You See The Hat?

I still need to do more practicing, and I would love to at least finish out his entire beginners course. But as of right now I know 3 chords (E, A, D) and I can play Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol fairly well if I have the lyrics in front of me. I performed it for my family and did okay, so I consider that goal accomplished!

I went all out for this one, I had to go buy napkin rings even. It was fun and I felt cool and fancy and all the food (which I had never made before this night) turned out delicious! Not sure I can do it all the time because it definitely stressed me out and I am not good at timing things so they all come out at the same time. But I made it work this time, and I know I can do it. So there’s that.

It was very nice and fancy. I will say however that I think I got the wrong thing. I was trying to be healthy and didn’t get what I really wanted (French toast), so I got an egg white fritatta which was just okay. My parents got something super delicious too. I just wish I would have gotten something else. Oh well.

This was one of the last ones I finished on my list, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I did! An old family friend we knew used to ride motorcycles, so I messaged him and asked if he could help me out. Turns out he sold his bike a few years ago, but he agreed to rent one for the day to take me around. We got a pretty fancy nice one that was very comfortable for me to sit in. We went up to Princeton around Lake Lavon, and we drove for about 2 hours or so. I wouldn’t mind riding again, but it didn’t make me immediately feel like I want to ride more and get a motorcycle license or anything. But, it was fun, which was the point. :)

The last castle I went to was Cardiff Castle (in Cardiff Wales), and it was fun too. They are all very similar to be honest, but it was fun to see them still.

I decided to take advantage of that bath robe, slippers, and big bath tub in the fancy 5-star hotel I stayed in while in London, and take a bubble bath. Although, I guess technically it wasn’t a true “bubble” bath, it was with a bath bomb, BUT STILL. It was relaxing and delightful and that bath bomb stuff made my skin soft. Not sure it’s something I’ll do on the regular, but every once in a while I might treat myself, you know

I’ve always wanted to make creme brulee because it just seems so fancy and yet so simple. A while back my family had bought me little ramekins and a friend of mine bought me a kitchen torch, and I just still had never gotten around to actually making it. SO I put it on my list and finally did it! It wasn’t perfect, being my first time and all but it did taste delicious! I kind of want to try other flavors and things, but it came out pretty good for my first try IMHO.

Which is pretty dang good if I do say so myself. And no you can’t read what I wrote and I’m not telling you when any of those stories are about. Just know that I wrote words that formed sentences, which formed paragraphs, which formed a story about people, places, and things, and I wrote more than 50,000 of those words. :)

Soooo I’ll be real. I put this on my list because umm it’s been a while since I’ve read an actual printed book. I’ve listened to audiobooks, read a few eBooks, and read TONS of free online stories (aka fanfiction, don’t judge me). But it’s been several years since I’ve read an actual printed paper book, and I felt like I should remedy that. A friend of mine wrote this YA novel called Seven Tears at High Tide, and I thought hers would be a perfect book for me to read the old-fashioned way (it also was conveniently short and an easy read shhhh). It was SUPER cute, and I loved every bit of it. I’m also feeling like I should try to read more actual books more often. I’ve got a whole bookshelf of books I still haven’t read, so I should probably start with those. :)

Of the ones on my list, the ones I really liked were: The Big Lebowski, Die Hard, The Shawshank Redemption, Some Like It Hot, Rocky, Thelma & Louise, and Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.

While my mother told me multiple times I’ve already been on a picnic, I say pics or it didn’t happen. Also, I really wanted like a picnic basket and everything. So I borrowed a basket from a friend and had a picnic with my friends. It was fun and the weather wasn’t too bad. Yay picnicing!

The coolest pics were when we drove down to the lake though and all the people setting out to go fishing against the sunrise. Very cool.

The instructor was great and he let me do a lot of things on my own with only a little guidance while I was up in the air. I was able to do a landing, a take off, some turns and circles, a fly-by, and a touch and go. I will say that I did get a little nauseous, but I also hadn’t really eaten before I went so that might have contributed. While this was fun, I don’t think I’m itching to get a pilot’s license or anything cause I don’t have that kind of time or money. I’ll just leave that to my cousins (three of which who have them, and I have 1 uncle that teaches flying and another who owns a plane).

But yeah it was fun riding first class on the train. I did not have the money to do that on the way back or any other time I rode the train while I was abroad, but that’s alright. It was good to do the once.

When I reserved the room, I put in a special request, just to see if they would actually follow through with it, and boy did they. I requested that they had one of their kids draw me a picture of their favorite spot in London and then asked if they would write a compliment on the mirror for me. As you can tell, they delivered. I wish I could afford something like this every time I travel, but yeah not going to happen, but I’m glad I had this experience.

The last two pictures are fried haggis, which I had in Scotland (because if you’re in Scotland, you gotta have some!). I actually really liked the haggis. It was SUPER spicy, which I loved since everything else I ate over there was pretty bland. If I just didn’t focus on what I was actually eating, it wasn’t that bad. I’m glad I had it.