adrienne and lauren in england

So I know I posted 24,732 photos from our trip to San Sebastián, but I have a few more to share from the girls' visit.  Adrienne and Lauren planned it right in that they gave themselves several days of vacay wind down back in England before they headed home to NYC and DC, respectively.

We punted in Cambridge (with BYOB mason jars to which our punter asked if we were slinging moonshine) and hit up my favorite nearby village pub gardens.

We took a footpath walk through the fields to the River Nene, promptly to be turned around by cattle running us off their fields - I guess they didn't like little meaty Henry sashay shante-ing along their banks.

We continued the five meals a day San Sebastián snacking routine - proper British cheddar, gooey oven roasted camembert accompanied by pepper relish made + canned by Lauren herself.

We trained it down to London one day, maybe spending too much time and $$$ in Topshop.  Then we hit up The Craft Beer Co. for some proper scotch eggs and a beer selection that Marco and I are not accustomed to in the countryside pubs.  After several beers we made it across town to have high tea at The Lanesborough.  Courses of scones / jam / clotted cream, tiers of tea sandwiches, and petite desserts.  All enjoyed over entertaining conversation just maaaaaybe a few decibels over proper high tea conversation.  Lauren's friend Rebekah, who had also just moved to the UK from DC, joined us.  It was so fun to meet her and get her perspective on settling in to a new overseas life.  We loved hearing about her London flat and time spent discovering her new neighborhood - it made me a wee bit jealous. 

We rounded out Lauren and Adrienne's trip with a last supper at Oundle Mill. 

Girls, girls, girls I thank you so much for coming to see us and our little life.  We had so much fun having you.  We drank too much, ate too much, spent too much, and watched way too many episodes of Gypsy Brides. xo 

five ladies in san sebastián

In the beginning of June I met some of my main ladies in San Sebastián, Spain for five days.  Lauren and Adrienne started their Euro adventure visiting me in England for several days, then went on to Berlin, then met up with our friends Rosalin and Sarah in Barcelona, and then all four of them trained it to San Sebastián where I met up.

We rented a top floor apartment with a wrap around terrace almost as large as the apartment itself - great choice Lauren!  With five overflowing ladies' suitcases packed into an apartment, we spent mornings and pre dinner cocktails/tapas, out on that terrace taking in the city views.

We spent each morning at a café around the corner slowly coming off the wine and sun from the day before.  Spanish coffee, free Wi-Fi, and fresh tortilla Española bocadillos - we were in heaven.  Then we would stroll back to the apartment (passing Massimo Dutti where Lauren would fawn over a leather jacket in the window), put on our bathing suits, round up the glass empties to dispose of in the APPROPRIATE glass container on the street (Don't put them in the paper container - accidentally - an old lady with a cane will let you hear it!), and then head to the beach. 

We were lucky to have perfect weather most of the trip which made for long and lazy days lounging on our new cheap beach towels.  With both Rosalin and I living overseas so far from family and friends and surviving on imessage, it was so great for us to hear our friends laughs, see their judgey facial expressions, and chat / gossip face to face.

On our walks home from the beach we would discuss our night's looks, what restaurants we wanted to check out that night, pass and comment about the Massimo Dutti jacket, and pop into the market to pick up pre-dinner snacks and wine.

Each night we would head to the old quarter, Parte Vieja, where there are hundreds of Pintxos bars and restaurants.  We ate and drank like kings, trying a little bit of everything.  After dinner we would wander the cobblestone pedestrian streets and find the next bar.  We may or may not have returned to one certain bar two nights in a row because the Spanish Jason Schwartzman owner found our rowdy American girl swagger to be hilarious (shots on the house) and maybe endearing?

It was rainy on our last day so we did some shopping (Massimo Dutti leather jacket!) and returned to a pastry shop we found the night before. 

Well traveled Marco has always talked about how fond he is of San Sebastian, but this trip far exceeded my expectations.  It was one of the best gastronomic cities I have ever been to, if not the best.  Add to that a beautiful city, great beaches, and time with some of my main ladies.......it was perfect.