Hairy obviously is a big foodie and loves to check out farmers markets and food stands. He took us to Burrough Market on a Friday afternoon. I got a fresh green juice filled with all manner of green things, and then we walked about, taking it all in.

Sorry this entry is so dirty.

Okay, let me tell you about this cheese. Hairy went ape for it. It’s called raclette. They have half-wheels of it baking under a heating element, and the top layer starts to melt all over the place. Then they scrape the melty cheese over potatoes and stuff. The smell is STRONG. I love me all kinds of cheese, but the air around this cheese cart really smelled like a barn. We didn’t have the scrapey potato cheese, but a grilled cheese sammich instead. It was good, albeit stinky.

I needed something for my sweet tooth, so I picked up an almond croissant at this baked goods table that had the most amazing English muffins.

We’re so used to seeing the stupid English muffins from the store, that these humongous fresh ones seemed so magical!

The market itself was sort of nestled underneath the train overhead.

After the market, we checked out the Brick Lane area as suggested by my kind Twitter pals, and I bought a cute dress. Then we had to hoof it to meet with my cousin YanYan and her hubby Alex to have dinner at their favorite Italian place.

They are like the nicest hosts ever! Upon arriving at our hotel a few days earlier, reception told me I had a package waiting at the concierge, and it turned out to be a giant bag of chips and cookies and a bottle of water and a sweet card and a subway pass and London maps. Too much right? SO NICE!

Aside from visiting one of my favorite cities, I really got to spend a lot of time with family on this trip, which is a treat, and I felt very lucky, especially since we are so spread out all over the world. I hadn’t seen YanYan since I can’t even remember. Over 10 years. Maybe over 15. I am hoping we get to see her again sooner than that!

Back in London, we walked out of our hotel by Hyde Park and had breakfy with Victor, and then we met up with my cousin YanYan to hang out it in British  Museum.

I no longer need to look at another Greek water pitcher/vase for the rest of my life. THEY HAVE A LOT OF THOSE THERE.

In this photo, I told Hairy to look like one of the busts. This was a rare moment that I told him he was smiling TOO MUCH.

After the museum, we had soft serve ice cream from the ice cream truck sitting outside. Hairy took lots of pics of the cute truck with his Holga, but he hasn’t developed those yet. Then we had to change clothes for fancy din dins at Pied a Terre, a 2 Michelin star restaurant whose site is not loading right now … The whole reason this London trip came to be was due to the fact that my other girl cousin Terri had been in London for a year getting her culinary degree, and she just graduated. So we thought we’d meet up with my cousin Vic to celebrate graduation with Terri. Hence, marathon eating!

Here are some poorly shot, dark photos of our meal. I don’t like using the flash in a restaurant, nor do I know how to take photos in low light, sooooo….yup. We all got the tasting menu. Hairy got the wine flight to go with it and got trashed.

I’m shocked I didn’t gain more weight on this vacay, but we actually walked around all day everyday, so I guess it came out even!

I’ll be honest. When Hairy said he wanted to take a side trip to Dublin during our London trip, I was like, “…..WHY!?”

He said, “Because it’s beautiful!”

Then, when we got to Dublin, and it looked like a lot of other European cities (like Copenhagen), I was bummed. I’d been brought to Ireland under false pretenses! Where was all the greenery? Where was the nature? Where were the sweeping Emerald hills? I complained about this a lot the first day, and then on the second day, Hairy rented a car so we could drive an hour of town to check out Wicklow, which was supposed to be really beautiful. Unfortch, we got the car around 3-4pm, so by the time we got to the outskirts of Wicklow, it was already getting dark, but at least we got out of the city a little bit, saw the ocean and some sheep, drove into some dirt piles, and drove on the wrong side of the road for the first time.

We had also seen these giant prehistoric bugs emerge out of a hole in the soil, and I thought I’d gotten video of me freaking out about it, but I guess in my terror, I hadn’t really been recording. Oh wellz! Here’s some video of Dublin via car, as well as documentation of Hairy’s driving escapades.

So when we bumped into Roisin on the street, she suggested we go to the Leprechaun Museum.

Hairy and I had seen signs for this all over town, but I kinda rolled my eyes. On our Boston trip last year, he dragged me to the Salem Witch Museum, and, no offense Salem, it kinda blew. So there was no way I was gonna go to the Leprechaun Museum!!

However, upon Roisin’s recommendation, I agreed to give it a go, plus we dragged my cousin Victor along, too! (He insisted we all get a drink first, though…which we did.)

Let the journey begin!

So we actually didn’t see very many representations of leprechauns in the museum. The first room has books and pictures in it, and a dude gives you a little intro. The rest of the place is like an interactive journey through storytelling. Each room is supposed to represent something, which I forget now, like an abstract forest, a cavern, a fairy hill, a rainbow, stuff like that. Except the cavern is like this wooden structure, and the rainbow is made out of stringy tassels. The best part, tho, was the Giant’s Room. All the furniture is really big, as if you were the leprechaun. So you get to climb all over giant chairs and stuff. I tried to get up on the chair, but I was wearing a dress. I didn’t make it. I ended up giving myself a giant bruise!

Photos first. Video at the bottom.

Did you know that Hairy is a shopping-pusher? If you see something and say it’s cute, he’ll be like, “BUY EEEEET!!!! You never like anything BUYEEEEETTTT!!!” Doesn’t he see all the boxes and packages coming to the house all the time with clothes inside of them? I’m Twinkie Chan and I’m a shopaholic!

I bought this dress in the basement of TopShop in London. I had no idea the basement housed a myriad of “concessions” or racks and racks of various different brands. I loved it down there! We were in kind of a rush, plus I don’t like to spend lots of time shopping around Hairy, so I made a quick dash around the place and picked up three dresses. I’m sure the other two will appear very soon!

The boots I bought before the trip. I thought it was going to be cold, so I wanted to pack for cold weather! I had been on the lookout all winter for a pair of boots I could wear with dresses and also under jeans. I didn’t want a pointy toe or a pointy heel… I wanted it to be cute and girlie but not lolita. Needless to say, I have yet to find the perfect boot! So I went with some good ol’ Doc Martens in black patent.

As it turned out, it was quite warm in Dublin and London! Warmer than SF! We were very lucky. I just sweat a lot more than I’d planned 😛

Now that we are home, it is actually super duper hot in SF, even here in the dreary Sunset by the ocean! I actually feel a bit too naked in this outfit. I am not in the habit of showing my knees. I have a complex about my knees and thighs being gigantic and hideous, so we’ll see if I actually make it out of the house without sticking my trusty jeans underneath!

Dress: Dahlia
Boots: Doc Martens
Socks: UO