American Flag Cow Girl Boots

These are my American flag boots.  

Stolen by my younger sister, the one and only LV.  

I've been salty that I can't wear them all day long.

Ughhhhhhhhhh what a statement they would have made when I went to WORK today.

Unlike all of you in the USA, believe it or not, England does NOT celebrate the 4th.

Go figure.

I'm a lil bummed about this.  

Speaking of which I've been considering dual citizenship lately.

Does that make me less patriotic?

I'm most defo proud to be an American....

But, truth be told....

I'd like to have the back up of the National Health Service in case I ever got super sick and my American insurance didn't pay for it.   Like I got sunburned really bad yesterday since the sun finally showed up here and my skin was in shock like whoooooooooa sunshine! and I think this might be the sunburn that puts me over the edge and into melanoma territory.  But at least I'm not pale now.  Ick.  But anyways if I ever did need NHS service cuz I'm pale as hell and prone to skin cancer that would be useful right?  Thats what I thought!  And it would be useful for having babies.  Cuz I hear that shits expensive!  (or not having babies, cuz that adds up too.)  In England they even pay you extra money to spend on fruit and veggies when you're preggers so you have healthy babies.  Is this even relevant?  I dunno but people seem to be popping them out lately so it's been on my mind.  

Anyways.  I miss you America.  I miss you a lot.

Happy 4th of July my friends and compatriots.  

Party in the USA for me, ala Miley Cyrus.  

 Oh and sing that "Proud to be an American" song.

It always gets me fired up.

Amy Comes to Visit!

Last week my dear friend and co-favorite college roommate, Amy, came to visit.  And we had some much needed girl time. Truth be told I'm still lacking in the girl friend department in England so I am pretty sure I talked Amy's ears off.  Yes both of them.  But luckily, seeing as she is our 12th visitor to England, I'm getting pretty damn good at this tour guiding thing.  If only the British weather would cooperate a little better.  

Here's a rundown of our week in pictures....

The first night we went for a sundown walk in the Peak District.

Picturesque, No?

Then we went to Chatsworth.  Again.  

I love Chatsworth though so thats OK.  Especially the gardens.  

They don't get old.

The of course we had to go to London.  

We stayed in a very cheap girls only hostel which I can highly recommend

 for poor female travelers called Piccadilly Guest House.

 The plan was to see the major tourist spots, but England had other ideas.  

So shortly after this was taken we headed off to Harrods where they were having a sale!  

Hurrah!

We had dinner at my favorite restaurant in all of England, Bumpkin, then we went off to the West End to see Dirty Dancing. Ohhh Johnny!  No one puts baby in the corner!

When we came back to Sheffield I took Amy for a little more English countryside action.  

I love the Peak District.  

It's God's country (according to the locals anyways.)  

I must say I agree... at least when the sun is shining.  

I made a lil picnic.

 But then we had to go home because my hair was just not cooperating.  

Forrealz.

But not before Heidi pissed off a herd of sheep.  Eeeeeeeeeek!  

Sheep are creepy sometimes.

But then we saw these cute little baby horses on the way home.  

Awwwwww.  I love country life.

And then Amy and I passed out.

Note:  While we were curled up uncomfortably on the couch Heidi was in my bed.  

Typical.  

I take this to mean I was a successful tour guide.  

ps.  I didn't include pictures of our spa day at Harrogate Turkish Baths .  (this is due to the fact that there were looooooooooads of naked ladies wandering around and taking photos would have been totally inappropriate... fyi the English are so much more comfortable than Americans with nudity.)  But besides the fact that Amy and I were somewhat uncomfortable with nudies, and we creepily checked out the more ample hair styles sported by the very self assured British ladies, we had a wonderful time at the beautiful spa and this is certainly going on the guest list itinerary.  

Miss you already, Amy!

And thanks to Mr. and Mrs. N for buying her plane tickets!  What would we do without our parents?!

