Summer is almost over...
Hi Everyone,
The blog isn't dead, it's just that (as usual) the summer here in UK has been SUPER busy. The weather hasn't been brilliant, but there has been plenty happening in the way of theatre, concerts, street events, bbqs, birthdays, farewell parties, dinners, friends in town and holidays thrown in as well.
To write everything in one post would just be ridiculous, so check out my photo gallery for all the pics...
I'll just do a short summary of the highlights is
- caught a Freerunning production
Really impressive with some amazing tricks... the guys are super fit!
- went to the World Photography Exhibition showing
Incredible photographs, makes me want to do more photography but still don't have a good camera!
- had my friend Rachelle in town from Aus, so there were a night out or two
Great to catch up and hear about life on the other side of the world.
- got marriage license sorted
Got asked funny questions like "what is your partner's name?", and "what is their birthday?" (Anka paused on that one), and finally "have they been married before?". Apparently both of us answered exactly the same for that question, and said "they better not have!!!!!".
- worked some weekends to do some migrations
Bah, boring, nothing to report there
- went to Paris to get engagement pics done
Hmm.. have to put those up on the web... will do it soon. It was kind of weird having someone pointing a camera at you and our first pics were really stiff! I think you relax as time goes on, but it is a bit weird because you have to force laughing, or joking etc, and look where they tell you.... Still, it wasn't that bad, and the guy is really nice, so we are happy to use him for the wedding next year (the engagement pics were a bit of a test run). Even with a professional photographer I think I look crap, so thank goodness Lany is a looker....
- went to Yasmina's (Lany's sister) wedding in Reims
Nice wedding, and loads of photos on the gallery, so check em out. The weather was mixed, but only a little rain fell during the church ceremony, and none afterwards during the reception etc. Yasmina looked amazing, so if that is the mark of a good wedding then it was definitely a success.
- had global meetings for work (all the managers together)
I had to give a presentation, which went pretty well, and we got a few nice nights out on work (one nice restaurant in London in a rooftop garden), so the four days of meetings/workshops were worth it.
- saw a comedy show by some guys called The Pyjama Men
Just two guys on stage with a rough story involving time travel and a paradox. They play multiple roles and you can't work out exactly what is going on until near the end, so it was good fun. They guys are good though, using physical and verbal comedy.
- we saw Buena Vista Social Club in concert at Kew Gardens
This was actually loads of fun... You take a full picnic and just relax in the nice gardens listening to the music. I didn't know their music very well, so it was just a bit of a 'why not' type thing when we got the tickets, but we got good weather, and a good spot, so really enjoyed it.
- Jen, David, Alex and Sam (my aunt/uncle/counsins) came back to London
Was great to see the boys, they are growing up fast......!
- Ck and Kel left London!
They had a huge going away party, lots of drinks over lots of hours.... Is weird, they're goooone! As they both were here before I came, to us they were a part of 'London', so it's weird when that is gone.
- Lany and I did a trial run of Bikram Yoga (the one in the heat)
I actually really enjoy it as I can tell that my muscles and flexibility is shot from years of running etc. We plan to keep up with it but as it's not cheap, we'll pick it up in winter when we've got a bit more time.
Then things got really busy with most of August being completely written off with something on every weekend....
- I had to go to New York for work.
I got to fly First Class!!!! It was a new experience and it's kind of cool with the lie-flat beds. The trip itself was all business, but it has already paid off as some of the offices over there that I saw are doing new projects with us. One of our agencies has the most amazing view of New York, almost a 360 degree panorama as they have a whole floor -> Statue of Liberty visible out the window. Some pics form the trip in the Gallery.
- Following on from NY, I jumped to Chicago to see Paul Meyer
Just caught up with Paul and Julia as it's been just on a year since we saw them at their wedding. Had a good weekend mostly chilling, eating and drinking..... On Saturday night we went out for drinks and then hit the batting cages just near Wrigley Field... it's fun trying to hit a fastball half drunk :)
- Lany's family came to town the next week (after NY/Chicago)
We hung around eating and catching up which was great, but as we were both working a lot we didn't have as much time during the week, so on the weekend we headed off to Bath. Bath itself is really nice and has that 'old' charm... the surrounding countryside is also very pretty. While there we ate some nice food, walked around, got good coffee, went and soaked for two hours in the actual springs, saw the old Roman Baths (did the tour etc). It's easily done in a weekend, so if you've got the time I recommend it. On the way back, we stopped and also checked out Stonehenge.
- that next weekend we then want back to Yasmina's place in Reims
This was a bit of a last minute plan and was really 'because we could', but also because we'd been so busy at work. We didn't do much in Reims, just hung out, I went for a big run through the forest, and Lany found some of the table decoration for the wedding.
- I went to Stockholm for work
This trip wasn't as successful as the NY trip, but it was only a couple of days and at the very least we got a few nice meals out of it.
- Lany came to Stockholm for the weekend
As I was already there for work, Lany flew in Friday and we spent the weekend there. We didn't do a huge amount as we only have really Friday night to Sunday lunchtime, but we did fit in a cruise around the city on the river, we walked around an open air museum/zoo area which has animals but also shows off old houses and traditional food making techniques, checked out the town hall and caught a sailing yacht race on the main river. Food is also really good in Stockholm, but it's expensive, so we didn't go too crazy. As always, pics are up on the Gallery.
And so that is it - my first weekend in London for over a month, and my first weekend in a couple of months where I'm not busy and can catch up...! Oh, and my brother came and stayed a couple of times, my sister had a bbq or two, I met with friends for all-you-can-eat Argentinian as well as wedding planning.... lots of stuff!
