Gordon Ramsey: Fat Cow

We tried out Gordon Ramsey's LA restaurant, Fat Cow. Jees it was good. Full story coming soon xx

Beverly Hills in Black and White

Hollywoodland.

Our good friend Brendan drives us up the hill to get our first proper glimpse at the iconic sign.

Swedish Meatballs.

Always the easiest way to tell if someone has recently been to Ikea: if they are dreaming of Swedish meatballs.

Croak Sir.

Discovered the most amazing French restaurant just around the corner from our new apartment, called Figaro. I had the croque monsieur. It was too delicious for words. But when is bread and cheese ever not delicious?

Gosh.

Holiday Season Wish List

The best thing about wish lists is when almost all of it is on sale! This Black-Friday weekend thing is just too fun! Look below at the blue italics to see which items are super cheap, until the end of Monday 26 Nov.

So, the festive season is almost upon us. I'm a big fan of Christmas, mostly for the amazing family holidays, but, I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for presents. My birthday is also a few weeks before Christmas, so it's extra special.

Here are a few things on my holiday season wish list - which can be bought and shipped from anywhere in the world *wink wink*

1. Home Comforts
After all this traveling all I want is comfy pjs, cuddly home clothes and ugg boots. This pair from Target has completely won me over with its fun pattern and print.
$22.99

2. 212 Carolina Herrera For Women
My favourite scent ever is about to run out! The perfect spray for any night out. I swear. Available here.

3. Punk Rock
A girl can never have enough accessories. NEVER. This one is from Asos.
$14.07
(ASOS is 20% off with code BLACKFRIDAYBONUS)

4. Mint. Green. Jersey.
It must be perfection. Available online here.

5. What Katie Ate

I can't get over the beautiful food styling and photography in this book. It just looks too good to be true. To see a few snippets from inside the book, click here. Available here.

(45% off until the end of Monday 26 Nov)

6. These Jeans.

How hot are these jeans? Yes please.

Available here.

7. Blogshop

The website describes Blogshop as 'Photoshop bootcamp, minus the push-ups. It is a full weekend spent stuffing your brain full of things to make your images on your blog unique and eye catching. We teach the basics from scratch as well as some more advanced techniques in a way that even beginners can understand. Then you apply the techniques with your own layouts and style that you will use when you go back to your own blog.'

Amazing. I am all about stuffing my brain with new stuff - it's the best.

Available here.

$772.71

8. Did you make a chick wish?

Yip indeed. This jacket from Chicwish. 

$69.90 (20% off until the end of Monday 26 Nov, use the promo code CM20)

9. Winter is Coming

Or is kind of here already. This textured knit snood is cuddly and warm and pretty. All the best things really.
(ASOS is 20% off with code BLACKFRIDAYBONUS)

10. Unfurnished

We're moving into an unfurnished apartment, something that we were not expecting at all. Which now means a whole lot of shopping must be done! On this list is everything ever that you could need for a house. I love this lamp (two please!), or basically anything from Ikea, Muji or Anthropologie.

$59.99

11. Oh my gosh. Die.

Beautiful sideboard. Hmm...

$299.95 (25% off until the end of Monday 26 Nov)

12. Counting the Minutes

With this blue Timex watch.

$39.99

13. Totes!

Fake ostrich blue tote bag. What, what? Incredible.

$34.99

14. The Best Gift Of All

Family. I know I'm missing Christmas this year, but I'll be thinking of all of you. Love you guys xx

A Dream Sunday Morning

I wake up early. The house is still and quiet - after our 3am bedtime I imagine no one will stir for a while. I shower, dress, gather up my laptop, notebooks and head straight for the couch. The courtyard is peacefully unaware.

The Other Side Of The World

We finally made it all the way across the continent, 82 days after landing in America. Los Angeles is one big city, and only after being in it for more than a week did we make our way to the beach.

This is the Santa Monica Pier, and the Pacific Ocean.

Colour Blocks

A Sausage Party

So you know how yesterday I said I was taking a blog break? Don't worry, I'm not completely abandoning you. Husband had this great idea, that I share a picture a day, which is quick and easy, and still keeps you in the loop as to what we're up to.

Today we had a sausage party. On a pizza. The perfect break in the middle of a busy day of errands, house searching and admin. Gosh.

Thank You To You

I like blogging. I really do. I find it quite creative, interesting and stimulating. And a little like free therapy (and you can't beat free therapy, now can you?). The past few months have been life changing, and it's been an incredible experience to be able to share them with you (well, incredible for me, I don't know about you guys, shame).

