A first post

Well, I'm doing it. I'm blogging again, thanks to your incessant prodding. But it's not going look like this, I envision something more akin to a messy One Direction fandom you'd find on Tumblr. Promise not to link to any cute outfits and get rewards if you buy; can't anyway because I wear things like Dr. Scholl's slip on tennis shoes and giant T shirts from university gym giveaways (and you can't put a price on those). So if you're looking for a lifestyle blog to inspire you with beauty and musings from an exotic foreign land, carry on; I have nothing to offer. Pictures are from an iPhone and my grammar is questionable (and still very American). But none of you will expect these things, you know me, and we can now put that disclaimer to the side.

So, let's begin!

I write this iPad note that I'll later copy and paste mid-morning from a coffee shop in London, where, despite having no wifi, things are looking good. I can't job search because of my current visa, so I'm left to a life of picking up dry cleaning and light bulbs, converting fractions for recipes and temperatures for a Celsius oven, reading entire books, going to the gym, and finding various ways to be busy all day. It is...not bad. For now.

As a quick recap, before arriving in London, Jamie (= the fiance) and I spent a full two weeks in the US, where we split our time between Chicago, Utah, and Denver. Here are the highlights:

Chicago

• First of all, massive thanks to Amanda and crew for hosting us for SIX nights - do you have any friends you'd want to stay with you for six nights? I think not; therefore, they are angels.
• Also, my parents met us in Chicago and spoiled us absolutely rotten, so they cannot go unmentioned. They're rockstars in general. 
• Chinatown - Chicago's Chinatown is set away from the main downtown area, so we took a water taxi to get there and went crazy with the dim sum menu. Them Chinese know how to do something special with their green beans.
• Girl and the Goat - Not over-hyped, in my opinion. Best dish we ordered was something called the pig face (that did not look like a pig face). Runner up goes to yet another green bean dish.
• River Archtecture Tour - It was cold, but a boozy coffee drink (sold on the boat) kept me warm. The tour is entertaining and interesting, if that sort of thing interests you. But even if it doesn't it will definitely entertain you. They also do a good job of keeping it non-political given that Trump Tower is easily the most visible building throughout the entire tour.
• Tour of Wrigley Field - Did you know the term "out of left field" originated with the Cubs, where the left fielder used to hear the craziest things from the patients at the asylum just over the left field wall? 
• Cubs games - We went to two evenings games. Is there anything better than an evening in the friendly confines?! Game 1 kicked off with tater tots, Goose Island beer, winter jackets, and amazing seats. And then a 10-1 Cubs loss. Game 2 kicked off in the bleachers with the threat of sunburn and Jamie cornering my dad and asking for permission (or blessing? How does it actually work these days?) to marry me. Cubs lost again, but I won big.
• We also visited Lizzie in the 'burbs and Jamie got to read her girls Winnie the Pooh in an authentic accent.

Utah

• Arches National Park - Insane natural beauty and also where we got engaged! Well, technically we got engaged here, but you could see the park from our tent's front porch. Jamie proposed in a tent in the desert. I've consistently told him my greatest fear is a public flash mob, so he went the opposite way and I'm forever grateful that it was quiet and unique and just the two of us.
• Park City - All the feels at Bill+Jill's wedding. Highlight was the french fry bar that showed up late in the reception.
• Bryce Canyon - Half-day visit where we were joined by "Maddie from L.A." And played the part of good hosts in our AirBnB, making her cheap spaghetti and watching a British comedy (while I slept on the couch, let's be honest).
• Zion - I spent most of the day silently praying Jamie wouldn't want to do this hellish hike I'd read about that gains something like 1500 feet in elevation and distracted him with things like soft-serve ice cream and rocks to scramble over. He's a sucker because in the end, we didn't do the hike, but we did walk through a river that runs through a canyon and it was a dreamy way to end the day. The landscape is especially inspiring, I guess, because at every viewpoint I wanted to point and yell "Go West, young man!"
• It should be noted that in addition to deciding to commit his life to my happiness and pointing out the various things that need to be picked off my face (crumbs, eye gunk, things in teeth), Jamie not only found a cabin with a jacuzzi off a bedroom (dreamy!) but also drove an SUV the size of a large London flat around the state of Utah. This one...he gets snogs for life.

And finally,

Denver

• We spent another three nights being escorted around by the twins and crashing at Casa de Matt y Taylor - gracias!
• White water rafting with the twins - Our rafting guide was the personification of the person your parents fear you becoming. But, having emerged from the back of his truck-converted-into-a-camper in a Hawaiian shirt and stopped-counting-the-days-stubble, he expertly commandeered our raft so that no one fell out! He recommended breweries and taught us the beloved new phrase "glory stroke."
• Rocky Mountain National Park - What I remember about this was nice. I spent a good part of this trip asking if we could visit a brewery and sleeping in the car while my brothers and Jamie talked about things that mattered, like social justice and politics and the Queen's corgis. In the end, Jamie took a liking to Denver, so now I guess we're moving there (one day) and all of my altitude-sickness fears will come true.

And then we flew to London.