}
2. Skyline Chili {4-way with beans}
3. Qdoba {naked vegetarian burrito with queso & guacamole}
4. Brookside Chocolate-Covered Pomegranate
5. Pizza {from one of the many locally owned shops in Louisville}
6. The Bachelorette {shhh, I know, I've been watching it since college}
7. My bed {for obvious reasons}
8. My closet {I made it 18 days on 4 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 7 tops, and ONE purse}
9. My cell phone {wifi is awesome, but life without 4G gets a little ridiculous}
10. MY PUPS {oh. em. gee.}

Now that I've been able to get my grubby little hands on these goodies, I can {more deeply} sit back and appreciate the arduous adventure that has now come to a close. It is so easy to look at other countries and imagine an alternate universe, but the learning happens when one can recognize how similar we really are {as human beings}. Ultimately, we are all connected, and we grow when we see how other people of our same age, job or social status interact with their geography. Traveling only made me realize that Ponyboy knew his stuff oh-so-long ago: “It seemed funny that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset" (The Outsiders).

Prague's Graffiti // "Before I die I want to ________."

Germany's Bike Paths // view from one of my morning runs

France's Arc de Triomph // Paris

London's Hipster-Prep Style // Gap skimmer jeans {sold out, but loving these} + black tee {similar here}, Polo Ralph Lauren cardigan {similar here}, Inga Creations tusk necklace + leather wrap bracelet, Michael Kors jet set watch & Jessica Simpson captoe flats.

The Pups // they have staked claim on my side of the bed

Style Stats: London

If Urban Outfitters had a city in which to epitomize its very being, it would be London. While I found Paris to be somewhat anti-climactic, London far exceeded my expectations; I felt like I could relate to their vintage-hipster-prep style, which made shopping a real delight {plus, Jordan and I found an amazing street bizarre in Old Spitalfields Market with fabulous local goods}. At moments, I felt like I was reliving 1999 with all the cut-off Levi's and exposed bra straps floating around {think Saved by the Bell}. Any London fashionista willing to ask the tough questions learns that shopping at cliche stores in the city just isn't cool {despite the fact that they have the most amazing mall}. The "cool" kids frequent Brick Lane where there are rows upon rows of unique consignment shops. Jordan has more patience for this kind of shopping {I can browse online for hours, but I can hardly stand second-hand shopping for more than 10 minutes with the extreme patience it requires to thumb through row upon row of articles}; therefore, to please me, Jordan and I also hit up the most epic department store. Six stories and one entire city block are home to Harrods where private appointments are made on the top floor and a bellman holds the front doors open for you. The shoe department took my breath away: Jimmy Choo, Valentino, Tory Burch {and the list goes on}. At one point, I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing. Some rules for surviving in London:

1. Own a pair of cut-off denim shorts {or two or three}.
2. If it's vintage, rock it.
3. Bras are an accessory.
4. Preferably, show your midriff with baggier assymetrical tops.
5. Bring your Tom's for the walk to the tube {train}.
6. Use the word cue in place of line when shopping {it sounds much fancier}.

Aside from some super-trendy threads, London also gave me a new-found appreciation for public transportation. The logistics of their metro system are remarkable. Before we knew it, Jordan and I were cruising the Jubilee, Central and DLR lines as if we had been doing it our entire lives {after our driving fiasco, this was a comforting surprise}. In fact, we often times found ourselves knowing more than the locals who hardly leave their areas of the city. Because they don't have cars {for obvious reasons}, they hardly venture outside of their small sections of London {unless they are going to work, of course}. I was surprised by the number of people who did not know areas of town when we asked to get from one place to another. When we called our hotel upon arriving in London to ask for directions, the front desk girl's response was, "I'm sorry, let me transfer you to someone who drives." For a city built upon such a communal means of transportation, we were shocked at the isolation of those individuals. We traveled farther in 2.5 days than most of the locals had traveled in years. It made me think about how {un}well-traveled I am in my own country {let alone my own city!}. After seeing Buckingham Palace with my own eyes, I walked away with the feeling that a DC trip is in order. Bring on the White House!

