So Does This Mean We're Grown Ups?

We bought a house!

I'm pretty sure we used monopoly money or something.

I'm not entirely sure of the details since I was in America when it all went down...

But YES apparently we are homeowners?!?

And when I say "we" I mean it only in the sense that Nick is a homeowner

 and I just happen to be married to him so I am a homeowner by default.

They wouldn't put my unemployed, no credit history in Britain,

 American self on the mortgage...

and I think that's alright by me - for now.

I'm still playing house - thank you.

So you wanna see the place?

Come on in!

Living Room.

Kitchen

Kitchen again.  Notice the lack of appliances?

Yes.. we're working on that.

My apologies in advance for the lack of gettin' busy cooking posts

- for the next month at least.

The garden, which we found out yesterday is NOT Doodle-proof.

Hello awkward way to meet your new neighbors....

Tiny bathroom.

Guest Bedroom - Come visit!

Master Bedroom.  Goodbye hot pink walls...

Nursery.  No we're not having babies.  

Quit asking.  It will be a man room.

Or what I like to call 

"The command and control center."

Nick has a lot of computer equipment.

Well that my friends is our new house!

It doesn't look like that anymore though.

We've torn up the carpets, 

pulled up the floor,

stripped the wall paper and broken up tiles.

Tomorrow we're going to look at kitchens.

Lot's of before and after pictures will be on their way!

Summer Lovin

Hey homies.

Who's that hottie in the purple MILF swimsuit, you may ask...

Thats me....

Enjoying the summer sun.  In America.

Where the sun ACTUALLY shines.

With my BFFAEAE, Garen, Cincinnati's Queen City Girl.

(Best Friends Forever And Ever And Ever.  We like to emphasize the evers, OK?)

This time last week we were catching some rays with our little sisters.

My pasty English skin could barely handle all that UV.

Don't worry though I used SPF 50 and reapplied.

Frequently.

I'm back in England now and it is currently 12 C here.

That's 54 F for you folks back home.

It's freaking freezing.

Oh and it's been raining too.

So enjoy the summer while you still can!

I'm totally jealous!

Hyde Park Market

I LOVE the market.  

I think most foodies do.  

Since I left my hometown a bunch of these little markets 

have sprung up in random parking lots.  

Seriously why couldn't this trend have started sooner?!

No pesticides on dem apples.  

And how massive is that okra?

I'm salivating.

Heirloom tomatoes.

This dog has a mohawk and a skull and crossbones leash.  

What a bad ass. 

You can thank me for my crazy dog lady,

 stalker paparazzi camera skills later.

We ran into my Aunt Niki and my cousin Olivia.

My favorite thing about being in Cincinnati is running into people 

EVERYWHERE.

Olivia got a belgium waffle from the waffle guy.

He's pretty famous around these parts for his awesome waffles.

And lucky for most of you, 

should you have a waffle hankering, he ships all over the US.

I got a crepe -

the contents of which spilled all over my new Anthropologie skirt.

I'm really not having much luck with clothes lately.

Everybody Loves the Cubbies

This is my good friend Liza.

We've been pals since kindergarten.

She was super duper awesome to me in Chi-town last week.

She let me share her studio apartment and bed with her and her crazy cat, Vince....

And she didn't even get that mad at me when I returned home from the wedding 

and tried to take him on a walk....

FYI

Cats on leashes being walked (dragged) by drunk bridesmaid = crazy, hissy mess.  

But you know what was REALLY awesome?

She remembered that "Go to a Cubs game"

Was on my Chicago To Do List for like 4 years when I went to school there.

And I just never got around to going....

I studied far too much in college.  

So going with her was awesome!

It was just as good as I ever imagined.

The atmosphere at baseball games is topnotch.

And the pizza in Wrigleyville is pretty good too!

Thanks Liza for this little piece of Americana!

Lord knows I LOVE it!

ps.  Thank you for all the support and prayers. 

