London for Christmas!

What a day! It was nonstop from 6 am to 10:30 pm. I'm exhausted, so I'll only provide a quick update before bed.

Europe Trip Confirmed!

We are officially headed to Europe for Christmas and New Year's! As I mentioned a few days ago, Terry and I are planning a trip for our first married Christmas, and we decided on Europe because we have 11 days off together. My school schedule really only allows us to travel during peak seasons, so we're growing used to the high prices that come with popular travel dates. Thankfully, Virgin Atlantic provided us a terrific deal to get to London, so we're getting to visit our favorite city!

London is truly magical. We spent eight days there in July for our honeymoon and absolutely fell in love (with the city - we were already in love with each other...awww). Things we loved about London:

• The weather reminded me of San Francisco. Cold but beautiful.
• The pubs provided excellent selections of cask ales and nearby imports, plus the pub scene is something out of a movie. Hundreds of people crowd the sidewalks outside the pubs after work.
• Visiting the famous landmarks, such as St. Paul's, Big Ben, and (our favorite) Westminster Abbey, makes you feel like you're part of history. The places that held such significant events hundreds of years ago are still used today. Mind blowing.
• The accent. Done.
• At any given point, there is (however slight) a chance that you could see the Queen. Or William and Kate or Harry.
• The architecture makes you want to quit your job, move to London, and become an architecture Ph.D. student (does that exist?).

Me and Terry on Waterloo Bridge in London.

I could go on for days. The idea of visiting such a delightful city at Christmas makes me giddy. I'm hoping it will be like Love Actually or The Holiday, except I've already got the happy ending part.

We're also hoping to visit one additional city in Europe, and it looks like Munich is winning so far. We've heard great things, but I need to do some research! Where to stay? What is there to do...in the dead of winter? Can we take a side trip from there to Salzburg, Austria? I can't wait!

By the way. a quick little leftovers review. Today I had leftovers from Wednesday's Whole Chicken recipe. With the football game tonight, I didn't have time to heat it up or even create a rounded meal, so I ate it cold, straight out of the Tupperware. The chicken was delicious!!! I can't believe how moist and flavorful it is, even two days later!

Okay, off to bed. We're looking forward to a fun weekend of some work and lots of play, including watching X-Men: First Class and visiting some friends for a wine picnic, laser tag, and go karting. Yes, get excited for Sunday's post. Good night!