#EnglishSummer

Good morning from Oxfordshire, dear readers!  I landed at Heathrow around 8am yesterday, waking Jon up when I called him to tell him I'd arrived even though he meant to pick me up at the airport.  (Why yes, this does mean I get to play off his Bad Fiancé Guilt for the rest of my trip!)  We ended up meeting at Paddington and then taking the tube up to King's Cross, where we had a delicious brunch at Caravan, before making our way to Jon's flat in North London so I could drop off my bags, take a nap, and freshen up before heading back out.

I'm in Oxfordshire this weekend for a dear friend's hen do, which is what the Brits call a bachelorette party, and it's absolutely glorious.  All the other girls arrived at the hostess' country place on Friday evening, and I met them yesterday afternoon as they came back from a punting adventure in Oxford.  We had a fabulous fancy dinner last night, complete with a hidden cache of champagne and a delicious cheese course.  I managed to stay awake until just after midnight - no mean feat, considering my jet lag - and now a few of us are brewing coffee, rehydrating, and sneaking morsels of leftover cheddar around the kitchen table.  We've got a lovely day planned here before returning to London.  Make sure you're following me on Instagram if you want to see what we're up to!

We've got amazing weather predicted for my whole trip, so you're going to see lots of photos and tweets tagged with #EnglishSummer - look how lovely it's going to be!  I'll be blogging as usual all the way through, and can't wait to introduce my very first sponsors to you tomorrow.  We'll have a wonderful July together!  I hope you're all having the very best weekend wherever you are - enjoy your Sunday!

Frock Fridays: Target Summer

A few months ago, Jon's cousin (and my friend!) Rose emailed me to say that she'd signed up for a retreat in Virginia in late June - did I think she could fly over from London a bit earlier to visit me and see DC?  We're almost family, so of course I said yes!  Rose had been to the United States once before but didn't think that skiing in Colorado counted as seeing the "real" America, so I had a challenge ahead of me: introduce Rose to the best of my country.  We got a jump start with the convenience/news store at the airport, where Rose was overwhelmed by the variety and size of soda bottles.  (I had to talk her out of getting 20oz of Mountain Dew at 7:30pm EST, which should have felt like 12:30am BST to her.)  Score one for the United States!

Rose wanted to go downtown the next day to walk around the National Mall, which she learned is pronounced maul if you're American (or mawul, if you're from Long Island) rather than mahl, as it is in England.  We started off at Starbucks and then ran into my favorite hole-in-the-wall bagel place in Chevy Chase, DC for bagels, lox, and cream cheese on our the way down to the White House, the first stop on the This Is America tour.  After that, Rose headed off to see some monuments and museums with a friend - though I think her favorite part of the whole day was getting out of DC's heat and humidity into air conditioning!

We visited the Washington National Cathedral together on Wednesday afternoon as they were preparing to celebrate the Supreme Court's ruling against DOMA with prayer and song, but otherwise the intrepid traveler did a lot of sightseeing on her own over the next few days and met up with some other friends she knew in the area.  But there was one place I knew I had to take her myself if she really wanted to get to know America: Target.

Dear readers, is there anything in America better than Target?  It's the number one thing expats living abroad miss about this country, according to the comments on my Instagram.  Rose was suitably impressed.  (She wouldn't let me post the photo I took of her in the Pop Tarts aisle, but rest assured that she was wowed.)  We tried to figure out what the English equivalent was - the closest we got was that it was a mashup of a Tesco Extra with a huge Asda but with a smaller grocery section and better quality home goods and clothing.

Speaking of clothing... Rose walked out with two cute frocks, and I bought a maxidress that I've worn every day since.  It's so cute and comfy!  I've been pairing it with my own accessories, but if I went full Target (like I did back in February) I'd have bought a silver metallic belt to pick up the colorblocking of the dress, silver and green sandals, and a matching mint cross-body bag.  You can never have too many white cardigans, and the fuchsia studs echo the pinks of the dress!  A whole fab outfit for $115?  Target, you do America proud.

linking up with {long distance loving} and Follow The Ruels

All About You

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Dear readers, your response to my announcements on Monday was overwhelming!  I was definitely ready to take this step into a new dimension of blogging and I'm thrilled that so many of you are excited to come with me.

Do you know how I've been finding most of the new blogs I'm reading?  From my comments.  From your comments!  You all engage with me so enthusiastically - if you need a suggestion for a first dance song at your wedding, check out these 26 (!) ideas - and I take the time and energy you give to Betsy Transatlantically as a huge compliment.  I don't always know how you find me, though, and honestly I'm a little disappointed that there aren't any whacky search terms like "sparkly feeling in elbow" or "doesn't aaron look sexy with his hair pushed back" that have led you here, at least not according to Blogger.  Would you tell me how in the comments?  I'd love to hear how you ended up here, if you're willing to share, and if you found me via another blogger please do leave her name/blog so we can spread the love!

I must say, even thought it might be arrogant, that I think this venture into sponsorship is going to create some fantastic new friendships amongst us all, and that's due entirely to your awesomeness.  So thank you!

(I have one more spot left for July and have gotten a few inquiries about August, so email me at betsytransatlantically@gmail.com if you want me to send you stats and rates about sponsoring Betsy Transatlantically!)

This is also probably the part where - though I know you know this already - I remind you that Google Reader will soon be no longer, and that you can follow me via Bloglovin' here if you want.  There - blog business done and dusted!  Now to finalize my editorial calendar for next month, including two fab guest posts from a couple of lovely bloggers in the UK...

