Cardiff

After sleeping off our nightmare of a trip the day before, my husband and I felt ready to take on the town. My aunt from Australia was also in town, so the three of us took the bus to downtown Cardiff. Once there, my aunt took us out to a gorgeous tea house in Cardiff Castle's wall. My grandmother had previously told us that the tile floor in the tea house was amazing, and it reminded her of her grandmother who worked at the castle and lived in an apartment with similar floors.

Well, it did not disappoint. The floor was delightful, the atmosphere was something out of a historical novel, and the menu was downright dreamy. Now, granted, I am a little bit obsessed with tea, but this was at a whole 'notha level. One side of the menu was completely filled with different types of loose-leaf teas you could order by the pot. You then had the option of a plethora of cakes, sandwiches, and sweets. We decided to have a full cream tea with a pot of tea each, scones, 3 different types of sandwiches, and cake for dessert. I was in heaven. 

After tea, we looked around the shops a little bit, and then we decided to go to a museum dedicated to the history of Cardiff. Now, that was some cool stuff. It followed the city from pre-history all the way through present day. I was especially intrigued by the portion dedicated to World War I and World War II, not just because I'm infatuated with this portion of history, but also because my immediate family experienced these wars, especially World War II. 

After the museum, all we had time left to do was grab a pint of Welsh beer at one of the oldest pubs in Cardiff and catch the next bus back to my grandparents' house where my grandmother had a delicious meal waiting for us.

There's something about Cardiff that will always have a piece of my heart. Not just because I lived there for the first little portion of my life, not just because I still have family that lives her, but because it will always feel like home to me. I can feel myself relaxing almost as soon as I get there, and my grandparents' house will always be my home away from home.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

My husband and my summer vacation to the UK had a little bit of a rocky start. I needed to book our tickets cheaply, so our flight path ended up going from San Antonio -> Dallas -> Philadelphia -> Dublin, Ireland -> Cardiff, Wales. A lot, but do-able. 

Well, we got to the San Antonio airport in plenty of time, and we went through security with time to spare. The flight was perfectly on time landing in Dallas. We had plenty of time to get to our next flight, and our flight in Dallas took off on time. That was the last time things went well. 

As far as we knew, everything was going smoothly. Then, once we were about to get to Philadelphia, the captain comes on and tells us that there is a huge storm hitting the city right now, and we didn't have enough fuel to circle until it passed. So, we were diverted to Baltimore to fuel up. The problem was, once we fueled up, the storm hit us in Baltimore. One it had finally passed, we were finally able to fly into Philadelphia ~ 2 1/2  hours late. Luckily, I had a buffer of 4 hours before the flight to Dublin. I thought we were still okay, no problem. Wrong. 

We arrived at the airport with enough time to grab a Philly Cheese Steak (I couldn't help myself...we were in Philly!) and go to our gate. However, once we got there, we were told that there would be a delay due to it arriving late. Okay, fine. Then, another announcement came on, telling us they had to fix a minor mechanical problem. Okay... This went on for 2 hours. Finally they let us on. Win! Well, then we sat on the plane for an additional 2 hours while they continued to fix the mechanical problem. Way to make travelers feel safe. A mechanical issue that took 4 hours to fix?? 

We were finally cleared to leave, and we were off. The captain assured us that he would get us there as soon as possible, and we apparently had a good tail wind to help us on our way. Unfortunately, it was not enough of a tail wind to get us there soon enough. By the time we landed, our plane to Cardiff had taken off 30 minutes ago. Great...

So, we went to go talk to the representative to get our flight re-scheduled. When we talked to them, they said that they could not help us, and that we had to go out of the secured area, through security, and go out to the booking desks, by check-in. Um...alright. So, we did, and then they proceeded to tell us that they would not book us another flight since the flights weren't "linked." They were booked at two separate times. So, according to them, they fulfilled their contractual obligation and got us to Dublin. 2 hours late. And they made us miss our next flight. 

Fortunately, we talked to a very nice representative of the other airline who was going to take us to Cardiff, and they only charged us a re-booking fee instead of charging us for a brand new ticket (which they were technically supposed to do). There were only 2 left. Perfect! The problem? They weren't taking off for another 8 hours. Yep. Stuck at the airport for 8 hours. 

