Spring Visitors - Part One

Hiya Blogees,

After 12 straight days of house guests, entertaining, and a weekend finale in Amsterdam with my sister and brother-in-law that would make Rick James proud, we are completely exhausted!!!  It was an absolute blast, but trying to keep up with someone's vacation pace when you have to get up and go to work every day is challenging.  Even though I feel like I aged 4 years in the course of that 12 day bender, it was worth every tired and hungover second.  Due to the countless number of memories and laughs over the last 2 weeks, and my still continuing exhaustion, I am going to break this blog up into a 2 part mini series.

Two weeks ago yesterday, my cousin Adam and his wife Courtney arrived in London after their spectacular week in Ireland.  We kicked off their weekend in London by taking in the musical "Rock of Ages."  Being a huge fan of 80's hair bands and rock and roll, I could not have asked for a better night listening to the hits from Journey, Poison, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Starship, REO Speedwagon, Quiet Riot, Night Ranger, and many others.  Looking back, that should have been the omen for the 12 days to come;)  It was a great first night.  Friday, Adam and Courtney spent their day feasting on the sights and sounds of London, including Borough Market deliciousness, while Ann and I slaved away in the world of cubicles.  Friday night, wow, did we have a treat.  We had made reservations at a restaurant called Beach Blanket Babylon.  My words would hardly do the decor and ambiance any justice, so google it if you are curious.  Needless to say, we had a spectacular time and the food was brilliant.  Our fun continued back at our flat where we had a late night facetime session with my cousin Scott, Adam's brother, who has just moved to San Francisco.  He was still at work and I am sure entertained with our bantering.

We had a bit of a later start on Saturday, but we caught a late breakfast at the Serpentine in Hyde Park.  It was sadly somewhat of a rainy St. Patty's day in London, but we did not let that stop us.  We took the riverboat ferry out to Greenwich.  Luckily, the rain subsided by the time we reached Greenwich, and we are able to enjoy walking up to the observatory and back down through the market.  As you can see from the pic above, there was a touch of Spring in the air that day when the rain clouds parted over Greenwich.  It was like a scene depicted by Monet.  The daffodils suddenly rose from the ground and I found myself frolicking in a sea of yellow.  Despite Adam and Courtney's early departure on Sunday, we still had to celebrate our Irish heritage.  We found a few pubs in the afternoon and evening, including a magnificent discovery in Belgravia called The Grenadier.  It is a true old school Victorian British pub tucked away in a small mews.  This quickly shot on to my top 5 pub list without a doubt.  After that, we had a casual dinner at a little Italian place by our house called Carluccio's.  It was a perfect end to a pretty full on day and weekend.  Adam and Courtney, we are so thrilled that you all came to London for a visit.  We had so much fun hanging out and I promise that I will share all of our pics this weekend.

I suppose that it is the end of Part One, but I should probably leave you with a cliffhanger to rope you back in for Part Two.  On Sunday morning, we got Adam and Courtney off to the airport, and about the same time, my sister Kelly and brother-in-law Michael were just landing.  They were luckily staying in a hotel the first night, albeit a completely different hotel than the one that was planned, so that we could get our flat cleaned up and ready again for guests.  Let's just say that when we met up with them in the late morning, they were still somewhat buzzed from their flight and ready to get back on the horse to keep themselves awake on their first full day.  It was an epic Sunday Funday!!!

On another note, Tuesday was our 2 year wedding anniversary.  In a way, I can't believe how fast 2 years went by, but in the same respect, given what we have done in the last two years, I feel like we have been married forever.  I am so lucky to have such a caring, compassionate, beautiful, and genuine Sr. Director.  It is a tough benchmark when measuring up to my greatness, but she can hold her own.  I love you very much Annie.

That is all I got for now.  There might be a delay in seeing Part Two as we are both travelling for work next week.  Ann leaves for Rome on Sunday and returns on Thursday, and I will be back in Warsaw, Poland from Monday through Wednesday.  We are spending our long Easter weekend in Budapest, Hungary, so I will be excited to share our stories and pics from there as well.  If we do not chat again, Happy Easter to everyone!!

