"They're Changing Guard at Buckingham Palace"

Okay, so they're not actually changing the guard in these pictures, but that was the coolest thing about this day in London.

Here Josh and I were all miffed that we wouldn't be able to tour the inside of Buckingham Palace or even see the outside on a day when they were changing the guard. We dragged ourselves all the way across St. James Park just to say that we had glimpsed the royal residence, and what do you know? We're shoved out of the street and onto the sidewalk by mounted bobbies to make way for a parade or royal guards that's about to come through!

From what I've been told, the parade was actually much more interesting than the changing of the guard usually is. What a surprise blessing!

In other news, farewell to the London Olympic Games!

I just found out yesterday that one of my college friends has spent the past month in London attending the games. Jealousy may have just caused our relationship to plummet from "friends" to "acquaintances."

Title is from the poem "Buckingham Palace" by my favorite poet, A. A. Milne.

More pics of the parade after the jump!

"All Creatures of Our God and King" (London, England)

Happy belated Travel Tuesday! I really just need to give in and make it Travel Wednesday . . .

Supposedly it's terrible blogging/photography/modeling/everything etiquette to include photos of multiple "poses" of the same thing when presenting a variety of photos publicly. They tell you to never include photos of the same outfit in a portfolio, no matter how different they may be in terms of angle, lighting, pose, etc.

Well, I've never been good at etiquette :-/

These photos of delightful critters at the London Zoo and Saint James Park are all so magnificent I couldn't possibly pick out just one photo of each beautiful beast! Part of why these pictures turned out so well is because they were taken with the childlike eye of my wonderfully creative husband Josh.

It's Josh's birthday today!

Happy birthday, sweetheart, and thank you for stopping time with me to capture the seemingly insignificant details of life's moments. I love sharing a hobby with you! Speaking of which, we're due for another photo shoot, don't you think?

Josh has taught me so much about enjoying life. He seems like such an amazingly balanced person to an over-achiever and over-committer like myself. He loves photography (between the two of us we have almost 5,000 photos from the past six months), but he loves to put the camera down and take in the moment with just our memories as well. He is extremely intelligent, but he still finds wonder in every day discoveries.

For example, the above zebra-giraffe-mule mashup known as an okapi was quite familiar to a veteran player of Zoo Tycoon such as myself. I remembered them not only from their unique appearance, but also because they are an endangered species that required a great deal of research and funds to procure in the computer game, and if you wanted to breed them--whew, that research program would keep you from your homework for days.

All this to say, while it was amazing to see the creatures in real life, my excitement paled in comparison to that of Josh who had never seen such a thing. I still remember the look in his eyes as he turned to me with his mouth ajar and said with disbelief, "Noooo . . ."

As in, "These things really exist????"

He snapped picture after picture of the okapis and their neighbors (the giraffes and zebras, of course). Sadly, I was too busy stewing over the fact that the camera battery was about to run out to appreciate his enthusiasm at the time.

Thank you, sweetheart, for keeping the innocence and excitement in our relationship even when I try to take life too seriously.

P.S. There's a freakin' huge pelican below the jump! So read on!!!!

Title is from the hymn by St. Francis of Assisi.

Mist machines for the indoor rainforest animals

These meerkats had so much personality. It's Timon!

The pics after the jump are for the birds! Teehee, I'm so clever ;-)

The Jacket That Saw the World

All right, I swear on all that is holy that I did not plan this in the least, but it is just about the cutest coincidence in the world!

While looking through all of the 4,000-some photos from our life-changing trip to Europe this spring, I noticed an interesting trend. I may have only sported my turquoise blazer in a handful of outfit photos, but I can be seen sporting my (apparently) favorite jacket in at least one set of photos from each and every "touristy" trip we took to a country outside of Spain!

This coincidence ended up being a fun way to track of all of the traveling we have done in the past five months. There is a constant in all of the photos regardless of which country they were taken in. Who new that an article of clothing could come to contain so many memories? As I type this, my good old blazer is tucked in the drawer next to me in case I get chilly in the library's AC.

