The week has flown by, and we've been having an amazing time. Meh spent several days visiting with friends T and B with their son T, including a lovely tour of the stunning
Wisley Gardens and
Grey's Court while I had meetings and setup for my conference.
I got to meet M and K on their last night in London for dinner at my favourite Thai
spot here -- M and K had eaten (and cooked!) at their home office in Thailand -- which still features a giant indoor forest and a substantial coi pond (but alas, apparently no longer the lilies given to female guests upon exit). My
conference went well, and Meh enjoyed a surreal
performance experience at the Barbican with friend N.
While my conference wrapped up today, Meh visited the
Garden Museum, the
Silver Vaults and discovered what may be her favourite new spot to have
tea. (She thought she even spotted Natalie Portman having tea at the same time, but friends and paparazzi suggest it may have been someone else.) At long last, tonight was our first evening back together since our anniversary dinner, and N's brother-in-law had fabulously snagged us some tickets to a show at
Somerset House, overlooking the Thames.
We went to grab the tickets a little bit before the show, and were greeted with VIP passes! There was an entire separate outdoor area of couches, a full bar, a handful each of free drink tickets, and apparently license to come and go to the show itself through a private entrance (even carrying our drinks - things that likely wouldn't fly at an outdoor US venue). So we happily went up to the bar and Meh announced she would like a glass of champagne. The bartender gave a big smile and a "very good, madame", which should have been our first warning sign. He then tore the foil off and popped the cork off a fresh bottle, pulled out a bucket, filled it with ice, and placed two glasses on top. Meh started trying to offer him our tickets, and he gave us an "are you kidding?" look (followed by actually saying "Are you kidding?") Apparently champagne was not covered by these drink tickets, and it was a cash bar (insert irony here, since it was a concert sponsored by American Express). And yup, I didn't have enough cash at hand to cover the cost of the champagne. Mildly mortified, we apologetically fled to the street in search of an ATM. By the time we returned, the champagne had apparently (and thankfully) been snapped up by someone else, so we quietly grabbed and meekly sipped our drink ticket single serving plastic bottles of white wine before heading into the concert.
The concert itself was tons of fun -- Somerset House has a large interior courtyard where the concert was held, with fun lighting for both the stage and the walls of the building itself.
Ellie Goulding had apparently recently played/recorded in Seattle (and had been on Saturday Night Live a few weeks before that), but this was a homecoming for her, and the crowd (and we) loved every minute of the show. Hooray for a fun Friday night date night out! Yes, even if we turned into pumpkins before she'd completed her set; we had a nice stroll back to the hotel and then a late evening (early afternoon there) chat with mima to catch up on the boys' day.
The week has flown by, and we've been having an amazing time. Meh spent several days visiting with friends T and B with their son T, including a lovely tour of the stunning Wisley Gardens and Grey's Court while I had meetings and setup for my conference. 
While my conference wrapped up today, Meh visited the Garden Museum, the Silver Vaults and discovered what may be her favourite new spot to have tea. (She thought she even spotted Natalie Portman having tea at the same time, but friends and paparazzi suggest it may have been someone else.) At long last, tonight was our first evening back together since our anniversary dinner, and N's brother-in-law had fabulously snagged us some tickets to a show at Somerset House, overlooking the Thames. 
We went to grab the tickets a little bit before the show, and were greeted with VIP passes! There was an entire separate outdoor area of couches, a full bar, a handful each of free drink tickets, and apparently license to come and go to the show itself through a private entrance (even carrying our drinks - things that likely wouldn't fly at an outdoor US venue). So we happily went up to the bar and Meh announced she would like a glass of champagne. The bartender gave a big smile and a "very good, madame", which should have been our first warning sign. He then tore the foil off and popped the cork off a fresh bottle, pulled out a bucket, filled it with ice, and placed two glasses on top. Meh started trying to offer him our tickets, and he gave us an "are you kidding?" look (followed by actually saying "Are you kidding?") Apparently champagne was not covered by these drink tickets, and it was a cash bar (insert irony here, since it was a concert sponsored by American Express). And yup, I didn't have enough cash at hand to cover the cost of the champagne. Mildly mortified, we apologetically fled to the street in search of an ATM. By the time we returned, the champagne had apparently (and thankfully) been snapped up by someone else, so we quietly grabbed and meekly sipped our drink ticket single serving plastic bottles of white wine before heading into the concert.
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