Cheers
Kevin                      

Mistaken Identity

Happy Madness of March Eve,

Sadly, we will not be taking in any of the action this weekend as NCAA College Basketball is not so popular in England, however, my bracket is complete.  Sadly another post season tourney missed for my Clemson Tigers, but I will be pulling for the Tigers of MIZ-ZOU.  Sorry to my loyal KU Blog followers.  I figure they will lose to Detroit in the first round anyway;)

We are cleaning the flat this evening in preparation for the first of the visitors arriving tomorrow.  We have an awesome weekend planned with Adam and Courtney with theatre tickets tomorrow night for "Rock of Ages," some exciting new restaurants booked, and I am sure taking in some of the London sights and pubs.

The real point of my brief foray into the blogosphere this evening was to share the Sr. Director's new look. Is she styling with that short do or what?  She said that she was just tired of long hair and the multiple hours per day of upkeep, but I am here to let you in on the secret.  There have been many a mentions in conversations as well as looks from passersby of her striking resemblance to Princess Kate.  Where many would find that extremely complementary, the Sr. Director felt that it was very demeaning to be compared to someone who was clearly from the bloodline of the working class.  Please do not tell her that I shared this with you!!!

Cheers
Kevin

The Calm before the Storm

Happy Super Tuesday,

I may be across the pond and missing out on the endless political propaganda that now dominates the airwaves, but it is still not far from my heart.  I will avoid channeling my inner Rush Limbaugh this week;)  I have submitted my absentee ballot request though, so I will be ready to vote come November.  Depending on who Ann is voting for, I may decide to fill out her paperwork for her.  We shall see.  I am glad to see that my vote apparently got counted for Vladamir Putin this week though!!!    

It has been a really busy last week of work for me, so it ended up being a great time for Ann to be away mingling with the aristocracy of Texas.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my reprieve in responsibilities as the Assistant to the Sr. Director as well.  In fact, this last Saturday, I treated myself to quite the day of pampering in recognition of my tremendous contributions over the last month or so.  I am fully aware than in admitting to what I did, I may be opening myself to unsolicited ridicule, however, I do not care because it was spectacular.  There is a fairly posh Spa near our flat in Kensington where Ann and I have gone for a massage.  I booked myself an appointment for a 60 minute Swedish Massage and a 60 minute man's facial.  It was my first time ever getting a facial, but I have heard from so many people how incredible they are.  I was a little apprehensive, but apprehension be gone.  It was amazing.  The whole day was just fantastic.  I got up early and went for a nice run through Hyde Park.  I was able to arrive for my Spa treatment a 1/2 hour early in order to sit in the steam room.  I know it was no Fondy YMCA steam experience sitting with the Diener brothers, but I am sure that it would be a close 2nd (BTW, I have never had the privilege of seeing this in person, but the stories from the Fondy YMCA sauna are legendary).  Anyway, following the steam, I had the facial and massage.  It honestly was 2.5 hours of bliss. 

As I hinted with the title, we are gearing up for another wave of visitors and travel.  Ann arrives back in London on Thursday morning, and luckily, her work travel is coming to a halt for the time-being.  A week from Thursday, my cousin Adam and his wife Courtney are arriving in London to spend a long weekend with us at the tale end of their trek around the Emerald Isle.  We are so excited for their visit.  It is a quick turnaround for us because the Sunday morning that Adam and Courtney fly back to the States, my sister and brother-in-law arrive in London for 10 days.  We might have to give the Sr. Director a tutorial on how to use the washing machine!!!  Kelly and Michael will be here in London the first week, and then the 4 of us are flying to Amsterdam to spend a few days there before they head back home.  Thanks to my parents for watching the 3 girls so that Kelly and Michael can come and visit.  Ann and I have been looking forward to this for a long time.

That is all that I've got.  Sadly, no Kate sightings this week.  I do not think that I shared in my last blog, but I came within about 10 feet of her while running past Kensington Palace a little over a week ago.  It was close to dusk and there was hardly anyone around.  She was dressed quite discreetly and only led and trailed by two bodyguards, but we actually made eye contact as I ran by her.  It was only at that point that I realised that it was her.  I told you I would be hanging out with Kate during my time as a bachelor!!  

  

Cheers!!

Kevin