Nuts for Nutrition

Baby Updates: 

According to my weeks by junk food size, baby is the size of a bucket of popcorn

According  to her measurements from our ultrasound she is weighing in at 4lbs and 7 ounces! I can’t believe she is supposed to almost double her weight in the next 8 weeks!

Swollen ankles in the evenings.

Still getting round ligament pain in my lower abdomen, which I imagine will just continue if the baby is supposed to be gaining 1/2 pound a week!

Looking Forward To:

Finally getting our nursery set up and getting baby’s clothes put away and ready for her.

Greg found someone who does flatpack assembly which is awesome since he is currently out of commision, so he came and assembled our crib and changing unit.  There was also a wardrobe that came with the set, but he found one of the pieces was broken and wasn’t able to put it together.  We got the spare parts from the company yesterday but they sent it in the wrong color, and have to wait again for the right ones, so hopefully it will all get sorted soon.

All our baby clothes have stayed packed away in suitcases since while the house renovations were going on. I’ve been so excited to finally get them out and wash all the newborn stuff to get ready for her.

Any baby related/pregnancy purchases: 

We are trying to get all the little last minute stuff we are discovering we may need! Waterproof protector for her crib, cotton to wipe her with initially cause you can’t use wipes?!? So much to learn!

We didn’t have any sort of play mat with toys and we ordered this mat after reading Courtney’s recommendation.

Greg put some batteries in it to make sure it worked and it said welcome to babies paradise, and he said oh no! I thought something was wrong with it and he said it has an American accent!

Tonight we celebrated our 2nd anniversary!

We went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner. They had a nice  little set up for us.

We split a pizza and pasta.

Creme brûlée on the house!

Can’t believe will have an almost 1 year old at our next anniversary!! xoxoxo

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Baby Updates: 

Baby is the size of a bunch of bananas and weighs 2lbs.  Apparently this is when we should start talking or singing to her to familiarize her with our voices!

Weight Gained: 

21 pounds so far which is about a pound over the higher end of what I should be weighing this week, and considering I was already around 10 pounds over what I normally weigh when I found out I was pregnant, I shouldn’t be this heavy at this point.

Something positive though is that I have always been in either a calorie depraviation stage before a vacation or going crazy and eating all the food during and after vacation till the cycle started again.  Now that I’m not restricting myself, and eating carbs are not forbidden I don’t obsess over food, I eat what and when I want and don’t feel the need to go back for thirds and eat until I’m stuffed.  I had dinner with Greg’s family last week and his aunt made her famous napoleon cake where I have ALWAYS gone back for at least seconds.  After dinner, I had a piece, was satisfied and was done and didn’t think about needing or wanting another piece, this never happens with dessert!

It’s nice to actually feel like I can be normal with eating, I don’t need to binge because I’m not depriving myself and I don’t feel like I need to eat all the food like it’s the last day I’m going to ever eat again.

There is still way too much processed junk in my diet that I said once the nausea stops that I want to focus on eating as clean as I possibly can for the last trimester of pregnancy.  This  should help me to naturally lose some of the excess fat weight I have gained and to continue being healthy after the baby is born.

Workouts:

These have been non-exisitent. 

 I haven’t worked out since our 8K run in Seattle 3 weeks ago. We have been really busy in the evenings after work with planning our housewarming last weekend,  house stuff and visiting Greg’s family before they move to Hong Kong next weekend so exercise has not been a priority, which is a shame because our gym is now a minute walk away from our house and I thought I’d be living there once we moved in.  Id like to try and go 2-3 times a week.  I’ve been reading so much about the benefits of exercise and making labor easier so I’ve got to try and do what I can with the little time I have left although it’s just going to get harder the bigger I get so I’m not sure what is actually realistic.

Food Cravings: 

Pasta dishes! I basically never have pasta other than a few noodles when I make spaghetti because of how ‘bad’ i’ve always thought it is, so I’ve recently had a few healthier microwave pasta meals that I’ve been loving.  I wish spaghetti squash was available all year round here to try make some healthier pasta dishes.

Food Aversions: 

Nothing anymore!

Symptoms:

Peeing every 30 minutes!! Baby is moving around so much now and apparently is really supposed to be moving regularly from week 28.  It’s still such a weird feeling!

Looking Forward to?