Wedding Wednesday: On the Other Side of the Guest List

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The RSVP deadline for our wedding is this coming Monday, and I have only one thing to say about that: thank goodness.  We sent out the invitations in mid-April and our friends and family have been, for the most part, really great about getting back to us (both with questions, which I'm thrilled to answer, and responses).  Even so, it's been a bit frustrating to wait as the cards have trickled in.  Don't get me wrong; I love the surprise of another envelope in the post!  And some of the RSVPs have included the sweetest notes.  But who can and can't come to our wedding is something I have very little control over, and you know how I hate that.

I've heard horror stories about guests who RSVPd no (or didn't respond at all) and showed up anyway or guests who said they were coming but then didn't show up at all, but I don't think that that will be a problem for us.  First of all, we will get every single response.  (That wasn't supposed to sound so menacing.  Sorry.)  And second, this is a destination wedding for everyone but six people who are invited, and those are all in Jon's immediate family.  So it's not like someone could wake up on our wedding morning who wasn't going to come and think, "Hey, maybe I'll just swing by the venue in a bit!"  The fact that it will take about 2.5 hours to get to Bruisyard Hall from London means that our guests have to plan ahead which, hopefully, means that we won't have too many surprises on the day.

When I first wrote about our guest list, we were inviting 138 guests.  (It took me much longer than it should have to understand that this didn't mean we were sending out 138 invitations - poor Caroline!)  In the end, because of some very significant others that we realized we needed to include plus some last-minute requests from our parents, we invited 152 people.  I'm sure every wedding is different regardless of where and/or when it's held, but I would have loved to have an expert tell me the average percentage of invited guests who would RSVP no.  Obviously that wasn't possible!  But it would have been really helpful to hear more anecdotal evidence from couples in international relationships who threw a wedding on one of their two native countries.  So, though I'm not an expert, here's our breakdown (including my best guess on the handful we haven't yet heard from):

152 invited

105 yes

47 no

This is more regrets than we expected and I wish that everyone (and then some!) could come, but it actually works out in the end; it turns out it would have been impossible to seat more than 119 in the layout we wanted even though our venue technically holds 140.  If any brides-to-be are reading this, remember to ask about this when you visit your venues!

Next week - the seating plan.  Jon and I will be working on this while I'm in London, so please give us any advice you may have! I hear they're notoriously stressful...

Beet Pizza

I know; that sounds totally strange, doesn't it?  But I promise you that beet pizza is delicious.  I went a little crazy buying vegetables when I visited my new favorite farmers market two weeks ago, so I knew I had to get creative if I didn't want to be bored.  I'd only ever had beets in salads before (and once, when I bought these gorgeous golden beets at Borough Market in London, simply roasted and drizzled with a little vinaigrette and eaten hot as a side dish) but I wanted something a bit more substantial for dinner.  So I thought to myself, "How can I have a beet salad but not as a salad?"  And the answer came immediately: put it on a pizza!

See, one of my favorite appetizers to make when friends come over for dinner is pizza - it's always a fun and easy way to throw flavors together while being a low-risk experiment.  My hits are a delicious pie of caramelized red onions, smoked salmon, and mascarpone - just ask Tina, who helped me devour one a few weeks ago - and one topped with blue cheese, arugula, and pear slices.  What did I have to lose by trying it with spinach, goat cheese, and beets?

That's a rhetorical question, by the way, because the pizza was a huge success!  Okay, no one else was around to eat it and agree with me, but when you make it yourself you'll discover just how good it is.  The beets lose some of their earthiness when you roast them and become a bit sweet, providing a perfect counterpoint to the creamy acidity of the goats cheese, and the fresh spinach cuts the richness of the beets and cheese in such a refreshing way.  It was delicious hot out of the oven and, as a bonus, the leftovers are just as yummy cold the next day!

4 small beets, roasted and peeled (see this article for directions; be warned that beet juice can stain!)
8 oz fresh spinach
4 oz crumbled goats cheese
1 ready-to-bake pizza base (I used whole wheat and it complemented the beets really well)
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450°f.  Brush the pizza base with olive oil up the the inner edges of the crust, and the sprinkle with half of the goats cheese.  Layer the fresh spinach on top and then drizzle olive oil over the spinach.  Slice your roasted and peeled beets thinly, and arrange them on top of the pie.  Cover the whole thing with the remaining goats cheese and then add just a little salt and plenty of pepper.  Bake straight on the middle oven rack for about 10 minutes, checking after 8 or so to make sure the spinach leaves aren't charring.  Serve hot with a glass of chilled white wine and enjoy!

linking up with The Observant Turtle

Relaunch in T - 7 Days

A few weeks ago, I emailed Bobbi of Ready to Blog Designs about changing things up on Betsy Transatlantically.  She created the design I have now and I still like it and wanted to continue the theme she'd come up with, but I asked for something fresh - something a bit less angular and bold.  Just like before, she's been fab to work with, and I'm so excited to roll out the new design at the end of the month.  You want a sneak peak now?  Well, okay!

I also decided it was time for a a couple of other changes while I reworked things.  First, I bought my own domain; starting July 1, you'll find me at www.betsytransatlantically.com.  (Don't worry, the old address will automatically redirect you if you forget!)  And second, also launching next Monday, will be paid partnership options on my blog.  I've been waffling for quite some time about whether or not to start accepting sponsorships, you know.  Over the past year and a half, I've bought ads on a handful of blogs - some of which provided amazing experiences and others... well, others were learning experiences - and I never thought it was the sort of thing I wanted to jump into.

