So I can't believe this but... I only have 13 more days in London before I return to NY. And writing that just made it seem even more real than it already was. In case you need a little refresher (I would certainly need one if I were not living it), I have to return to NY because I am currently in London on a Visitor's Visa. In July J and I will get married (Oh.my.GAWD.) in a civil ceremony. At which point, I get to change over all of my documents to reflect my new name. I am sure this will go smoothly... how do you type sarcasm? Then I get to fill out a ream's worth of paperwork and submit it to UK Border Patrol for my Dependent Visa. This process will most likely take from mid-July to November or even December. In some ways, this is good. I have wedding planning to do for our church wedding which will be in 2014 and marathon training to conquer.
You should see what comes up when you Google 'Running Bride'.
I figure that it's probably a good thing that I am training for a marathon while all of this is going on. It gives me something to focus on that is not immigration or wedding related and it will be an excellent way to relieve the bucket loads of stress that I will inevitably feel as I deal with one bureaucratic agency after the next. I am hoping this will prevent me from going completely postal on some poor unsuspecting florist or stationer as they attempt to question my color palette or font choices. Even though J and I will be legally married in July, we will not feel really and truly married until it is in the church. It seems the Catholic Church agrees with us and let me tell you, that is a WHOLE other bag of worms. This blog may very well turn into "How to Get Married Across Two Continents and Not Lose Your Mind" quite soon.
She doesn't really look that stressed, honestly.
In my last post I talked about how my mom came over and I found my dress. Well, since then I have found my shoes and my bridesmaids! I had a lot of fun thinking about how I would ask the girls as I was so far away and I came up with a slightly different angle for each one. Luckily for me, they all said yes! I am going to need all the help I can get with this shindig. Three of them have already witnessed me having the meltdown of all meltdowns (picture hysterical speech that may have gotten me on Gawker/Jezebel if You Tube existed back then) when I was in charge of our sorority's recruitment so I know they will be able to handle me as bride. Thankfully for us all, I have matured a bit in the last 12 years.
But enough of that. This weekend was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK. It was actually pretty great because it coincided with the US's Memorial Day, so everyone had an extra day off! Huzzah for the unofficial start of summer! J and I did not travel outside of England, but we certainly made the most of the wonderful sunny weather that we had for the majority of the weekend.
I say the majority of the weekend because Friday was not sunny. Friday, was a misery. And this was unfortunate. J and I had tickets to a production of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. I was super psyched to see this because one of my favorite actors, Robert Sean Leonard, was playing Atticus Finch.
I cannot handle the end of this movie. I just can't.
Once I got over the horror of realizing that RSL was apparently old enough to be playing Atticus (Dead Poets Society was released 24 years ago, I do not lie.), I turned to J and told him that we must go! So we did. It was excellent. I cannot say enough about this performance. It was beautifully done and I was impressed by the dedication to the characters by the cast of Brits. I feel this story is so American, and yet the underlying themes really are universal. RSL did a fabulous job with the courtroom scene. When you are trying to perform a roll created by Gregory Peck, the stakes are pretty high and I think Robert (we are on a first name basis now) met the challenge. Too bad it was 45 degrees. With intermittent rain. But, the show must go on! And so it did. And it was worth the less than optimal weather.
On Saturday J and I had brunch with friends and went to see Roger Hodgson in concert at the Prince Albert Hall. Now, it is important to note that outside of a couple of children, we were definitely the youngest people there. But it was a blast! The "Voice of Supertramp" sounded great. I also REALLY enjoyed watching the audience. Highly entertaining. Our walk back home post-concert took a route avoiding all pubs and large masses of people as the Champions League Finals had been played that night. J wanted to be able to watch the replay of the game, so it was necessary that no errant fan be seen lest he should give the result away. We were successful and then discovered that we did not receive the channel that was broadcasting the replay. Hmmmm... (slow clap) well played universe, well played.
Bayern Munich: Champions of the Champions League
TO BE CONTINUED...
Tomorrow I will write about our amazing trip to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. It truly deserves its own post. The place is unbelievable.
I am so happy that we had such a beautiful long weekend. Mostly because, well...
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