Thankfully, he’s a sweet guy and a good brother, so he brought me my bottle.

I recall sitting alone in my room and holding this olive oil bottle full of microscopic specks of glittery sand and fuzzy water up to the window so the sunlight could work its magic.
The light streaming through the blinds gently illuminated every swirling golden grain, and I looked up in amazement at all of these sparkly little bits.

I had in my possession, an actual part of the ocean!

And then I started crying.

I’m not sure why exactly.

Probably because I just really wanted to see the ocean.

The idea of something so vast, so limitless, so anonymous… it really stirred my little baby heart.

Just put my feet in the water.
To sit on the shore and feel the frothy sea blanket crash over my legs…I guess these thoughts were simply more than I could handle.

Much to my disdain, we were not a family who took vacations and sadly, Tennessee is landlocked.

I was a teenager the first time I ever saw the sea with my very own eyes, and the love affair has never ended.

I have been to the beaches of Florida, California, Mexico, and South Carolina.

And now I can add Devon, England to my list.

Oh gorgeous Devon…

All this sea watching stimulated the appetite.

So Fish & Chips it was!

Very much what we had hoped for.

I decided to skip this stuff though…

I think this has been here since 1972…

But seriously, how cute is our little receipt?

There was also interesting literature next to the table…

No time for Wookey Holes or crazy helicopters with giant inflatable children’s heads…back to the beach with us!

It was nice to see something familiar… I also <3 Nashville!

The town was lovely as well. Full of swans and little bridges…

I feel so abundant and overflowing with gratitude these days. So many of my dreams have come true and continue to do so. I am full of love and creativity for the first time in more years than I can honestly place. I sincerely wish everyone I hold in my heart could bear witness to all these twinkling miracles I get to experience on a regular basis.
I’ve always tried to be a good person. An honest person. Sometimes I have achieved this and other times I haven’t lived up to my own expectations.
But I have always had good intentions. I have always wanted to do well by others and kept a deep pocket of dreams tucked inside my chest cavity in hopes that I might find a way to have them become a reality.
I never imagined that I would find a man who could share these dreams, who understood my crazy brain and my restless soul and my need for both absolute peace and riotous adventure.
A person who can love me for all my sass mouthing, my moods, my child-like frustration with how the world works. But having love like this softens you. It strengthens you. I feel like I have so much to give!
Truly, My fountain is full of joy and spilling over into the streets.
This world is a gift. To be traveled and marveled at, to be shocked and confused by. We are meant to see it all. The things that make us ache with laughter and feel nauseated with sadness. It causes us to value our time here. Until we are all back into the ground or out into the stratosphere.

I swear I’m not trying to preach.

I’m just really fucking happy. And I find that I fight this a lot. I fight being happy. Because I haven’t ever been open enough to feel it or be capable of handling it.

It’s safer to always be on the edge of the abyss.

I hope you will stick with me and get something delightful out of my little experiences in this oh so strange world.

I’m just starting to really live my life and it’s more than I could have ever dreamt for myself clutching that bottle of dirty sea water so many years ago.

xx

I went there.

This is what I saw.

Enjoy!

I named this guy Admiral Chill pants. Cuz he don’t care.

That’s my hot husband looking hot in his leather in some nature. mmmm.

Big blue sky.

And my big smile. Twas a happy day.

xx

Fresh air.

SHEEP!

One of these trips happened to take us to lovely Wales where we bedded and breakfasted and took a tranquil stroll around the ruins of the Tintern Abbey.

Obviously I don’t need to convince you that Tintern Abbey is a thing of remarkable beauty and epic History.

Just use your eyes.

I mean, look at the damn thing.

Utterly breath-taking.

Pulling a door handle that is 881 years old sort of blows my mind.

And all the sweet little surprises reaching through the ancient cracks and crevices…

Magic and intrigue and ghosts from another time…

You just can’t help but be a sponge to this sort of thing.

And my shockingly handsome soul mate is quite easy on the eyes…

I could just stay here forever…

Alas, I must return to the city…

xx

http://www.castlewales.com/tintern.html

Well, the only way to make up for it is by making up for it!

Chicago is just windy and busy enough to have provided me with the perfect training wheels for my big move to London.

Post wedding, we drove from Cleveland to Chicago to spend a lovely week with my brother-in-law & his wife and a couple of Simon’s friends from London (and I spent an additional week alone waiting for my belated marriage visa to arrive safely).

Here is my brother-in-law gleefully peering up the skirt of the infamous Marilyn Monroe statue in Chi-town.