But over the last month or so, I started realizing that sponsoring Betsy Transatlantically could mean whatever I wanted it to mean.  I could make it a program that stayed true to the kind of blogging I enjoy and that respected the kind of blogging that you expect to see on this blog.  (I am not disparaging other blogs' sponsorship options, only admitting that they wouldn't work here.)  So I took time to think about you, dear readers, and the posts that attract the most exciting comments from you and the posts that you share the most on social media and the posts that inspire you to interact with each other both on my blog and on Twitter, and I designed a bespoke style of sponsorship that I think reflects who you are and what you want from this blog.  Here's what I came up with:

FREQUENT FLIER

guest post (choose from Sunday Currently, Wedding Wednesday, or Frock Fridays themes)

option to co-host monthly link-up (topic to be decided by all the sponsors that month)
tons o' social media love on Twitter and Instagram as well as here on the blog

200 x 100 blog button for my sidebar at the top of the sponsorship section

CASUAL TRAVELER

option to co-host monthly link-up (topic to be decided by all the sponsors that month)
social media love on Twitter and Instagram as well as here on the blog

200 x 100 blog button for my sidebar in the sponsorship section

I think there are enough big blogger giveaways out there that you don't need one more, though of course I will continue to bring you special offerings from companies like TripCommon, so I decided that the way I wanted my readers to discover my sponsors was to give you something more substantial to connect with.  That's why all the sponsors for the month will join me in co-hosting a link-up, where you'll be encouraged to share your own post and to check out the other blogs who are participating.  I think it'll be easier to get an idea of who my sponsors really are (and, of course, to get hooked on their blogs!) from personal posts on topics like Advice From My Dog (am I the only one wanting to write a post on that?) than from following for a free Starbucks giftcard, don't you?

In addition, I would love for my Frequent Flier sponsors to guest post here.  From my own experience as a guest poster, it makes life a lot easier to have a sort of template for guest posts, so I'll work with these sponsors to create their own Sunday Currently, Wedding Wednesday, or Frock Fridays spot as best suits their interests.

The social media love aspect of being a sponsor is pretty self-explanatory, but I know I'm shaking things up a bit with how I'll be hosting ads on my sidebar.  Buttons seem the most effective when they remind a reader of a sponsor she's seen elsewhere - in a guest post, say, or from a shared link - but I don't think it matters how big a blog button is as long as it doesn't get lost in everything else happening on the sidebar.

So all sponsors will get to share their 200x100 button on my sidebar with the Frequent Flier buttons placed on top.  And - here's the kicker - there will never be more than five buttons up at any given time.  I will be accepting two Frequent Flier and three Casual Traveler sponsors per month.  Any more than that and I'm afraid the sponsors would not get the attention they deserve!

Let me know what you think about all of this, dear readers.  And email me at betsytransatlantically@gmail.com if you're interested in sponsoring - the idea is to start with buttons and love on July 1!  We can discuss stats and rates and schedules and things.  I'm going to be doing all of this myself - no Passionfruit or anything - because I really want to know my sponsors and I really want to be able to share them with you.  After all, the whole point of this is to build relationships!

The Sunday Currently IX

Edited: I drafted this post a few hours ago and then, in a stroke of [expletive] clumsiness, deleted the whole thing.  It's published here as it was written then as comprehensively as I can remember, though the timings don't quite work anymore.  Sorry!

I was about to type good morning, dear readers, but then I looked at the clock and realized it's just gone 2pm!  It's just that kind of Sunday, I guess.  So shall we jump right into another edition of the Sunday Currently?  Yes, let's.

 

currently...

reading... The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.  Actually, I'm not yet; I'll stop at Politics and Prose tomorrow to pick it up in hard copy.  I react so viscerally to Gaiman's writing that I have to read his novels - and short stories; I revisit Fragile Things regularly - physically, using as many senses as possible, so I want to feel the book in my hands as I devour through the pages.

writing... a big blog post for tomorrow!  I'll be announcing some new things for Betsy Transatlantically, so make sure you check back.

listening... to the playlist I made earlier this morning.  That doesn't sound like a big deal but it is; I usually psych myself out when making mixes because I start off with grand plans and then convince myself that I don't know any cool music and so end up listening to the same old albums on shuffle.  This time, though, I set myself some parameters and created a playlist of Simon and Garfunkel covers! What do you think?

thinking... about how close we are to our wedding day - 61 days now!  I can't wait.  We've been engaged (and long distance) for over a year now and the planning is almost all done, and I just want to celebrate with our friends and family.  Plus, the sooner we get married the sooner we can apply for Jon's visa!

smelling... wet dog.  We got caught in a biblical downpour on our run this morning, and Charlie loves being toweled off but the smell lasts long beyond the actual damp.

wishing... that people would realize that life isn't a zero-sum game.  You can do well and I can do well at the same time, and my success does not make your success any less.  Okay?  Great

hoping... that we have decent weather for Jon's cousin's visit this week!  Rose is staying with us in DC for a few days before a conference in deepest Virginia, and the forecast predicts humidity and temperatures in the low 90s the whole time.  Yikes!

wearing... my glasses more consistently and less grumpily.  I still prefer my contacts, but I've been good about not wearing them too much after my scare last summer.  The optometrist gave me a 90 day supply of dailies last September and I only ran out in May, so I'm really proud of how I've been taking care of my eyes over my vanity!

loving... the raspberry chocolate chip scones I made last night for brunch today.  I adjusted the recipe and need to make more tweaks for them to be perfect - maybe you can help me figure out how?  The recipe called for 2 oz of chocolate chips and 3/4 cup of raspberries, and (obviously) I mixed in 10 oz of chocolate chips and 1.5 cups of raspberries.  All the juice from the amazingly ripe berries made the dough sto sticky that I added at least half a cup of extra flour while I was kneading it, and they came out tasting a little... floury.  They were delicious, but they could be better!  What should I do next time?

wanting... to see my sister.  She texted me early this morning before her 10k race, and I suddenly missed her.  She's coming down from Boston in six weeks for my bachelorette party, but Charlie and I are heading to Mom and Dad's tonight and it makes me sad that she won't be there.

