Vicarious Tourism: A Little Bit of London

In an effort to be more proactive and start doing things as opposed to just talking about doing them, the Husband and I took the boys out to London on Saturday.

It was a brilliant time. E has been absolutely obsessed with Big Ben for a while now, and so - in tribute to this deep and abiding fascination - our first stop after getting off the Tube was to come out and watch the clock chime the hour.

Our timing couldn't have been better, after snagging some free on-street parking thanks to a tip from our sister-in-law, we got to Westminster just in time to get situated on a nice bit of pavement so that E could revel in pointing and shouting about the Big Clock.

After the Big Clock, it was time to head over to Westminster Abbey for a quick look-around. We were fairly sure E wasn't going to stand for enough church-wandering to justify the £18-a-head price tag, so we just went into St Margaret's Church right next door and took a few pictures.

After letting him drop some change in the donation box - a must-do for him anywhere there's a chance to handle money - it was on to bigger and better things: The National Gallery.

The walk took us through St. James's Park and past Horse Guards. Then through the Admiralty Arch and into Trafalgar Square. This is one of the bits of London I know best. During my Master's programme, not only did a few of my classes take place in the National Portrait Gallery - which is also pretty cool - but a lot of this route is how I would walk home from class on nice days. Campus was just over on the Strand and I lived up past Marble Arch...so central London was my neighbourhood.

The Gallery itself didn't go over terribly well. It was right around E's usual nap time, so he was getting a bit angsty after a brief sprint through the rooms with his dad. I, on the other hand, took the time to get Tristan out of his baby carrier and give him a quick feed. Talk about eating in style: grabbing a quick feed on a leather chaise surrounded by Renaissance paintings. Besides: in a Renaissance painting gallery, what's one more exposed nipple?

High brow breastfeeding in @nationalgallery #mumlife
— Bryony Dick (@beginningbryony) March 1, 2014

With one boy fed, it was time to feed the other, so we headed out of the Gallery on the heels of a tantrum to get some McDonald's. Faces sufficiently stuffed it was off to another well-loved part of London for us: South Kensington.

This is where we met; where the Husband went to school; where we had our first date; where we spent at least part of most weekends together. It's also where we took our engagement photos, which - frighteningly - is now a little over 4 years ago...

We took the boys to the latter of those two locations above - the Science Museum. It was a great time. We let E run around and play, gave Tristan another feed, and had fun enjoying the exhibits and the interactive play area. Seriously: London has some of the best museums I've visited.

After a long day in the city, it was time to head home. So, tired babies in the car, we waved goodbye to the Tube - literally. Ethan had to wave to every passing Tube on our walk back to the car - and headed back on the motorway to home and to bed. It was quite the adventure doing our first trip out with two little boys, but it was definitely worth it. Not sure where we'll go next, but with two family visits coming up in the next month or two, we certainly won't lack for opportunity!

Vicarious Tourism: A Day At The Theatre

Who doesn't love London? Every time I come back to this city, I remember how much I miss it. I miss catching the District Line to Wimbledon to visit the Husband...before he was the Husband. I miss the sardines-in-a-can trip on the Bakerloo Line to school and the subsequent walk back through Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall, and Hyde Park. I miss going on runs through Regent's Park and having all the museums within a stone's throw of my flat. And I miss living just a few blocks north of Oxford Street and all its attendant shopping.

So today, when we got the chance to go back into town for a kid-friendly play, how could I pass it up?

They could barely contain their excitement at the District Line.

My sister-in-law had managed to score four free tickets for a little production at a snazzy cinema in Notting Hill. We drove to a little car park in West London - me, Ethan, Henry, Rachel, and Tim (who swiftly absconded for work) - and then made our way to the Tube. The boys were both thoroughly excited to be with each other, and possibly even more excited at the prospect of a ride on a train. They loved the Tube and were all ready when we got off to see the play.

What was the play? A production by the Ga Ga Theatre Company of Oliver Jeffers's Up & Down.

Mummy & Son as Boy & Penguin
picture by Rachel (of Make A Long Story Short); editing by me

By the poster, so excited to go in!

