René of the Day // 8.5.11 // Ingleton Falls: Yorkshire Dales

Friday was our first day without the group of 11 of us roaming the lands and coordinating our plans. First I ran errands with A&A: B&Q - Home Depot type place - to look at vaccuums with their giftcards, bought a little pink guitar at a music store for their niece who was turning 8 on Sunday, post office and dropped Alan at her parents - Mum made the boys a full english breakfast then they went "bowling" - but it's lawn bowling like bocce ball, which sounded really fun! My mom and Kiki left that day to spend the next week in Italy and Chip and I were staying until our flight back home on Sunday.

Andi and I drove an hour into the windy, hilly gorgeous English countryside and had lunch at an adorable place called Country Harvest and split 2 butties (sandwiches) - one w/ stilton and mushrooms and the other was brie with mango chutney and bacon - their bacon which is more like ham... and an elderflower cordial. Delicious! And it gave us more than enough reason to need a good, hearty hike at Ingleton Falls in the Yorkshire Dales! The 4.5 mile circular trail led us to amazing waterfalls.... There are about 8 along the way with tons of casacades, sheep just wandering and cows inside and out of the stone walls, each marked for their farmers. If you're quiet you can hear all the bahhs & moos, made us giggle. It was so green, with rolling hills as far as you can see. Like something out of a storybook, really. It is known as the most spectacular waterfall and woodland scenery in the north of England. The stone paths and wooden bridges did not make for an easy hike - it was a challenge. It was sunny and warm with a nice breeze which was lovely because it was a difficult hike! We even were brave enough to climb behind the big one, called Thornton Force! Honestly, it was not safe lol We crab-crawled across jagged, smoothed over slippery rocks to get there - a bit scary. I told Andi, our moms would not be impressed! Ha. We have more photos of the falls I'll have to upload later from Andi's iPhone.

It was a really nice day to finally spend time together, just us girls. We got ice cream after the big workout then we went to the grocery store for dinner ingredients and to have a look around... It's so neat to see all their different items. A lot of Indian food and loads of pies - steak and ale, steak and potato, fish pie, etc. I stocked up our "trolly" (shopping cart) on their wonderful types of chocolate bars - they are so creamy and soft - unlike American chocolate which is full of wax because our temperatures get so hot that it would melt without it! And the names used for things is entertaining - ground beef is mince, for example. And I found it interesting that they don't refrigerate their eggs at home. Andi made chicken satay for dinner and we had some beers on the deck while Alan was still out with the guys. Their neighbors John and Louise came by when Alan got home and we just had some wine in the kitchen and chatted... I really enjoyed just relaxing for the night. Hard to believe the week was wrapping up!

We climbed up behind the falls.

This tree was in the woods along the trail. It's said to be
good luck if you shove money in the wood.

Money mushrooms

The boys bowling.

The sheep were *this* close during our hike.

René of the Day // 8.4.11 // Chester

Perhaps one of the most charming towns I've ever visited, Chester is an old walled city (originally a Roman fort; the wall spans 2 miles) on the River Dee on the border of Wales. We took a park and ride bus from the Chester Zoo and spent the day lunching at a local pub - had a delicious gyreurre and leek tart and a local ale - then visited the old amphitheatre where knights jousted, beasts fought and .... We also went into the old cathedral that had numerous tombs and interesting old grave stones, as well as old headstones of people buried right under the stone floors. A bit creepy but quite interesting...

The village is filled with great shopping and adorable black and white Victorian restoration buildings... it actually made me think of what a little German town might look like.

We saw a few gray American squirrels which have made their way to England and have practically diluted the population of smaller red squirrels - unfortunately it's become an epidemic with the American bullies. I remember when we went to Washington, DC ten years ago, Andi was enthused with taking photos of squirrels because they had so few at home and you could go right up to them to take photos LOL

That evening Sue made a fantastic lasagna and chili con carne for diner then we sat in their garden and enjoyed bottle after bottle of great wine… Lovely end to a very nice day.

Proper fish & chips with mushy peas!

Remnants of the amphitheatre

René of the Day // 8.14.11 // Reds vs. Pirates with Nashvillians!

Saturday five of our friends visited from Nashville - the Elrod's who just had Baby Ellie Rose in February and were away from her for the first time - and Justin and his girlfriend Haley and Kenny. We met at Vale's and continued to drain his kegerator... then hopped in cabs and headed to Fountain Square to show them a slice of Cincinnati.

