Diamond Jubilee Weekend

I'm in DC and I'm fine, and I'll catch you up on my return in the next few days, but first we have something more important to discuss...



This is a big summer for London, specifically, and the UK as a whole. Of course, the Olympics will start properly in 56 days.  (Honestly, I'm pretty thrilled to miss this because London will be a nightmare for weeks due to the logistics of the events plus the influx of tourists that the city is, frankly, still unprepared to handle.)  This weekend, though, there's a celebration that's even closer to the hearts of Brits and Anglophiles everywhere: the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

I am very sad not to be in London for the Jubilee weekend, as it'll display the sort of enthusiastic and touching patriotism that, with the exception of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding last year, the United Kingdom rarely displays.  The Queen, 86 this year, has been touring the country for months in celebration of her 60 years on the throne; the festivities come to London on Saturday for a full four days of merriment.  (Monday and Tuesday of next week are bank holidays in recognition of this milestone.)

The most exciting part of the Diamond Jubilee weekend, I think, will be the spectacle of a flotilla of 1000 boats sailing down the Thames on Sunday.  The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip and members of the royal family, will travel in a royal barge as a centerpiece of the pageant; everyone expects the scene to be like a Canaletto painting.  Jon has managed to snag a prime spot from which to view the flotilla, and has promised to take pictures for us and write a guest post about the event.

If you're in London and you can't squeeze along the river to watch the festivities, don't worry - there's plenty still to do to fête the Queen!  Neighborhoods up and down the country will gather on Sunday for the Big Jubilee Lunch, when communities will gather for traditional street parties and picnics.

Monday will feature a massive concert and the lighting of the National Beacon, and Tuesday includes a service at St. Paul's as well as a a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace and a balcony appearance, complete with flyby.  It's going to be an amazing weekend, and I'm so jealous of all of you in the UK who get to take part in one way or another!

Here in the US, though, it's just a normal weekend - but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate with my own British tea party...

all via John Lewis 

Let me know how you're going to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee!  I'd love to hear about your festivities, dear readers.

If you're in America but want to join in, check out your local listings for BBC America and CNN, which will both cover most of the weekend.

Jet Planes and Circle Games

All my bags are packed; I'm ready to go.  I'm standing here outside your door.  I hate to wake you up to say goodbye, but the dawn is breaking, it's early morn, the taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn - already I'm so lonesome I could die.

Okay, enough of that.  Too much cheese!  But I couldn't help myself.  After all, today is D day: the day I fly back to the US.  All my bags really are packed, and the taxi really is waiting, but Jon's coming with me to the airport, thank God, to see me off.  (If you're at Heathrow Terminal 1, make sure to smile and wave comfortingly at the sobbing mess of a girl in a pink dress - it'll be me.)

I actually have had a Joni Mitchell song stuck in my head for the past week or so, one of my favorites from summer camp.  I'll leave you with Circle Game, along with much love and thanks for all of your support through this rollercoaster ride.  I'll see you on the other side of the Atlantic!

Memorial Goodbyes

As I mentioned yesterday, today is my annual pilgrimage to Glyndebourne.  This will be my fourth time going - I was introduced to the concept by my extremely generous grandparents in 2009, and have been lucky enough to go every summer since with a likeminded group of friends.  It's yet another perfect way to say goodbye to some of those I love most dearly in a quintessentially British setting.  (If you're a new reader, you can check out past Glyndebourne posts here, here, and here.)  We'll be seeing La Cenerentola, a Rossini opera, directed by Sir Peter Hall.  Alas, I haven't been privy to the menu machinations this year, but I'm expecting marvelous things - plus, I was asked to bring a cheese board and port, which always bodes well for the general tone of the picnic.  Rumor has it that there was some disagreement over an appropriate fish course, but I'm optimistic.  (Yes, we really can be this obnoxious, but no, we don't try to make a habit of it.)

