YES, I know that I will be divisble by 11 when I am 33. But that's a ways away. :)

Today is my last day to be divisible by 11. :)

Last night about ten of us gathered at my apartment for a (somewhat) traditional seder dinner. We had all the good stuff - matzah ball soup, brisket, carrot pudding, and lots of chocolate stuff for dessert. And, of course, Manischewitz! :) There were too many of us to sit around my roommate's dining table, so we spread a blanket out and sat in a circle on the floor. I had a blast! Thanks to Lizzi for showing us how to be good Jews, and for cooking. :)

On a completely different religious note, Easter is this Sunday! For the first time in a while, I will not be making my traditional pysanky eggs this year. This is partly because I'm super busy, and partly because I think I have lost my electric kistka (think fountain pen for wax), not to mention Aunt Marge's Egg Blower. Maybe next year?

And last, but not least, many thanks to a special lady for my really awesome piece of Texas paraphernalia. It rocks! :)

Happy Easter everyone!
Ruach, Namaste, Love,
Katy.

Sunday. This is where my weekend got interesting. Through a series of interesting miscalculations on the part of my father and I, I managed to miss my flight home on Sunday by ten minutes. Luckily, my parents were still booked in their hotel for two more days, so I had a place to stay and people to keep me company on my "bonus" day in London. The four of us ventured out to the Victoria & Albert Museum for a Sunday Jazz Brunch in one of the museum's cafes.

To our surprise, the lunch was excellent. Two students from the Royal College of Music entertained us with some jazz favorites, and the cafe (situated in the museum's newest wing) was in a gorgeous setting that made for a quality dining experience.

Overall, I think the V&A museum is one of the best I have ever been to, on either side of the ocean. The bulk of the museum is from the private collection of Victoria and Albert themselves, who were avid collectors and art enthusiasts. There were religious relics, collections of iron and stone castings, and a cool retrospective of western clothing styles. My prize of the day was a pair of silver and aquamarine earrings (w/ necklace) inspired by the art deco artwork of Macintosh. They are tres cool. :)

Monday. As a standby passenger, I arrived at Heathrow Airport at 6:15am Monday morning, and waited in line for 45 minutes to put my name on a standby list. I then waited in the airport for 5 hours until my name was called, and I was seated (in premium economy!) for my flight home to Washington. Needless to say, I was a tired lady when I returned home. :)

Saturday. We woke up early and journeyed to the infamous Portobello Road street market to wander around. This is an amazing experience - there are literally hundreds of open booths with antiques, jewelry, food, flowers, and everything else under the sun. Forgive me if I quote a line from Bedknobs and Broomsticks to describe:

"Portobello Road, Portobello Road,
Street where the riches of ages are sold,
Anything and everything a chap can unload,
Is sold off a barrow in Portobello Road."

Its true. Only in England could a vendor sell 100 year-old antiques with so much nonchalance as if they were tacky souvenirs. I found my prize in one of the first booths that I came across - a gorgeous framed print from 1899 of my family's tartan (MacGillivray). We spent the morning poking around, and then enjoyed a wonderful ploughman's lunch at a pub. This wasn't just any pub, though. It was The Green Man, located in the basement of Harrods, London's most posh department store. We each got a lunch and a half-pint of stout, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

A very well-fed and sleepy Harris family then travelled to the Drury Lane Theatre just outside of Covent Garden to see the revival production of My Fair Lady. The most interesting part was that we were sitting in a theatre surrounded by British people who were watching a show about their own language and culture. It made me wonder what they thought about it all. To continue the theme, we ate dinner in Covent Garden, Eliza Doolittle's real-life stomping grounds. While the setting was perfect, this restaurant was the worst of the entire weekend - and has the sad distinction of serving the most disgusting cheesecake I've ever tasted. :) The evenings most memorable moment: Standing in Covent Garden in twilight, listening to a quintet of buskers (street performers) playing Bolero.

It was also VERY easy to fall asleep Saturday night.

Well, I am back home from London, and highly exhausted. I'll try and recap some of the major events of the weekend, and add pictures sometime later..

Friday. I arrived in London at the unGodly hour of 7am, and rode with my dad on the Picadilly line back to our hotel(s) in Bloomsbury where I said hi to my mom and brother who were waiting there for me. We walked all through SOHO and Oxford Street, before eating lunch at the cafe inside the newly renovated British Museum. That afternoon we went back to our old house in South Hill Park and took lots and lots of pictures! Afterwards we took a looong walk from the house, through the heath, and up to Hampstead High Street. We all got coffee at the local Starbucks, and then went to visit Jeff's place, Worrell House. It was literally like an MTV Real World house - lots of students in a totally decked out townhouse livin' the high life. Good work, Jeff! :) From Worrell House we went to dinner at a little cafe called Giotto near our hotel. I can safely say I had the most amazing carbonara sauce of my life! It was VERY easy to fall asleep Friday night. :)

Take a look at my transportation!
Virgin Atlantic

K.

