Paint The Silence

I know I've been a bad, bad blogger over this past month, and it would be simply impossible to go back and write about all that I've done and experienced, my only option is to give a quick synopsis of everything and start again a fresh. So here it goes...

September 29th - October 2nd:

• Luke and I, with the help of Luke's mum and Grandad, made a mad dash to the finish certain things in the house before my mom arrived. These included: a second coat in the kitchen, the flooring in the bathroom, painting the bathroom, and more cleaning than I ever thought possible. All turned out well in the end, it all looks great!

October 2nd - October 10th:

• My mom arrived at London-Heathrow at 7 am on October 2nd (Luke and I had to get up very, very early) - it was so amazing to see her at the airport! I think the best word to describe it would be surreal.
• In a constant battle with my mom's jet lag I still managed to show and do a lot of amazing things with her. Showed her around Worcester and the Worcester Cathedral, participated in the pub quiz with Luke's family, took her up to Burton Dasset, went to the Cotswolds (something my mother has always wanted to do) and visited Neil and Nic.
• While in the Cotswolds we went on a walk (what the English more commonly refer to hiking as) through fields and woods to get to a over 2,000 year old Roman Mosaic. It was amazing, just covered up with a tarp, no signs to tell you where it was or anything of that sort. Absolutely incredible!
• October 9th was my birthday and for the occasion Luke, my mom, and myself went in to London. Spent most of the day getting lost in Harrods, walked around through the parks and past Buckingham Palace and in the night had an out of the world Italian dinner at Il Posto, right across from the theatre where we watched Wicked. The restaurant was just this little hole-in-the-wall but thinking about it now just makes my mouth water. Wicked was fantastic! Better than even I expected, I had the songs stuck in my head for weeks after.
• My mom had to leave early on the 10th, which was sad for me and Luke, I loved having my mom here, we all had such a great time!!!

Discover the Roman Mosaic in Spoonley Wood

It's over 2,000 years old!!!

Mom and I in the Cotswolds

October 15th - October 17th:

• The weekend of the 15th was great, Luke and I accompanied Neil and Nic in Liverpool (where Nicola is from and her parents still live). I wasn't sure what to expect of Liverpool, I still had visions of the dark and dingy dock city that it used to be. Instead I found it to be very bright, open, and clean. The city centre had a great atmos about it. I dare say I prefer it to Manchester as it wasn't as crowded and just had a more relaxed feel to it.
• Of course being in Liverpool we had to do some Beatles' stuff! We went to The Beatles' story which is an exhibit about the history of The Beatles. Went to the rebuilt Cavern Club (where The Beatles first performed in Liverpool) which by the way was a great place to sit around and have a drink. Also visited some of the childhood homes' of the boys, Strawberry Field and Penny Lane.
• While in Liverpool we went to a great Chinese restaurant looking over the river in which I ate so much I didn't know if I would ever be able to eat again! Absolutely incroyable!

Strawberry Fields Forever!

October 25th:

• Lindsay came over for a girly day! We did facials and face masks, ate a lovely salad that I made, and watched a girly film - Letters to Juliet. It was nice to have a girly day with a bit of a chinwag (see glossary).

October 30th - October 31st:

• Saturday the 30th, Luke and I had a few people over to the house. Played some drinking games, shared a couple of pizzas and then hit a few bars and a club in town. It was the night before Halloween so a few people were dressed up, not nearly as many as would be expected and the few that were I wished they would not have been, seeing fat through fishnets is not a pretty picture.

It has been a crazy few weeks, that have been made even crazier by the fact that I have been sick with a cold since my mother's visit. I have been to the doctor's twice to make sure everything is okay. What I've been told is England has different bugs than America (which of course I already knew) and what is a simple sniffle to an English person will be a constant sneezing and coughing for me for weeks. All I can do is take zinc and vitamin C and hope my body adapts to the bugs here quickly!

Erin x