We grabbed beers and coneys on the Square - and I'm not sure what the hell they put in the hot sauce at that Skyline stand but it's at least 4 levels hotter than the sauce in the restaurants - God dog, I had tears in my eyes - it was seriously painful sauce! It was fun to see how excited the Elrod's were for a big night out since becoming parents - evidently this was a group of wild ones in college at the University of Tennessee and I really enjoyed hearing all their crazy stories and memories, per usual lol

We spilt up between Vale's seasons ticket seats - we let the out-of-towners take the good Castellini seats behind home plate and we sat in the Kroger bleachers - it was a blast but it's a bummer to miss the scoreboard entertainment since you're sitting right underneath it. The game ended 13-1 - I've never been to a ball game with so many homeruns & fireworks - just amazing! I hadn't been to a game this season since Opening Day in April and another that week so I was stoked. I even brought a pack of Big League Chew bubble gum... MR wore his #11 Barry Larkin tshirt that the boys got him for his birthday - with "Mr. Brunelle" on the back - awesome! Haha I was thrilled that he actually wore it to the game without being coaxed, too cute.

After the game we went the new Holy Grail - oh college memories of the Clifton location with the blueberry beer - which you have to eat because they soak up all the alcohol and you can't let them win! From there we went to Yesterday's in Mt. Adams and the rest of the night was a hot mess. I believe one of the crew was kicked out for falling asleep on the bar - not naming names! - and MR & I stayed a bit later to chat with our recently engaged friends Lori and Andy and also Kelley and Liz who came to meet up with us. Since it was like herding cats by the end of the night, we just grabbed a cab, got McDonald's - where I think MR ordered every chicken item on the menu - and went home to crash... I wish we'd seen everyone more during and after the game but on nights like that, you just have to roll with it. Glad they enjoyed their trip to Cincinnati and had a hell of a good time at the game - go Redlegs!

#11 Barry Larkin-Brunelle jersey - AMAZING :)
Kenny - best birthday gift idea ever!

Check out that Crest Kid smile! And Vale is a creep.

Awesome!

New parents planking at Holy Grail!

Liz & Kelley met us at Yesterday's :)

René of the Day // 8.3.11 // Liverpool, The Beatles Story & Lambananas!

Although the photos below are out of order - Blogger isn't the best with allowing for well-organized photo uploads - they show our tiring and tremendous day in Liverpool with the "scousers" (a term for Liverpooldians). How lucky that we were there a week before the riots broke out! Alan and Andrea's mum are from Liverpool but they'd never gone around as "tour guides" - it was quite fun - see the photo below lol! First we went to the Everton shop at the football stadium (Alan's team) and then we went into the city center and walked through the mall to go to the Liverpool store (Sue's team). From there we walked to the harbor to The Beatle's Story - a museum that tells the tale of their start at The Cavern on Mathew Street in Liverpool through their short years of success from 1963 to 1970... I learned so many things that I didn't know about the beloved band but we were surprised that there were not more relics and actual items from the Fab4. I suppose they were only together a short time and a lot of things are probably in private collections.

We had lunch at Jamie Carraagher's (Liverpool footballer) Café Sports England and sat ouside - he was actually there but we didn't bother him for autographs. Then we walked to the Church of England cathedral and the Catholic cathedral, which was surprisingly modern. We also saw Super Lambananas - created to call attention to GMO food, the fused animal-fruits are all over Liverpool, decorated in funky artistic ways, just like the flying pig statues in Cincinnati and the cows in Chicago. Andi & Alan bought me a little yellow replica for my desk! Hr has been named Lambert :)

Next was the Bombed Out Church - destroyed during WWII, the walls contain a 'secret' garden where they now host movies, art exhibits, concerts and more. It was actually closed as they prepared for a showing of "The Wizard of Oz" but Alan had the guy let us in... We played on the metal tire "drums" and sat in the Compassion Tepe and tied little wishes to the pole - really neat space. From there we walked to the Mersey (mare-zee) River and saw the building and balcony where they announced to the world that the Titanic had sunk - how incredible. We probably walked 6+ miles that day...

We went back to Dave & Sue's and Andi's friends came around for her wonderful homemade chicken curry (tiki masala), naan, chutneys, samosas and other little Indian bites - quite popular dishes in Britain. We had drinks in the garden until we all practically fell asleep sitting upright! Another successful day of travel in England - and the week was only half spent!

Inside the Bombed Out Church

Bombed Out Church

Our fabulous tour guides! ;)

Super Lambanana!