Speaking of food, I've offered to cook a goodbye feast for Jon and his flatmates tomorrow night.  It will be my last night in London, and I want to do something to thank them for their love and friendship, especially as I've been living in Jon's flat recreationally for the past year and full-time since last week.  Because I'm missing Memorial Day in the States, I thought it would be fun to make a classic American summer menu: I'm planning slow-cooked ribs marinated in Jack Daniel's sauce with tzatziki potato salad and corn on the cob.  Dessert might be a chocolate oreo ice cream cake, if we're feeling really decadent, or possibly just berries and cream.  Either way, I'm excited!  You know that cooking for people is my way of saying "I love you," and this will be my last opportunity - for a while, anyway.

It's crazy to think that I was saying goodbye at exactly this time two years ago, too.  Memorial Day weekend 2010 was the stage for my leaving party just before I flew east across the Atlantic, and now I'm headed back.  So much love to all of you, dear readers, for always following along.

Weekend in Wales

Well, this weekend's radio silence was a bit unexpected - but the house in Wales only had internet in the one computer in the study, and it would have been sort of counterintuitive to sneak away to update you all on the bliss of being out of the rat race.  But it was, truly, blissful.  I hadn't understood what Jane Austen meant when she talked about a house being well situated, but now I do; the place we stayed was in deepest nowhere on the side of a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley.

We had gorgeous weather all weekend, with temperatures in the mid 20s and cloudless skies.  A few of us arrived late due to a missed connecting train, and by time time we arrived the party was in full swing.  We spent our first night drinking, dancing, singing, and hopping between the pool and the hot tub.  Jon managed to sleep in the next morning, but I was woken early by some very vocal sheep in the meadow on the other side of the drive.  After a full English breakfast, we took the rest of the day to wander around the estate, exploring the gardens, building dams in the river, reading in the sun, enjoying a picnic lunch by the lake, taking naps on the lawn, and racing the golf cart along the mown pathways.  In the evening, we celebrated a birthday with champagne and the most decadent chocolate cake I have ever tasted.  It was difficult to tear ourselves away this afternoon - but we had to return to London, because, for most of us, real life begins again tomorrow.

Not for me, though, because tomorrow is three days to D day, and I'll be continuing my farewell tour at Glyndebourne.  And as for you - you Americans in the crowd - tomorrow is Memorial Day!  A very happy long weekend to you all, dear readers.

Frock Fridays

My last weekend in town is going to be spent... not in town.  One of Jon's best friends has a house in Wales, and so we're heading there with a gaggle of fun people for a few days.  (Apparently calling it a "house" is an understatement, but let's err on the side of the proletariat as I haven't been to the property before, shall we?)  London has been hot and sunny all week, which has been more than welcome after the rainiest April on record, but I was told that it's always wet in Wales.  Even though I'm so looking forward to a real holiday, I had resigned myself to a damp weekend - but then I checked out the weather forecast and hollered with joy.  See; it is glorious!

I'm desperate to get a bit of color before I head back to the States, so this will be the perfect opportunity to catch some sun.  (Don't worry, Nana, I'll wear plenty of sunscreen.)  There's also a pool, apparently, so I'm going to have to pack a classic summer weekend bag!  Please do excuse the pun - I couldn't help myself.

[ dress / bag / sandals / earrings / sunglasses / bracelets / bathing suit ]

Simple Things

I'm moving out of my flat tomorrow.  33% of my belongings are in boxes, being stored at Jon's parents' house.  33% of my belongings are in boxes, waiting to be brought to Jon's flat.  33% of my belongings are in piles, ready to be shoved into suitcases to be flown back to DC.  And then 1% of my belongings is stuffed into my long-suffering Le Pliage.  (My right shoulder hates me right now.)

I've asked myself many questions while preparing for this move.  Why am I leaving London?  What will I do when I get to DC?  How will my parents and I survive living together again after so long?  When did I manage to amass so much junk in my flat?  Why do I have three bottles of dried oregano in my pantry?

Some of these questions have no answers.

Some of them do, but I'd prefer not to think about them.

Instead, I'll look at this image and laugh maniacally until someone brings me a soothing cup of tea:

source unknown

Oh, man.  Sometimes it's the simple things, you know?

Monday Musings: Commencement

I haven't written a Monday Musing in a while, but I've been inspired recently by commencement season.  Memories of my amazing and challenging tenure at Columbia University always come flooding back at this time of year, as my various newsfeeds explode with proud announcements, celebratory photographs, and inspiring speeches; four years ago last week I graduated from college, and my experiences there helped shape me into the woman I am today.  There's no way that, when I lugged boxes into my freshman dorm room, I could have imagined that I'd now be where I am.