needing... to get rid of Charlie's favorite toy.  It's an rubber squeaky ball that we've had for months - he doesn't really like balls, but he's crazy about anything that squeaks and I guess that wins out.  His squeaky stuffed animals aren't too annoying and, anyway, he tears them apart pretty quickly, but this ball is so offensively invasive and so indestructible that I'm going to have to "accidentally" leave it at the dog park or at my parents' house.

clicking... on just my laptop!  The camera on my iPhone fogged up from all the rain on my run this morning, so I've thrown it in a bag of rice to draw out the moisture.  It's shocking how bereft I feel without my phone even while on my laptop!

feeling... like this has been the perfect weekend, with just the right mix of relaxation, adventure, and catching up with friends.  I hope you had a lovely weekend too, dear readers!

linking up with Siddathornton

Frock Fridays: American Bachelorette Party

Happy summer, dear readers!  And while this summer isn't all about my upcoming wedding - I mean, it is, like, 90% but not entirely - this outfit is not only perfect for the mid-atlantic at this time of year, it's also ideal for my American bachelorette party!

My sister has been a total rockstar about planning this weekend away even though she's has so much on her own plate in the last few months.  When she asked me what I had in mind, back in early spring, I suggested a low-key weekend on the Eastern Shore with the girls; my real request, though, was a crab feast dinner.

See, I'm actually having two bachelorette parties.  The first, chronologically, will be when I'm in London in a few weeks and it's being organized by Ellie, Jon's sister and my bridesmaid.  (You'll get a Frock Fridays for that, too!)  So I wanted the second one, in August in the States, to be quintessentially American.  That might mean Vegas to you, with white tablecloths and low lighting and fancy cocktails and bandage dresses and super high heels and dancing at a club where you might see a Kardashian, but to this DC girl it means a trip out to the Eastern Shore.

We'll be right near the beach, so I'm pretty sure that we'll fit in some swimming and sunning, but we'll also be close to the outlets just in case it rains.  And, of course, the Saturday night will be all about blue crabs and Old Bay and corn on the cob and maybe even some Eastern Shore martinis!  I've started thinking about what I'll pack for the weekend, obviously - besides a cute one-piece and some cover-ups, I think the outfit below is perfect for a fun evening over a picnic table with plenty of napkins!  The tiara is my one pice of bachelorette-ness, but otherwise it's eyelet and neon all the way.

dress / tiara / earrings / bracelets / wipes / Old Bay / purse / sandals

linking up with {long distance loving}

Visitor for Marriage

I just want you to know, dear readers, that I spent a solid hour last night listening to all your first dance songs.  You have great taste!  We're thrilled with the song we've picked, but we should have come to you all for suggestions first - we really needed help! Case in point: if we were getting married earlier in the day, we would have very seriously considered this for our first dance.  (Family, please don't click on that link.)

But you should also know that I spent quite a lot of time gazing lovingly at my passport after getting home from work yesterday.  You ask why?

Because it has been returned to me, adorned with a muti-entry visa that will allow me to fly to England next Friday for a 12-day visit to get our marriage license and then to return in mid-August for our wedding!

This whole process was relatively painless, other than the self-inflicted stress and worry I've enjoyed since March.  I submitted my online application on May 26 and was able to schedule the biometrics appointment for May 31.  The hard-copy application and all of the relevant supporting documents were in the post on June 3 and I received an email from the British Consulate the next day telling me that it had been received.  Apparently the average processing time is 13 business days, but I got another email from the consulate on June 17 that my visa had been issued and a final notification on June 18 that it had been shipped to me; it arrived at my apartment on June 19 and, honestly, I considered sleeping with it under my pillow last night because I was so happy.

Onward and upward, dear readers!  Now Jon and I start preparing to apply for the visa that will allow him to come live and work in the United States as my husband after our wedding.  Wish us luck!

By the way, let me know if you want recommendations for immigration lawyers either in Washington or in London - we've had some great experiences.  And if you're not quite at that stage yet but still want to meet up with your foreign love, check out TripCommon and start planning that adventure!

Wedding Wednesday: The Last First Dance

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Jon and I don't have an "our song." It's never really bothered me - though I think we should all take this opportunity to listen to Taylor Swift's take on it - and, honestly, we kind of have different taste in music anyway so the chances of us agreeing on contemporary singers/bands is kind of rare. But, obviously, we had to come together to pick a first dance song.  After all, it's the last first dance we'll ever have!

My attitude is that the first dance ranks up in the top five most traditional moments of a wedding, so I didn't feel like we had to get super creative in choosing a song. But it won't surprise those of you who have been around for a while that Jon hated the idea of doing something that makes it onto every "most popular" list, so he rejected a few of the possibilities I proposed.  He didn't really have his own ideas for this, though, and we sort of stumbled along for the better part of a year before another expat blogger, a Scot married to her handsome American, told me what their first dance song was and it just clicked.  I mean, it was one of those "why didn't we think of that?" moments.  When I mentioned it to Jon, he, surprised, said he liked it, and we seized on that as success.  (He has since become much more enthusiastic about it, I promise.)  I won't name my friend or link to her blog* even though you might be able to guess who she is because I think she wrote about it there, too, and I want it to be a surprise for you, dear readers!

In the meantime, though, I thought I'd share some of the other options I'd have been happy with.  My absolute favorite was the Norah Jones cover of Elvis' Love Me Tender; I feel no shame in telling you that I discovered this version while watching The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.  (It's the part where Anne Hathaway is dancing with Chris Pine by the lake even though she's supposed to be marrying an English lord.  You know, the scene with the most romantic thumb war ever?  That one.)  I don't think I actually suggested In My Life, by the Beatles, to Jon though I'm not sure why, and I know I didn't bring up The Way You Look Tonight or Dream a Little Dream because he would have shot them down as too cliché.  I did suggest The Rolling Stones' Wild Horses, but I'm pretty sure he thought I was kidding.