In seats, waiting for the show to start!
picture by Rachel (of Make A Long Story Short); editing by me

The whole thing involved just two actors - mostly playing the Boy and the Penguin, but also doubling as the Circus Master when the Penguin runs off in search of the chance to fly. Plus, what little dialogue there was basically just revolved around the words 'up' and 'down'. Nice and simple. It made the whole thing fairly easy for the little ones to follow. And, to be honest, in a book with no written dialogue, it was nice that they weren't trying to make up lines that sounded like Oliver Jeffers wrote them. I think the whole thing worked better for its target audience and was a better interpretation of the book like this.

The boys loved the interactive bits of the play, and E really got into pointing out the Penguin at every chance he got. We'd even brought his penguin puppet along for the occasion - just to really get in the zone. I don't think I've had a day where I've heard him shout, 'PEG-in! Peg-in!' more often. Plus, with a cute acoustic guitar-centred score and animated versions of Jeffers's original illustrations projected onto the movie screen, the whole thing kept a lot of the same quirky charm that the book had on its own.

Another set of kudos I have to give? Ga Ga Theatre Company have picked out venues that are all kid-friendly and won't flog obvious sweeties or (as their website puts it) 'tantrum-inducing tat' in the lobby. I managed to snag myself a diet Pepsi and crisps for the show, along with one of E's new favourite treats, Bear Yoyos, all without any conspicuous candy-filled displays to tempt either of us. (The candy was there, but was discreetly on a wall behind the bar.) It made me feel unreasonably virtuous to buy my son what amounts to fruit jerky in cute packaging. That little label that says it's one of your 5-a-day always catches my eye. At least it mitigated our trip to McDonald's after the show.

via, bearnibbles.co.uk

I had pointed out to Rach that there was a McDonald's across the street in case we needed to stuff our faces or placate ravenous toddlers after the show, so a brief stop-off for Happy Meals and chips was a part of our itinerary before hopping on the Tube to go back to the car.

picture by Rachel (of Make A Long Story Short)

The boys got especially excited when one of the ladies on staff gave them balloons to play with. Plus, as Rachel and I both noticed, it's always particularly nice to sit in a well-decorated McDonald's. Makes the whole experience feel so much nicer. As an American, the regularity with which McDonald's restaurants have nice, modern decor over here still impresses me. I never remember eating in a Maccy D's that looked this nice as a kid! (And for those of you travelling, I can tell you this phenomenon holds true in Paris and Vienna as well.)

Munching his yoyo in the cinema lobby & enjoying the London street ambiance.

On the platform at Notting Hill Gate.

Then, it was back out into the rain for another ride on the Tube. The boys loved the whole journey and spent most of the trip standing on their seats and leering out the windows at every passing train and metre of track. E even pretended to be moderately interested when I pointed out that we were riding the train that Mama used to take to see Daddy when we lived in London.

I love that city. It will forever have a special place in my heart. And what SAHM can't appreciate a lovely day out on the town for some quality toddler-friendly entertainment?

Psst! Want to check this awesomeness out for yourself? Time Out has a listing of the remaining performances and all their London locations. Also, Ga Ga Theatre Company didn't give me any perks for writing any of this...I'm just the grateful beneficiary of someone else's good fortune!

Screen Style: BBC's Sherlock

Let me get it all out of the way up front: I love Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. As Sherlock Holmes and John Watson they're like pepperoni & pineapple: so different, but so good together. Not to mention that as the characters they portray, I could eat them both up. Sure one's so self-absorbed as to be practically asexual and the other is an inattentive boyfriend at best, but if they were real I'd be the biggest fangirl to ever sport a deerstalker. As it is, I sort of wish I had a reason to wear a deerstalker...or a fedora...I'm big on hats despite only owning two of them.

When my sister was here over the break, we three gleefully made our way through a Sherlock marathon. We rewatched all 6 episodes in 2 days and loved every minute of it. I couldn't help but think that I loved the whole style of the show and wanted to work some of that feeling into my own home and clothes. Hey: I take my inspiration where I can get it. And let's be honest: painting "I heart Sherlock" in bright yellow on the walls with some artistic bullet holes really isn't an option. (Aside from being entirely devoid of subtlety.) So, for those of us not so inclined to wear our hearts on our sleeves, how would we pay a little homage to the latest incarnation of Conan Doyle's famous detective and his mild-mannered assistant? Perhaps, with a few carefully curated picks from around the internet:

