A new life for me – Crystal Palace

I moved to Crystal Palace last year and in many ways, started over. I’m across the street from the incredibly lovely Dinosaur Park. Pepper, C and I spend quite a bit of time walking around in the woods.

It’s leafy and calm. In London but not IN LONDON. Feels like home now.

Listen to this Memory Palace episode about the dinos.

Of course, there is a piece of me that will always miss my Nashville life but it seems really far away from me now.

Distance does that I suppose.

I’m really happy and settled here. It’s beautiful and full of little natural gems. I feel lucky to have such a pretty little oasis literally a stone’s throw from my flat. Here are some bits. x

❤

Belgium! Discovering Ghent, Bruges and Brussels…Part one.

Ahhhhhh Belgium! So many reasons to visit this beautiful country.

Picturesque cottages. Quirky Cobblestone streets. Beer. (REALLY AMAZING BEER) Art. Chocolate. (REALLY AMAZING CHOCOLATE) Swans. Misty canals. Moules Frites. Medieval churches. Waterzooi. More beer. More beer. More beer.

I chose Belgium for OPERATION: DECOMPRESS VIA ALL OF THE BEER.

The old Monastery conversion we stayed at in Ghent was absolutely stunning!

And the historic town centre itself is incredible.

Sint-Michielskerk glowing at night…

Graffiti tunnel…

Had a beautiful dinner at De Graslei where I ordered the very traditional Flanders dish “Waterzooi”

It was SO YUMMY.

All the walking around in the freezing rain made us VERY thirsty. So we spent a lovely evening sampling (pouring beers directly into our faces) a few of the 250 beers on offer at Pub ‘de Dulle Griet’

If you want to drink the gigantic “Max” beer, you must hand over one of your shoes. It goes in the basket, the bell is rung, your shoe is lifted high to the ceiling and here comes your beer!

And then you drink the rest of the beers…

ALL THE BEER! Up next…The Design Museum Exhibit Lightopia and WAFFLES!

My Brother Arrives!

Hooray for visitors! My big brother recently flew from Nashville to London to visit me (first time travelling outside of the US mind you). This consisted of us basically dragging him around to anything and everything historically notable we could cram into his short stay! We made sure to keep him calm in the face of public transport by plying him with lots of craft beer! Please forgive the combination of bad iphone photos and proper photographs! 😉

Climbing at Trafalgar Square…

Imperial War Museum!

British Museum!

Boat taxi home on the Thames…

The obligatory phone booth shot!

The Emirates Air Line!

Deep thoughts on the Thames with Dan…

Off to the Tower of London!

A little afternoon stroll…

I already miss ya bro! Come back soon! xx

Another Glorious Green Park Pug Meet + Being A Tourist…

Prepare yourself for a big dose of HAPPY.

Because PUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGSSSSSS!!!!

NOODLES is convinced that he is their leader…

I even brought some friends this time to share in my crazy.

Who’s pug is this? DOESN’T MATTER – I just had to HUG him.

Pepper is such a little tart…

Then off to Tower Bridge for a stroll along the Thames.

ACK!!! Tourists!

My dog has been more places than you.

If you live in London you should check out the poppy installation currently at the Tower.

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/ww1-centenary/poppies-in-the-moat

We ended with pints and grub at Southwark Tavern…

Fish and Chips!! Yummmmmm.

It was a brilliant pug & London event-filled day! And then it was bedtime for all! Cheers! x

A Weekend in Worcester…

It was that time again.

Work. Sleep. Work. Sleep.

We needed a break!

One Friday afternoon a few weeks ago, we piled the family into the car (pups included) and headed North for a couple of days of respite.

Goodbye London, hello Worcester!

Our friends live in a beautiful old Georgian house filled to the brim with antiques nestled quietly between neighbouring farms.

The view from breakfast…

A gorgeous hike…

Happy little babies…

A bit of rain…

Which gave me plenty of time to explore this amazing house stuffed to the brim with antique tins, boxes, bottles, prints, signs and general oddities!

Pepper was not at all pleased when we told her it was time to leave! (Neither we were)

Thanks Linda & Al!!

xxoo

PUGS! London Monthly Pug Meetup @ Green Park!