We decided to make the best of it. Before going through security again, we decided to get a nice big breakfast and set-up shop with my computer. While taking a leisurely meal, I Facebooked some of my cousins in the UK and tried to arrange seeing them while I was over. After we finished out tea, we went back through security and explored a little bit. We found a cozy corner to read our books, and then did what any self-respecting tourist in Dublin would do to pass the time: we found a pub. We each had a pint of Irish beer (well, I only had half a pint) and tried to simultaneously relax but not fall asleep ~ jet lag was starting to hit pretty badly. 

Once we were done with our pint, we were able to find our gate, and we read, slept, and drank coffee until our flight finally got there. Luckily, this one came in early, and we were in Cardiff in no time. It's just a hop over the sea. My Grampy met us at the airport and drove us to one of my favorite places in the world: my grandparents' house. 

Packing Light

I mentioned in a past post that I took a trip to the UK this summer, packing for 2 weeks for my husband and myself in nothing but carry-ons. Picture, or it didn't happen, right? Well, here it is:

The bag in the front was only that full because this picture was taken on the way back, and it had a GIANT bag with 440 tea bags in it. I felt like I'd get in trouble from smuggling tea once I got to the airport. Rest assured, I may have gotten a few strange looks from airport security, but they let me and my tea through. I will have to highlight my tea obsession in another post. Needless to say, it's bad.

Now, you're probably wondering how I pulled this off. Don't worry, sharing is caring. If you don't want to pay for baggage fees, follow these simple tips:
     ~ ROLL your clothes. Not fold, roll. It creates way more space, and, generally speaking, I did not have any wrinkle problems...even after having major travel delays (32 hours total in travel, anyone?).
     ~ Remember that they are carry-ons, so you must have travel-sized toiletries, or the TSA agents will throw them away at the gate.  I packed 4 of those little toothpastes that I get from my dentist every time I get a cleaning (my dentist will give me as many as I want of my preferred brand), and my shampoo and conditioner both come in travel-size - I brought 2 shampoos and 1 conditioner. However, my husband's shampoo, my husband's shaving cream, and my curling cream all needed smaller containers. I bought 4 travel-sized containers at Target for less than $2. My husband's hair product and one other hair product of mine were already the right size. I also already had a travel-sized contact solution. All of that fit into 2 1-quart ziplock bags, one for each bag. Pro tip: put the ziplock bags in the front pocket of your carry-on for quick removal at security points.
     ~ There are a few things you must par down for your packing to be successful. Find a favorite bar soap, and become friends. This means that you don't have to shove yet another thing into one of those ziplock bags. Explore some low-key options for your hair. Up until that point, in order for me to have decent hair, I had to use either a diffuser or a straitening iron. However, those tools take up a lot of room in your bag, and I also didn't want to shell out the cash for another adaptor. Like I said above, I packed a curling cream instead. I put it in my wet hair, scrunched, let dry, and scrunched one more time. Boom. Done.
     ~ I packed enough clothes for 1 week, and then I washed them and re-used them. I was fortunate to be with my family, so I just commandeered my Nana's washing machine for one load ~ with permission, of course. Even if you do not have family in the area you are visiting, you will be able to find a laundry mat in most cities you go to, and some hotels even offer laundry facilities or services. Remember: 1) You do not need pants/skirts for every day of the week. Generally speaking, these clothing items get soiled at a slower rate than shirts. I packed 4 pairs of pants for each of us. 2) Par down the shoe selection. I packed a pair of practical shoes and another pair of shoes that were both comfortable but dressier for each of us. 3) If you're going to a cooler climate, wear your cover-up on the plane, so you do not have to worry about packing it. It can get cold in the plane anyway, and it doubles as a blanket. 4) Wear your bulkiest pair of shoes on the plane to create room in your bag. 5) Think of packing your bag as doing a puzzle. Everything will fit, you just have to think it out. This especially goes for the way back when you have a few items that you bought while on your trip.
     ~ Even with your two bigger travel-sized pieces of luggage, each of you are still allowed a personal item. That's the one you see in the front of the other two bags. I was able to put my laptop (to help get a hold of family while over there),  a book, the contents of my purse, and my folded up purse in that bag...and my giant stash of tea on the way home. My husband didn't use a second bag. He just had his wallet and phone (for emergencies) in his pocket.

I'm so glad I challenged myself to do this ~ even if my dad tried to convince me not to. It was less expensive, it involved less steps when at the airport, we were able to run to our next plane without worrying whether our bags would get there or not, and we were able to get off the plane and leave the airport immediately. No waiting around for bags at the other side. It was so nice not having to worry about lost luggage and the possibility of having no toiletries or clothes for the first few days (Anyone else experienced this before? The. Worst.).