1) This sort of pink iPhone case makes a reappearance in a later episode. This version is from John Lewis, £24.95 
2) If you've seen the episode, then you'll know that the iconic Hackney cabs play a huge part in the plot. This cute Hackney cab stamp comes from skullandcrossbones on Etsy, $4.50
3) If you're looking for another way to work in the Hackney cab, try this adorable print from South London Prints on Etsy, £15.00
4) The bold wallpaper in the sitting room of 221B is pretty hard to miss. If you're brave enough, the actual pattern is available from a manufacturer called Zoffany. £104 per roll.
5) If you're not feeling obsessed brave enough to plaster your house in Sherlock's fleur-de-lis brocade wallpaper, you can always commit to this desktop wallpaper - complete with yellow smiley face - free from fanpop.

1) The waving Lucky Cat is cute in a cheesy, kiztchy sort of way: it also appears as part of a huge plot point. You can find this brooch from Laser Jewlery LaCanica on Etsy, £8.27
2) Although the snazzily simple blue-on-white, sans-serifed packaging is nowhere to be found on Floris's website, their Cefiro hand lotion is still available to buy. Floris London, £22.00 
3) This teapot reminds me of the ones Soo Lin Yao is restoring in the opening sequence (which was obviously shot in part of the British Museum. I used to hang out there a lot). You can find it at John Lewis: £9-12.50 Also: Check these super cute mugs you could find to match! From Little Wren Pottery on Etsy.
4) The iconic red paper lanterns from Chinatown make a brief, but memorable appearance in this episode. This print by Myan Soffia would be great way to evoke that. From society6, $39.00 framed.

1) I love that this is the episode where we get our first proper introduction to arch-nemesis Jim Moriarty. These bright-coloured pants would be a great tribute to his first moments on screen. Next, £19
2) These two prints by Matt Waring and Denny Armstrong are great shots of bit of Thamesfront London. It's a less artistic photo than these that clues Sherlock in to the next crime in Moriarty's puzzle. Matt Waring & Denny Armstrong from society6, £15.
3) This episode features a great fight scene in a planetarium. Not knowing too much about decent star projectors, it did take a bit of searching to find something that wasn't quickly discovered to be crap. The twilight turtle is definitely for kids, but it looks to be one of the better projectors out there. On Amazon, $32.95
4) Granted, Carl Powers's shoes in the show were 80s originals, but these Lebron X iDs by Nike do a pretty good job of approximating the old high-top 80s & 90s look. From Nike, £190
5) Though the Vermeer in the episode turns out to be a fake, you could still snag a coffee table book of the artist's work (or some postcards or prints) from London's National Gallery. Shop Art, the National Gallery, £6.99 

Also, a big help for this post was the Sherlockology website. It was great for tracking down some of the props and costume pieces in the show. Want to see any other shows or films show up like this? I'd love to do this sort of thing more often, so do let me know!

If a tree falls in the forest...

So if a vacation happens, or a funny thought occurs, and I don't blog about it; does it count? In fact, it does. My friends, there is a glorious world that can still be found outside of the reaching clutches of Teh Interwebz. Don't get me wrong, the net is not a malevolent behemoth reaching out with soul-sucking tentacles of death to ensnare you for life, chained to a desk in the basement laughing at pictures of cats and playing Farmland as you stalk the people you used to know in the real world on Facebook and get your groceries delivered through a hole in the door thanks to the convenience of online shopping. At least...I hope it's not a tentacled behemoth with the intent to render me useless in an effort to take over the world. If it is, we're screwed. Just look at this Allie Brosh cartoon to amusingly and cruelly prove my point:

See what I mean?

But, I figured that - for those of you with whom I can now only communicate through that wiley contraption of the World Wide Web - I'd remind you that I don't actually spend all my time in front of the screen with a convenient wi-fi point to plug into. Otherwise, how would I have time to experience the things I complain about? Or do the crafty household projects I photograph and describe to you? Or make that baby I keep rambling on and on about? (Perhaps I should stop my list here...)