But, in the end, the song we've chosen with is so appropriate for us and it's not too much of a ballad - it's got some pep, which is ideal because we plan to ask a few strategic guests to join us on the dance floor with their dates after a minute or so to start the party. If you're reading this and are coming to our wedding, please help us out!

And tell me - what did you have as your first dance song?  Or what will you have?  Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with thinking about it ahead of time even if you're single.  You're being proactive!  It's cool.

 

*The blogger knows and I'll note her name and blog here after our wedding, don't worry!  She definitely deserves public credit for this.

P.S. Have you checked out TripCommon and entered the giveaway yet?

TripCommon

I may have my head down right now as I power through this week, but I have an amazing guest on the blog today who more than makes up for my absence!  I met Gillian in 2007 and - well, she tells the story a lot better than I ever could (which might have something to do with the Guinness we drank, the hypnotic lilt of the Irish accents around us, and Gill's much cooler head) so I'll let you read it below, but I just want you all to know that I'm delighted to have her here on Betsy Transatlantically.

After running into Gill in Paris and then meeting her properly in Dublin and then finding each other on the same floor in a dorm in New York, I wasn't surprised that she was able to introduce me to a dozen friends in London or that, after graduating from college, she moved to Istanbul, where her network grew.  If anyone knows the importance of connecting people around the globe, it's Gillian - and if anyone appreciates that just as much as she and I do, it's you!  So obviously, when she founded an incredible company built on the idea of helping you meet up with your friends no matter your location or budget, I knew I had to introduce her to you.  And she was so excited to share TripCommon with my readers that she's offering one lucky follower a $25 credit to any flight booked through the website!  Read all about it and then go forth and enter the giveaway at the bottom, dear readers, and tell all your friends!

I'll never forget the second time I met Betsy. It was in a bar in Dublin, and I was carrying my brother's old boy scout backpack, a relic of the 1980s, with shoulder straps that had been bleached and sweat stained into the color of over-milked coffee. I was fresh off a bus and hoping to find my parents, who were in town for the weekend.

Betsy was surrounded by a group of men (are we surprised?). My father, among them, was totally absorbed in whatever story she was telling. This was the pre-Betsy Transatlantically days, but I can confirm Betsy's always been able to draw a crowd, online or off. 

Who knows what we talked about. The details that stick in my mind are the laughter, the clunk of pints of Guinness being knocked together, the feeling that we were all great friends, if only for the evening. 

I remember trying to place where I'd seen Betsy before. Late in the evening, we realized we'd both sang in the same choir in Paris. After marveling at our small world moment, we became Facebook friends, and kept in vague touch.

Two months later, I was visiting a friend in New York and I asked if she knew Betsy, a tall, dark curly-haired girl who'd been in the same class as her in college. She didn't, but there was a Betsy who matched that description that just moved in down the hall. 

As it turns out, they ended up becoming good friends, and both of us will hopefully be making it to Betsy's wedding this summer.

I'm sure many of you have had these small world moments yourselves (and I'd love to hear about them in the comments!). We're more connected with more people that have been more places than ever before. We can also stay in better touch. 

Yet Facebook, Skype, email, and even Snapchat are poor substitutes for seeing a cherished friend - or even a semi-remembered choir mate - in person. I've learned that I'll always be happier spending my money on a weekend trip to see a friend than I would be if I buy that dress, phone, or Apple product that catches my eye.

And I'm not alone in this. Study after study has found that travel and time spent with friends are some of the most valuable investments you can make.

So a friend and I started building TripCommon to help people stay in touch with the people important to them. We let you build a wishlist of the people and places important to you - and we'll do the heavy lifting of monitoring when and where you'll have the best opportunities to see them. 

An important part of what we do is find places you and your friend(s) might be able to meet in the middle. So say if you and your best friend live in London and Stockholm, and want to go somewhere but don't really care where - you can do a multi-origin search, and see where would be cheapest, or closest in price. We'll also highlight any friends you have living in those cities:

Maybe your fiancé lives in London, and he's not supposed to come to the US while you are working out your visa status. There are actually a surprising number of places you can reach for around $1000, even in high summer, in South America:

You can also just see where your friends are, and add the ones you'd like to see to your 'wishlist': we monitor flights from your home airport to everywhere on your wish list and let you know when there are good deals to reach those places.

You can zoom in and see exactly who is where, and send them a Facebook message directly from TripCommon:

We've partnered with Skyscanner, Europe's leading flight search engine, to make sure we're bringing you the lowest fares (don't worry - it works in the US too, and often has better prices than Kayak). 

We at TripCommon hope that the tools we're building will enable you to travel more and stay in better touch with your friends. If we can bring you the right details at the right time, we can save you money and help you see the world.

Please give us a try at tripcommon.com, and let me know what you think. If you like what you see, we'd so appreciate you spreading the word. To sweeten the deal, we're also offering a sweepstakes for $25 off a flight booked through TripCommon. 

Thanks to Betsy and to you, her readers - we're looking forward to seeing many of you on TripCommon soon!

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this is not a sponsored post; I just think that everyone should know about TripCommon!

Instagram Love

Hey, look at that - we've just segued neatly from all the Father's Day love into Instagram love, which is the topic of today's post! I am just so clever, aren't I?  (Thanks for the help, Allie!)

A few months ago, I discovered a website that analyzes your Instagram account.  I did a post about it back in March but then totally forgot about the site and the stats.  See, I don't actually use Instagram as a branded extension of this blog.  Like my Pinterest account, my Instagram isn't maximized to gain me new followers or to grow my blog.  I can only focus on so many things at once, and while I do use the mission of Betsy Transatlantically to guide my Pinterest and Instagram habits, I also use them for fun.