The newlyweds atop the famous John Hancock tower.

The view from said tower:

It was REALLY high up and I was getting a little dizzy/clammy/panic-stricken…

I’m talking about REALLY HIGH.
When you go to the bathroom at the bar on the top floor the wall is simply a giant window so you step out of the stall feeling like you are about to topple over and directly out of it.
Which makes you feel queasy and generally uncertain about your safety.

So then we got some cocktails and everything seemed okay again…

Mandarin and Strawberry you-aren’t-going-to-die Martini

Long Island death-is-not-imminent Iced Tea

See? Feeling much better now!

And then we were starving.

We happened upon this little vegan gem a couple of blocks from our hotel in Boystown and gave it a whirl.

I’ve been trying to help my husband improve his eating habits (per his request) and I thought, what better way to show him how easy it is to eat healthy and not have meat or dairy in the equation?

The food we ordered was out of this world. Simply shockingly good.

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

The Rockin-Morroccan Veggie Bowl with fried tofu tower of freedom…okay I added that last bit…

UN-chicken sandwich

Wickedly decadent peanut butter parfait

And the guiltiest pleasure of all, the exquisite French Lavender steeped Lemonade

(Be careful with this lemonade as it is danger-zone level sweet and will give you a sugar crash like you have never before experienced)

My darling enjoying his coffee after our first Vegan feast as a married couple!

The thing is, I’m not vegan. I’m not even vegetarian. I prefer to eat vegan or vegetarian, and much of the time I do.
Basically, it’s not a priority for me at this point so I try to eat as plant based as humanly possible, but if I want a piece of salmon or a mango lhassi, by Jesus I’m gonna have it!

I was really and truly impressed with the level of service, knowledge, and care the staff at Native Foods displayed while we were there. Not to mention that the food was sensational and incredibly filling. It was also fairly pricey, but I felt that it was definitely worth the splurge (so much so that I went back two more times during my two week adventure in Chicago).

My husband was really impressed as well and it made me really happy to see a self proclaimed “Meat & Potatoes Brit” branch out and try something new and probably somewhat scary.

http://nativefoods.com/menu/

So, that being said, after we feasted it was time for some art!

My friend Nikki was nice enough to get us a couple of free passes to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Sometimes I love Modern Art…

(This was my favorite piece hands down! By Nick Cave no less!)

Sometimes I find it irrelevant and irritating…

But that’s one of the great things about going to art museums, you get a chance to explore how you prefer to see the world.

I apparently like mine filled with porcelain woodland creatures.

I also had the pleasure of visiting The Chicago Art Institute while I was stuck on my own the next week. I wish we had gone together! It was jaw-dropping.
Simply epic.
And I took a healthy amount of photos so get comfortable!

WASN’T THAT THE COOLEST? Le Sigh. I <3 Art.

Also, I was truly impressed with how well my camera did in all of the different parts of the museum, some rooms very very blue and bright, some were very dim and red…everything just came out splendidly!

Well, until the next post (sooner than later I PROMISE! SCOUTS HONOR) see you later! xx

Even an armful of turtles.

I’m like the crazy youtube cat girl who wants to hug all the cats in the world…except that her video was fake and I’m not batshit crazy.
I just like creatures.

My new London buddy “M” apparently wanted to crawl into my heart as quickly as possible, because she took me to Vauxhall City Farm today and spent several HOURS squeeing about animals with me.

There was so much squeeing.

Meet Misty. She is very tolerant.

Misty made my “I simply must hug a bunny today or I will die” dreams come true.

This might be the most unattractive photo of myself that I have ever willingly posted on the internet for all to see, but it’s important that you understand how much I wanted to hug that damn rabbit.

And then snuggle him…

And then sway with him while snuggling him (yes, like a 3 year old).

Like this three year old.

But dude, seriously. CHECK OUT THOSE FEET!

If Misty didn’t hop around in her own poop all day I would want to put it in my mouth.

So, I settled for kissing her (notice her bun-riffic disapproval).

But I wasn’t the only one requiring rabbit-cuddles.

M fell in love too.

And then I got crazy with the close-ups.

LOOK AT ITS FACE! GAHHHHHH! KATIE ARE YOU SEEING THIS!? IS YOUR HEART EXPLODING?

And then Misty started giving me the side-eye and we knew that her tolerance bucket was full and we kindly returned her to her happy play area.

And then there was this guy.

We didn’t get to hang out with him though because he was busy being chubby and sleepy the entire time.

Okay! So onto the chickens!

This guy was cool.

