Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's 59th birthday! Happy, happy birthday Dad! May this year be full of only the best, until 120!

I've been up since 5:30 a.m. and, as soon as I finish updating the blog, I hope to get some more sleep. I don't function well on less than 6 hours a night.

Last I wrote, I was at the beginning of our London trip, so I'll just pick up from there.

Thursday
Buggy and I walked to Piccadilly Circus and went shopping at the HMV. I bought him the new Killers CD, which turned out to be very unimpressive, and then we walked down Piccadilly Street. We went to this beautiful, huge, book store akin to a Barnes & Nobles and Buggy picked up three books by this new author he is really liking. Her name is Noami Novik, and she writes Sci-Fi novels, and her books have captured his attention. I was happy he was able to get three new books - which should keep him busy for at least a few more Shabbatot, and then we continued walking down Piccaddilly. I wanted to walk back to the Tube station at Green Park, even though there were a couple others in the vicinity we could have gotten on. There was the Burlington Arcade that I wanted to walk through, to see all the beautiful shops and decorations they already have out for the holidays. We got to one store in the Arcade that was just watches, and the window was gorgeous, that I wanted to take a picture to send back to my brother. He's a big watch guy. Anyway, just as I was about to click, the shopkeeping banged on the glass and told me that I was not allowed to take pictures. Apparently, they're really afraid that people are "casing the joint" and I could potentially want to rob them. It was disappointing, but then we continued through the Arcade and landed up on Bond Street and I was in designer store heaven. Mind you, I didn't walk in anywhere, but just seeing Prada, Gucci, Chanel and other brands made me feel like I was home. It was nice. Anyway, Buggy and I got back on the tube at Green Park with a bit of an incident with a very pushy Brit. How the heck am I supposed to know she's walking right behind me? If I stop, is it my fault? Well, this woman was clearly in a hurry and I stopped on the street corner during rush hour, right near the train station, and all of a sudden I hear this extremely loud and annoyed "JESUS!" And she steps around me and mutters under her breath like I just killed the Pope for stopping on the street. So, being the pain in the butt New Yorker that I am, I responded "You're Welcome!". She actually stopped and shot back"For what? Cutting me off?" Buggy was enjoying the exchange and I think he was waiting for a throw down on my part, and at that point I just let it go..I don't have eyes in the back of my head people, so just chill.

We got to the Brent Cross station and decided to walk back to his brothers house, which is a nice and relaxing walk. We ended up going out to dinner at Novolino, which is a nice dairy kosher restaurant in Golders Green. I ordered the salmon with soba noodles, which was tasty, and everyone else went with pasta. Of course, we indulged on dessert, and I was very happy with my triple tiered chocolate. That was, of course, before I learnt I'm allergic to chocolate but more on that later.

Friday
With Shabbos coming in so early in London, we were up at the crack of dawn with the kids and got dressed and caught a ride with Buggy's sister-in-law to Brent Cross mall. It was a busy, busy shopping excursion. First, we stopped at the Starbucks so we could fuel up for the day, and then we hit the shops and followed my list. Buggy was pretty much the person we were shopping for, and we definitely hit the jackpot. First, we stopped at Timberland and got him a new pair of shoes for Israel's winter. He loved them, finds them so comfortable to walk in, that he wore them out of the store. Once we got him a pair of shoes, we went looking for Salt and Vinegar chips for Buggy's brother. Sadly, I had no idea what the kosher symbols look like in England so I couldn't tell which ones he could eat, and we left without anything. Then, we stopped off at Russell and Bromley and Buggy treated me to a new pair of suede boots. They're lovely, and actually pretty comfortable, so I was very happy with my find. After that, we went looking for a birthday gift for Buggy's other brother in law, but didn't find something that interested us and was in our budget. So, we went to Marks and Spencers and we bought the place out! Buggy was in desperate need of some new Shabbos trousers and casual wear. When we got married, I was shocked that he only had 2 pairs of Shabbos pants (one for winter and one for summer). So, we got him about 4 new pairs that he can wear most of the year. They were having a decent sale on slacks, so we also picked up two pairs of casual pants. I like how Buggy looks in Rugby's, so I picked up three for him that he really loved. A cashmere Shabbos scarf, a beautiful lavendar button down silk shirt, and two packages of handkerchiefs later and we were all set to go home. Buggy wore the shirt underneath his sweater on Shabbos and he looked amazing! We ate dinner Friday night at Buggy's cousin, and it was a lot of fun. I passed out when we got home - shopping is very draining - and looked forward to the rest of our trip.