My Uncle passed away this morning after a long night of tears and prayers,

but we are all glad he is in heaven now.
pss. My friend Amy just joined the blogging world. 
Show her some love!

It Was a Tough Day

Dear Friends,

My trip to America has been an emotional roller coaster.  I'm 2/3 of the way through it now, and  I am constantly reminded of everything I miss here in the United States.  Some things are silly, like my favorite hairdresser, or my love of driving, and eating (hello English food really does suck).  

But the most important thing I miss about living in England, is my friends and family.  I no longer get the wuzzup texts from my sister, or the OMG texts from my girl friends.  Sometimes I get the long emails, where people tell me there is nothing to tell me - but let's be honest there is always something to talk about with your family and friends, it just takes a lot of effort to recall it in letter formation.

Today I went to the hospital.  My Uncle John is going to die.  I'm not sure if I will ever see him alive again.  As I left I said "cya later" without much expectation of actually seeing him later.  In four short months cancer has destroyed his body and watching him writhing in pain and struggling to breathe is a horrifying experience.  

My dad is a pretty stoic guy, and he told me this was just a part of life.  But this is not a part of everyone's life.  Not everyone would be so lucky as to have their large family at their side at all times.  Some people might not have a family, some people might have a family that is falling apart, emotionally broken, full of drama and issues.  My family is not like that.  My family is not perfect, but the love and support within that hospital room today was palpable.  I feel very blessed to be a small part of that and to be reminded so strongly of that during my short stay here.

My Grandma is having the very emotionally draining task of watching her son die.  A few days ago she said that she was praying to God for a miracle, but she now knows that she was praying for the wrong thing.  He will not make a full recovery, so she is praying that God's will be done.  

Sometimes events occur that remind you of whats important, and faith and family are on the top of that list.  Living abroad I constantly miss my loved ones back home, but I am so thankful to know that whenever we make it home and I guess even if we don't -  that support system will be waiting for me.

Please keep my family in your prayers.  We are prayers, and we'd sure appreciate it.  I will be thinking of you and your families too.  I hope you are all as lucky as me.

Love,

Kelly

Everyone Loves a Wedding

Amy and Ben had the perfect wedding.

(with the small exception of my dress splitting down my butt in the middle of millenium park - True Story.)

But the bride didn't notice, and everyone was all SMILES.

And maybe a few happy tears...

We all had a blast!

It's off to San Diego for the newlyweds now.  

And maybe even Guam depending on where Ben gets stationed for the Navy.

I'm so excited for them.

Congratulations Amy and Ben!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

One of my goals for my USA trip was to make sure the bride had the best bachelorrette party.

In the history of bachelorette parties, this one was going to make it into the books.

The essentials for such a rockin B party are...

 Lots of spicey gifts, in spicey gift bags....

The best roommates in the world - reunited, with Chi-town as our playground.

A few old dudes to hit on us... complete with hawaiian shirt and mustache.

Pop rocks lined martini and a phallic lollipop.

Cute boys to fall in love with us on the dance floor.  

Let it be noted, Kelly Leigh's love to dance....

Husbands of Kelly Leigh's HATE to dance.

We have an agreement regarding this.

Please note the tongue action on the below photo.

Go shawty!!

When bachelorette's get tired, they require nice,

 cute boys to carry them to their next location.

And when bachelorette's get hungry, 

they might ask said dude to carry them to a subway at 2 am.

And that my friends, is how you help your fave little Asian 

have her last night on the town as a single woman!

What do you think?

One for the books, eh?

43. Go On A Cupcake Crawl in Chicago

Designing My 100 Things To Do List was quite a challenge.  

I picked most things on my list because I thought when I finished them I would have a good story, 

I'd feel proud, or like I accomplished something....

Salted Caramel - Phoebe's... Innovative and delicious.

Confetti - Phoebe's

Display case from Molly's.

My friend Sarah, the Bride Amy, and Me.

Minty Mash Up - Molly's... Least fave cupcake of the day.