Of course, I had dreams; I had hopes and ambitions and aspirations.  But one thing that I've learned in the four years since graduation is that, if we live life to the fullest, we mature and our dreams are forced to keep up.  When we chase our dreams with integrity and determination, we evolve, and our dreams must therefore do the same.  Achieving our dreams is a measure of success, but we should also be proud of their development and especially of their flexibility.  We should dream for who we will be, not who we are, and we should always be optimistic about the adaptability of our dreams - for if our dreams change, it means that we are already on our way to attaining them.

Engagement Excitement

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Thanks for all of your love yesterday, dear readers!  Jon actually proposed a week ago, and we knew we wanted to take some time to tell family and close friends personally - but it was still difficult to keep our news from you.  Social media is so pervasive that announcements don't seem official if they're not broadcast online.  (I had three different friends say, when I shared the engagement with them last week, "but I haven't seen it on Facebook yet!"  What a funny world we live in.)

Obviously, we're still working out many of the details, but to answer some of your questions: yes, I will still be moving back to DC in 10 days.  We'll have a long-distance engagement, and then after the wedding, which will be late next summer, we'll be together in the same country again.  Also, yes, my ring is on my left hand!  I have no idea why it appears to be on my right hand in the vlog -  maybe Photo Booth reverses images.  (And for those of you who follow me on Pinterest, yes, we have been talking about this for a little while, which is why you may not have been surprised to hear the announcement after having seen my boards!)

A few weeks ago, to prepare for my imminent departure and as a birthday gift to himself, Jon bought an XBox.  He tells me that I should be reassured; instead of going out and, possibly, meeting other girls while I'm in the States, he'll be home playing video games.  Who am I to argue with that kind of logic?  Besides, maybe he'll get it out of his system before we're reunited.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, dear readers.  Are you ready to head into the end of May?

Betsy and Jon: The Vlog

Frock Fridays

{av} set us a real challenge for today's link-up: chambray.  It's the hot new thing in fashion, apparently, but I had to Google the word to find out what it is.  (According to Wikipedia, it's a kind of cloth that looks vaguely like demin; raise your hand if you didn't know that either, please.)  It seems like something that hipsters might wear, so I Googled "chambray hipster" and - lo and behold - came up with 4.4 million hits.  Comparatively, "seersucker hipster" only got 105,000 hits, so you know I'm on to something here.*

That's a really convenient coincidence, because Jon and I are heading to Shoreditch tonight for merriment.  East London is full to the brim of hipsters, which means we'll be surrounded by these people.**  I'm not desperate to embrace their style or ethos, but I can try to blend in a bit, can't I?  Enter chambray, a cross-body saddlebag, and ironic colorful rubber bracelets.

[ dress / bag / shoes / bracelets ]

If you're wondering, we're heading to Shoreditch to enjoy Street Feast London, a popup market featuring delicious food in a carnival atmosphere.  What happens after that depends on how adventurous we're feeling - we might hit up a bar to sample some indie microbrews that have hand-drawn labels, or maybe we'll go listen to a band so cool and undiscovered that it hasn't even been formed yet.  Who knows?  But I'll be prepared in my chambray, that's for sure.

* However, "chambray preppy" found 10.4 millions hits on Google, so it's possible that I'm approaching this post from the wrong angle.

**no offence, duh.

Moving in Numbers

Remember how I've mostly been bopping around town for the past few weeks, waiting for my time in London to wind up?  Well, I bop no more.  Instead, I am a moving machine.  Suddenly, I realized that I'm  headed back to the States in two weeks and I have a lot to get done!  This week has therefore been consumed by arranging all the bits and pieces that go into packing up and moving out and flying across.  (Can't beat that as an excuse for my lack of posting, right?)

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Moving to London wasn't too complicated, though maybe that's because life was simpler back in 2010.  Uprooting everything I've built here is a lot trickier - and I'm only talking about the physical, not the emotional!  I seem to have amassed a lot of stuff over the past two years, and now it all has to go... somewhere.  Luckily, I've managed to divide all of my belongings into four lots: things that come home with me, things that go to Jon's flat, things that will be stored at Jon's parents' house, and things that get sold.  If you're wondering what this looks like by the numbers, read on.