Today is the day! I get to fly to London! YAY!

I didn't really sleep all that well last night because I was so excited to leave today.. This may actually work in my favor later when I get on the plane, because I will (hopefully) fall asleep faster and acclimate to London time more easily. That's the plan, but we'll see how well it works.

I should win an award for the most efficient packer EVER. I spent much time agonizing over what to take on the plane as a carry-on, and have distilled all of my belongings and entertainment sources into on bag - my purse. If I can make it on a seven hour flight with just this purse, I will be the best traveler alive! :)

Katy.

until I fly to London!! Yay!! :) I check the weather religiously, and this morning the forecast for London was downgraded to cloudy (but in the high 50s!) all weekend. Looks like I'll get the quintessential London experience after all! If you want to see the swanky digs I get to stay in, take a virtual tour!

There was major craziness on the highways this morning. The DC beltway (DCs version of LBJ for you Dallasites) was completely closed this morning after an eight car pileup somewhere up in Maryland. Can you imagine a city's major road (all 5 of the counterclockwise lanes) completely closed for several hours during rush hour traffic in rain and fog? I can't. Makes me REALLY glad I take the Metro to work!

I came to work today to find that only the pink roses in my fantastic flower arrangement were starting to show signs of their age.. so I busted out the scissors (only Fiskars, of course!) and made myself a little mini-arrangement that sits on the other side of my desk to freshen up the pink guys. So now I am completely surrounded by yummy flower smells (thanks Adam) and the envy of all my coworkers. :)

Katy.

I have three more days until I fly to London. The weather here is dreary, chilly, and wet, so I shouldn't get too much climate-shock when I get there. Luckily my office is filled with yummy flower scents (thank you, Adam!) to keep me company until I can jump on my plane, or until Spring arrives.

I've been running around getting ready: getting my hair cut, dragging suitcases out of the back of my closet, and dusting off that (god awful) passport photo from 1997. Hopefully the customs person won't laugh at me. :)

My parents (hopefully) should have landed in London in the wee hours of the morning (my time), although they haven't called to tell me this yet. I tracked their flight on FlightArrivals.com, which is one of my favorite sites. If someone you know/love is flying somewhere, you can track them on this site!

The prospect of leaving the country in a few days has really put a tremendous strain on my will power to do real, productive work here at the FAA. I find myself looking up random pieces of information, like the hours of my favorite stores on Oxford Street, or what the average daily rainfall is in London for this week, or showtimes for the musicals I want to see. I've also been updating my website, if you haven't noticed yet! The photogallery will be back up soon, and in better shape than ever!

:)
Katy.

Today has been a phenominally beautiful one in DC. After a week of freezing rain and dense fog, today emerged out of nowhere with temperatures in the high 60s and clear sunny skies. I took my lunch and went on a stroll along the southern part of the Mall, wandered through the National Botanical Garden, and walked back to work along the northern walkway. It was the perfect way to spend a lunch hour! :)

It IS possible to get pants from Brooks Brothers for less than $30! :)

Wow, its been a while since I've written one of these things.. I have made a resolution to write them more often, but we'll see how that goes! :)

This weekend was super fun, as I had two friends from school (Olga and Jessey) staying with me for a few days. We literally spent the entire weekend eating, and it was awesome! I also saw A Knight's Tale (Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell) for the first time, and I am now a fan. For Rufus fans, a little known movie of his is one of my personal favorites: Cold Comfort Farm. Its a British movie done by A&E, but if you look hard, you can find it in the US too. Go! See!

Spring for me is gearing up to be really really busy.. I am flying to London at the end of March to visit my brother, who is studying abroad with some fellow students at the Worrell House in London. My parents are meeting me over there, and there will be a Harris reunion! I plan on visiting my old house in South Hill Park, as well as stopping by the American School in London to reminisce. I also plan on eating. A lot. Speaking of ASL, it just struck me that one of my favorite English teachers of all time was my English teacher in London, who taught me that alot was really a lot. Thanks Mr. Steffes!

After London, I'll spend a couple weeks at home enjoying the cherry blossum season here in DC, and celebrating my birthday, and then head to Philly for a weekend to go to an engagement party.

I finally understand what my mom was talking about for all those years when she said spring was the busiest time of the year. It seems like so much is going on! Cross your fingers, and I'll try to keep recording it here. ;)

Ruach, Namaste, Love,
Katy.