Euro Trip Part 2

If you missed part 1 of my Euro Trip, click here. We left off on Saturday night. This meant, I only had two more days in London before heading to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sunday was another free day. A few of us met up at 10 am and headed out to the Camden Market. Camden is the area where punk rock was started. It has a grungy feel, but pretty cool. Rory told me about a market place there, so we met 3 other co-workers at the flea market area. We were soooo not impressed and wondered how Rory bought such amazing things on a previous trip. But then we walked further along the road and saw the real Camden Market.

We spent hours here shopping and eating. My co-workers made a huge dent in their wallets. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel to drop our things off before walking over to Buckingham Palace for the States Room Tour. I have been to London 4 times now and I have always wanted to go into Buckingham Palace. You don't get to see the bedroom or things like that, but so many beautiful rooms. They open this part to the public only during a few months a year (during Summer). And photos are not allowed. I only got a few snaps outside, but it was pretty amazing and beautiful in there.

After our tour, we went to Covent Gardens for some more shopping. This time we all bought a bunch of tea from Whittard's. Then we made our way over to Sticks N Sushi for you guessed it, sushi. And it was amazing. Seriously sooooo good. I got a salmon sashimi and a rainbow roll. We also split some ebi bites (tempura shrimps).

After dinner, we stopped at Gelupo for some gelato and then headed back to the hotel.

Monday we worked all day and then headed back out to Bone Daddies for more ramen. This time we tried a different location which was closer to where our co-workers were staying.

Tuesday, one of my co-workers and I headed out to Edinburgh, Scotland. We flew there, so we most of the day was spent at the airport. It is a quick flight, but with international flights, you need to be there at least 2 hours ahead of time.

Once we got into Edinburgh, we checked into our hotel and unpacked. Then we set out and walked around the castle grounds.

We stopped for a beer before going into a few shops.

The rain was coming in from the leftovers of Hurricane Helene and the weather quickly turned on us. Luckily, we were able to walk to our dinner spot. It was crowded, so we put our name in and went around the corner to my favorite bar, Lebowskis. Yes it is just like the movie. You can drink a variety of White Russians and they play Big Lelowski on the tvs. It is such a cool place and the drinks were amazing.

 I got The Dude

And an amazing caramel one.

After our drinks, we went back over to Bar Italia for dinner. My co-worker (different one) and I went here two years ago and loved it. We went back twice since it was that good. This time, it was just ok. Not bad, but not great. Then we headed back to the hotel in the rain.

Wednesday we got up bright and early for work. We spent our day in meetings and then headed out into the massive rain and wind storm. The hurricane had definitely made its way into Scotland. We had trouble walking anywhere. We grabbed a cappuccino along the way which was one of the best cappuccinos I have ever had.

Since it was raining so much, we decided to go do the Whisky Experience (tour). We did the tour, had a scotch tasting and then went into their tasting room for another drink.

 Whisky Experience

After the tour, we headed out to dinner at Wildfire Steakhouse and had the most romantic steak dinner. Ha. It was funny because it was a girl co-worker and I at this tiny steakhouse which seats about 10 tables in a small room. We sat by the fireplace, shared a lobster gratin and a bottle of wine. The we each got filets with mashed potatoes. It was soooo heavenly.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to pack up for Ireland.

Thursday morning we headed out to Ireland. This day was spent mostly at the airport again. But when we arrived, we checked into our hotel, unpacked and made it to the Guinness Tour for the last tour of the day. I had been on this tour before, but my co-worker hadn't, so we enjoyed a Guinness and then went shopping in their store.

It was raining all day, so we took a cab to our restaurant for dinner. We went The Boxty House and got one of their boxty dishes. They specialize in these potato pancake filled "burrito type" of dishes. We both got the steak one and shared some of their dumplings (kind of like gnocchi).

 The dumplings were really good and had this amazing sauce on them.

I liked this dish, but thought the filet medallions could have been more tender. But the mushroom gravy on it was sooooo good. I also had one of the best Old Fashion's there.

After dinner, we took a taxi back to the hotel and turned in early.

Friday we had more meetings that we went to. After the meetings, we had a nice cappuccino in our hotel (seriously was soooo good) and then headed out into the rain. We walked over to Trinity College. I went last time I was in Dublin, but it is so beautiful and worth it. We also shopped in the school store. I even bought myself a shirt to match the one I got for the girls last time and bought a warm and cozy beanie there.

A little break in the rain (too).

Then we headed over to Temple Bar area to take the iconic Temple Bar photo. My co-worker also shopped in their store.

Soon it was time to get dinner and we headed over to a pub with traditional Irish food and it was awful. The scene was fun with a live band and people watching, but the food sucked. I got some sort of Sheppard's Pie with an Italian take on it (was a house favorite) and it was nasty. I ate a couple bites and then had some of my co-workers seafood stew and soda bread, which was better. Overall, we were disappointed in the food there. So we headed back to the hotel to pack up and head back to London bright and early the next morning. As in, we left the hotel at 4 am.

This view never gets old.

I slept from about 8:30 pm until 1:30 am and then was too excited to head home, so I surfed Instagram and texted my boss to make sure they landed back in the States ok. We left our hotel at 4 am and flew to London. We had a short layover which we almost missed, but thankfully we did not. Then we flew home and I was greeted by the two sweetest little girls in the world and their daddy. They even held up signs welcoming me home.

