Some Recent Finds

I am not that trendy and I am not up on all that is new and exciting. Therefore these "recent" finds may be more like SOOOO 2010 for some people.

First of all, mint M&Ms. Yes! So good. Why is there so much M&M innovation going on in the US and not here in the UK? The US gets dark chocolate, pretzel, mint, coconut, peanut butter, I could go on and on. I walked down the Target candy aisle when I was home in June and was amazed by all the selection. Well, that's true for almost any aisle at Target, I mean have you seen the cake mix department lately? But seriously, mint M&Ms are so, so good. When we were in the south of France I almost bought a small bag of plain dark chocolate M&Ms until I saw they cost three euros. But those are an improvement over the lack luster M&M selection here. Not even the huge M&M store in Leicester Square sells the fancy ones. What a scam.

Secondly, I dig these chickpea things. I randomly bought them one day when I was looking for popcorn (the un-popped kind), as both the popcorn and the chickpeas were in the same "Indian" section at Waitrose. These are good. Kind of spicy, kind of crunchy (OK, they could conceivably crack a tooth or two but I am willing to chance it) and a bit chewy when you shove a whole hell of a lot in your mouth at once. Kind of addictive too; good when you want a quick snack like 15 minutes before dinner.

Lastly, have you tried this stuff? Oh lord. I read about it last week and immediately decided I had to look for it. Waitrose has it, on the bottom shelf below the peanut butter and jam, at least in my store so be aware. It is so good. It's like you took a gingersnap cookie and got it all mushy but evened out the consistency and then spread that mush on bread. I have eaten about 1/3 of the jar in three days. No joke. I can't buy any more bread for fear I will finish the damn thing tonight. I read that Trader Joes (sigh...TJs) sells a similar but ultimately inferior product. You need this authentic Belgian one, it's called "Speculoos" spread elsewhere and "The Original Caramelized" spread here in the UK. They also sell a crunchy version but I'm not sure about that. Where does the crunch come from? Who knows.

I just googled the spread to make sure I had the right name and saw that it's sold on eBay. The description states it contains "unsaturated fats, is rich in Omega 3 and there are no artificial flavors, colors or added preservatives." OK, come on, just tell it like it is. It's fatty and tasty. Nuff said.

Waiting, Anticipating

So the Royal Baby is en route. Excited? I guess I am. Sort of. I mean I am curious to see what she'll have and what they'll name the baby but that's about it. I do not have my pink and blue bunting out, I am not waving my Union Jack from the roof top and I am not serving pink champagne and blue M&M's today. However, I am finding the Telegraph hospital live feed way too interesting.

I have been watching it off and on since Saturday and over the weekend it was dullsville. But I still watched. You could hardly hear any talking and all you'd see is the occasional tourist or passer-by. This morning that all changed. I had it running on one tab whilst going about my interweb business and I loved hearing all the chatter and excitement. You figure after three weeks of sitting outside a door today must have been like Christmas morning for those reporters. Over the course of about an hour I heard one Australian female reporter file about 10+ reports. She kept on repeating the same spiel, "well the wait is over. The Duchess (sometimes she said 'princess' and had to stop and start over) entered the hospital earlier this morning in labor..." The Aussies must be fully involved in this whole Royal Baby thing based on the amount that woman talked.

Last Friday I walked by the hospital to see the media circus for myself. Don't judge. I walked in front of the door, probably being captured on the live feed as I went, I should have done some Soul Train moves on my way. I also walked behind the hospital along the canal. It was my first time seeing that part of the canal, the end part, and it was actually a nice area. There seems to a fair amount of regeneration going on and they have created a nice little sitting area and a plaza or two, one with ping pong tables and a foosball table. Fun! Although I couldn't see the ping pong paddles or balls. Puzzling! I sat down on a deck chair for a while, they have them scattered throughout (thoughtful!), and realized I was sitting behind the (new?) Marks & Spencer headquarters. There are new office buildings in the area and the canal side walk reflects the improvements and increased foot traffic/office workers/investment in the area. Aside from the sidewalk power-washing going on it was really pleasant and relaxing.

I am now off to continue my live feed watching. I may break out the popcorn, we could be in for a long night. Not like I am excited or anything...

A Cautionary Squirrel Tale

Almost two weeks ago a friend and I went out to celebrate the Fourth of July. It wasn’t entirely to celebrate that, we made a date to have dinner since we hadn’t seen each other in a while and we were both free. We went to a quasi-Southern-American restaurant in Covent Garden, our nod to American Independence day. Strangely enough, I think it was their “reopening” night after changing the menu and direction of the place but you wouldn’t have known it based on the atmosphere. Anyhoo, after dinner we decided to walk for a bit since it was such a nice night. We walked from Covent Garden, down to Embankment, along to Westminster, up to St. James’ Park and into Green Park where we caught the Tube and bus. 

In St. James’ Park we walked by some tourists taking pictures of a squirrel sitting on a fence. I asked my friend if she was as enamored of squirrels as the tourists always seem to be. She too grew up with squirrels so we both said they are no big whoop and we expressed surprise with every tourist in every park always wanting to take pictures of the things, or even trying to pet them. Ick.

