Weekend Recap – A Day Off, Date Night, and Flying Across the Pond

My weekend officially started on Thursday night because I took Friday off so I could prepare for my trip.  Well, I kind of took the day off.  I still responded to emails in between running errands.  I don’t do unanswered emails when I know they’re piling up in my inbox.

Anyways, I dropped Vishnu off at work, came home, went for a long run, cleaned, picked Vishnu up from work (short day), ran a bunch of errands (Target, dry cleaners, the bank), did laundry, and packed.  Oh and answered emails!

Friday night ended up being date night.  While we had decided on a cute Italian place a short walk from our apartment, we ended up at a Thai restaurant that we spotted on our way called The Lemon Grass.  We’re strange like that!

I had a glass of Malbec and Pad Thai with tofu.  And Vishnu had soup and Basil Sauce with chicken and rice.  My wine was smooth and delicious, and the Pad Thai was tasty but VERY spicy.  I asked our waiter if they could do something between mild and medium spicy, and he gave me the ‘ok’ sign.  My dish, however, was HOT.  Even Vishnu agreed.  I still managed to eat half of it.  Vishnu’s Basil Sauce dish was just ok – mainly because there wasn’t much sauce.  His soup was just ok too.  I let him steal a few bites of my Pad Thai!

After dinner, we decided to balance the spicy Thai with some sweet gelato from Paciugo’s.  Aside from a couple of gelaterrias in Italy, this was some of the best gelato I’ve ever had!  I got a cup with half baccio and half peanut butter chocolate.  YUM!

We then made our way home and settled in to watch a movie called Stuck in Love.  If you’re looking for a moving romantic comedy with good acting and a great plot, this film fits the bill.  Highly recommend it!

On Saturday morning, I ran around the apartment, finished packing, and put together a to do list for Vishnu.

The one thing I didn’t do this time around was make a bunch of food for Vishnu to eat throughout the week.  I intended to but never got around to it.  When I told him that he would have to fend for himself and figure things out on the food front, he looked at me with fear in his eyes.  I told him I have full faith that he won’t starve.  He told me he’s going to get a whole chicken and cook it in the crock pot.  Oh boy…

That brings me to the flying across the pond part of the weekend.  My flight from Atlanta to Tampa was only an hour, and I had very little time to spare before boarding my flight to London (a good thing because I hate waiting around the airport).  I have nothing bad to say about this travel experience (shocking!).  The food (and wine!) was good, my seatmate was really nice, and everything went according to plan.

Once I was checked into my hotel room, I finally relaxed by taking a 45 minute nap.  I was meeting Rosalind (my friend and colleague) at 10:30 am, so I got up, showered, and got ready for a day of exploring.

We had breakfast in Camden Market at a cute little café.  Then we went to Fortnum and Mason (a beautiful store filled with delicious treats) because Ros needed to pick up a few things – it was total chaos.  We then walked through Hyde Park and ended up near Winter Wonderland (an outdoor carnival) where we rode a crazy swinging roller coaster ride (SO MUCH FUN!).  After that we walked around aimlessly and ended up on Oxford Street (like Michigan Ave in Chicago).  We rested our feet at Starbucks while we chatted and sipped on a couple of lattes.  And then I was officially done for the day – so tired!  I got back to my room around 5 pm, worked for a bit, and then called it quits.

Day one in London was a success!  Now on to a pretty packed work week.

Have a great Monday!