The first Saturday of every month there is a gathering of pugs and pug owners in Green Park.

Behold! Pugs galore! All shapes and sizes! All magical and super rad.

Princess Peppermint Sparklechops was ready for it.

I certainly was. I picked up the first stranger pug I saw. MINE! HUGS! GIMME!

Puuuuuuuuggggggggzzzzzzzz…

This is the slugger that did me eye in…

Sir Noodles got some snuggles too…

Pretty much the best day ever. x

(Staying) Home for the Holidays.

All we wanted for Christmas was to kick our feet up and RELAX.

And because these are too fantastic not to share-here are a couple of brilliant shots from the company holiday party.
Can you guess the theme?

We’ve been dog sitting a little muppet of a dog over the holidays as well so there are THREE pups in our pack currently. Lots of walks and lots of fun at Greenwich park.

Meet Cooper. The Fraggle.

I took my camera along on one of our walks the other day to capture some more of the magic that is my new neighbourhood.
I seriously cannot believe I get to live in such a beautiful place.

That view NEVER gets old.

We made a few furry friends along the way.

x

My Spanish Animal Friends…

I made a few friends in Spain…the furry four legged variety.

And of course, because I am me, I took their photos…

Farm cats…

Scaredy cats…

“Jimmy”!!!

Look at his big fat grumpy head! xxxooo

This dog that looks like yoda…

My niece-kitties “Six” and “Seven”…

Snuggle time!

Super schnozzle close-up…

And last but not least, my Father-In-Law’s adorable beagle mix “Benny”

If this goofball doesn’t bring immediate joy into your heart then something is clearly broken inside of your soul.

Benny shows off his serious dog model good looks…

x

The dog park

We’ve got a routine with our pup Noodz that is pretty much the highlight of my day.

At 9:30am every morning a BIG group of dog owners and their gorgeous dogs meet at the park down the street from us for an hour or so of full on doggle action.
Sometimes there are only a few dogs, other times it’s closer to 20.
It’s the best antidepressant you could imagine.

Without fail. Rain or shine. Mud or snow.
I get up every morning knowing that there are wagging tales, big bright puppy smiles, and a community of fellow dog lovers waiting for us across the street.

Playtime!

Here comes Noodz!

x

Autumn in Richmond Park (and pups!)

Richmond Park is one of the most magical places in London no matter what time of year you visit, but an October or November trip is extra special.

After 4 hours of magical hiking through the woods, the pooches (and myself) were absolutely shattered and had a nice snooze on the ride home.

Happy Autumn-ing! xx

Chewdles: The Bromance

By now, you should all be very familiar with my fluffy-fox-creature-pup Noodles.

AKA: Noodz, Schnoodles, Schnoddles, Knob dog, BeeBee, Noodies, and Noodie Noodie.

We recently had our friend from Nashville visit us, and he took quite the shine to her.

Now it is time for you to meet his best friend in the whole wide world.

CHEWY

Meet Chewy. AKA: Chewbacca, Baxter, Baccy and Chewstifer Bagshot/ Chewstifer Baggins, Chop Suey Chewy, Chewy Chow Mein, and Bubba Lou.

Chewy is my friend Anna’s Lhasa Apso, and Noodles’ best friend for life.
They basically run the park and wear each other out on a regular basis.

It’s all sorts of adorable.

We recently took them to Battersea park for a super fabulous doggy play date and adult picnic, and they were inseparable.

They even got in the pond for a swim!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty much a feast of fluff and dog wrestling.

Enjoy!

Those may look like vicious snarling teeth, but I assure you, it’s all just puppy play and they always end up in snuggletown.

TRUE LOVE!!!!!! XXOO

Back from Italy Adventure and Noodz in the Snow!

Noodles is about 5 months old now. ❤

He just gets cuter and fuzzier as time goes on!

He LOVES the cardboard insert of toilet paper rolls.

Weirdo.

He also loves the snow.

This is “Paddy” the Jack Russell mix, his BFF at the park.

And “Zeus” the Yellow Lab.

And this is “Hercules”.

Those satellite dish ears!

My little crazy bunny! x