Not having to get up to pee 5 times a night, but I’ll probably be getting up that often for other reasons once she is here so maybe it’s just preparation for that?!

I can’t believe I’ll be starting my third trimester next week, the time has flown by but now that there’s nothing in-between and am dreading going to work everyday it feels like these next few months are going to drag, so I’m looking forward to be being off work and with our baby!

Any Baby/Pregnancy Related Purchases?

We bought a diaper dispenser and a UV cover for our stroller.  Still have lots of little things to buy from our registry since my family gave us money to buy things since we couldn’t bring anything back with us from Seattle.

I’ve been reading random articles on how babies can also cry if they are bored but also when they are tired and just want to chill out and be left a lone, but are sometimes over stimulated with toys which can also upset them.  I’d like to try and find a book on this, any moms have any good recommendations or experience with this?

Miss Anything? 

Sushi, runny eggs, rare steak, and margaritas!!

So we took our last vacation to the West Coast while it is still safe for me to fly.

 Vegas and Seattle were on the agenda and luckily instead of rain and clouds Vegas was the perfect sunny summer weather.

We stayed at Elara which is behind Planet Hollywood Hotel, but still in the Miracle Mile. It is right next to the parking lot which is super handy. Since it doesn’t have a casino it’s not as busy as most hotels and seems like more of a quieter family hotel which was perfect for us. We also love the rooms because they have a fridge, and they also have washing machine and dryers that you can use for free, you just have to pay a dollar for the soap which saves us lots of time looking for a Laundromat off the strip.

 Everyone always says what could we possibly do with a week in Vegas but we always run out of time of things we want to do! It’s definitely a different experience when alcohol isn’t involved. It was so nice waking up to no alarm since my days of lots of sleep are dwindling fast! We spent a lot of time at the pool, they have lounge chairs in a foot of water so you can stay cool and enjoy the sunshine. 

 We saw Absinthe at Caesar’s Palace which we both said was the best show we have seen in Vegas, it’s a circus/comedy show for adults only! 

We also went back to Brad Garrett’s comedy theatre at the MGM, he cracks us up and it’s always fun seeing new comedians. We did so much walking around, our daily average was always usually around 20,000 steps. We stocked up on lots more baby stuff at the Carter’s outlet which is always fun, I can’t believe how cheap that place is! We also had to get a few more outfits from Janie & Jack. Greg’s sister first told us about and we found it at the outlets when we visited my mom. They have the cutest clothes for little girls!! I want to buy all the outfits.

We took a drive to Red Rock Canyon National Park. It is a 13 mile one way drive with lots of different stops along the way. There are trails you can hike, but considering we were in the middle of the desert, it was 110F and we didn’t have a lot of water, we just stopped for some pictures of the scenery.

I wanted to get all shopping done in Vegas so we wouldn’t have to do any running around in Seattle and I could just spend time with Dad and hang out, and that we did. My mom and her husband are taking a cross country road trip from Maryland and I planned our trip to Seattle when they would end up there so she could be there for my baby shower.
We went to visit my sister, nephew and brother who live in Bellingham for the day on Thursday. I don’t get to see them very much when we visit even though they live only about an hour away. The last time I saw my nephew when we were in Seattle for Christmas he was a month old and all he was interested in was sleeping and eating. It was so fun to see him now that he’s 7 months old, he’s got the prettiest blue eyes!

I woke up early on Friday morning to see my mom. Luckily the RV park they were staying at was about a 5 minute drive from my dad’s house which was very handy. We always have coffee in the mornings together when I visit so it was nice to spend some time with her. 

 Saturday was race day! Greg had signed up for the half-marathon but sadly hurt himself training and had to decrease his distance to the 8K that me and my brother were going to do. The race started at 7 am, and were advised to be parked by 6am to get a shuttle transport to the start line. We left my dad’s at 5am and normally takes about half an hour to get downtown. We got stuck in solid traffic right at downtown Seattle where everyone in the race seemed to be stuck trying to park. The last shuttle was leaving at 630 and we were still stuck after 6. So many people were just getting out of their cars and trying to find the shuttles, talk about a stressful way to start for the people running the half and full marathon! My brother and I didn’t care too much but I know Greg really wanted to do the 8K so we took an exit that was completely clear to try and drop Greg off a little closer. I thought we’d get stuck at all road closures but after we dropped him off we were able to drive the parking lot in a few minutes! We got a shuttle and headed to the Space Needle for the start, we found Greg and started in an earlier corral so we wouldn’t have to wait another half an hour to start. Greg took off and me and my brother run/walked the race. Luckily the rain held out and we did pretty good for a non-exercising smoker and being almost 6 months pregnant! We got back to my dad’s just before 10 so it was back to bed for me! My baby shower was at 1 so I wanted to get in a quick power nap so I wouldn’t be so tired for the rest of the day.