I won't quite say I'm looking forward to winter (as it sux), but I am looking forward to a period when things are slightly more calm. Watch me complain when I get bored though! :)
Anka
The blog isn't dead, it's just that (as usual) the summer here in UK has been SUPER busy. The weather hasn't been brilliant, but there has been plenty happening in the way of theatre, concerts, street events, bbqs, birthdays, farewell parties, dinners, friends in town and holidays thrown in as well.
To write everything in one post would just be ridiculous, so check out my photo gallery for all the pics...
I'll just do a short summary of the highlights is
- caught a Freerunning production
Really impressive with some amazing tricks... the guys are super fit!
- went to the World Photography Exhibition showing
Incredible photographs, makes me want to do more photography but still don't have a good camera!
- had my friend Rachelle in town from Aus, so there were a night out or two
Great to catch up and hear about life on the other side of the world.
- got marriage license sorted
Got asked funny questions like "what is your partner's name?", and "what is their birthday?" (Anka paused on that one), and finally "have they been married before?". Apparently both of us answered exactly the same for that question, and said "they better not have!!!!!".
- worked some weekends to do some migrations
Bah, boring, nothing to report there
- went to Paris to get engagement pics done
Hmm.. have to put those up on the web... will do it soon. It was kind of weird having someone pointing a camera at you and our first pics were really stiff! I think you relax as time goes on, but it is a bit weird because you have to force laughing, or joking etc, and look where they tell you.... Still, it wasn't that bad, and the guy is really nice, so we are happy to use him for the wedding next year (the engagement pics were a bit of a test run). Even with a professional photographer I think I look crap, so thank goodness Lany is a looker....
- went to Yasmina's (Lany's sister) wedding in Reims
Nice wedding, and loads of photos on the gallery, so check em out. The weather was mixed, but only a little rain fell during the church ceremony, and none afterwards during the reception etc. Yasmina looked amazing, so if that is the mark of a good wedding then it was definitely a success.
- had global meetings for work (all the managers together)
I had to give a presentation, which went pretty well, and we got a few nice nights out on work (one nice restaurant in London in a rooftop garden), so the four days of meetings/workshops were worth it.
- saw a comedy show by some guys called The Pyjama Men
Just two guys on stage with a rough story involving time travel and a paradox. They play multiple roles and you can't work out exactly what is going on until near the end, so it was good fun. They guys are good though, using physical and verbal comedy.
- we saw Buena Vista Social Club in concert at Kew Gardens
This was actually loads of fun... You take a full picnic and just relax in the nice gardens listening to the music. I didn't know their music very well, so it was just a bit of a 'why not' type thing when we got the tickets, but we got good weather, and a good spot, so really enjoyed it.
- Jen, David, Alex and Sam (my aunt/uncle/counsins) came back to London
Was great to see the boys, they are growing up fast......!
- Ck and Kel left London!
They had a huge going away party, lots of drinks over lots of hours.... Is weird, they're goooone! As they both were here before I came, to us they were a part of 'London', so it's weird when that is gone.
- Lany and I did a trial run of Bikram Yoga (the one in the heat)
I actually really enjoy it as I can tell that my muscles and flexibility is shot from years of running etc. We plan to keep up with it but as it's not cheap, we'll pick it up in winter when we've got a bit more time.
Then things got really busy with most of August being completely written off with something on every weekend....
- I had to go to New York for work.
I got to fly First Class!!!! It was a new experience and it's kind of cool with the lie-flat beds. The trip itself was all business, but it has already paid off as some of the offices over there that I saw are doing new projects with us. One of our agencies has the most amazing view of New York, almost a 360 degree panorama as they have a whole floor -> Statue of Liberty visible out the window. Some pics form the trip in the Gallery.
- Following on from NY, I jumped to Chicago to see Paul Meyer
Just caught up with Paul and Julia as it's been just on a year since we saw them at their wedding. Had a good weekend mostly chilling, eating and drinking..... On Saturday night we went out for drinks and then hit the batting cages just near Wrigley Field... it's fun trying to hit a fastball half drunk :)
- Lany's family came to town the next week (after NY/Chicago)
We hung around eating and catching up which was great, but as we were both working a lot we didn't have as much time during the week, so on the weekend we headed off to Bath. Bath itself is really nice and has that 'old' charm... the surrounding countryside is also very pretty. While there we ate some nice food, walked around, got good coffee, went and soaked for two hours in the actual springs, saw the old Roman Baths (did the tour etc). It's easily done in a weekend, so if you've got the time I recommend it. On the way back, we stopped and also checked out Stonehenge.
- that next weekend we then want back to Yasmina's place in Reims
This was a bit of a last minute plan and was really 'because we could', but also because we'd been so busy at work. We didn't do much in Reims, just hung out, I went for a big run through the forest, and Lany found some of the table decoration for the wedding.
- I went to Stockholm for work
This trip wasn't as successful as the NY trip, but it was only a couple of days and at the very least we got a few nice meals out of it.
- Lany came to Stockholm for the weekend
As I was already there for work, Lany flew in Friday and we spent the weekend there. We didn't do a huge amount as we only have really Friday night to Sunday lunchtime, but we did fit in a cruise around the city on the river, we walked around an open air museum/zoo area which has animals but also shows off old houses and traditional food making techniques, checked out the town hall and caught a sailing yacht race on the main river. Food is also really good in Stockholm, but it's expensive, so we didn't go too crazy. As always, pics are up on the Gallery.
And so that is it - my first weekend in London for over a month, and my first weekend in a couple of months where I'm not busy and can catch up...! Oh, and my brother came and stayed a couple of times, my sister had a bbq or two, I met with friends for all-you-can-eat Argentinian as well as wedding planning.... lots of stuff!
I won't quite say I'm looking forward to winter (as it sux), but I am looking forward to a period when things are slightly more calm. Watch me complain when I get bored though! :)
Anka
posted by Anthony Hawke at 3:44 pm
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