Church of England cathedral

Birthplace of The Beatles

The Cavern - where The Beatles got started

Chinatown - Liverpool

Catholic cathedral

Tying on a note in the Compassion Tepe in the Bombed Out Church

René of the Day // 8.2.11 // Southport

The day after my British best friend's wedding, we had a full English breakfast at Ferrari's Country House then got a late start and ventured to a little town on the Irish Sea on the northwest coast of England called Southport to return her cake stand to an adorable little bakery. This was actually where her parents met so it was fun to see their old stomping grounds. We walked past loads of shops and so many people had dogs - I can't believe how many Westies! - and enjoyed the nice breeze. 

We popped by a "chippy" - classic fish & chips shop - for a snack. I had chips (thick-cut fries) with curry dipping sauce and they were deliciously plump and greasy and the sweet spicy kick of the curry was good enough to lick from the little styrofoam bowl! A few of us got fish and it's not a filet like you'd see on a whimpy sandwich at McDonald's - three times the size of the fish from a Catholic fish fry - you can tell that it was a proper swimming fish, simply battered and fried. "Chippys" can be found every few blocks all over England and are the perfect drunk or comfort food for Brits - perfect with HP sauce or "mushy peas." Less than an hour later we stopped for ice cream at a little shop that had "bits" of goodies on top of each flavor - pistachios on the pistachio, cookies on the cookies 'n cream, strawberries on the strawberry - lovely! And of course ice cream in England is always served with a Flake! A flaky little stick of chocolate - a nice, tasty little touch. And we walked past a salon that had fish pedicures - and we decided we must have one before the week ended! (More to come on that...)

After our jaunt around the town, we drove home and finally took a nap! Bless. How nice... That night it was just "the families" - we had take and bake pizza - goat's cheese, sweet corn and tomato (Andi's fav) and ham, spicy beef, mushrooms & garlic sauce (Alan's fav) and had quite the discussion about religion and life... then we called a cab and sent the parents home - haha!

Southport. Left to right: Mr. Bailey, Mrs. Bailey, Vicki, Jenna, Rick, me, Stevie 

René of the Day // 8.1.11 // My British Best Friend's Wedding

What a perfect day it was! For years, Andi & I have joked that it seemed like I wouldn't make it back to England until her wedding day - unfortunately, we were right. But I am so very happy I was there.

We woke up after a very restless night - just too much excitement for the bride-to-be! The room was filled with nervous whiz-pops (do you know what that means? ha) and I performed downward facing dog, which she referred to as "laughing dog" - to stretch and wake up but she refused to do yoga in the bed. And we chanted so her Mum would hear down the hall, "We want breakfast! We want breakfast!" We're crazy, aren't we? No, we're just fun :) She threw the duvet off of her and yelled, "Ugh, this thing is like a SHEEP!" LOL They just use a comforter, no sheets, so it's always either HOT or cold in bed. 

After making our way down to the lounge (living room) we relaxed and had crumpets with tea and milk. It was such a slow, easy start to the day. I was amazed at how easy-going it was... I told them about "Bridezillas" in America and joked that she was Bridenilla because she was so laid back. It made the day very enjoyable. The girls came to do nails, hair and makeup and we continued to chat and stayed quite calm. The flowers arrived and they were stunning - we all had white orchids pinned into our hair. The photographer arrived and he was fantastic - went to work taking the stickers off our shoes to take photos and helped himself to photographing her gorgeous dress hanging in her parents beautiful bedroom. It was absolutely incredible to see Andi all dolled up - her signature outfit is trainers (gym shoes), jeans and a jumper (sweater or hoodie). She was so beautiful and the dress was stunning - Pronovias, one of my favorite bridal designers, perfect on her tiny Barbie-sized waist, and it had 50 or so silk buttons up the back that Vicki and I worked our way through... 

We took photos outside in the garden (yard) - Dave, her dad, is an outstanding gardener - their landscape looks like it could be featured in British Better Homes and Gardens. Then the cars arrived - two classy cloth-convertible Rolls Royce carriage cars. Andrea and her dad lead the way and we followed with her mum, Vicki, my mom and Kiki to Ferrari's Country House. It was such a scenic drive - like something from a storybook. Once we arrived, we stopped and put the tops down on the cars and proceeded up the drive. Everyone was waiting and it was so cute to see Alan's 4 year old nephew James and 8 year old niece Emma run up to us. After we got out, Andrea' car made it's entrance and tears welled in my eyes. I'm usually annoyed at the term "princess" for a wedding, but the English country home, the car, the scenery, it truly was that remarkable. 

