long live the queen

Oh, London. I love you. A few months ago another flight attendant swapped my trip for their London at the last minute. Not complaining. I immediately picked up the phone to call my mom and asked if she wanted to join me. Within 30 minutes we had booked her on my flight and she started preparations. Elated at the thought of our first mommy/daughter trip together, we started planning.

In September, the Queen was away from the palace meaning the general public had access to tour the state rooms. An incredible opportunity that I'm so amazed to have been part of! This was our first stop...

Unfortunately, they didn't allow photos inside the palace but in the gardens? Well, they didn't specify so I went for it. We had tea and cakes at The Garden Cafe. It was superb.

I mean...how cute is this?

And the obligatory phone booth picture.

And street music. In every city I find a street musician. This man was unbelievably talented. What a privilege to stop and enjoy his music.

For the very few of you that follow this blog...I have a lot to update you on. This post was drafted in the fall and so much has happened since. If you're still following along, wait just a bit longer. I can't leave this book unfinished. This crazy, exciting, wonderful flight attendant life of mine is coming to a close and I promise to tell you more about why, when, and what's next. 

XOXO

the bookshelf

I love to read.

Losing myself in a good book is one of my absolute favorite ways to relax and unwind. Sadly, I haven't been able to read as much as I would like recently with my schedule. Clearly Confucius doesn't think that's an excuse. I did just begin a new trilogy that has inspired me to start a new blog series called, 'The Bookshelf'. In this series, I will, well, review books that I've read. Obviously.

It's time to start dreaming :)

a pup & the parthenon

So, in August I went to Athens. Another flight attendant and I decided to go out and see the city together since neither of us had been before. The flight was exhausting so we took a nap when we got to the hotel and then headed out. Unfortunately, the flight attendant I went with forgot her wallet at the hotel, so we ended up having to go all the way back...and...it was just a mess. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to see 1) because of the amount of time we had and 2) because it was a holiday. In Greece, they celebrate the day of the Panagia (Virgin Mary) which just happened to be the day we went. Which meant a lot of stuff was closed. Not cool. But we ventured out anyways and took in as much of Athens as we could!

The Parthenon was top on our list so we went there first.

Temple of Athena

The Parthenon

The Parthenon

The Parthenon

The Temple of Zeus

After walking around the Parthenon for a while, we came down in search of some shopping!

View of the Parthenon from the city

We finally found a cute market that was bustling with people despite the holiday! We walked around and shopped for a while before deciding to head back to the hotel.

Before we called it quits though, I had to have authentic Greek baklava. Nothing about it was gluten free. Everything about it was mind-blowingly incredible! Nom nom nom. It was sooo worth it.

Athens is stunning and there is a lot to do there that unfortunately we didn't have the chance to do. Was it my favorite transoceanic layover....no, but would I love to go back...of course. There are still a handful of things I want to see next time I'm there. Hopefully I'll have a long enough layover to go and see the Greek islands sometime, but if not, I'm considering flying there and taking a cruise around the islands for a vacation! Who's with me?!

gluten free finds: honey garlic pork chops

I was home recently and didn't have time to run to the grocery but was desperately wanting to cook a 'real meal'. So I scrounged through my cabinets and found the 4 necessary ingredients to make this delicious dish. Honey, garlic, soy sauce, and pork chops. Easy peasy.

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Ingredients:

·1/4 + 1/8 cup honey

·3 tbsp gluten free soy sauce

·6 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tbsp)

·4-6 boneless, skinless pork chops

Whisk together honey, garlic, and soy sauce.

Soak pork chops in mixture. (If you're preparing this recipe ahead of time, you can marinade the pork chops overnight)

Place the pork chops in a glass baking dish.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

I ate mine with thai peanut noodles and it was amazing! Easy and quick 'real meal' recipe. Enjoy :)