My cousins and aunts did an awesome job for my shower, and was exactly what I wanted. No games just spending time with my family and friends, and because we couldn’t take much back with us, everyone just gave us cards with money to get what we needed for the baby once we were back home. The boys came over to hang out a few hours later so it was good to see my uncles and cousins since it was going to be the only opportunity we had while we were in Seattle since we had to fly back the next day.

I loved the UK & USA flag touch! 

I was happy to spend most of Father’s Day with my dad since I’m usually not there for it. I woke up early again to go say bye to my mom which is always hard, but at least I know I’ll be seeing her when she comes to visit for Thanksgiving. It was definitely a lot harder this time leaving Seattle since we aren’t sure when we will next be making it back across the world with a brand new baby!

 Luckily we have tons to do with the house and getting everything ready for her arrival so hopefully that will make the next 3 months fly by!  

Meanwhile, once we got back to London, we are still waiting for it to stop raining and summer to get here. 

This bridge was right around the corner from where we live and always drive down! 

5. 4th of July! We are having a 4th party/housewarming on Saturday. 

1. We are home owners!!! After a year of waiting to move into our dream home it finally all worked out. 

We have definitely outgrown our 1 bedroom apartment over the years, it is so nice to have so much more room and a kitchen with so much space! 

It is the perfect time of year to move in since we have a backyard now. I’m on mowing duty! Will be so nice once the weather warms up to have lots of BBQ’s. 

2. The timing of moving couldn’t have come at a better time in our lives because…

We will have a new addition to our family! Our little blessing is due in October, and we are having a girl!! I will be 20 weeks tomorrow. I can’t believe how quick the time has gone. 

We went to a convention called Walker Stalker and got a photo op with Darryl! Boondock Saints anyone? 

3. We had a trip planned to go to Mexico for our friends wedding in April. We found out at the end of January we were pregnant, and with all the Zika virus risk in early pregnancy we decided we weren’t going. Luckily we got our flights and hotel refunded and went to Vegas instead! 

Part of our trip planned was to New York to visit Greg’s family and his new niece. 

I like your thinking New York. 

Grimaldi’s deliciousness. 

We waned to do a gender reveal with our families, so we stopped at the famous Magnolia Bakery and kindly asked them if they’d fill a plain cupcake with pink icing for us. We got a pink and blue chocolate cupcake along with it. We skyped my mom and Greg’s dad back in London so they could all watch while we cut the cupcake! 

Then I had to buy the cutest 4th of July outfit for her. 

We went to the World Trade Center observatory. It was a beautiful day with great views. 

We went to Central Park to take our baby announcement at Bow Bridge, where Greg proposed! 

Banana walnut doughnut from the Doughnut Plant. 

The best pancakes of my life! Served with maple butter. I had to buy the cookbook for this place after the first time we went. The biscuits are killer too. 

Our last night in New York and had a bigger and even better pizza at Patzeria Family & Friends. 

It was definitely weird being in Vegas and not being able to drink, so I ate instead! 

Lobster roll at Todd English Pub in Aria. 

Our staple standard Rueben at Planet Dallies in Planet Hollywood, the best.sandwich.ever. 

Carmelised banana and pecan pancake from Hash House A Go Go,  a foot wide and long, I only managed about a quarter of it! 

Carmines’ lasagna. We normally go for the scalloped veal but wanted to try something new. We probably only managed half of it with all the other bread and salad we had.

Salted caramel cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, best cheesecake I’ve ever had, go get some! 

In-N-Out, animal style the only way to go. 

Lots more cute baby purchases! Janie & Jack has the cutest clothes! 

After Vegas, we flew back to the east coast into D.C. to go and see my mom for a few days which was great since I hadn’t made a trip to her house in 3 years! 