And boy has it been fun!  I signed up for Instagram in early 2012 but had to steal Jon's mobile to use it - it wasn't until I moved back to DC and switched my BlackBerry to an iPhone in early June that I was able to become the Instagram addict I am now.  Did I want to know that I've posted 1,265 photos since I registered or that 203 of those were shared in May 2013 alone?  Maybe not, but it is interesting!  I'm not going to leverage the stats on Statigram for any real purpose, but I'm loving that it shows me the organic way Instagram connects me to you even more spontaneously than this blog does.

So I thought I'd share your favorite Instagrams from my account like I did in March.  It's fascinating to see what bits of my life you like the most!

I have to say it's really heartening to see your favorites, dear readers.  It's not like I'm the greatest photographer anyway, but it's really lovely to know that your picks aren't the styled vignettes I create - well, inasmuch as anything I Instagram is styled - but the totally candid and personal pieces of what I'm up to at the moment.  Charlie's sulking in the corner right now, but I want to say thank you.  And thank you especially to Eliza, Gesci, Jackie, Whitney, and Stacey Beth, who were my most engaged followers in Instagram over the past month!  (See, I told you this is a cool website!)

Frock Fridays: Max It Out

Okay, dear readers, I'm going to make myself very unpopular with thousands of teenage girls and, probably, plenty of fashion and lifestyle bloggers.  Ready?  Here goes:

I don't like high-low skirts or dresses.

Even more, I cannot stand those skirts (and dresses) that are sheer to the ankles or floor but have an opaque mini underneath.

There are so many lovely maxidresses out there - proper maxidresses, with hems all at the same length and that actually provide maximum coverage of your legs!  It can be tricky to find ones that are flattering, but I promise that looking good in a maxi has everything to do with the fit from hips up rather than from hips down.

I own three maxidresses: one is only appropriate at the beach, the second is breezy and casual, and the third is slightly more modest and can be dressed up a bit.  I have to be careful when buying empire waist dresses because they can make me look pregnant, so two of these three nip in at my natural waist.  Also, I have to be judicious about prints on maxidresses; geometric shapes and patterns seem manageable, but anything too explosive (like the floral maxi below, unfortunately) can make me appear much bigger than I actually am.  Finally, I have to make sure that the neckline balances the long skirt to accentuate my shape, and so I almost always go for v-necks and slim straps.

These five options below, at totally different price points, are gorgeous.  I'm not sure I could work the one from Mango, but it is so pretty that I had to include it!  Of course, I'm always on the look out for others - where are your favorite maxidresses from?

[ from left: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 ]

linking up with {long distance loving}

Wedding Wednesday: Raise a Glass

There's no way to start this post without thanking Jon's parents, who are very generously contributing all the drinks to our wedding. So: thank you, future in-laws! Now, let's talk about the booze, as I know they'd want us to...

If you scroll through wedding blogs or flip through wedding magazines, you'll know that you're not truly married if you and your groom don't serve signature drinks at your wedding.  Jon and my mother were really good at steering me away from this sort of attitude when it came to most aspects of today's wedding culture - see this post for details -  but Jon and I loved the idea of serving two cocktails that symbolized each of our countries.  (The mothers still don't really understand why this is necessary, but they've seen our resolve and given up the fight!)

Jon's choice was simple: he picked a gin and tonic as his signature.  G&Ts are so classically English and, while enjoyed year-round, are perfect for summer!  I knew better than to ask if Jon wanted to make the recipe more interesting with something like this, but I was surprised that he didn't want to use Hendrick's and cucumber slices.  Nope, Jon declared that his drink was an old-school gin and tonic with Gordon's and lemon!  Easy-peasy.

Identifying my signature cocktail was, unsurprisingly, slightly more circuitous.   My favorite "American" drink, which I got hooked on the summer I lived in Charlottesville, is bourbon and ginger.  Straightforward and delicious, right?  But I was afraid it was too simple - a college bar mixed drink is not pin-worthy, you know.  So I looked around and dove into more complicated recipes and bought random liquors and bitters and tried a handful of other recipes crafted by mixologists rather than bartenders like this one and this one... and ended up with this:

image via

 So it seems that simple does win the day!  Thank you also to my friend Liz, who helped me taste test this final option after coming out on a run with me and Charlie.  And yes - in the end, we will be making our own cute flags on drink straws.  Something has to be blogable, right?

(Because we went back and forth over what else to serve throughout the night and I would have loved to read about what other couples keeping an eye on their budget included in their open-bar weddings, let me share what we decided on. We're going to have these two signature cocktails plus fizz at the post-ceremony reception and then champagne for the speeches.  During dinner we'll serve one red and one white plus a local bitter from Adnams, all of which will continue after dinner plus whatever's left over from the cocktail hour. Of course, we'll also have non-alcoholic options available; we're going to offer elderflower cordial and raspberry lemonade from Belvoir, which we'll also have available before the ceremony for guests who arrive early. I hope this helps anyone planning her own wedding and wondering!)

Beer Pasta

Yes, you read that right: this post is going to be about beer pasta. I know it's shocking that I'm sharing two recipes in two weeks when I hadn't published one in months before that, but last week's dish was very healthy and this carbolicious dinner is... not.  But it is delicious, dear readers, I promise you that!  It's not a summery meal, as I'm sure you can imagine, but it was cool and raining and I needed some comfort food yesterday and I had flat beer and bacon to use up, so.

