rough week... amazing weekend

It was a bad week. Work over here has been (and still is) quite an adjustment. I've never felt so stressed, stupid, under-qualified or overwhelmed in my whole life. But as has been the consistent pattern for the past 2 months, my bad week was followed by an amazing weekend! We wanted to get out of the city and go on a day trip... so off to Hever castle we went (thanks Mom and Dad for the recommendation!)

Care package items from my dad and Allison... if you know me at all you know these are the best presents money can buy!

Right as we walked out of the train station it stopped raining... and there was the brightest FULL rainbow I've ever seen. The picture just doesn't capture it!

Picturesque countryside...

On our walk to the castle from the train station

 We had to take footpath which was basically just mud...

 

Right before the castle there's this church... I love how blue the sky is.

Hever castle!

My first fall in almost a decade. Looooooooooving the colors!!!!!

 On the drawbridge over moat #2

 Illegal pics inside the castle...

This is us trying to refresh our memory about King Henry VIII and his succession of his wives... Hever was the home of Anne Boelyn for those who don't know :) Sadly enough, the history of the Astor family (dad, that would be a-s-t-o-r) was way more interesting!! They had framed pictures of letters to the Astor family from Winston Churchill saying "I want to work on my paintings... Clemmie and I are coming to visit you at Hever and we can sit in the gardens and paint"... so basically yesterday we stood where Henry VIII AND Winston Churchill had been. So cool!

 I could have stood and looked at this view for hours.

Kat on her iphone, seemingly unamused by the amazing fall colors behind her

We found this cute little pub right across the street from the castle where we had a scrumptious lunch!

Hiking back to the train station... trying to hitch a ride hahaha

Found some grazing sheep on the way back...

Hever train station... cute!!!!

We failed to look at train times before we left the station, so we had 45 minutes to kill once getting back to the train station. You live and you learn!

After we got home from Hever, Chels and I went to our first party in London. Scottish dancing. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!! Didn't take any picture but next time I will for sure... we had a blast!!! Let's just say, kilts were definitely involved :)

Now I'm off to sit by the fire and make some cards with Rochelle and Kat... Have a happy Sunday everyone!! 

Friends... family... Rome!

It's been a busy month! One of my bestest friends from Biola moved to London 3 weeks ago, my parents came for a visit 2 weeks ago, and Chels and I went to Rome last week with Deloitte for training.

Kat's first weekend here... we shopped, walked along the river, took a break in the park, and a caught a show that night. Lovely day :)

I LOVE the parks here... LOVE!! So peaceful and gorgeously green! You just don't see anything like this in the OC.

My cousins were in town for a few days... we hung out in Notting Hill, perused the little shops in the rain, stuffed our faces with Indian food and coffee. So fun to see them!

Mo and Po arrive!!! My new favorite pic... first night they were here

Saw "Love Never Dies"... kind of weird... Phantom is way better.

Sunday brunch with the parentals in the Mayfair district. Yumskies!!!

Eating my full English breakfast at our neighborhood cafe with my parents the morning they left. This is where you'll find me and Rochelle every Saturday morning with this very look on our faces. We heart this cafe and their eggs, toast, bacon, and beans!!

ROME!!! On the train into the city...

We got lost trying to find our hotel. Not. Fun. 

We finally made it to our super sketch hotel... thankfully we were only there one night.

The Vatican was overrun with crowds. This was our line even after pre-purchasing our tickets. Came to find out Bono was inside when this pic was taken... they shut it off to the public so he could tour it privately. Must be nice.

Taking a water break at the courtyard inside the museum.

Did I mention the crowds? It was unbearably miserable... after the 42nd sign with a pointing finger and "capello sistina"we were beginning to think the Sistine Chapel didn't exist. You literally had to walk 4 miles inside the museum to get there!

HERE IT IS!!! You weren't allowed to take pictures, but I snuck a few of the paintingss (correction, frescos). I love these next 3 illegal pics!!

We had gelato twice daily every day we were there :)

Saint Peter's Basillica...

A little flower shop in the middle of piazza de fiori... adorable!

Found a random building and decided to go inside... it was a beautiful church!

Best pasta I've ever had in my entire life.

This was the view at dinner.

We took a night walk through Rome and this is what we saw when we turned the corner over to the Pantheon... the guy in the black shirt was belting out Andrea Bocelli songs... he was unbelievable. Definitely something that pictures can't capture... not to be dramatic but it was pretty magical... one of my favorite memories from the trip.

Trevi fountain...

Yours truly was the photographer for this one. Am I good? Or am I good?

The few from the top of the Spanish Steps.

Couldn't find a taxi anywhere so we had to take the metro back to the hotel. Can we say GHETTO?! Made me so thankful for London's tubes!!!

Sunday morning brunch... not a bad view.

They had some random thing going on so the road was shut off to cars and there were chinese lanterns hanging everwhere. Colors of the Wind was blaring... so random!

We ended our tour of the city at the Forum. This place was here before Jesus!!! Coolest thing we saw, in my mind!

Rome was great, but it was SO good to get back "home" to London! See more about our perfect first Saturday back home here! One final picture for you... our dinner this evening at the neighborhood Indian restaurant... yummmm!