10. days left in London (plus one day in Suffolk and three in Wales)
9. cookbooks to be stored in the UK (how will I survive in DC without them?)
8. large plastic boxes from Argos (each of which will be neatly labelled, natch)
7. goodbye lunches/coffees/drinks in the diary (saying goodbye is expensive and delicious)
6. pairs of boots that I'll pick up when I next visit London (not necessary for an east coast summer)
5. rolls of bubblewrap (filched from my mother's collection when I was last in DC)
4. items hawked on Gumtree (which will fund all of my goodbye outings)
3. trips it will take in Jon's dad's car to get everything out of my flat (what a hero)
2. weeks until I fly into Dulles (30 May to be exact)
1. professional cleaner hired to put my flat back to rights (scheduled for the last possible moment)

Are you exhausted yet?  I am!  But there's no rest for the weary - or the wicked - and so on I go, laden with packing tape and permanent markets, into my final days in London.

Days for my Mother

True story: I am so crazy about my mom that I sent her a Mother's Day card and present a month ago.  I am just that good of a daughter.

No, I'm kidding.  I mean, I did, but that's because Mother's Day (or Mothering Sunday, as it's called here) was a few weeks ago in the UK.  I knew I wouldn't find appropriate cards in May, so I got organized and posted some love across the Atlantic in April.  Yeah, I know.  I'm good.

But if I hadn't already given Mü her present, and if money were no object, I might think about getting her something really special...

She would probably like some luxurious leather goods to tote around...

[ Mulberry bag / Smythson notebook ]

Or perhaps a few sparkly trinkets for special occasions or even just because...

[ Cartier bracelet / Tiffany's ring / Kate Spade earrings / J Crew necklace ]

Or maybe, if money were really no object, a sweet townhouse on a side street in Kensington...

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But, since I'm a girl on a budget, she's going to have to settle for 364 days of love until Mother's Day 2013.  After all, I'll be in the States next year, so she won't get two again!

Saturday Coffee

I've got another friend over for coffee today - hello, Jillian!  Thanks for coming by.  I'll grab our drinks while you make yourself at home.  What can I get you?

If it's any other time, but Christmas, I usually just get a black coffee w/ a little room for skimmed milk, but come red cup season, I'm all about the Dark Cherry Chocolate Mocha--mmmm, calories don't exist during the holidays!!! :)


Well, in my world it's always a holiday - but I understand the need for pure caffeine!  While I'm up, why don't you tell us a bit about what you've got going on?

coffee with...

Mimi Nicole         

Seriously, how crazy is it that it's May already??? I could've sworn we were just ringing in the new year and now it's already time for graduations!!! This month Handsome Husband and I are taking a trip down to London for his best friend's wedding {& maybe grabbing a coffee w/ you while I'm down there!}, but what I'm most excited about is this coming Summer!  I have a few fun projects in the works for Mimi Nicole Event Design, and then in August, HH and I are heading back to the good ol' US of A to visit my family! I haven't seen them in almost a year, so I am just bursting to get back there and see everyone!:)

Thanks so much for having me over today, Betsy! You're such a wonderful hostess and we must do this again real soon!:)

*****

We'll definitely have to find time for coffee while you're in London, Jillian!  I'm so excited that you've launched your business and can't wait to hear about all of your successes.  Dear readers, make sure to head over to Mimi Nicole to follow along with the adventures!

Frock Fridays

The next few weeks are filling up quickly - I'm still working a bit, plus I'm cramming in as many lunches and coffees and drinks and dinners as I can so that I can say goodbye to my friends before I leave London.  Add to that a diary-full of last-minute appointments and all the packing I have to do, and I'm one busy woman!  What I really need is a comfortable but stylish outfit that will take me through the day, no matter what I'm doing...

[ dress / nailpolish / lipgloss / jacket / earrings / bracelets / shoes / bag ]

Birthday Love

There was no time for posting yesterday because it was Jon's birthday and, of course, he was my priority.  In true Jon fashion, he asked for a home-cooked meal and a quiet night in - it was lovely.  We're taking every opportunity in these last few weeks to enjoy the simple pleasures of being together, which makes the thought of leaving him both more and less scary.

via

Happy birthday, baby; I love you.