We took a few photos and were quickly swept inside as Andrea and Dave spoke with the registrant and Vicki and I practiced walking down the aisle with James and Emma, ring boy & flower girl - they're too precious and their little Liverpooldian accents melt your heart. (Later Emma was holding my hand and said "You're good with children, aren't you?" So sweet!) Within 10 minutes we were walking outside and up the stone path to the chapel! We didn't have a rehearsal. The children went first, followed by Andrea and her dad and Vicki and I trailed behind them in our pretty purple dresses and purple & white bouquets. The registrar did a very lovely job... and when Andi & Alan read their own vows, each beginning with "I promise, promise, promise..." I had to beg Dave for a tissue. It was so sweet. I did my job of straightening her train, which she said she wasn't aware of until she watched the video later in the week. Alan said he wasn't "allowed" to turn around to see her walk up but he smelled her perfume and felt her on his arm - and when he saw the dress he said "René, I saw her and I cried like a little girl!" 

We exited the little chapel that held 40 family members and a handful of friends and threw colorful confetti all over the newly weds and they were handed a little wooden black cat and a little wooden horseshoe - an English wedding tradition for good luck. Then we played around the cars and in the gardens with the photographers as they took amazing photos (see link below). We had drinks outside and chatted until it was time for dinner. I chose stuffed mushrooms, chicken and tasty apple crumble with custard. A really talented singer/acoustic guitarist played during the meal - he played "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman and I had misty eyes since MR & I love that song and I really wished he could've been there to experience the day with us. The boys did their speeches - Father of the Bride, Best Man and the Groom - Chief Bridesmaid (me - the Maid of Honor, does not give one). In the UK, they tend to keep the ceremony and meal very small and intimate then a larger crowd joins for the reception. Around 7:00 more guests arrived the live band began. 

Then more food - a common theme from this trip - a buffet was set-up outside with three spit-roasted meats - turkey, pork and beef, rolls, salads, keishes and other savories. Andi had to change because the boning in her dress kept her tiny frame from being able to consume anything lol We sat at teaks tables on the stone terrace and enjoyed the food with friends... then went inside and danced as the DJ started to play. He spun a lot of 70s dance music but we got him to play some Bon Jovi - one of Andrea's all-time favs - and they performed their first dance to "When you wish upon a star." She opted against the bouquet & garter toss. 

Jenna kept bringing me Archer's & lemonade cocktails - like peach schnapps & Sprite (lemon-lime soda is called lemonade there). They handed out slices of wedding cake late in the night - from three different flavored heart-shaped cakes. I had sponge cake, there was also fruit cake - a tradition there, different than how Americans view it as a Christmas cake. I found it interesting that they freeze the top part and eat it at the Christening of their first child, rather than their first anniversary as we do in the States. We all danced and had a great time and per their traditions, we ended the night in a big circle kicking can-can style to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." It truly was a perfect, special day. Everyone had a great time and it was totally seamless. After the reception with had the night guard open the small bar in the hotel and we all chatted with their best friends on the leather couches - it felt very much like the formal living room at the old Pike fraternity house. I shared a room with Kiki and woke up for a full English breakfast the next morning. I'm not sure than anyone could have planned a better wedding day. So very happy for Andi and Alan and "honoured" to have been their Chief Bridesmaid.

To view the photos of the wedding day, visit Gareth Doe Photography, password: Bailey or view my Mom's photos on Facebook here.

My favorite photo that my mom took that day.

René of the Day // 7.30-31.11 // UK Trip 2.0

Welcome to the commencement of the UK Trip 2.0 blog post series! Last night I returned from an incredible 10-day stay with our "British family" - the Bond's & Bailey's.


To capture all the memories, I'm breaking out the trip into separate blog posts to follow, all including our wonderful memories, funny happenings and quirky differences between the UK & US:

• Andrea & Alan's wedding 
• Southport
• Liverpool, The Beatles Story & Lambananas!
• Chester
• Ingleton Falls in the Yorkshire Dales
• Trafford Centre & Fish Pedicure

We left Friday from Dayton in the early evening and flew to Philadelphia. There was inclimate weather over Philly so they circled for a while - we expressed our concern to the flight attendant about making our connection for an international flight with a short window of time that was crunching in... she said we should be fine and they soon decided it was safe to land. We landed at the end of Terminal F and had to take a tram and run, "Home Alone" style, to Terminal A. We missed the flight to Manchester by 7 minutes! I blurted out profanities with which Mom was less than impressed, but I was so heated. Evidently they left behind quite a few people - you'd think with international flights and being able to monitor that connection fliers have landed they would wait. But I suppose if they always waited, everything would be thrown off. The four girls at the service counter seemed to take their job less than seriously but one was helpful and re-routed us through London so we left less than an hour later.