Weekending

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We had a pretty great weekend. Some lows, but mostly highs. My weekend started off on a real high with lunch on Friday at Pine State Biscuits. This is a new restaurant in town that is originally from Oregon. It is biscuits in many different ways. From biscuits and gravy, to biscuit sandwiches topped with fried chicken and all the yummy fixing. It was definitely glutenous, but oh so good. I got a biscuit sandwich topped with fried chicken, mustard, pickles and honey. Plus we shared a plate of fries with sausage gravy. I wanted a homemade poptart for dessert, but that will have to wait for another day.

After lunch, we went home and I quickly headed out to go to Sephora. I needed a new make-up setting powder (Laura Mercier), Laura Mercier Puff and Essie Gel Polish. Then I went out and got my second Botox treatment. It was quick, painless and easy. Then I headed to Petco to exchange a sweater for Walter (he needed a smaller size) and then to Hobby Lobby to pick up some Fall and Christmas decor. I only bought some candy cane lights from the Christmas section, but plan on going back in about a month. 

I headed home to hang out with Rory and the girls before going out for Mexican food. It was originally supposed to be just me and the girls since Rory had a birthday party to go to, but that didn't start until 7, so he came to dinner with us and just had a margarita. We happily ate our food and then dropped Rory off at the party. The girls and I came in for a bit so his friends could see the girls. Some of them haven't seen them in 3 years other than photos. Everyone kept saying how much they look like me. That made me so happy since they didn't look like me when they were little. Then I took the girls home and got them to bed. I watched Grey's Anatomy and went to bed early.

Saturday morning the girls didn't have dance class since it was Fall Break, so we went to breakfast and then came home so my dad and Rory could unload and stack the wood for the winter! The girls watched and supervised while I cleaned the house. After the wood was stacked, we talked for awhile and then fed the girls lunch. My dad headed home and the girls napped. After naps, we got the girls ready and took them to my parents house for the night, so Rory and I could go to the football game.

After dropping the girls off, we headed to the tailgate for some food and drinks. Just after we finished eating, it started to rain....hard....for an hour. We were all huddled under tents by the fire pits. It stopped raining just before the game started, so we went inside the stadium to dry our seats off and hope for a Nevada win. Spoiler: they lost and it was really cold and a long game since it was on ESPN. 

 A little double rainbow before heading into the game.

The new stadium entrance was supposed to have our names on bricks (we donated money to the school), but they made this instead. Still pretty cool.

Sunday morning we slept in until 8 am which was heavenly. Then we got ready and went to breakfast and then grocery shopping. We headed down to my parents house just after 1:30 to pick up the girls. When we got to my parents house, they were snuggled on the couch watching Monsters University. After catching up a bit, we headed back out to go to the pumpkin patch. We went to one that Rory and I haven't been to in over 10 years and it was pretty fun. We picked out pumpkins, went on a hay ride, walked through a corn trail, saw some animals and took lots of photos.

 The girls were trying to feed the animals.

 Our pumpkin haul.

We spent a couple hours at the pumpkin patch and then headed home to cook dinner. The girls helped me make dinner which has been really helping with them eating what we are having. Stephanie's tips are working!!!

After dinner, we got ready for the week, did the normal bedtime routine and then watched Better Call Saul after the girls went to bed.

Friday Favorites and Happenings

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And just like that we are already through our first week of October. Time is flying by. We normally have dance class for the girls tomorrow, but since it is Fall break at the schools here, they don't have class tomorrow. So we are hoping to go to a Fall Harvest Festival tomorrow. That is if the weather holds up. We also have a football game on the agenda. Oh how I love Fall!!

ONE. I want to start this off by saying this isn't a favorite of mine, but more of a happening right now. A blogging buddy of mine (one of my first followers) passed away Sunday after complications during the birth of her baby girl, Presley. Leslie had an emergency c-section due to placenta abruption and died from the complications. Her baby girl is currently in the NICU fighting for her life since her oxygen was cut off for a period of time. Please say some prayers for her family.

This just hits so close to home for me. If you are a newer reader then you may not know the birth story of my twins. I went into pre-term labor and had an emergency c-section with the girls. After they were born, they had a hard time getting my uterus to contract, plus my placenta broke inside of me and had partially detached from my uterus. They couldn't control the bleeding and I lost a ton of blood. It took an amazing team of doctors to get my uterus to contract and stop the bleeding. I am lucky that they did otherwise I would have lost my uterus or my life. It was pretty sketchy. And now the same thing happened to my friend. Just devastating.

TWO. The shopping bug got me again this week. What can I say, I just love a good bargain. But I did control myself. I could have bought all the things at the Loft sale, but I bought one. This sweater.

Loft Speckled Sweater

I also bought a beautiful green top on Vici that I have been on a waiting list for. Every I get an email that one is available, it is gone by the time I click the link. But I got one this week. I can't wait to wear it this Fall and Winter.

Green Acres Tie Blouse

THREE. Last week Biana recommended a lip gloss by Kopari and since I needed to go to Sephora for some make-up setting powder and eyeliner, I decided to grab a thing of Kopari. And guess what, I love it. All of the reviews rave about it and I can see why.

Kopari Coconut Lip Gloss

FOUR. I wanted to share a big favorite of ours this week. We bought Room on the Broom (recommended by Lizzie) and have been reading it each night. The girls loved it. They got even more excited when I told them a movie related to the book was on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. We plan to read this again (probably everyday in October) this weekend and then watch the show. Seriously, such a cute book. And it was only $5.59 for the paperback.

Room on the Broom

I am linking up with April, A Little Bit of Everything, Meet @ the Barre and Cup of Tea.

Have a great weekend!