My First Anti-Immigrant Experience

A few weeks ago, Selena blogged about her first experience with anti-American sentiments as an expat in the UK.  She was shocked, and didn't know how to respond.  "Easy," I thought.  "If I had been there, I would have strode up to the band and given them an earful about their dated prejudices and closed-minded stereotypes.  They would have known never to sing that song again, regardless of their audiences.

Well, I can now tell you that I probably would have been just as poleaxed as Selena.  How do I know this?  Because I just experienced my first run-in with anti-immigrant hatred, and I was so shaken by the situation that I simply shrunk into myself and prayed that I would be transported elsewhere.  I'll tell you what happened - with the help of a nifty little diagram to help you understand.

[door]            4

x / x                       x / me

2 / 3             mother / child

I was on the bus, coming home from grocery shopping.  We were in the second half of the bus; the exit door was on my left and woman 4 was facing me on her seat.  Just after the mother and child sitting behind me got on the bus, they started listening to loud music on the mother's cell phone.  I tried to ignore it for a while and kept reading my book, but it was distracting and annoying, so I turned around.  "Excuse me, I said, catching the mother's eye, "could you please put on headphones?"  She pointedly looked away.  Second attempt, still polite: "Excuse me, but would you mind putting on headphones?"  She responded, "Just read your book."  I said, "I'm trying to, but it's difficult with your music playing so loudly."  She said, "I don't want to hear you speaking."  "I'm sorry, but I don't want to hear your music," I  responded, getting irritated, "so could you please put on headphones?"

At this point, woman 4 got involved.  "She's pregnant," woman 4 said to me.  "Why are you bothering a pregnant woman?"  "I'm just asking her to put on headphones out of consideration to the rest of us," I answered.  Women 2 and 3 agreed, quietly, "Yes, it would be great if she could put on headphones."  Woman 4 snapped at them, "This isn't about you.  Stay out of it."  She then said to the mother, "You listen to your music.  Don't listen to them."  Emboldened by her new ally, the mother said to me, "This is my bus.  I live here."  I was totally confused; "I live here, too," I said.  "Yeah, but I pay taxes here," the mother sniped.  "You don't pay taxes."

Taken aback, I answered, "Yes, I do pay taxes."

She looked at me for a second, and then looked back at woman 4.  "These people.  They think they own the world."  She said.  Woman 4 nodded and smirked at me.

I was floored.  Absolutely floored.

I sat in silence for the rest of the journey, only looking up when the mother and child got off the bus.  I had thought I'd be strong in that sort of situation, but I was astonished by this woman's vitriol.  I mean, how do you respond to that kind of blind hatred?

Now, it's possible that this wasn't an example of anti-immigrant bias; it's possible that this was racially motivated.  After all, I am white, as were women 2 and 3, while the mother and woman 4 were black. It's even more possible that the situation was a result of both racial and nationalistic prejudices.  Who knows?  I didn't have to courage to defend myself or to call these women out for their bigotry - I was just shocked.

Have you ever experienced this sort of thing, all you expats out there?  And tell me: what should I have done?

Saturday Coffee

I've got a treat for you today, dear readers: Whitney has come for coffee and a chat with us!  I'll grab our drinks - she wants a caramel apple spice, natch - while you get to know each other.

coffee with...

The Observant Turtle

I honestly cannot believe it's May already! It's crazy to think that I've been living in Texas for over 5 months now. This month I'm just getting settled in at my new job (my first full-time gig out of college... so exciting!), going shopping with my first big-girl pay check, and going to a food truck festival in Houston. I can't turn down anything having to do with food, haha.

What I'm most excited about for the summer is my first wedding anniversary! Hopefully my husband and I will be able to take a little weekend trip somewhere fun and close by, like Austin or San Antonio. There are also lots of great concerts happening here in Houston over the summer. I really hope that I can make it to a few! That's one of my favorite things to do.