The 7-hour flight wasn't bad... Went fairly fast. I was in the very back row with an extra seat to lay down. Watched a funny movie with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston and made friends with the flight attendants who kept me stocked on free gin & tonics - which I regretted when we landed in London and I was exhausted. I was by the bathroom door so it was impossible to get proper rest. Landing in Manchester is really neat - there's a special park on the side of the runway where people gather to picnic, play and watch planes come, such a fun concept!


 Rather than arriving at 8:30am we landed in Manchester at 2:30pm so it wasn't a tragic loss of time except it didn't leave us any time to relax or nap before the evening's event. But of course, they left our luggage back in Philly! Evidently this happens a lot - they said they'd send it the next day on the flight from Philadelphia and would deliver it to Andi's parent's house.


The first thing that grabbed my attention in the Manchester airport was quite the spectacle - two men - without shirts! drinking beers! carrying a baby! For the love... in America their asses would be arrested lol. 


Andi & Alan took me to Matalan - a members-only discount shop to grab a dress for her "Hen do" (bachelorette party) that evening. In less than half an hour, we found a cute one-shoulder summery dress for £10 which is a steal! It was a little big but we made it work - wasn't going to wear the jeans and top I'd been in since 10am Friday, that's for sure. Then we just sat on pins & needles hoping the luggage came in time for the wedding Monday since my bridesmaids dress that was perfectly-tailored by MR's mom was in my bag!


We went to a lovely little restaurant in the country called The Yew Tree - sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the sprawling English countryside and had drinks then a delicious dinner in the old stone house - quite charming. We shared a few dishes for starters - that's one of my rules, everyone gets something different so you can share and try as many things as possible. The traditional Bury black pudding with mustard & tarragon cream sauce and crispy bacon was incredible - once you get past the fact of what black pudding actually is (ultimately, a cake of blood and guts)! I ordered paté with mint jelly - fabulous combination. The double-baked cheese soufflé with emmental cheese & krisch cream sauce was very rich and flaky. We also enjoyed the crab cakes and mushrooms stuffed with Lancashire cheese and bacon - anyone who says British food is bland has not eaten there properly. 


For "tea" (dinner) I ordered the stuffed chicken filet (fill-ET as they say), with cream cheese, safe, proscuitto, asparagus and a spicy red pepper sauce. Andi's chicken Anderton with spiced rum & tomato cream sauce was incredible - I'm tempted to email the restaurant and ask for the recipe for the sauce! By the end of the evening I was literally falling asleep on the table... my eyes were in pain as I fought to keep them open, going on 36+ hours without sleep. But the boys had been hanging out all night so when we got home I put on her pink Snuggie and we hung out with their friends and didn't get to bed until 3am - I was knackered!!! 


Sunday Andrea & I went to downtown Preston to shop for my shoes for the wedding. We had lunch at an adorable café - I had a duck wrap, quite yummy but a bit oily and messy with the hoisin sauce. Found fabulous shoes at Debenham's - very similar to Macy's - very high cream silk stilettos with an open-toe and a flat-pressed bow on the heel. That evening we had a BBQ at her parents - ribs, sausages, burgers and plenty of Scrumpy Jack, mom's and my favorite cider - much less sweet than ciders here like Woodchuck. Then the girls drank cocktails and played with the hilarious slang flashcards I brought for Vicki, the other bridesmaid and slept over since it was wedding-eve and the boys when back to Andi & Alan's. Oh - and our luggage finally arrived around 6pm, less than 24 hours until the wedding - ah! They were so laid back - if it didn't come, they said we'd go to the bridal shop in the morning and find replacements - Andi showed me a cute purple dress in the window that was the "back-up plan." It made it so much less stressful that they were calm. Thank God it came - they thought MR's mom did a wonderful, professional-looking job on my dress. Andi and I slept in her brothers room and giggled like we were 13 again, shocked that her wedding was the next day.


We had a fast, busy, fantastic great first weekend in England catching up... and then, the excitement began. And so the series UK 2.0 series continues... 

All the ladies in the garden before Andi's "hen do!"
See £10 one-shoulder dress ;)