dripping with passion

we returned home to london late last night from a long weekend in spain, where we celebrated thankgiving with my brother and sister-in-law jonah and aja and their five kids (they are currently living on the beach near valencia). all of last week, even though we were headed to family and a day-late turkey dinner on friday, i couldn’t convince myself that having a totally normal day on the fourth thursday in november was an okay thing to do. so after i finished up work and before the boy got home from work, i pulled out our fancy table runner, ironed our cloth napkins, got some fancy sparkly drinks, and cooked up a modified thanksgiving feast. i’ve never made stuffing from scratch or roasted a whole chicken, or successfully timed all the elements of a big meal with multiple things needing to be in the oven at once…but it all turned out pretty dang fabulously, if i do say so myself!     before we ate, the boy and i knelt on the rug in our little flat and gave thanks to god for al

can you imagine anything more perfectly charmingly london-esque than enjoying a darling spread of afternoon tea on board an adorably pimped out red double decker bus ?! on wednesday afternoon, my new friend julia and i enjoyed mini sandwiches and quiches, scones with clotted cream, super cute sweets and mint tea from thermoses while the best london landmarks swept by outside our top-deck window! it was just about the darlingest experience ever, and so much fun! the storefront of bb bakery – such a cute little parlour – is literally right across the street from our flat, and i’ve been wanting to pop in one day for afternoon tea. but when once i started seeing bb’s adddddorable buses around town, i knew i had to go on one of their afternoon tea bus tours. it’s such a brilliant idea executed so, so perfectly! the ambiance was outrageously lovely, the edibles were super pretty and super yummy, the route covered so much of the really good stuff in london, the staff was cheerful and fe

happy thanksgiving eve! i’ve been trying to hone in this week especially on the deep gratitude i feel for so, so, so many blessings and joys in my life. as i’ve considered the things i am very most thankful for, i’ve realized that the core of my gratitude is most certainly about relationships. truly, the best part about life is people, and the immensely beautiful and sweet and unique and wonderful bonds that we form spirit-to-spirit. and so today i went through some wedding photos, looking at the faces of those humans i love most – and i was brim, brim, brim with acute gratitude. i am so thankful for each member of my family. look at these faces! {missing a few here – there are indeed eight more shining faces that i feel so much gratitude for.} and i’m so thankful for each member of the second family that the boy gave me. i love these people so very much. i am so thankful for my incredible parents, and the incredible parents of my true love. i can’t even wrap my head around the mag