Whilst in Green Park we came to a point where the paths sort of converge so there’s a round opening. Standing in the middle of the circle was this woman and one squirrel. The squirrel was actually standing on his (or her) two back feet and was trying to get some nuts or something (loose change? Gum? A cigarette?) from the woman. The squirrel was so tame and so accustomed to people it was walking right up to the woman and showing off by lifting up. Somehow I missed something, I must have blinked because the squirrel went from standing right next to woman to crawling up her leg. I immediately started saying “it’s on her leg! It’s on her leg!” and my friend looked over and let out this guttural scream. The woman was just standing there, either in awe or in shock because she did nothing for what felt like a minute. Then she started shaking her leg to get the thing off. The whole time she had this smile on her face and we couldn’t quite tell if it was out of fear or satisfaction. Perhaps she trains squirrels in her free time and this one was showing promise. 

 

My friend and I continued to walk on but we kept looking back because the squirrel was refusing to leave the woman’s side and kept standing on its hind legs. I expected the thing to make another run for her body and scramble all the way up to her face where it would go for her eyeballs or tongue. We really couldn’t figure out whether the woman liked the whole encounter and if her slightly demonic smile said “I come here every day to let squirrels crawl on me.” Or whether the whole thing was a funny and strange (scary?) experience she’ll take back with her to Spain or France, a story no one will really believe leading her to become known as “Squirrel Leg Susan” or something. She wasn’t trying to take pictures of the squirrel, so she was unlike the other tourists, but she also refused to run away in terror after the thing attached itself to her like I (or most other people) would have done. I’m not scared of squirrels but I draw the line at letting them jump on me. They are, after all, the land version of pigeons, only slightly cuter than their rat cousins given their furry, flickering tails. The whole thing was quite strange and honestly made me rethink this whole squirrel in park thing we got going on here. The next time I walk through Green Park I am keeping my head down, my legs moving and most likely carrying a broom with me to brush off any rodent hop-ons looking for a free ride.

Riley's Rat Race

Last night we took Riley to the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge in Battersea Park. It was my first time seeing that event. Do you know it? Tons of companies send teams to run 5k for charity, in cities all around the world. In London (and New York) it takes place over two nights, this past Wednesday and Thursday nights. Dave wasn’t running because he has been in physio for a sore leg. Riley didn’t run it either as she only runs 10Ks. We went because Dave’s company had about 30+ people running it and because it was, quite simply, a gorgeous night so we were up for a walk. And a sit because once we got to Battersea and found his company’s tent we sat and watched everyone else exercise.

The whole thing was kind of amazing because it was so big. I had no idea it was that big, there were over 13,000 runners from 238 companies taking part the second night. Combined with the first night there were over 26,000 runners and over 530 companies involved. We heard last year was a total bust because it rained all night so people probably dropped out. Considering the weather last night I think everyone decided to go for it.

Dave, Riley and I sat in the sun and enjoyed being outside for a few hours. And I enjoyed not running. Everyone came back after the 5k saying it was really hot out. I was quite comfortable, and in fact was a tad chilly, but I wasn’t exerting myself anymore than lifting a glass to my mouth. Riley ate a whole cheeseburger by herself. No bun though as she is avoiding carbs – beach season and all. Riley enjoyed the attention, though she was worried people would step on her tail. She is the unofficial work mascot for Dave’s company and she had fun making an appearance to cheer everyone on. I didn’t take many pictures since they mostly would have been of strangers in exercise clothes. Awkward! But here are a few:

Happy (Foggy) Fourth!

And yes, I'm back. I think. Not like I was really gone. Well, I did go home for about eight days. But that was three weeks ago. So I have no excuse for not writing.

Anyhoodle. Happy 4th of July! Or alternatively, happy Thursday to those of us in the UK or any other countries. It's always strange to know there is a big holiday in the states and it's just a normal business day in London. If we were back in the states we would have gone to our annual July 4th BBQ and fireworks show last night in Napa. Yes, it takes place on the 3rd it always has, but that's better because then you can celebrate twice. In San Francisco everyone is hoping for a fog free night so the fireworks are visible. Many past Fourths (or other various fireworks displays in SF) have seen the solid clouds light up with colors, everyone oohing and ahhhing over murky blobs and flashes, instead of the expected and hoped for giant bursts of color and sparkles in a clear night sky. Which leads me to this video...

This video has been traveling around the interwebs and twitterverse in the past few days. Having just been home, where the weather was not quite stellar (but still much, much, much, much....much better than London) I was reminded of how beautiful the fog can be. I went home because my mom was having a hip replaced (just a lil ole surgery. Hi Mom!) and her hospital room at UCSF had a gorgeous view of the tops of the Golden Gate and as per usual in SF, the fog rolling in. Here are some pictures from her room:

A few hours after surgery.

 Later that day (if I remember correctly). Same view, just with fog.

 The next day with the fingers of fog coming through the Golden Gate.

This video reminds me so much of home - the fog, the cold, the gray, strategically dressing for the foggy morning knowing you'll have to shed layers once the fog clears and it warms up (this describes basically every morning of my school aged life), starting to curse the fog after too many days of it, listening to the fog horn in our old apartment at night, and of course the beauty of it. Seeing it climb in, over, around, through the bridge, the hills, the bay, the city. Hopefully tonight the fog will clear so the fireworks are visible in San Francisco. But I must say the fog will always have a place in my heart. It's so San Francisco, so the Bay Area, and so, so pretty.

Happy hopefully fog-free Fourth!