Plus, speaking of the rain, I got caught in every downpour yesterday until I was damp enough that, when I got home after work (and a cheeky glass of wine while on the way) I gave up and took Charlie out for a walk without an umbrella or coat. Charlie didn't want to venture out the door, actually, when he saw how hard the rain was coming down, but I was committed to finishing the job off and getting totally soaked, so I dragged him through the threshold and we wandered around a bit, my poor puppy looking up at me miserably every so often, until it was time to go back in and dry off.

With Charlie toweled and smelling only faintly of wet dog and me dripping from every curl and feeling sorry for myself, I pulled up the recipe I'd found the night before; I'd opened a bottle of Double Take IPA over my laptop on Sunday evening but then lost interest in it, so I put it back in the fridge and promised myself I'd find a use for it anyway.  Thank goodness for The Beeroness!

I made a few slight changes to her recipe for this beer pasta, which she calls Orchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce. First off, I used spaghetti instead of orchiette.  I also added bacon, because - well, obviously.  Since I didn't have peas, I threw in fresh spinach when it was all done for a bit of green.  And, finally, I used skim milk rather than cream because it sounded heavy enough already and, while I did need comfort food, I wanted to be mobile for the rest of the evening.  (I was mostly mobile.  I was mobile-ish.  Nope, who are we kidding?  I was glued to the couch after eating this. But it was so worth it!)

Beer Pasta
serves 2 with leftovers

8 slices bacon
2 tbs butter
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup pale ale (next time I'll use one that's less hoppy, but it's up to you!)
1 cup skim milk
1/2 lemon, juiced and zested
1/2 c grated parmesan (I always use more cheese than a recipe requires, but not in this case!)
1/2 tsp pepper (the recipe also calls for salt, which I left out because the bacon is salty enough)
1/2 box spaghetti
1 c water
2 cups shredded fresh spinach

First, cook the bacon in the oven so you don't have to think about it - I did it at 400°f for 20 minutes and then let it cool as I prepared the rest of the pasta.

In a pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the beer, milk, and lemon juice; reduce heat to maintain a simmer and stir constantly.  (If you don't stir, the milk will curdle.)  About a tablespoon at a time, add the Parmesan, stirring until melted before adding more.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I used shredded, not grated cheese, but I'd definitely use grated next time for ease!)

Add the dry spaghetti and water and simmer, stirring frequently, until pasta is al dente and the sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Between stirs, chop up the bacon and the spinach.  Mix all together, sprinkle the lemon zest on top, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

linking up with The Observant Turtle next Tuesday (June 18)

Clean v. Tidy

via

I've always been good at picking up after myself.  I hate getting into an unmade bed, I almost always put my clothes away after I've taken them off, and my dirty dishes are thrown straight into the sink to soak after a meal.  When I lived in dorms in college, it seemed easy to keep things clean.  However, when I was in Paris, where one of my flatmates was a lovely girl who (we think) developed a debilitating case of OCD while studying abroad, I learned that there's a big difference between being tidy and being clean.

The difference was highlighted when I lived with Jon: I'm tidy, but he's clean.  I can't stand remnants of onion skin scattered around the kitchen floor or a crumpled piece of paper sitting right next to the bin. Jon... isn't bothered by any of that.  He'll leave half-empty glasses on the windowsill for a week and washed but unfolded laundry in the hamper until it's all been worn again and needs to go back into the machine.  Jon will probably disagree* with me on this, but he's not tidy.  It just doesn't come naturally to him.

Thank goodness Jon shines where I fall short.  I hate cleaning.  I will spend an hour arranging the books on my bookshelves and making sure the dishwasher is stacked to maximize space and straightening out my closet.  However, I cannot come up with enough excuses to avoid actually scrubbing and vacuuming and mopping.  I mean, sure, I'll wipe up spills in the kitchen and brush crumbs from the table into a napkin, but I find deep cleaning incredibly stressful and I avoid it whenever I can.  Jon, on the other hand, takes enormous pride in his cleaning skills.

Every few weeks, Jon will take an entire weekend afternoon to clean - and I mean really clean.  He'll be on his hands and knees in the tub, he'll angle himself for the most hidden corners in the kitchen, and he'll dive into every crevasse in the couch.  The man can't fold a shirt to save his life, but boy can he make an apartment sparkle!

Hopefully, when we live together again as husband and wife, our skills will complement each other; I won't mind tidying up after him on a daily basis and he won't mind being in charge of regular deep cleans. In the meantime, I've caved and hired help for my apartment - cleaners came last Saturday afternoon and will be coming back once a month every month until Jon arrives.  In my defense, it's really hard to do a proper job with Charlie around, wanting to be entertained. Fingers crossed that we won't need professionals anymore once there are two of us here!  But who knows?  The one piece of advice that young wives with full-time jobs consistently give me about my impending marriage is to hire a cleaner occasionally!

via

*I'm really good about sending posts like this to Jon before I publish them to make sure he doesn't mind, but he hasn't seen this one yet.  It's okay, though, because I say nice things about him - right?  Eek.

A Sunday Meditation

The magical thing about quotations is that they can mean whatever you want them to.  We read a phrase that someone wiser once put to pen and we find our own truth in it; we make it applicable to our own situation and glean from it what we need for comfort. It's a testament to how flexible words are that they can be so easily contorted to our own purposes without losing any of their original meaning.

However, being aware of the original intention of a quotation doesn't stifle its possibilities, and I think that an appreciation of the context in which one was written can actually enhance rather than limit its wider relevance. So, since I'm feeling a bit contemplative on this Sunday morning, let's talk about a line that's been floating about the internets since before the term "lifestyle blogger" was coined.

via

Did you know that C.S. Lewis was one of the great Christian apologists of the 20th century?  Born in Belfast in 1898, Lewis became disillusioned with Christianity as a teenager but then, after serving in World War I and studying literature and classic philosophy at Oxford, re-embraced the faith.  As a professor at Magdalen College, he joined a collective of intellectuals known as the Inklings - which included JRR Tolkien, who influenced Lewis' integration into the Church of England - and went on to publish dozens of books, most of which dealt with religious issues in one way or another.  In 1941, when England was threatened with the inhumanity of war, Lewis gave a series of radio addresses that spoke to the central issues of Christianity; they were later complied into a three-volume work titled Mere Christianity.  And, although C.S. Lewis denied that his famous Narnia series was a direct allegory to the real world, many readers and experts understand Aslan to represent Jesus and interpret strong biblical themes throughout the books.

