Suttons Go To London

So, I had a really, really bad headache yesterday. Michael and I spent the better portion of the day trying and retrying to figure out what the heck happened to time yesterday. For some reason football started here at 5pm. Usually it starts at 6pm, and since London “falls back” with the time change, this should have remained the same… right? Wrong! It shifted an hour back. We verified that London did indeed fall back, we called friends and family, we tore out our hair and scratched at the walls, we even consulted an abacus when our calculator broke, and still we couldn’t figure out what happened. Finally, we got a hold of our international time and treasury consultant, Joanne, who mentioned that the UK falls back one week before the US does. Oh yeah….

So while the US stock market falls of a ledge, the US Dollar is tearing it up. In July, 1 Pound here got you 2 USD. Now it only gets you 1.6. That is a 20% change in months. Somebody is making a fortune in currency exchange markets right now.

Sunday afternoon was a lazy day for us, since we just got back from our week long trip to Italy. We did manage to get to Whole Foods, and on the way out the door Michael spotted Jake Gyllenhaal. This is Michael’s 2nd celebrity sighting here in London (the 1st being Russell Brand). I think he has either been reading a lot of OK! magazine, or he is just a teenage girl at heart…

I’m just sayin…

Okay, so my clothes came today. I can’t believe my life fits in two boxes. Well, those and the 2 bags I brought with me on the plane.

On to sunnier news. First, it has been sunny (and chilly, but sunny!) here 5 of the last 6 days. Second, thanks Mom! We received our first care package from Minnesota and it was nice to get something in the mail although some people *cough, cough JEN* got more than others *ahhhh-chooooMEoooooo*. Oh excuse me, head cold.

Anyway Jen got some fashionable neck wear, but I’m pretty sure this one was meant for me. We also received a card box with 50 walks to do in London. Interesting, no? Those would be what I am holding in the photo. Jen is eating (of course) the Halloween candy. Also please make a note of Jen’s new teapot, Witchy Woman.

Well sort of. I shipped two big boxes to London with all of my clothes and shoes in them. That was 2 weeks ago. It was supposed to be 6 days. Now I know these things can get caught up and delayed, but right now I have:

3 short sleeve button up shirts
2 short sleeve shirts
3 short sleeve t shirts
2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of jeans
1 belt
1 pair of shoes
1 light weight zip up jacket
5 pair of socks
and plenty of boxers (see mom i listened)

So while I am not in any dire straights, summer is fading and it is getting colder out there and my fall wardrobe is lacking a little something called long sleeves. Also, I rather liked the clothes I sent over here, so I’d really like it if they actually showed up. I’ll keep you posted!

Someone (Kristin(Jenni’s sister)), pointed out that Jennifer likes to eat a lot as witnessed by many photos that seem to be taken with her happy or smiling while eating. In lieu of that knowledge, I decided to follow her around for a few hours and photograph what she consumed. Below is what I came up with.

Jenni likes tree berries.

Jenni likes bark.

Jenni likes bush berries.

Jenni likes paper.

Jenni likes burritos.

So we set out today to go see The Cans Festival in The Tunnel on Leake Street. Basically it is a free zone for graffiti artists where they were had artists from all over the UK and Europe and even an Aussie and an American come in and do pieces in the tunnel. It was pretty cool to see some of the art and even some of the artists in action.

Whoever says Graffiti isn’t art needs to rethink that…

Then it was around the river banks and into the parks walking around. The weather here today was absolutely perfect: sunny and warm. We made sure to enjoy as much of it as we could because we keep hearing how the sun will soon be leaving us for months.

So after Jen raved and raved about the Whole Foods on Kennsington High Street we had to go check it out. Let me say this. It was as advertised. Not only did it have a huge marketplace upstairs with all sorts of food, but it had two additional floors full of groceries and a selection that could be described as spectacular and/or wow. It is the largest Whole Foods in the world. I can’t run through every last thing about it that was awesome, but I will say for example, that I really like a certain brand of fruit spread. St. Dalfour which is pretty easy to find, but most stores have a selection of 8 or so standard flavors. Well Whole Foods for the win with all 18 flavors. There were flavors I didn’t even know they made. Yes I know, but it is the simple things in life…

Thursday night brought the much anticipated boat trip down the river Thames. It was wet, and windy and the food was beyond horrible. But I actually had a really fun time. The boat was rocking on what felt like 3-4 foot waves, so it was like a combination boat / roller coaster. Most everyone on the boat became progressively and significantly more drunk as the night went on, so by the end of it, every boat sway in one direction led to a drunken sway in the other, and I don’t think anyone actually fell down. With full and complete knowledge of how superficial it sounds, it was really nice to be the center of attention. There were at least 10 guys for every girl on board, and being the only American girl gave me a distinct level of popularity. In fact, I had a crowd of performers - everything from magic tricks (actually good) to drunken songs (not so good), and it was a nice escape from reality. (So bring on the comments about my ego, I am ready!!!!)

I also learned some new French slang. I was showing off my French skills to a group of French colleagues who were very enchanted that I was even trying to speak another language (as a big, dumb American). I was wowing them with my “Ou est la Louvre?” when they all burst into laughter. I honestly had no idea what was so funny. Being a bunch of drunken Frenchmen, they though I had asked Ou est la loup (where is the wolf) which apparently is a sort of invitation not very appropriate to work, yet much appreciated by these fine gentlemen. I still don’t really get it…..

Perhaps the best part of the whole trip was going in to work the next day, and noticing that only about half the attendees had actually made it in, and those who did were strewn about their desks in various stages of embarrassment, hungoverness, or in a few cases, still drunkenness. I think I can safely say that a good time was had by all!