Breakfasts made by mom are the best.

We took mom out for an early Mother’s Day dinner. 

4. Since I won’t be able to fly after July, we are USA bound again in a few short weeks. We have another Vegas trip planned but mainly going to go back to Seattle to see my family since it may be awhile until we are back and have a baby shower with my family, beyond excited!! 

5.  I heard back from my dietetic Masters interview and didn’t get a spot. Luckily it doesn’t matter this year since I wouldn’t have been able to start anyway, but it would have been nice to have a secured spot next year instead of starting the applications process all over again. 3rd times a charm?! 

I love 4 day work weeks!!

We had Easter Friday and Monday off from work and wanted to take advantage of the days for some more European travel! We went to Munich last year, this year we decided on Copenhagen.

Dietetic Master’s Interview- 

  I also took Thursday off of work for my interview with King’s College.  I didn’t get an interview there last year, but heard the process is very intimidating, and more of a knowledge interview on nutritional sciences, public health, research methods etc than the interview I had at London Met last year which was more what’s your experience, what skills does a dietitian have etc.  Ever since I found out I had an interview I’ve been brushing up on all the relevant information I thought I would need to know.
The interview process had changed this year, we were asked 5 questions by 5 different people to give you a fair opportunity, so if you messed up one or made a bad first impression, you had 4 more chances to regroup and try and do better.  We had 5 minutes only to answer each question, and had 90 seconds inbetween each station, it flew by!

They told us there were 300+ applications and they only selected 60 for interviews, however there are only 9 places on the masters course so its a tough one! We will find out at the end of April, luckily we will be on vacation for half of the month so the time will be flying by then.

One of Greg’s friends who he has known since he was 5 lives in Copenhagen, so he kindly met us at the airport when we arrived on Thursday night.  He showed us around and we stopped at a local pub to have some drinks.  I tried their own version of diet coke- I only took a couple sips! It tasted like a very old, stale soda.

  
Sites: On Friday we took a boat tour along the canals.  

   
 We headed to the top of the Rundetarn afterwards for some views of the city, it was nice but was a bit of a gloomy day.

   
 Unfortunately the famous Tivoli Gardens amusement park wasn’t open for the season until April 6th.  It looked like a magical Willy Wonka world!

  
Saturday was a beautiful day- we headed  to Rosenborg Castle and then walked to Fredrik’s Church, it reminded me of St Paul’s Cathedral.  After that we met up with James, his girlfriend and daughter at a local Danish bakery.

   
   
Easter Sunday was our planned trip to Malmo in Sweden, its only 30 minutes away by train.  Unfortunately, like we found out in Munich last year, everything shuts down for Easter so the town was a ghost town.  We checked out the fortress/castle there, had some lunch, checked out St Peter’s church and headed back to Copenhagen!

  
  
    
 Monday was our last day to see anything we hadn’t had a chance to see yet. I heard about and spotted it from our boat tour and wanted to visit the Church of our Saviour.  You can actually walk to the very top, but it was pretty windy that day so I think they stopped it since there’s not a whole lot of railing!

   
   
We then headed to Christianborg castle to check out the ruins under the castle from where the previously castle was before it was burnt now.

   
 Eats: On Friday we walked to a local food market not too far from our hotel, we had grilled sandwiches and split a delicious cinnamon Danish pastry.

  
We went to a BBQ place for dinner called War Pigs that was delicious and pretty close to being as good as my Texas BBQ!  I got pork sholder and a sausage with a side of mac and cheese and hush puppies.  I haven’t had hush puppies in years! Reminds me of my grandma’s cooking.

   
 We walked back to our hotel and stopped at a little cafe by our hotel for some dessert and coffee.  I had a piece of carrot cake- check out the layer of cream cheese frosting!

  
Saturday we headed to the famous La Glace.  They were only opened on Saturday while we were there.  Their cakes looked amazing, but it was a bit too early since we hadn’t had anything to eat yet for a big slice of cake and we were having burgers for lunch so I didn’t want to ruin my appetite.  I went with the Mocha Eclair.

  
We went to Halifax burgers for lunch.  We both went with the Zurich burger with cheese, bacon and a potato rosti on top-delicious! The more potato the better. 