Thank you for coming along for the ride, for all the kind words, and for all the encouragement. And to those of you who hosted us, dined with us, shared with us, and overall made this adventure as amazing as it was - you all know who you are. Thank you also to all our wonderful family and friends who contributed to our Leaving On A Jet Plane fund at our wedding last year, and helped make this whole thing possible.

And now, now it's time for real life. That real life that I kept saying how frightened/excited/terrified I was to get to. So where I'm getting to with this, is that it's time for a blog-break, a little siesta, a momentary lapse - mostly because I like this blogging thing so much that it takes up a whole chunk of my spare time. And now I need all that spare time, for things which are probably *just* a little bit more important.

Slowing things down, a little bit of a wind down on the blog front while I get my life in order. 

But I'm not completely letting go, there'll be a pic a day to keep you entertained, and Husband has said I must get out a holiday wish list before my birthday creeps too near (yes, it's nearly birthday time, and then Christmas - two of my favourite days of the year!)

So thank you for joining us along our journey so far. Regular posts will continue as normal in a few weeks time. Once the chaos has subsided. 

If you wanna be the first to know when I'm properly back online, type your email address into the Follow By Email bar on the right hand side of this post. Or leave a comment, and I'll be sure to send you a message when I'm back.

But, for now, it's real life time.
See you soon now xx

[Map from Google Maps]

The Road Trip Diaries: Los Angeles, CA

Finally, this segment of The Road Trip Diaries has come to an end. Forty-four days, 6700 miles, endless tarmac, and it's done. We have arrived in a whole new landscape, a whole new discovery, and we intend to stay, to see, to explore, to taste, just for now.

So we spend our first few days in LA hitting the ground running. There's not a moment to spare with bank accounts to open, cellphone contracts to start, apartments to rent and life to begin. Luckily we're staying with amazing friends, who have not only opened up their house to us, but also lent us a car, and are full of useful hints and tips.

It feels like a blur to look back on it, even after only a couple of days - arriving, unpacking, returning the rental car. Waking up, falling asleep. Wandering new unknown streets, trying to find our feet. We're already struggling to remember which action fell on what day, what moment defined the rest.

Last night we visited The Grove - a big outdoor shopping centre. The air was nippy as we walked around the centre - but it felt exceedingly festive, having already been decorated for Christmas,  faerie lights around all the trees, a great big Christmas house in between the shops, and an extraordinarily large Christmas tree right in the middle. And not to mention the Christmas music playing through the sound system. Magical.

Now it just seems like another part of the blur.

The whole experience is completely overwhelming, mildly terrifying, and really, kinda fun. We're trying to keep our spirits light, and our attitudes good. We're fully aware of how stressful and tenuous a situation like this can be.

The Road Trip Diaries: Death Valley, CA

7 November 2012

Our first morning in Death Valley we wake up to the sound of activity outside. A gentle chattering of voices, and someone doing a mike check. We're on the ground floor, and our door opens onto a field, which is already bustling. Soon enough, there's a small band tuning out some wonderfully cheerful country music. With the sun shining in, and a gentle breeze tugging at the curtain, the day doesn't take long to pull us outside.

Death Valley was first officially discovered in 1849, when a bunch of prospectors en route to the gold fields in California thought they had stumbled across a shortcut. Unfortunately Death Valley is nothing of the sort. The national park these days comprises nearly 3.4 million acres of desert wilderness, and is definitely not what you could call hospitable.

Death Valley is a long, narrow basin 282 feet below sea level. The combination of the sparse plant life, dry air and being flanked by high mountain ranges mean the valley rarely cools down. It holds second place for the highest temperature recorded in the world, at 134 degrees fahrenheit (56 degrees celsius).

Two to four thousand years ago there was a 30-foot lake in the valley, but all that remains today is a thick layer of salt on the valley floor, known as Badwater Basin. From a distance it looks like water, and there even is water a short distance below the surface, but this isn't the kind of water you want to be drinking.

Those early pioneers had it hard - many of their horses died along the way, and the wagons were near to impossible to move through the mountain passes. The valley floor is nothing more than a barren wasteland. The pioneers did miraculously survive - by the efforts of one of their number who went ahead to find help, while the rest, too sick and too tired to carry on, waited behind.