Goodbye Bread

Dear Bread,

You are delicious.  I have loved you for a long time and in all varieties.  When I was in gradeschool I used to make PB and J sandwiches on Butternut, or sometimes mayo and banana pepper for a change of pace.  That's a little gross now that I think about it.  Or remember when my gradeschool BF and me wanted to open up a grilled cheese restaurant?  We tested a lot of bready cheesey sammies out in those days.

In high school I became addicted to paninis.  Is there anything more delicious than a warm and gooey panini? I don't think so.  You've always kept me company in restaurants, giving my hands something to do while I chatter away, dipping you in balsamic and olive oil.

On my trips to France I gained a whole new appreciation for you, and by gained I mean I gained 5 pounds.  But who could resist a fresh crusty french bread covered in smelly camenbert?  yum.

Yesterday I had lunch at an organic cafe, it's my favorite place to eat here.  I had coconut and butternut squash soup served with a slice of thick, fresh, yeasty multigrain.  It was the perfect accompaniment to my soup.  Hearty, but spongy and delicate at the same time.

However, 15 minutes after lunch I started to get a stomachache.  And by the time we were driving home from work I felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut.  It was pretty painful.  And I know it was your fault, bread.  I feel really upset about this, because I have enjoyed your company for so long, but it seems we're not good for each other anymore.  I am trying to say good bye but it hurts a little.  I'm not sure what's worse, the pain that eating gluten causes or trying to rid myself of the emotional attachment I have to you, and your various comforting friends, like pizza crust and pasta and baked goods.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this is going to be a tearful goodbye, but this doomed relationship needs to be over.

I'll miss you dearly, but I'm hoping getting rid of you will make me feel better and better.

Love,
Kelly

ps.  Friends if any of you are gluten free and have any tips or tricks for baking I would appreciate it!

Husband Repellent

I have been wearing the above grey high waisted Zara pants on repeat since before Christmas probably.  I am like that.  I tend to find a piece of clothing I like and live in it.  That is a problem in general, but it is really a problem when you're wearing man repellent pants.  For me... high waisted = no muffin top, however, the husband just admitted that he thinks high waisted = big wide ass.  Thanks husband.

Being married is such a learning experience.  I retired my grey pants this week.  And Nick is attracted to me again.  Holler.

Must work on grown up wardrobe.  That is all.

Studying and Such

Dear Friends,

I know it has been super duper quiet around here and every time I am posting I am apologizing for not posting for so long.  But I've been really busy.

For the last few weeksin addition to work and volunteering at the vet clinic  I have been studying like a maniac...

You're probably wondering why, since I've graduated college and all..

But on Tuesday last week I took my British driving theory test...

And I PASSED!!! yay now I just have to take the real test where I have to actually drive which is scary!.  We will see how that goes.  Did I tell you we have been renting a car? It's awesome.  I love cars.

The other test I've been studying for was the GRE.  I was feeling pretty stressed about it to be honest.  Like I was gonna spontaneously barf for like a week before the test.  I needed to get a 1,000 to apply to vet school and I was pretty worried I wouldn't get it.  But did!  I almost cried when I saw the score appear on the screen at the end of the test.  But I did a lot of positive visualization of the big G-O-D telling me what the answers were and when that didn't work I thought about.... hmmmm well thats a secret but it worked!  Anyways I am trying this power of positive thinking thing and I think it's working.

In other news we had to go London to take this test.  We stayed at the Ibis hotel (I would not recommend).  We ate at Josephine's Filipino restaurant on Charlotte Street Friday night (I would HIGHLY recommend).  (Sorry no pictures cuz I was stressing!) Then on Saturday I took my test and we went to Chipotle to celebrate!!

Judge me if you will.  I know there are a million delicious restaurants in London, but Chipotle only exists in London in this country and ohhhh my god I miss it.  But it's not half as good here so that was a bit of a let down.  The tortillas tasted weird.  And the avocados suck in this country.  But I guess beggars can't be choosers eh?

Happy Monday.  

I missed you, blogosphere.

ps.  This means I can cross off more items on my Day Zero List.