This guy was kind of a jerk and bit me (but I had my camera in his face so I suppose I might have had it coming).

This guy had some sort of shrunken head syndrome action going on because the proportions just don’t add up.

Mother Nature is hysterical.

Ohhhhh, and I maybe hugged some chickens too.

We had a little moment.

I definitely like petting them more than eating them.

Again, I must point out that I was NOT alone in my chasing around of chickens shenanigans.

This gentleman was totally doing it too!

See? Wasn’t the only one. Just saying.

So this brings us to these ridiculous fuzzy creatures of absolute hilarity.

Look. At. THAT. HAIR.

It’s just breathtakingly comical.

Hello. I’m an Alpaca. I’m cooler than anything else that exists.

JUST BE MY FRAND!

And maybe YOU don’t get excited by cows, but I can barely keep it together.

Even though they are majorly sassy…

They are still SO darling and soft and I want to pet them.

I even want to pet this fellow…

And this one giving me the duck stink eye…

And how do you hug a goat you ask?

Easy.

Gently take hold of his horns…

Guide him ever so sweetly into your loving embrace…

And then wrap your arms squarely around his big goat head and SQUEEZE!

I know, I know. Seek help immediately.

Well kids, this is just who I am.

I leave you with bunny ears.

http://www.vauxhallcityfarm.org/
xxoo

Growing up in the South, iced tea is generally part of daily existence.

Iced Sweet tea, Iced Green Tea, Iced Peach Tea, Iced Passionfruit Tea…the varieties are endless.

I’ve never really gotten into hot tea as much (aside from wintry days where my throat is highly unhappy).

A few years ago I stumbled upon Teavana in the Green Hills Mall and developed a very serious crush with the place.

http://www.teavana.com

But they are SO EXPENSIVE. And they try to up-sell you to death.
It got to the point where I didn’t even want to make eye contact with the sales associates when I went into the store.
They also don’t tell you that the canisters they put the tea in cost extra (or at least failed to mention that to me any of the 50 times I bought tea).
And some of the “teas” don’t even contain tea at all. Just sweetened dried fruit & flowers…but they still call it “TEA”.
(Is there not a rule against this)?

Anyway, I still love tea.

To be more accurate, I’m pretty much obsessed with hot tea since I moved to the UK.
Specifically Earl Grey.

At first, it’s a little weird that everyone is always going on and on about having a “cuppa” tea all the damn time.
But I quickly realized that I had never had Earl Grey tea with milk & sugar before.

MY BRAIN——-> WAIT A MINUTE! THIS IS EFFING STELLAR!

A hot cup of tea can fix your soul.

Part of the joy of tea is the ceremony…

And adorable china…

And having a hot tea date…

I can’t stop drinking it. I crave it!
I have even been using agave syrup and soy milk to be healthier.
It has fully replaced coffee in my life.
I know…THAT’S CRAZY TALK!

I order it everywhere we go.

I just can’t help myself.

And people here even drink it alongside their meals. Even with cheeseburgers!
(By the way, I ate a cheeseburger the other day and it was phenomenally delicious).

See? DELICIOUS!

So, long story short, tea is important. Drink it and feel better.

Now, how about I leave you with some spectacular street art from my travels around Brick Lane in London?

And of course, lest you forget…The Beginning is Nigh!

Thankfully, this is exactly what we got at our London Do.

For starters, I refused to dress up. No more wedding dress. No more fancy hair appointments…no more!

Pants…boots…done.

We sort of adopted the attitude of “Hell, it’s our party…so by god we are going to wear jeans!”

(And it was much more fantastic because of it)

My Husband planned pretty much all of it on his own, and honestly the venue could not have been a more perfect representation of both of our personal design aesthetics.

Funky wallpaper, vintage furniture, artsy chandeliers, and old movie posters gave the space serious character and set the tone for super fun party time.

My Brother-In-Law was nice enough to make us a cake!

Which I was more than excited to hack up with my giant knife!

Even though there were people trying to distract me with highly inappropriate “that’s what she said” jokes.

New Family!<3

QT was our happy toastmaster and said some really sweet (and hilarious) things…

“It’s amazing what you can find on the internet these days”

Har. Har.

There was lots of love going around…

And many a happy guest!

And Champagne!

Happy People with Champagne are the happiest…

And Food!

Wild mushroom, garden pea, and creme fraiche tartlets…

Kashmiri Lamb skewers with minted yogurt…

Salmon & avocado nori Rolls with chive & red pepper…

Hoi Sin duck pancake rolls with cucumber and spring onion…

Tiger prawn lettuce wraps…

Parmesan and herb muffins with salsa verde and sun-blushed grapes..