Are We Still Friends?

It's time to put myself back into the blog-o-sphere. It's been entirely too long. So, let's play a little catch-up:
     ~ School started in late August, and it has been going full tilt ever since. I've been working 12 - 18 hours most school days so far this year. Hopefully I can change the tide with that in the near future. My husband's job has been similar, but with even more hours ~ believe it or not. We've been feeling extremely run down recently.
     ~ Our house has slowly but surely been coming together. However, once we're able to figure out how to make our hours chill out, we'll be able to move it along much faster. I have family coming to visit in late November, so I need to start cranking up the pace pretty soon here. I'll post pictures of the finished product around that time too, hopefully.
     ~ My family just recently experienced a really sad loss. However, instead of focusing on that with the blog right now,  I'm instead going to focus my next few posts on my recent trip to visit family in the UK. I'm not ready to address the loss in a public manner yet. Just please keep my family in your prayers.

That is more or less it. You're up to date. Do you forgive me? Are we friends again? Get ready for some long overdue posts. They're a-coming.

Husband's Top 5 New Recipes

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was trying out new recipes this summer and getting my husband to rate them. Well, I finally got him to compile the list of his favorites! These are only from the new ones that I had never made him before. I'll also show a link to the recipes if they're online, or I'll give credit where credit is due if it's from an old-school recipe book. So, without further ado, my husband's top five favorite food of the summer:

1.             Skinny Tuna Cake

I found these posted on Pinterest. You can find the recipe here. These were my husband's absolute favorite new meal. He loved the cakes themselves, but he could not get over the Chipotle Mayo. He wanted to put that stuff on everything! He had me make extra, so he could dip his potato wedges in it. 

Those potatoes aren't burnt. They're purple potatoes! Not the most photographic dish, but delicious. 

2.             Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken

I had been meaning to try this recipe for years (Procrastinator? Me?)! This is a Self Magazine recipe that you can find here. It was tasty, and my husband especially liked that there was a little bit of a spicy kick to it, so it wasn't your stereotypical "oven fried chicken." The hardest part about this was just remembering to marinade the chicken in the buttermilk beforehand. It was really fun making the saltine breadcrumbs. Instead of putting them in a blender, I decided to let a little frustration out and put it in a ziplock bag and pound it into crumbs. Haha. It was a rough day. 

Sorry, no picture for this one. It was eaten before I thought to bring out the camera. 

3.             Avocado Toast

This one, I read about in Gwyneth Paltrow's newest cookbook, which I'm totally planning on buying. However, I just remembered it because it was so simple. I knew my husband would be game to try it because he's an avocado fiend. When we have fresh avocados from the farmers' market, we love to have this the next morning for breakfast.

All you have to do is toast a piece of bread, spread some mayo or vegenaise on it, put half of a sliced avocado on there, and then sprinkle with some Old Bay Seasoning. However, my husband and I decided that we like to put Greek Seasoning on it even more. Boom. Done. Super easy and tasty. My husband was in heaven. 

Simple and delicious. 

4.             Rustic Tomato Tart

This one can be found in the Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmers’ Market cookbook. My husband said it tasted like pizza. Hey, if it looks like a pizza, smells like a pizza, and tastes like a pizza, I’m okay with calling it a pizza. It’s also very quick to make.

All you need are 2-3 ripe tomatoes of any color, salt, a clove of garlic, unsalted butter, an 8”x10” rectangle of frozen puff pastry, ¾ cup mozzarella, 4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, 2 Tbsp of fresh basil, and some olive oil.

Heat the oven to 400˚F (200˚C), and put the rack in the upper third portion of the oven.

Slice the tomatoes, and place them on paper towels with some salt on them to help drain off excess moisture. Keep them there for roughly 30 – 60 minutes while you’re doing everything else.

Thaw out the puff pastry (mine didn’t take long to thaw), and cut it in half.

In a small bowl, melt the butter, and add the garlic, finely chopped (Or, if you’re like me, the pre-chopped stuff. Don’t judge. I hate how the smell lingers on your fingers when you do it yourself, and it is also faster.). Put the puff pastry on parchment paper, and then brush with the garlic butter mixture. Season with salt.

Leaving a quarter of an inch border, sprinkle the pastry with all of the mozzarella and half of the Parmesan. Put the tomato slices on top of that, and then sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan on top.

Bake until puffy and golden brown. I like to put my parchment paper on top of my pizza stone for easy handling and even baking. Chop the basil, and sprinkle on top of the tart, once out of the oven. Drizzle with some olive oil. Serve immediately. 