   
 For dinner we had plans to go to a local pizza restaurant that had really good reviews, unfortunately it was closed all weekend for Easter.  We decided to get a cab back to the area where War Pigs was because there was another popular pizza restaurant there and other restaurant options.  We went to the pizza place, Mother, but there was a 45 minute wait.  It was already 8pm and we were both starving, so back to War Pigs we went.

I got the pork shoulder and sausage again- pork shoulder is my new favorite, so flavorful and tender.  I went for the burnt ends beans instead of the mac and cheese, the beans were amazing.  Being from Texas and growing up on beans I have a high bean standard!

I wanted to go back for some dessert again, but the little cafe and everything else was closed for the night, so we just went back to our hotel which was probably for the best anyway!

On Sunday, we stopped at a little bagel place on the way to the station to get some breakfast.  I had an egg, cheese and turkey bacon bagel, and they also put cream cheese on it.  Was a nice touch!

We had another burger place that was ranked high on Trip Advisor in Malmo, but it was closed.  We just ended up going to a little square that had restaurants open. I had a chicken and bacon sandwich with some salad on the side, I don’t think I had more than 2 servings of vegetables the entire trip.  My body was definitely cravings some greens.

For dinner all I wanted was pizza! We decided to give Mother a try because of it’s high Trip Advisor waiting and it was always so busy every time we walked by.  I read some recent reviews that weren’t very good so was a bit worried.  Unfortunately everything the bad reviews said were right.  We got there and was told it would be a 20 minute wait and ended up being around 45 minutes.  We ordered brushchetta for an appetizer, that never came until after our pizzas arrived and we had to ask for it again.  Greg ordered the pepperoni pepperoni pizza and it came without any pepperoni! Our waiter was like oh, guess they forgot.  I ordered ham, mozzarella and mushrooms.  It was very bland, didn’t seem to have any flavor, was just a bit of dough with some cheese ham and mushrooms thrown on it.  Oh well, at least I have Grimaldi’s pizza in NYC and Las Vegas that won’t disappoint to look forward to!

  
Our last day we decided to head to Copenhagen’s Street Food Market that we saw on our boat tour. It was such a cute little place, with so many delicious options!

   
 We had yet to try the famous Danish smørrebrød, or open faced sandwiches so Greg got a pork one to try.  The pork was really tasty, but it had a bit too much horseradish  mustard for my liking.

I decided to get some Belgian duck fat fried fries with a French ham and cheese toastie.  Was amazing!  Greg got some spicy sausage and fries too.

   
 On our way to meet up with James and his daughter Anna again at our local Danish pastry shop  we stopped for some chocolate milk that we’ve been eyeing.  There was some chocolate milk we had in Munich that was really good so we decided to give the Danish one a try! After one last pastry andcoffee we had to head out to the airport.

  
Tired eyes!

Exercise:

We luckily got in a good amount of exercise.  The weather was beautiful and sunny on a few of the days, and there was a cute little park about a quarter mile from our hotel that had a decent loop to run around.  I got in about 5K both days. 

 The rest of the time our exercise came in the form of walking.  We walked EVERYWHERE.  Nothing was really too far from each other so at the end of our trip I felt like we walked all of Copenhagen.  One of the days My Fitness Pal step tracker clocked in at 35,000 steps -16.35 miles! Good way to do some damage control.  

   
 That was it for our Easter weekend, only 8 more days of work left till we are back to the USA!!

1. New job! 

This week was my last week at both of my part time jobs.   Going away lunch feast!

I start my new job as a metabolic dietetic assistant on Monday. I’m really excited to start. I think it’s going to be a very exciting, rewarding job and since it’s going to be a specialist area there is going to be lots to learn. I think a lot of my job will involve educating children and their parents which I’m really looking forward to doing.

I have mandatory training all day Monday and Tuesday so I don’t start in the office till Wednesday when there is a planned train strike! I have no idea how I’d be able to get to and from across the city so I’m hoping it will be cancelled!

2. Making a Murderer 

I got on the train and I wish I never had! Spoiler alert-

I just finished the 8th episode and after finding out the jury found him guilty. I honestly didn’t think he did it. There wasn’t a spec of her blood anywhere in his house, I don’t believe that the key just  magically appeared and the fact the police had his blood in evidence and it was clearly tampered with! His poor nephew was definitely manipulated by the investigators. He didn’t seem to come up with anything on his own without them putting words in his mouth and making him say things he thought they wanted to hear.