Chocolate covered strawberries & fresh raspberries…

The catering company truly did an amazing job!
http://www.kaicatering.co.uk/
Everyone remarked on how lovely the food was…And soon it had vanished!

So…

Smitten…

And tons of laughs…

By the end of the reception everyone was chummy!

Reception #2 was a complete success!

Just look at that delightfully intoxicated smile on QT’s face!

I fully intend on having a Wedding reception #1 post as well, I just haven’t gotten the photos back from the wedding photographer just yet.
But, I hear they are enroute!
Soon I will have more wedding loveliness for you! I promise.

xxoo

Guh.

How can one commit to a life of complete vegetarianism after tasting duck skin?

Tell me this!

My spectacular trip to London this Summer involved my first ever Peking Duck experience, which I shall never forget, no matter how many more brain injuries I sustain in my life.

The started out with no plans of a duck feast in sight.
We did a little sight-seeing…

Hung out in the park and acted like annoyingly adorable teenagers…

Met up with QT and consumed some wine on a boat bar on the Thames River…

Before you know it we were on a tipsy mission, wandering the streets of London in search of the duck feast to end all duck feasts…

Soon enough we were seated in a fabulously elegant Chinese restaurant ordering a duck and a half, and even more wine…

Moi, patiently awaiting the duck feast!

Snacks!

THE DUCK!!!

MMMMmmmmmmm…

Duck Skin…

The spread…

So here is what you do to make your taste buds have the biggest most fantastical explosive party in your mouth ever…

You take a pancake, you spread some plum sauce on it, you add cucumber and spring onions…

You grab a nice tender chunk of duck meat and top it with a crispy crunchy lacquered duck skin crackling and you roll it up as quickly as possible; inhaling it like you are in a prison camp.

Because it disappears fast!

QT tries to hide the shame of shoveling duck into his mouth…

Oh! And they clean the rest of the duck and stir fry it with bean sprouts!

There is no shame! Only joy!

Wow. That was an awesome day.

So the other night, I attempted to make my first duck and roasties using the UK fan oven.

DUCK!

Check out those taters atop my new Acacia chopping block…

And the finished product!

MAGNIFICENT! CRISPY SKIN, TENDER DUCK!

Super easy to make!

Simply sear the duck legs for a few moments on a hot skillet til the skin gets nice and brown and transfer to the oven with raw sliced potatoes for 1.25 hours on 190 degrees Celcius
(for UK fan ovens).

You can season the potatoes however you wish, although I just opted for simple salt & pepper.
As the duck legs cook, the fat seeps out of the duck and cooks the potatoes to the most gorgeous crispy golden brown, while also enriching it with a truly sinful flavour.

Here is the US equivalent…375 F for 1.25 hours
(Remember, I’m all British now)

Okay y’all…more later! Back to veggies and soymilk for me!

(I did have some fish in Devon and felt alright)

I have also pretty much dropped dairy and alcohol for the same reason.
My body is a temple and all that jazz.

During my immigration purgatory nearly one month ago, I was lucky enough to stay with my super smart health-guru friend Rea in Chicago, and I happened to learn a few things while I was there.

One of these things is that “Vegan” doesn’t mean starvation or have to be associated with being an obnoxious Hipster.
Also, I discovered that amazingly tricky things can be done with food to convince your brain you are indulging when in fact, you are nourishing!

(She is the Goddess of Veganism if ya didn’t already know…)

I made Rea’s Vegan Mac and Cheese last night with great success.
http://www.cheekychicago.com/cheeky-vegan-gluten-free-mac-and-cheese/

This recipe is astonishingly good.

I doubled the sauce and veggies; adding Kale, mushrooms, and red peppers.
I should have taken a photograph since that’s totally what I do…alas the excitement got the better of me and I forgot entirely!

Here is a photo of the dish that Rea took!

My Carnivorous Husband even had 2 bowlfuls with a sincerely satiated happy face!

I’m not sure if I’ll ever be truly vegetarian, and I’m fairly certain that complete veganism isn’t in the cards for me, but I’m incredibly open to new ideas and approaches with respect to improving the way I feel every day and I know now, that what you put in your body has a direct effect on this…

Stay tuned for more time machine journeys involving delicious food adventures in London and Chicago from this past Summer… xx

For more Wisdom from the Goddess of Vegan…check out this article…http://www.glamourunderground.com/1163/eat-intuitively/