Today, those '49ers are still celebrating their survival - we were lucky enough to be there while their annual reunion was going on, and were treated to art, costume and antique fairs and shows. The Furnace Creek Ranch was bustling.

How cool is that?

Today the valley is a very different place from all those years ago when those pioneers struggled across it - there are tarred roads, signposts, and refreshing saloons. There was even a pool at our ranch - something you definitely don't expect to see in a desert!

It might be a barren wasteland, but it is beyond beautiful. Death Valley completely kicked the Grand Canyon's ass.

We spend the day visiting a few of the tourist spots - old abandoned mines, great views of the valley, the salt pan and an unbelievably twisty road known as Artist's Drive.

8 November 2012

We drive out of Death Valley after one last yummy lunch at the 49er Cafe - this place serves up some good grub considering its in the middle of nowhere!

The road runs like a long stick of liquorice lain out across the landscape, left in the sun to melt, so that it forms perfectly to the ground, dipping and diving over the once-molten earth.

Reaching the next valley basin, we turn due south, straight into the sand. It feels like it's raining down on us, the road is barely visible, as the sand grains bristle up against the car.

All good things come to an end right? We reach our last destination (for now), mount endless trips back and forth from the car to gather the myriad of road trip possessions we now seem to own, and do our best to fool ourselves, and our hosts, that we really do not have that much stuff. Never mind the other full suitcase that's due to arrive from New York by post next Friday. We'll keep that on the down low for now.

Shhhh.

Winter is Coming.

There is a definite chill in the air. And as it gets colder, all I really want to do is snuggle up and hibernate until summer comes back. Much like this...

[Image from Gemma Correll Blog]

On The Road: Grand Canyon to Death Valley

5 November 2012

First up, here's a couple of pics we nabbed as we left the Grand Canyon. Yavapai Point is definitely a winner. The Grand Canyon was quite an intriguing experience in the end - not quite as interesting as I thought it would be, and definitely too cold to really enjoy it, but it did keep catching my breath every time I glanced a different angle of it.

As we started to near Las Vegas Husband started to get really excited, and mumbled something about how cool it would be to stop at Hoover Dam. Something about a Superman movie being shot there. Shame, he's such a cute nerd.

But it was completely worth it. The place was pretty darn impressive.

Arriving in Vegas is like arriving on a film set. It looks just like it does in the movies. For real. Husband has decided to treat us, and has booked us into the very fancy-pants Mandarin Hotel, right on the strip. The room is beautiful, the view is phenomenal, and I feel like we're in heaven we're so high above the earth. It's a long debate as to whether to order room service or to head out for dinner. In the end we've heard too much about Roy's, a nearby sushi restaurant, to give it the skip.

And we were well rewarded for leaving the hotel - the sushi was tremendous! I would go back there in a second. Delish!

So, one night in Vegas hey? What else are you supposed to do but watch a burlesque show? (Yes, I know - you should get hitched. We even considered it, but in the end didn't make it to the chapel on time. Also, I'm not sure about the legal implications of getting married twice. Though, we would definitely like to - our wedding was the best party ever!)

So instead we watched Peep Show, which the ticket saleslady described as a 'topless musical'. It was cute and fun. And no pictures please!

After the show we did the next sensible thing, and wandered the strip, having a peek inside a few of the casinos made famous by movies - Bellagio, Planet Hollywood, Caesar's Palace. It was fun to soak up some of the excitement around the betting tables.

Walking out of the Bellagio and back onto the strip, I was surprised to see a large amount of people just standing along the edge of the pavement, and even more puzzled to see five or six cars randomly stopped at intervals in the road - lights on, engines on, but not moving. Suddenly the whole scene burst to life - the people and cars all started moving at the exact time. Husband and I stood and stared, beyond puzzled. Then, just as suddenly, the cars all stopped and started reversing back to their original positions! It seems obvious now, but at the time we just couldn't work it out. I felt like we were on the Truman Show. Luckily a kind passerby stopped and informed us that they were shooting the next Hangover movie. Thank gosh. My brain couldn't take anymore confusion at that point.

6 November 2012

Hmm...I'm feeling fragile again. I guess a night in Vegas will do that to you - and going to bed at 2.30am (which feels like 3.30am because we crossed through yet another time zone on our way here!)

After a seriously good breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we go and bake on the pool deck for a while. I felt like I was drowning in sunshine, sizzling in the Las Vegas heat. Ouch. Soon enough it was time to carry on anyways.

 Yip, here we go. Onward.

[Map from Google Maps]