Meet the Parents

This past week and weekend, Sam and I ventured East to his hometown of Woodstown, NJ to surprise his Mom for her birthday. It's a quaint, colonial town with beautiful homes built in the 1800's settled within rolling hills and the trees were all bursting in the autumnal colors. Every other home was either decorated with harvesty/G-rated Halloweenesque scarecrows or McCain-Palin signs (just about as many Obama signs as McCain ones are in SF).



I saw his high school, the main street, the bedroom he grew up in (if those walls could talk), watched his dogs go Michael Vick on each other, but the best part was watching his Mom's face when Sam walked thru the door. She had no idea we were coming and she was so happy to see him for her birthday. It was a moment. Sam's parents are just as charming and witty as their son. Did anyone have a doubt? His Dad, by the way, makes a mean Shepherd's Pie.

Woodstown is part of the woodsy outskirts of Philadelphia. I have never been to the city of Philly so it was a treat for me to take in the history. Being from Los Angeles, I have no real concept of American history that dates back beyond the 1940's. We did a few touristy things, did some shopping, mingled with the natives before squeezing into our Useless Airways flight back home. Another great trip, fun time.



Pictures are here.

London pics

Are here. I know you wish you were with us.

Goodbye, London

Well our London trip is over. We had an amazing time, met some cool blokes, did some shopping - correction - did a lot of shopping, walked until our feet liquified, and now after the transatlantic flight back to the states, we are waiting for the final leg from Boston to San Francisco. Even though we got first class across the pond, we are tired and ready to come home.




It was an amazing trip with my amazing boyfriend whom I fell in love with all over again. Indeed we passed that crucial traveling together test. No arguments, lost tempers and fussiness (which is usually me when I don't eat) was kept at a minimum. I am already looking forward to our next trip.

Once I am home I'll post more pics.

Sticky and Sweet and 93,000 people

Day #2 in London wrapped up with Madonna at Wembley Arena. An impressive building built to hold over 100,000 people - mosty men given the fact there are virtually no W/C for women and rows of troughs to piss in. Even with the stage set-up on one side, there were 93,000 people there to see Madge. Our seats were not very close (the pic above? 10X zoom) and the sound did not match the screens or the stage - clearly the speed of sound let us down. From what we can tell, it was a great show.

She started with some numbers from her current album, Hard Candy, which isn't one of my favorites. But as the show went on, the concert took into its own. She hit my favorites, including Ray of Light (above) and Hung Up and sensing she was wrapping up, we left....along with a few thousand others. Word has it once she finished her finale apparently way past the neighborhood curfew, people queued for two hours to get on the tube back into the center of town.

Overall, a great experience - but we were too far away to get the most of it. Either way, we can say we saw Madonna at Wembley. Next time, we'll go for a game and pack it in with 99,998 screaming drunk sports fans, giving "sticky and "sweet" a whole new meaning. Booyah.

London, day #1

Well, we wrapped up day #1 of our trip to London - on Sam's 29th birthday no less. So far it's been an exciting and awesome trip.

First we were able to fly in first class (thanks David!) to Heathrow. And the hotel, the Hilton Waldorf (thanks hotel points) is in the center of the mix - within walking to Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus. We celebrated Sam's birthday by shopping at Fred Perry, Harrod's and Ted Baker. Way gay, right!





Tonight we wandered around Soho and mingled at Compton's, on Old Compton Road.

Tomorrow - the London Eye and we'll be even gayer by seeing Madonna at Wembley.

Having fun! I know you wish you were with us!

Holiday

Tonight Sam and I go on holiday. We'll be redeyeing to the East Coast and then to London. Fuckin' A.

It's been a long time since I have travelled intercontinental. The last time was in 2005 with David to Peru. That was an awesome trip but tonight will be Sam and I's first international wandering together. And even though the trip will be a short one - we are back on Saturday - we'll have plenty of fun.

On the agenda - we'll not only try and spot the queen above, but also this queen when we see her perform at Wembley Stadium. She will probably be extra-British that night. Aside from that, I'll be dragging Sam all over town - Earl's Court, the London Eye, the Tower of London, Harrod's, Soho, Covent Garden....

Any suggestions?