Denim Shorts for Days

Vintage Shops // Brick Lane

Box Park // Transportable Boutique Shops made of Storage Boxes

Street Bizarre // Old Spitalfields Market

Street Vendor // XL Pocket Tees & Sweatshirts {loved this tiger!}

(left) red bow dress {similar style here for purchase here}, silver flats {here} & pearls // (middle) linen tee {here}, black skinny jeans, navy Tom's {here} & black tote {here} // (right) linen yellow skirt {here}, black tights, tank, patent flats {here} & nude tote {here}

London Hipster // dress, tights & neon pumps + denim & high-waisted shorts + bandanas & scarves

Loving this Brit's outfit! // white + navy dress {here}, navy blazer {here} & nude pumps {here}

Amazing Race: London

I have always had a secret fantasy of being on the game show Amazing Race. Couples race around the world performing physical and mental tasks in order to reach checkpoints first in hopes of winning $1 million at the completion of the event. I have always surmised that my husband and I could dominate such a game {pardon my lack of humility}. Jordan and I were both college athletes, and we are both fairly intelligent; more importantly, we are both two of the most competitive people I know {like can't-play-a-game-of-cards-without-rubbing-a-victory-into-the-other-person's-face competitive}. The problem with this competitiveness, however, is that it can work against us in a scenario where we must work together as a team to make progress {as witnessed in Amazing Race}. For those of you who have ever played shuffleboard with me and my husband, you will know how heated we can get with each other if one is "under-performing." We may or may not have gone home from a picnic or two on bad terms because we failed to win a game of cornhole {true story}.

We arrived in London on my Birthday, and my husband {bless his heart} wanted to make sure I had a wonderful day {after waking up at 4:30 AM to catch our flight from Paris International Airport}, so we rented a car thinking we could get to our hotel quicker; plus, we thought we'd want our own transportation to get around the city and countryside. Hindsight: Terrible idea. The English drive on the left side of the road. We should have known what we were getting ourselves into when we got in the car, and my husband {car keys in hand} opened the passenger door while I sat down {as the passenger} in front of the steering wheel. We were {at least} smart enough to rent a wifi hotspot that would allow us to use our iPhones while driving. My heart started palpitating at the first turn, the wifi hotspot wouldn't turn on, and my husband was asking me for directions in a city I had never been before {terrible combination}. After leaving the airport Enterprise, realizing we had a faulty wifi hotspot, and then returning to the airport Enterprise based on our own sense of direction {since we were GPS-less}, we were finally able to embark on our journey {some 40-odd minutes later}.

When we pulled our hotel up on Google Maps, we learned that the airport was on the far west end of London and our hotel was on the far east end; what we also learned was that central London is comprised almost entirely of toll roads, which meant that we needed to drive {literally} an entire circle around the city in order to avoid the tolls. Google gave us a travel time of approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes {if only we had been so lucky}. London's interstate system is a joke. There is a round-a-bout every mile {or kilometer, or whatever they call it}, and I'm pretty sure Siri (1) was confused herself on how to give directions and (2) could not keep up with the fact that we were forcing her to "re-route" every five seconds because we'd miss the third exit on the five-outlet round-a-bout. I couldn't find a road sign to save my life {because I'm pretty sure they don't have them}, and I'd {attempt to} relay Siri's directions to Jordan in more detail, but I would inevitably fail.

We got to the hotel two hours later and after discovering how fabulous the public transportation system is, we decided to simply {or not so simply} return the car; however, this decision meant {once again} driving to a nearby Enterprise. At this point, we are reliving Just Married {you know, the  movie where Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy go on their honeymoon only to come back divorced because everything that could go wrong, does go wrong on their vacation}. I'm closing my eyes deep in prayer that we don't die {not because of my husband's driving - he did fabulous - but because of the other drivers who have zero cares for anything going on around them}, and I'm nearly on strike for giving anymore directions. We drive to one Enterprise and don't see it, only to drive to another one that doesn't actually exist, only to return to the location of the first Enterprise {which we'd missed by one street} where the staff stays 30 minutes after closing so we can actually get rid of the metal nightmare. I'm pretty sure that if hitting and hair pulling were legal marriage moves, we would have been doing both simultaneously at this point. It's his fault for not listening properly {so I say}; it's my fault for not speaking properly {so he says}. Hashtag: Amazing Race losers. Hastag: relationship drama. Hashtag: let this day be over!

Fortunately for me, I have a thoughtful husband, so when I childishly stomped off to the bus stop with my it's-my-party-and-I'll-cry-if-I-want-to face, he quickly grabbed me and gave me a big hug. We moved from bus to light rail and found an amazing pizza joint with a live band playing in the basement. We chowed down on an exorbitant amount of food {including the best macaroni and cheese I have EVER tasted}, and I was lucky enough to get a little Birthday delight at the end of the meal. More importantly, my husband and I honed our teamwork skills, which we will most definitely need when we are asked to be the next set of contestants on Amazing Race {fingers crossed}.

Driving on the "right" side of the road

On the double-decker bus {finally!}

Restaurant: Pizza East {London, England}

Wood-fired Pizza Man

Birthday Dinner // Marguerite Pizza, Sausage + Broccoli Pizza, Mac + Cheese & Butter Leaf Lettuce + Avocado Salad

Birthday Dessert {go, Hubby!}

Bar: Concrete {underneath the restaurant} // Band: New Build