Shabbos
Very relaxing. We davened at my friend Susie's shul in Hendon, and Buggy's brother got an Aliyah which was very nice. Then Susie, Elliot and Rena came over for lunch and before we knew it, Shabbos was over in an hour. So, Susie stayed with Rena and everyone else went to sleep while Elliot walked back to shul for Mincha/Maariv. Once Shabbos came out, Buggy's sister-in-law kept trying to find a babysitter but apparently it's impossible to find one on a Saturday night, so me, Buggy and Buggy's brother went into town to see a movie. All the ones they wanted to see were sold out, so we bought tickets to Brick Road, which was excellent. Both men enjoyed it, which was shocking as there were no aliens, guns or lasers in the entire film. We got home, had some late night leftover Chulent, and went to bed. Sunday was going to be a busy day!

Sunday
We actually slept in, since we didn't have to be at the London Eye until 1:30, and then got everything together to leave the house. Being the anal person that I am, I packed our suitcases on Saturday night, so all Buggy had to do was shlep them downstairs. I stripped the bed and put everything I could away into the laundry, and then we set off on our day. It was super cold and grey, but fortunately the rain held out while we went to town. We took the tube to the London Eye station and it was extremely efficient. The kids had a great time on the streets before we got on the wheel as there were plenty of performers. There was an invisible man in a box, which the kids found fascinating and the adults found to be a bit creepy. Here's a shot of Buggy's niece mesmerized by the invisible man in a box.




Anyway, the London Eye was when I discovered that my husband is really afraid of heights. He sat back in the middle while I took plenty of video and pictures of the skyline. At one point, I saw this huge tower and I swear I thought it was the Eiffel Tower so I got really excited. This man in our cabin laughed at town me it was called Crystal Tower and then said we couldn't see all the way from Paris even from way up on the London Eye. Shame...that would have been cool. When we got out, our plan to go to Covent Gardens and to have a picnic were shot as the first rain drops fell. We walked all the way to Covent Gardens and stopped off at a Starbucks for some warming up and hot chocolate. We decided we wanted to go home, as Buggy and I still had a late night plane to catch, but managed to be persuaded to go to Covent Gardens. I'm a moron - I had no idea it wasn't a park but a place with lots of shops and events. Well, I ended up going shopping and getting a pair of gloves, a nice present for Buggy's brother-in-law and a pashmina! Yea! I've been looking for a nice pashmina for a while, so I was really, really happy to pick one up. At that point, I was done with all the things on my list for the trip and ready to go home. We got back to Buggy's brother's house and, in no time, it was time for us to get going to the airport. We got there right before the throng of people on our flight showed up, and I had to deal with El Al security. The guy was training, and so he thought I was a terrorist, and he asked me a lot of weird questions. Finally, they cleared us and we went through to baggage check. For some reason, they made me open up our luggage because I packed 2 magazines. It made no sense, but we did it and I was appreciative of the security. It might be annoying to me, but I'd much rather they be vigilant. I hate Heathrow airport though, they stuck us on this way out terminal and they didn't bother to heat the place. I was really, really freezing and Buggy and I were already starting to feel bad. I knew in the cold that we would both end up coming down with something - I wasn't disappointed. Anyway, after an annoying delay, we boarded and took off in the pouring rain.

London was a lot of fun - and for me, 4 days is the perfect amount of time needed to enjoy the place. Next time, I hope Buggy and I plan it so we can also catch a good concert.

We landed bright and early Monday morning and I was really not feeling well. Buggy was also sick and we ended up staying in bed all day long. Buggy called the Dr. and she told us we might have caught the flu on the flight, and perscribed lots of fluids and sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't have that luxury as 27 people were coming to our house for Thanksgiving dinner. So, I spent the next three days and pushed myself through the pain to cook, clean, prepare, shop, and take care of Buggy before our first ever Thanksgiving as a married couple!

And with that, I'm going to log off and get some sleep. Buggy's in school this morning so I'm hoping to catch up on some much needed shut eye.

Product of the Day


Nyquil is my product of the day and I'm hoping the folks over at Vicks will read this and start importing their cold medicines and products to this country. I brought at least two bottles with me when I got back here after the wedding, and I'm slowly going through them. I like the cherry flavored Nyquil, and they really, really work. Unfortunately, I didn't take any last week because of the entertaining for Thanksgiving and so my cold has still lingered. Last night, I chucked a capful and the little sleep I got was very restful. This darn cold is still lingering though, and boy do I wish my eMa was here to make me some of her chicken soup, I could use a bowl right about now!