Bleh.

Dear September First,

You are really irritating to me.

Today I could have done without:

• Nick's broken toe (the week he took off work to do DIY with me.  Damn you, osteogenesis imperfecta)
• Heidi's insane amounts of energy.  Pawing at back door for 45 minutes straight this morning when we locked her outside to get a little extra shut eye - check. 
• The fridge breaking today.  
• The fridge magically fixing itself after I called the rental people to tell them it was broken. Doesn't that just make you look like an a-hole?  Oh and they already HATE us.
• It being September first and it reminding me that I don't think I have worked on any of my New Year's resolutions.  Time is a ticking and making me feel like I am in the midst of a quarter life crisis.
• The wallpaper in our new house REFUSING to come down.  And then the wall paper steamer breaking.
• Paint colors looking significantly different on the cards than they do on the walls.  How many samples is it reasonable to buy?  I'm pushing 20 and the husband is not a fan of this process.
• My American drivers license being good for one year and now I need a British one to be allowed to drive here.  

However, there are a few things I am glad for today:

• That there is one restaurant within walking distance of where we live.  And we had a good lunch date there today.
• At least the Doodle's energy can be funny.  (Using Nick's head as a stepping stool to climb on to the window ledge and giving him a bruised face in the process - check.  He looks gangsta now)
• Self help books.  I bought the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People at the airport.  Who am I?  I wonder if I will become highly effective?
• We ordered a brand new kitchen yesterday!  And we got it from the expensive place (Thank you 50% off sale!  You make me feel like a classy girl.)
• We might finally have a car soon!  Thank God.
• We bought a bed for the guest room yesterday.  And it is only 3 weeks till we have our first guest - who I haven't seen in 3 years!!!!!!  OMG!! I'm excited!!!
• Bloggers.  I like you guys.  Thanks for reading this crap I come out with.

That is all.

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!