What do you guys think, guilty or not?  

3. 10K run

We are running a 10K next Sunday. I haven’t participated in a race in over a year and I’ve only run twice since Christmas. I ran 3.26 miles today after work. I think all the sugary carbs I’ve been indulging in gave me all the energy and fuel I needed, my pace was a lot quicker than what I expected which was a nice surprise.   Not sure how doubling the distance next Sunday is going to work out though! 
4.Countdown to Mexico! 

We are going to Mexico in April for our friend’s wedding.  This will be the first time we’ve ever stayed at an all inclusive resort.  SO excited for margaritas and tacos on tap.

So basically every day until then I’m going to be working hard to lose the 15lbs I’ve gained since last summer.

I went to my Saturday morning boxfit class for the first time since before Christmas, baby steps!

5. Moving. 

So we have been waiting since May for the people in the house we are going to buy to find something to move in to.  They’ve had the worst luck with trying to find a property and recently had to start looking again after other properties falling through.  She is also due at the end of February, so we were basically just waiting to be told that they were going to put it back on the market or ask us for more money and we’d probably end up losing it.

We just got news last week, they found a brand new property which shouldn’t have any issues and they have to get all the legal work done within 28 days! Then we would agree a move in date which we are hoping to be in mid-March before we go to Mexico.  So hopefully it will all work out this time, we can’t wait to get into that house!

1. A Muppet’s Christmas Carol

This has always been one of my favorite Christmas movies, it never gets old!

I watched it on Christmas Eve while wrapping Christmas presents and currently watching Frosty the Snowman while prepping Christmas lunch!   

2. Harry Connick Jr Christmas  

Me and my Mom first had this as a cassette and would listen to it throughout all of December! I remember taking it in the car with us and playing it everywhere we went.  Throughout the years, I’ve had to buy the CD a couple times, and now all I have to do is play through You Tube!

3. Amy Grant Christmas  

Another classic that I loved listening to and blasting  on a cassette in room growing up during Christmas!

4. December diet!  

This year I have definitely struggled with succumbing to taking full party in all things Christmas celebrations related.

It basically started when my mom got here for Thanksgiving, we had to take her to all of our favorite restaurants and then it was December and all the Christmas parties and festivities.  I think I just resigned to December being a bad month and that it has! Knowing we are going to Seattle and it’s impossible to be any sort of healthy when my step mom has monkey bread on tap, and all dinners are served with garlic cheese & onion bread and side dishes are half vegetable half butter, my step mom is basically the Paula Deen cook of the family and I can’t resist!

We have a wedding to go to in Mexico in April, so I will definitely be getting back on it in the new year!

We are celebrating with Gregs parents, at our house. Cooked all the traditional English goodies, bacon wrapped sausages, Yorkshire puddings!

  
And some table tennis after!   

5.Seattle!

We are flying out to Seattle tomorrow!  We are going to have Christmas on the 27th with my Dad, brothers, sister and my new nephew Riley!  So excited to meet him.  

One of my best friends, Stephanie who was a bridesmaid at my wedding, now lives in Seattle and one of my good friends from highschool is flying into Seattle for a couple days while we are there.  I’m so excited to also get to spend some time with friends while we are across the pond.

We are also going to take a trip to Vancouver to see some of our friends who used to live here.  They just had a new baby girl so will be fun to see Vancouver and catch up with them.

I hope you all have a great Christmas!

1. My mom is here visiting for 2 weeks and will get to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  We took her out to a traditional English pub for a Sunday roast dinner.  Holy yorkshire pudding!

  She found herself a friend!

   2. I can save lives! I only had to work one day last week for my mandatory CPR training

3. Interview!  I had to go into town on Tuesday for an interview, we went to Waterloo and walked across the bridge so we could get a glimpse of Big Ben, never gets old!  The job was for a full time metabolic dietetic assistant position.  As much as I love my jobs, they are 2 part time jobs that aren’t permanent and only fixed term until March.  This was a permanent position so I was pretty nervous since I knew how important this opportunity was going to be.  

