Christmas Eve...

Merry Christmas!

I celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad at Barnacle Bill's...say it with me..."On North Monroe!!" haha...

It was really nice to eat some raw oysters with my daddy :)

When I was little we always went to my Grandbobbie and Papa's house for a huge Christmas dinner...

I miss those days, but I am so glad to have the people in my life now that I hold dear to my heart.

I hope every one has a great holiday and hopefully a few days off work!!

Here's one of the Christmas cards I made for my family this year...this is Mamma's

Xxx,

Cola

Poker!!

I'm about to play some poker with all my babes!!!

Buy in is $10, how long do you think I'll last? haha

On a sad note...taking Steve to the airport at 6am to fly off to Japan for a week...hello all nighter!!!

Coffee here I come :)

Xxx,

Cola

Cup of Tea?

I've mentioned before that I studied abroad in London during the summer of 2009, it was lovely :) I've picked some of my favorite pictures from my trip...

St. Paul's Cathedral...too perfect of a picture. I new of this "St. Paul's" before I went to London, but being there and seeing this beautiful domed cathedral  stick out among the many high rise buildings really spoke to my soul. I don;t know that it was about St. Paul's that drew me in so much, but it was always a comfort to be in this far away and strange city and to be able to look up and see this hugh piece of architecture with it's beautiful lines standing out from all of the 90 degree angles of the modern buildings. I took a British Humanities course while I was there and I remember the professor trying to make us understand what a landmark St. Paul's Cathedral is for the people of London, and it can't really be expressed accurately unless you just happen to look up from your walk to the grocery store and see this monument...it's indescribable. 

Buckingham Palace...as seen from St. James' Park.

Fabulous uniform...

Hands down...BEST CANDY BAR (aka biscuit...if you're abroad) EVER

Seriously the best...

tiny piece of beauty in the middle of downtown...

This church, we saw on a coach (aka bus) tour one of our first days over. It was bombed heavily during WWII and instead of rebuilding it they cleared away most of the rubble and planted rose bushes where the pews used to be. One of the most interesting aspects of being in London was being able to see the damage that World War II caused in the city. To imagine walking down the road and being afraid of having a bomb dropped near by is pretty much unimaginable to me. It really makes a mark on your heart thinking about all of those people living in fear for so many years while just trying to live their lives.

a sushi place...

wonderful chairs...

Street Performers!!

One of my favorite things about visiting large cities...(not so favorite thing about London but still awesome...in the more popular sections of the city, they have urinals that pop up out of the ground at night and the guys can pay to go pee in the middle of the sidewalk...outrageous!)

Borough Market......

More touristy than most of the places I really liked in London, but despite this market being a hugh tourist attraction, it has managed to retain it's tiny town ambiance...

Wheatgrass shots!

Lovely Blake :)

Beautiful Lauren...

St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge...

Dancing our asses off at Tiger Tiger...it was also the night before my 22nd birthday :)

My friend Max took me to the Henley Royal Regatta for my birthday! I met Max in Tallahassee a couple years ago while I was sitting on the deck of Po Boys Downtown, drinking green beer because it was St. Patty's day, when I realized that the guys at the table behind me had accents that were quite foreign. It turned out that this group of English gents were on holiday to visit our Panama City Spring Break. I have seen Max in two places since then...New York City and London (where he is from). He's awesome :)

The special enclosure pass...I wasn't special enough (couldn't walk either but that's another story) to get to go inside...but the Queen wasn't there so I guess it's ok I didn't get to go :)

Me taking a break from reading Steig Larsson's book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in St. James' Park.

It's really true that if the weather is nice in London you will see people in parks and squares everywhere taking off their shirts and shoes to enjoy the beautiful weather. I think it's really neat that they embrace sunny weather in a way that I feel Americans lack proper appreciation for...especially us Floridians :)

oh public transportation...how I miss you

skate park on the South Bank

I took Latin for several years...I stood with a confused look on my face for several minutes before spurting out "IT WILL SEPARATE NO ONE!!!" then a silent "booyah!" to myself...of course...

Post-translation thumbs up...yes, I real am that cool.

To follow...pictures from the week I spent in Ireland :)

Cheers!

I miss Europe terribly...

Xxx,

Cola

I'm sorry... I thought you said "Chicken Dog"

Reply: "Yeah, a 'chicken dog'. You know, something really ugly."

Dark...

I read a book a year or so ago called Let the Right One In by John Ajvide. It was beautiful! It's about a vampire, but like no other vampire book you have ever read. It's in a genre that is fairly new to me which is Swedish Horror. Very dark, very beautiful, very...Stieg Larsson (who wrote The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), but fairy tale-ish. Anyways, I absolutely loved the book and one of my coworkers the other day recommended the movie. It was outstanding! I am not usually one to like movies made from books that I have already read, but this was such an accurate/wonderful representation of the original work that I can't help but love it. I made the mistake of watching the dubbed English version first, which was crap, but later I figured out how to watch the Swedish language with English subtitles version and it was much better!

I rented the movie from Video 21 over near Magnolia and Lafayette. If you haven't visited this video store, you need to go. They are one of the last video rental places left in town, and the coolest thing is that they have survived after all the chains in town have closed. They have a great selection including cult and foreign films.

Xxx,

Cola

Can't put it down...

I can't put this graphic novel down! Y the Last Man is a series (maybe "storyarch?" is what Steve would call it, but I'm not sure :) about the last man, and his monkey, left alive on Earth after something kills all the males of every species. The artwork is beautiful, done by Pia Guerra and reminds me of the artist who did the Preacher graphic novel, Steve Dillon, who is also incredible. Preacher was the first graphic novel series I read. My wonderfully talented boyfriend Steve has been reading comics all his life and recommended them to me. I never thought I would pick up a graphic novel, but as it turns out I can't put them down once I start reading. I have always read books, mostly just regular literature, but I think graphic novels are an amazing blend of great writing and vivid artwork. The way the artists and writers work together to compliment both mediums is awesome. If you haven't ever at least picked one up and thumbed through it, I would take the time to do so. They are a great way to indulge in a quick read, or I find myself locking my door and burying my nose in them for days. To each his own, I guess :)
Sweet dreams...
Xxx,
Cola
P.s... I have my first acupuncture session tomorrow! Wish me luck!

A little of this...

After a great shift at Kool Beanz Cafe today I met my mom at Sahara Cafe which I absolutely love. I first went there years ago with one of my best friends, but lately I have been frequenting it more and more. It's located behind New Leaf Market on Lafayette, near Magnolia. I cannot tell you how much I adore this place. It's a little hole in the wall (are you starting to see how I love these little dives?? :) anywhoo... We each got the Vegetarian Sampler...you get to choose 4 of the vegetarian appetizers, which is usually too much for me... It's about $19 but I always have leftovers. We had a feast of falafel, spinach pies, Mujadarra (which is lentils, rice and onions, they spell it differently on their menu but this is what the all-knowing wikipedia told me :) and Foul Mudammes (a fava bean dip...yum :) They also have hummus and baba ganoush along with a whole regular menu including pita wraps, plates and tons of other things. If you live in the area definitely go check them out! The staff has also been super friendly every time I have dined in or gotten take out. The dessert case housing the baklava and other tasty treats is adorable as well, an old antique glass and mirrors piece, too cute!
Happy eating!!!!
Xxx,
Cola
P.s. I'm writing this from mommy's iPad!! More work but very fun!