I began writing this post with the intention of telling you that the quotation above was about dying and that the "better things" to which C.S. Lewis refers are in heaven.  It would certainly fit with his identity as a Christian writer and philosopher who had experienced quite a bit of death, wouldn't it?  But I couldn't actually find the context to this quotation anywhere online; I couldn't find the work from which it was taken or even an academic website attributing the line to C.S. Lewis.  It's entirely possible that he never wrote this at all, or that it's a distillation of a few things he wrote in different places.  But I still think the intro to this post, above the graphic, is valid.  In fact, my point may be even more appropriate if the quotation isn't actually from C.S. Lewis.  But as I searched for this line or any like it, I came across the end of The Last Battle, the final book in the Narnia series.  The story starts when Jill and Eustace are jolted into Narnia from England while on a train, and finishes when they meet Aslan in a glorious place.  He greets them and their companions:

"You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be."

Lucy said, "We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often."

"No fear of that," said Aslan. "Have you not guessed?"

Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.

"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are - as you used to call it in the Shadowlands - dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Isn't that beautiful?  I don't believe in the theology with which Lewis suffuses these books - and, honestly, I'm not even sure if I believe that anything happens to us after death - but I think it's full of hope and love and promise.  What a wonderful thing to remember when we see that quotation wandering around the blogosphere, don't you think?

Updated: Georgia left me the correct link to this quotation in the comments below - it is C.S. Lewis, and it's from a letter he wrote to comfort a dying woman.  Thank you, Georgia!

Frock Fridays: Graduation

My last graduation was sometime in late 2009 - or was it pushed to May 2010?  Honestly, I'm not sure.  After I turned in my dissertation on August 23, I more or less checked out of graduate school.  I know I passed (with very good marks, as they say in England) and I know I was granted my MA, but I wasn't really bothered with all the pomp and circumstance of the actual graduation.

Obviously, that was in total contrast to my graduation from college, when we enjoyed every cliché in the book: we carried apples to symbolize Columbia's Core curriculum,  one friend showed up naked under her gown, we took long-arm selfies with point-and-shoots during the speeches, and we threw our caps in the air and danced under the falling confetti.

Before that, though, in 2004, there was the first and most iconic graduation.  I cried when I heard the first strains of Elgar on the organ (I dare you to listen here* starting at 2:15 and not tear up yourself with memories) and processed up the nave of Washington National Cathedral with 76 other girls clad in white polyester.  After the ceremony, we gathered outside with cigars and celebrated our independence.  High school graduation is a heady thing; it's a whirlwind when, as Vitamin C says, "we're movin' on and we can't slow down."  (I was actually finishing 8th grade when that song was released, but, 13 years later, I still remember every single word.  Don't you?  Of course you do, dear readers.)

I got an email from my high school about the 2013 graduation ceremonies earlier this week, and it made me terribly nostalgic.  I'll try to find some photos of my high school graduation when I go to my parents' house tonight, but, in the meantime, I've tried to recreate the outfit I wore under my gown - our dresses had to be very light as the synthetic material of the graduation gown was practically see-through and we were required to wear white shoes.  I can't remember where my dress was from but I would have loved to wear this Reiss frock, and I will admit that these Stuart Weitzman flats are a bit classier than the Steve Madden sandals I chose back then.  However, I did live in pearl studs and my silver Elsa Peretti Jewish star from Tiffany, a Bat Mitzvah present from five years earlier, and I was totally loyal to Clinique.  (I think I owned this exact eyeshadow set in 2004 and I've replaced my Black Honey lipstick faithfully every time it's worn out since I first discovered it in 2003!)  We all loved the guy selling Kate Spade knockoffs on Prospect St in Georgetown - the bag below is the real deal, but Kate Spade wasn't the brand it is now back when I was in high school.  But then who of us hasn't changed since then?

*That really is the organ at my cathedral and I sang under the organist both in Washington and later, when I was in college, in New York!  It was such a treat to find that clip online.

linking up with {long distance loving}

Transatlantic Vows

I don't know if you saw my tweet last night, but, with 78 days to go until we start life as husband and wife, Jon and I have finally entered into the Dear God When Will This End phase of wedding planning.  The things is, though, that even when we don't specifically have wedding things to discuss, there's always bureaucracy in the back of our minds.  After filing my marriage visa application online early last week and then having my biometrics appointment on Friday, I submitted my full application to the consulate in New York on Monday.  (Remember, we can't legally get married in the UK if we're not granted this visa for whatever reason.)  I have a consultation with an immigration lawyer here in DC  this morning about Jon's visa to expatriate to the States.  And since we can't even apply for that until we're officially married and the process then takes approximately nine months... well, we'll be dealing with this plus the strain of communicating long-distance for quite some time to come.

Please don't think I'm complaining, dear readers; this is just the way it is right now and I know it will all be worth it in the end.  (By the way, do you know the difference between complaining and moaning in British and American English?)  But, to help me cope with the stress in a slightly more light-hearted way, I've come up with five alternate vows that Jon and I could promise each other on our wedding day as we head into more long-distance and the final visa hurdle.  What vows would you add from your own experiences?  Leave me - and all my transatlantic readers - your suggestions in the comments!

frame via; graphic by me