I said a quick prayer before I went in, I thought it went ok, but we finished really quickly so I was worried I might not have said enough in my answers which has always been my problem with past interviews.  I got a call later that evening, and I GOT THE JOB!! I am very excited, but also nervous about telling my current boss’, I know they’ll be extremely supportive but it’s still never an easy conversation.

  4. Lobstah! We went out to lunch afterwards to try this new lobster place.  We split a 12 inch lobster roll which garlic butter sauce, heaven! I could’ve had a 12 inch to myself!

5. Thanksgiving! We hosted Greg’s parents, his aunt, uncle and cousin.  His auntie brought her killer Armenia eggplant dip that I face planted in and her famous napoleon, so good!

 I made a Coca-Cola ham, scalloped cheesy potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms and biscuits.

Dessert is definitely what I look forward to most on Thanksgiving, let me at it!

For dessert we had the napoleon, pumpkin cheesecake, and some pecan pie rugelach, yum yum!

5. Pumpkin Cheesecake!  Is this in the states?! I saw this at the grocery store the other day, I will definitely be trying this soon, has anyone tried it?? 

Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving!!

Happy Friday Peeps!

1. Applications open!

It’s surprisingly been a quick year of waiting for applications to open up for the Post Grad/Masters Dietetics course again. The deadlines are December and January, but since I know the drill it shouldn’t take as long as it did last year.  I’m also going to apply to a university that has a 3 year undergrad dietetics course if I don’t get a spot on the masters at least I’d be on my way instead of wasting another year waiting hopefully.

Unfortunately my interview last year was 1 week before I started my new job as a dietetic assistant.  Now that it is my full time job, in 2 completely different hospitals, I’m hoping a years worth of experience will be everything I need to get through this time.

2. I’m a licensced UK Driver!

The year has not been a quick year of driving lessons! I started taking lessons back in February and initally had an hour lesson a week during my lunch break and then switched it to a 2 hour lesson on the weekend.  I had so much dred and anxiety before every lesson!

It’s scary driving a manual….sitting on the other side of the car that I’m not used to…..and driving with hardly any or sometimes no room on the road for 2 cars to pass!

But I’ve finally passed, the whole driving test experience is a whole nother drama.  Most people don’t pass till their 2nd or 3rd time taking the test, and you have to pay £62.50 each time!  I much preferred drivers ed in high school where my last lesson was my driving test, so easy!

I passed on my second time, I thought I passed the first time cause everything went pretty smoothly but, apparently it’s against the law to drive and stay in the right hand lane since the right lane should be used for overtaking only and you should always stay in the left so I failed because I didn’t move back into the left hand lane.

I really wanted to make sure I passed before my mom comes at the end of November so we can drive around everywhere instead of having to bus it like we did last time she visited.  It still kind of freaks me out cause it’s so hard to tell how much space I have when passing parked and oncoming cars. 

Still reppin’ the USA!

3.  

My mom will be here the weekend before Thanksgiving, it’s been awhile since she was here last.  I’m so happy she will be here for Thanksgiving, we will be having it with Greg’s parents and his Aunt, Uncle and cousin who have never experienced a Thanksgiving, so I’m looking forward to showing them what it’s all about.

Last time she was here we went to Scotland, and this time we are going to Paris for the weekend.  Can’t wait to show her the city, we are also going to see the Palace of Versailles which is amazing, so excited! Plus fresh baguettes, almond croissants, and crepes with nutella every day, and maybe a few times a day!

All the Christmas markets are starting to open up in London too.  They skip from Halloween right to Christmas here! All the German bratwurst stands and mulled wine really gets you in the festive season.

4. Elf the musical.

Elf is definitely one of my favorite Christmas movies.  Once I found out there was going to be a musical for Christmas, we had to get tickets.  We are going the week before Christmas, woot woot!

5. Salted caramel

After my step mom made these mini salted caramel cheesecakes, I have been obsessed and want all things salted caramel.

It is a friend’s birthday dinner tomorrow night so I’m going to try and make this cheesecake sandwiched between chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream, finished with chocolate ganache and topped with some more salted caramel. Hopefully it’s not a Pinterest fail!  Had to make this purchase.

Followed by this purchase.   Heated up cookie with above ice cream on top.  Buying a 4 pack was not a good idea, because I could not stop at just one!