As of May 2012, the turquoise jacket has seen the following countries (including the US of course):

• Spain
• France
• Italy
• England
• Ireland
• Sweden

And now for some visual representations of the adventures of this intrepid piece of outerwear!

I challenge you to look through some old photos to find evidence of that one fallback piece that has always been there for you--and that has seen a lot of interesting places as a result!

"And Something Tells Me That There's Still Time" (Windsor, England)

I totally failed at Travel Tuesday yesterday, but on the bright side, here are some more long-awaited picture from our London and Ireland trip! Today's pics are from our favorite daytrip while in England--Windsor Castle. This small village gem is the Queen's current weekend home, but many of the rooms have been restored to what they would have looked like in the 1700's when the castle was first inhabited!

The sun was playing hide and seek all day, but the weather was sunny and the sky clear for the majority of our pictures, if only for a few moments. Sadly, there was no photography allowed inside the castle itself :-(. This was a real disappointment because the well-preserved baroque architecture was simply breathtaking.

One thing that sort of made up for this letdown was the audio guide, surprisingly enough. Josh and I have never been huge guided tour people, but this audio guide really impressed us. There were sound effects, music, very engaging and intelligent-sounding narrators (who doesn't sound intelligent with a British accent?), and audio clips from actual British monarchs and their associates.

All in all, it was a very rewarding day. Our only regret is that we had to leave too soon.

Title is from the song "Windsor" by Michou.

More pics of Windsor after the jump!

"Come Back to Camden" (London, England)

Well, Josh ad I may be headed to France today, but I'm sure you all know that I'm sitting on heaps of England and Ireland pictures waiting to see the light of day. I think I might make it a tradition over the summer to post some neglected travel pics every couple of weeks. We could have a "Travel Tuesday"or something like that so that my blog's interestingness doesn't drop of dramatically the minute I set foot on American soil.

That being said, welcome to Camden Lock! This is a super-artsy community in London's charming neighborhood of Camden Town. The Lock is a sort of bohemian Times Square where London's classy past and trendy present coexist in perfect, bustling harmony. Camden is populated by open-air markets, picturesque canals, quaint cafes, street performers, and more hipsters than you have ever seen in your life. It was awesome!

You don't know how much self control it took to keep from snapping up the indie clothing and crafts or any number of the global cuisine stalls lining the streets. Also, they really seem to like donuts in Camden. Every other stall was advertising fresh, hot ones. I don't think I've ever ever had a hot donut before . . .

Title from the song of the same name by Morrissey

Hookah lounge, anyone?

More pictures of the Camden Lock community after the jump!

"Tea For Two and Two for Tea" (London/Dublin Trip)

Dear friend Kristen met up with us in Dublin after Josh and I had spent five days in London on our own. Having visited London in the past with her family, Kristen was somewhat mortified that I had not regularly indulged in the British joy that is tea and scones.

Much to both of our delights, upon visiting the beautiful seaside town of Howth (pronounced "Hooth") on the eastern shore of Dublin, we discovered a deliciously homey tearoom at the start of the pier. I didn't need any encouragement, but Kristen definitely wanted me to go.

In the absence of chai (sad day), we ordered a pot of simple green tea, but there was nothing simple about the scoop of dried grasses, lavender, and leaves that was scooped into our teabag. We each enjoyed two cups of the lively beverage--Kristen plain (such a purist) and me with cream and three lumps of sugar each :-). Teehee. I'm sure a scone would have been quite authentic, but who can say 'no' to a spiced muffin with chocolate chips?

They had rosebud tea! I'll have to try that some time.

What was most lovely about this experience was the atmosphere of the tea room. There were comfy antique chairs and sofas and a cozy reading corner. All of the colors were warm and inviting and just asking to be photographed.

Kristen and I sat here while at least an hour passed by without us noticing. We chatted, sipped, munched, and missed our train home while Josh and some other friends hiked the cliffs surrounding Howth's peninsula.

Scones or not, I will never forget my first real teatime just outside of Dublin, Ireland.

Title from Doris Day's "Tea for Two."

More tasty pictures after the jump!