Anyway, this glorious world that exists away from my computer is the reason I haven't blogged for a few days. The Husband and I were away with the In-Laws spending some quality time on the east coast of England. Mersey Island, to be exact. Of course, as an American, I'm quite snobbishly particular about the sorts of beaches that qualify as decent beaches (read: England doesn't have them), but - to be fair - we did manage to find quite a good beach one day. It even had golden sand...also a lot of rocks and tiny bugs, but the golden sand and sea shells were a good place to start! We visited the oldest church still working in the country - set up in 654AD. (This, of course, involved several silly moments in which we even roped my father-in-law into joining in on some mock-Gregorian chanting. We're nothing if not juvenile and entertaining.)

Pictures, I promise, will be forthcoming. It's just that I kept forgetting to bring the camera, and my father-in-law being the enthusiastic amateur photographer that he is was much better-equipped with his lovely SLR to take all kinds of snazzy photos during all of our exploits. These exploit included what I must, as a Marylander, shockingly admit is my first experience going crabbing. Incidentally, it was Seb who was the champion crab-catcher of the family; having the patience to reel in some impressive hauls of crustaceans during our outing.


Highlight of the trip out? Getting tasty food and the last of our nursery furniture (!) at Ikea in Croydon.
Highlights of the time there? Crabbing, and a scathingly humorous viewing of Twilight and New Moon. I confess, I gave in to my morbid curiosity and sat down with The Husband, Felicity, and Emily to watch and mercilessly critique the cinematic mediocrity that is the brain child of Stephanie Meyers. We had a hilarious time picking it apart and finally discovering what all the fuss was about. I could go on at length about the missed opportunities to make a good piece of fiction...but I'll save that for another time. ;-)
Highlights of the trip back? Seeing first-hand some of the damage caused by the lawless idiocy and opportunism of the London riots. The Sony building up in Enfield was still smoking furiously when we drove past on the M25.

Other highlight? High-fiving my baby. Oh yeah; Piggly Wiggly is now big enough that I can tell which appendages are poking me where...and we snagged our first ever High Five around my belly button as we drove back home.

More updates tomorrow. As for now; time to get back into my normal at-home routine! Prepare for more entertainment to spew forth again from this corner of the blogosphere.

The Best Cure is More of What Made You Sick

The shadows have grown long and the sunlight now streaming through the leaves and into the bedroom window has softened with the waning day. Bags and boxes and clothes are strewn across the floor with a sense of neglect and abandon. The bed is unmade; covered in papers and assorted odds and ends of clothing that managed to migrate from the floor or on top of the suitcases. I am sitting on a cheap IKEA stool cushioned by a cheap IKEA pillow, with another - even cheaper - IKEA stool holding my papers and box full of pens, hi-lighters, and Post-Its. Such is my life.

I can now say that I actually feel as if I'm back in school. The past 5 hours have actually been spent attempting, and sometimes even completing research. I've read articles on JSTOR, Project MUSE, the websites for the Tate Britain, V&A, and NPG, and even - true to my undergraduate form - Wikipedia. There's something satisfying in realising after 2 highly intimidating seminar sessions that perhaps I'm not as hopeless as I thought.

After hours of reading on everything from Godfrey Kneller to mezzotints to Banyans and writing copious notes on such, you'd think I'd unwind by watching mindless TV, right? Not so. Only I could somehow find solace from hours of reading and writing by doing even more reading and writing! What sort of reading and writing? Oh, of course only the mindless sort.

Reading: the latest Dan Brown novel which is making the rounds through all of my flatmates like a communicable disease during fraternity pledging.

Writing: my blog. A beautiful exercise in being simultaneously informative and self-centred.

Perhaps, though, as a special treat I'll browbeat teh interwebs into cooperating long enough to let me enjoy the latest episode of Private Practise before my back permanently sinks into a hunched-over position signalling my regression from life as a fresh-air-breathing, Regent's-Park-running Human Being to life as a bleary-eyed, indoor-dwelling, internet-database-researching hermit, otherwise known as a Graduate Student. Or perhaps, after months of prolonged exposure and close contact, I'll become fused to my laptop in a creepy sort of symbiosis only previously seen in Disney's latest epic fail, Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End. Or maybe it's more like the Borg in Star Trek...I'm not sure.

yeargh...no onomotopoeia is sufficient to convey

such thorough disgust.

At least I have 2 pages of nicely colour-coded notes to show for my efforts. And no carbuncles yet...