*****

What a whirlwind time for you, Whitney!  It all sounds really exciting - especially the food truck festival, yum!  (I can't turn down anything having to do with food either, obviously.)  Have a very happy anniversary - dear readers, make sure you follow along to see where Whitney and her adorable busband Nick end up going to celebrate.

A Very Special Visitor - Styled!

Not entirely sure how this happened - because I'm beyond excited about it - but it seems I forgot to tell you all that my sister is visiting me in England for a long weekend!  She arrives today and is here through Tuesday, and I can't wait to introduce her to my London.  We've got big plans for tonight: we're headed out to drinks near Berkeley Square and then down to Bermondsey for dinner.  It's quite a tall order to dress for a night like this because Mayfair is very posh while Bermondsey, on the south side of the river, is increasingly trendy.  Since you get to see my fantasy outfits every week, I thought I'd share with you what I imagine Sarah might wear to take on London!

[ jacket / jeans / mascara / top / shoes / bracelet / earrings ]

Friends Transatlantically

When I started Betsy Transatlantically, I discovered an amazing community of bloggers - I feel incredibly lucky to have made real friends over the past two years, both online and off, through the interwebs.  At first, I was afraid that my fellow bloggers would be insular and competitive; after all, sometimes I felt like I didn't want to share my small successes because, next to the grand successes that other bloggers earned, I felt puny.  But I quickly came to see that this was my failing, not theirs.  Each blogger I have emailed or connected with on Twitter has been unfailingly gracious and encouraging, even when she is much further along her blogging journey than I am.  A very wise woman once said to me, "We all have to start somewhere," and I think that, often, it's easier to understand that when you're past the beginning phase.  It's what what makes the generous mentoring in the blogging world so inspiring - we're all at different stages, but what unites us is that we all started, at one point, and we're all on our way to where we want to go.

That's part of the reason I'm so excited to go to the DC Blogger Blitz on 3 June hosted by {av}.  In just the first few hours after I registered, I connected with a number of amazing bloggers and I know I'll meet even more when I head to the gathering.  It's just one more thing that'll make DC feel like a good fit for me again.

But no matter where you are, you can take your relationships with inspiring bloggers to the next level by becoming pen pals!  Megan and Joelle have teamed up to give us the Lovely Letters project: you've got until the end of today to sign up to be matched with another fabulous blogger with whom you can exchange notes.  I recently won the cutest stationery through Reverie from Paper+Cup and I can't wait for an excuse to use it.

And, speaking of friends, you may have noticed that I've got some wonderful partners for May - their blog buttons are in the sidebar on the right.  I'll introduce them to you over a cup of coffee on Saturdays throughout the month, so make sure to check back here this weekend!  If you want to partner up by swapping buttons, let me know - the more the merrier, of course.

On that note: later gators!  Remember that tomorrow is Friday, which means that it's practically the weekend.  I hope you have excellent plans lined up!

Midweek Mantra

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I was talking to a friend this morning, and she asked how my trip home had been.  "Great," I said.  "I didn't want to come back to London."  Knowing how excited I am to enjoy my last month here and how sad I will be to leave, she didn't understand.  I tried to explain that the next few weeks feel like filler - I don't know how else to put it, to be honest, but here goes:

It feels like life is on hold at the moment.  It feels like this chapter has ended and I have to wait for the next chapter to begin.  It feels like I'm paused on the brink and I want to jump but I have to take my place at the end of some metaphysical queue.

Does that make sense?

I am really excited about this last month in London and I will be sad to uproot what I've spent two years building.  I'm also really excited to throw myself into a new phase of my life in DC and to explore new possibilities.  What I need to realize is this: those two things are not mutually ecxlusive.  Where I'm going is important, but so is where I am now.  I should slow down; I shouldn't rush the journey.

May Day

Really, actually.  How is it May?  It was just winter, and now it's spring!  Wait, I guess that is how it happens, usually...

I've got an incredibly busy month ahead of me: I'm trying to fit in so many last moments before I move back to the States in four weeks.  But I suppose it's for the best that May will be a whirlwind - I'll be having too much fun to mope about leaving London!  Hopefully this warm sun will stick around so that I can truly enjoy spring in this magical city.  And then?  Then we've got summer in DC!

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Onwards and upwards, dear readers.  Happy May!