Peach Cobbler - Molly's... Runner up for favorite cupcake of the day.

Awesome display at Swirlz.

Swirlz Lemon Coconut cupcake - my fave from the crawl.  

But after the cupcake crawl, the only thing I felt...

was like voming.

We made it to 3 places, 

before our stomachs objected to sampling anything else.

Luckily for us though... 

at the Bachelorette party the next day, 

the Bride's sisters got us cupcakes from Sprinkles.

And the day after that, at the rehearsal dinner, 

the grooms mom got a cake from Sweet Mandy B's.

So we made it through our list in the end anyways.

Although each cupcake joint offered us something different and good in it's own way...

Sprinkles takes the cake for it's delicious butter cream frosting

 and my preferred icing to cake ratio. 

I'm glad I crossed another thing off my list.  

But I NEVER want to see another cupcake again.

OK... well that's a lie actually...

Packing Tips

Hi friends!

I've safely arrived in Chicago!  Let the adventures begin!
Since I'm a bit of a globe trotter, I figured I'd share some packing advice with you today.  I used to be completely crap at packing.  When I was 13 I went to France with my Aunt's family to visit our relatives and babysit my cousins.  I brought the BIGGEST suitcase ever and everyone made fun of me.  Plus, it was a huge pain to drag around public transport.  Since then, I have learned how to travel the world with less baggage!

Kelly's Tips for Packing

1. Mini toiletries are overrated.  If you have lion's mane hair like me, you know one travel sized bottle of conditioner will only last one wash.  But the big bottles are risky - what if they leak?  You could tape them shut and put them in plastic bags, but why not try using Lush products instead?  I LOVE their solid shampoo and conditioner - there is no chance of it exploding, and it takes up less valuable packing space!  They also have solid moisturizers.  Score!
2. I have a lot of make-up, but most days I stick to the same basic products.  There is no need to pack 5 different shades of blush.  Your normal make-up routine will work fine on vacation too.
3. When packing clothes keep a few things in mind...
1. If you never wear it at home for whatever reason, do NOT pack it.
2. Plan your outfits ahead of time.  I have my bachelorette party outfit planned, as well as a few others so I don't over pack.  
3. Check the weather!  When I went to Africa I assumed it would be hot so I brought a bunch of shorts, turns out I was there during the dry season and it was pretty cold!
4. Roll your clothes.  This is a huge space saving technique and helps prevent wrinkles.
4. I'm not much of a shoe girl, but even if I were - a pair of sneakers, a pair of sandles, and a couple pairs of dressy shoes should do the trick for most places I go.
5. Don't forget, the inside of your shoes is valuable packing space!  I often shove small T's and socks into my sneakers, pumps, and boots.  
6. Get yourself a travel jewelry bag.  I used to actually bring a small jewelry box with me!  Can you believe that?  It really weighed down my suitcase, and it caused me to go over weight a few times resulting in a frantic "what can I get rid of" ordeal at the check in.  This clothe jewelry bag works great!

Note: I would never put my wedding rings in my packed luggage, I put them there for illustration purposes only!

It even folds up for more convenient packing.

7. Speaking of going over weight - make sure you weigh your bag before you leave.  I try to leave 5 pounds worth of wiggle room, because the scales may not be calibrated exactly and I usually throw a few things in at the very last minute.
8.  The majority things you might pack are not essential to remember.  As long as you have your passport, you can probably pick up whatever it is you've forgotten when you get to your destination.  The things I tend to forget that are a hassle to buy are chargers!  Don't forget your camera or your phone charger, and if you're going to a remote location, you may want to invest in a few electrical adapters before you go.
9. Your carry on luggage should be light and portable.  Shopping in international terminals can land you some good bargains and help pass the time, but if your carry on is too heavy you'll want to sit instead of shop.

10.  Don't forget to bring a hostess gift if you are staying with someone!

Happy vacations and travelling to everyone!

xoxo

Kelly