We've had this for dinner multiple times already. We both love it. 

5.             Pasta w/Avocado & Bacon

This was another really quick and easy dish. Since my husband adores avocado, I knew he would like it, but, add bacon, and there won’t be any leftovers. In fact, he ate it so fast that I couldn't get a picture. 

Honorable mention - One Pot Pasta

This dish was ridiculously easy. Like it says, it’s a one pot dish, meaning that you just throw it all together, cook it, and you’re done. Great for busy nights. It also has a little bit of kick to it, which was a nice surprise. I got to use a lot of my homegrown basil, which I always love. 

Check out these recipes. They are all delicious and relatively quick to make. What were some of your favorite dishes that you made this summer? 

Moving

You may or may not have noticed my absence from the blog recently. My husband and I moved into a house about 20-something miles from our old townhome. We started moving on July 25th, and we finished on July 29th. That's right, folks. It took us four full days of loading up trucks, trailers, cars, and anything else we could get our hands on to move here. By the end of it, I didn't even recognize the little place we called home for the last two years.

It looks so different without all of our furniture.

Before we could even start moving, we had to paint our new living room and kitchen. The old tenant had a thing for palm trees, and she had the walls an awkward moss green (palm tree?) color that would majorly clash with my couch. Luckily, four of our amazing friends came over for a paint party. 

That green was even worse in person. You can see our new color in the upper left corner of the picture.

Now, we're just working on finding homes for all of our belongings in our new place and getting rid of all the junk I had no idea we accumulated until we started boxing all of our stuff up. Shh...don't tell my husband. 

Then, last weekend, my brother and sister-in-law came to visit. Naturally, since my house wasn't exactly ready yet. I planned for us to do stuff elsewhere. Their guest bedroom and guest bathroom were done, as well as the kitchen, but not anything else. 

Living in the DFW metroplex, I knew about the Dallas Aquarium, but I saw the news talking about an exhibit at the Sea Life Grapevine Aquarium and decided to check or out. It was a little small, but a lot of fun, and I loved their emphasis on conservation and wildlife rescue. 

I was trying to stretch out our weekend more so much that I almost forgot about that dreaded moment in every teacher's vacation: my summer is over. That's right, being a band director, I'm required to go back earlier than the rest of the teachers for planning and helping with marching band. Monday was the day I went back. Two weeks of planning and marching band, followed by a week of teacher inservice, and then school is back in full swing. 

I do feel a little bad for the marching band kiddos though. It was so nice all of July, then August hit, and bam! it's the Sahara Desert outside. In case I have some people reading this that aren't acquainted with Texas weather, let me give you a visual: 

Yep, we're now in "summerer." It's this time of year that we can't wait for Fall to hit ~ the cooler weather usually hits around Halloween. Until then, I'll be working on the inside of my house and dreaming about the day they turn on the AC in my part of the school. 

Once Upon a Kitten

Last Tuesday, my husband found a cold, scared kitten in the wheel of a car in the middle of a storm. Being the kind natured man that he is, he brought the little one home, tentatively called "Ratchet."

Poor little Ratchet was in a terrible state. He had roughly 50 fleas I took off of him, really dirty ears that I cleaned, was terribly hungry ~but was only roughly four weeks old, so I bought milk replacer~ and he had swelling on his mouth and undercarriage. Once I had him cleaned up a little, I asked if any of my friends were willing to adopt him. 

How could you say "no" to that little one? 

In the beginning, all he wanted was to cuddle, something my sweet pug was more than willing to do. Not only that, but she also acted as his protector. She would put her body between Ratchet and either of our not-so-welcoming cats. She would also chase off our cats if they became particularly aggressive. 

That's my girl. 

After a few days, his swelling went down, and we realized that he was actually a she! We renamed her "Ella."

And then, she started feeling more energetic. She started drinking from a bowl, learned how to use the litter box, started exploring, and she finally started playing. 

That's her underneath the glass of my dining room table. Why is there a fall wreath there? We're moving...don't judge. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the little girl. We already have 2 cats and a dog, and we're in the middle of a move. So, with heavy hearts, we had to find someone to take her in. Luckily, we found the Dallas Cat Lady who fosters cats until they find their forever home. I'm so glad we found a loving atmosphere to give her to. It was hard to let go of the little tyke. If you're in the Dallas area, and you want an adorable little black cat, she'll be up for adoption in a week or two. Look her up.