my 41st birthday at BoomChicago

Tim is the man when it comes to party planning. For my 41st birthday he booked a VIP table at BOOMCHICAGO, a dinner theater show that is part gourmet food and part 'the groundlings' of L.A. The food was awesome and the player's of this show are 'brill' (short for 'brilliant' tim's new british slang he thinks works......please for the love of God don't encourage him, it's cuteness stops by the second 'br'.) Anyway the actors parody of the dutch was un-offesivelessy astute as well as the U.S. and the impromptu stuff transcended language barrier's.

Sharing my birthday was Tim, Destini, Leslie, Sander and one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes on, Crofty (think Angelina Jolie)

Shopping their fashion district was amazing, Leidseplein the square where it's located was filled with massive fashion shops, candies and pastries, cheeses, ect. Cobblestones dating back to the 1500 still carried the shoppers to and fro. *sigh* you don't get a lot of 'to's and fro's' now a'days, and a ice rink (apparently europe loves their ice rinks) busy with locals and tourists alike falling on their rears to techno music (and apparently all of europe loves it's techno, and not JUST the persian cab driver's.)

Just across the square was the famous "Bulldog" coffeeshop. (the location of it might clue you in why so many tourists were falling on their rears ice skating.) For those unaware the Bulldog sells cannabis which is legal to smoke in the Netherlands (and obliviously most of the American and British 18 year old males are aware of this fact, just not they are crap ice skaters) It is totally legit even with its own gift shop. yes I bought the t-shirt. In fact, it host's an On Duty police officer.

The Hotel was the Eden Amsterdam-American hotel, and it was beautiful, with it's fountain to our room with a spiral staircase that led to a viewing window outside overlooking the square. Their staff was awesome, and when they found out it was my birthday, sent up a birthday card with a free drink voucher. Nice Touch, now when in the Netherlands I will recommend the Amsterdam- American hotel to all travelers, and the APEX Waterloo when in Edinburgh, Scotland. One note to travelers though, here the mini bars, which are stocked to the gills with EVERYTHING are electronically monitored so even if you just take something out to look at it you get charged so be careful!

It was the most perfect way to celebrate my birthday, apart from mom and dad not there who would of had a blast, and all my dear "familia" back home (you know who you are) and also I wish Jane, Frank, Lydia and Jacqueline were there as well. But all in spirit.

*wink* Bonnie Langdon

"shoe me da mon-ay"

Bear in mind each shelf is 3-4 DEEP

Those boots, sorry PETA, but those boots!

The woman, the legend, Ladies and 10% of the gentlemen, JACQUELINE!

Who's your daddy now?

This one's for the girls....

One of our fortunes has been being introduced to the myriad of Jane's friends. One of them is a woman named Jacqueline. Jacqueline is the wife of Graham, both of whom we met at the dinner party Jane threw and where if you remember, Tim helped cook. Graham is a shoe importer. Got your interest now ladies? That's right, the boys hit the mother load. Well, actually Jacqueline hit the mother load. That sounds shallow and bad, which is the furthest from what I intend when I use the term 'mother load'. I mean if your mate is gonna have a profession that you would encourage them to bring their work home, this is it. Carrie from 'sex in the city' would be gagging for it! But before I get into the pictures she let us take of her closet...YES WE GOT PICTURE'S, let me paint you a better picture of this woman.

When you experience being around this woman, the only metaphor that can do her any justice would be, you know that bubble in a glass of Veuve Cliqueot champagne that before you let slip down your throat you let it play effervescently upon your tongue? An effervescence that makes you smile and clink your glass in the celebration of life that is the joy of drinking Champagne, well that IS Jacqueline.

After that dinner where Tim declared her his new wife, she invited us, thanks to the wonderful suggestion of Jane (that woman is amazing) She invited us to see 'the shoe closet' the next day. And no, neither Tim and I could sleep.

That day had Jane pulling into one of the most beautiful homes ( I am trying not to be crass and say mansion, but fine, her house would make Oprah jealous) I have had the fortune of not just driving past looking longing thru the gate, but into the driveway. The circles our dear Jane run's in......I mean, wow, AND she's my blood. (I just can't say enough about how cool Jane is)

Chris Rock has a saying

"Shaquille O'Neil, he's rich. The man that signs Shaq's checks, he's wealthy". Dear Jacqueline kindly let us experience a glimpse of how the kind of man that signs those checks lives. To top it off she is so humble about it. She never once displayed behavior of the type of person who uses wealth to keep others down, or suppressed, or rubbed their face in the station that life has given them. Her home with it's 4 living rooms ALL decorated by her herself, no designers, made mine and Tim's taste look like the "Jaqueline Smith Collection" at K-Mart. (again, we got the picture's.) This is the woman who studied at 'le cordon blue' in France and she cooked for us the most sumptuous meal of butternut squash soup with chives and creme fraiche, hearty bread with the most amazing variation of regional cheeses of the likes I have never had, and a wonderful italian chocolate cake with heavy cream. YUMMERS! To top it off she had those things called cracker's, the gift you pull and it pops open with a fun gift and a paper crown to wear.

Then she took us to the closet.

If you listened closely I swear you could hear cherubs singing upon the opening of this massive closet, revealing row upon row of designer original perfect size 4 shoes. Ones that were original one of a kind, hand painted and designed by Terry de Havilland, or boots (worth 5 thousand POUNDS, not simple dollars darling),made with the softest deer fur, or platforms with asian influence and delicate straps. ON and ON and ON. It was a like a glamorous shoe echo. Ok, I never have wanted to be a girl, but oh, did I want to adopt one, just so I could dress her in these. Of course I doubt that Knuck Knuck, the Himalayan whistle kid I would only qualify for would, have the grace, that Jacqueline did while bopping around!

Thank you so much Jane for introducing your fabulous,( I can't even describe her just as fabulous, she IS the reason the word was even invented,) friend.

On a totally different note, Jane also introduced us to the most amazing new telly show that started here called "The Misfits". If you can iTunes it, take my recommendation and download it. This show rocks. It is the most unique show I have every seen! The writing just floored us as well as the concept! Thats all I will say about that, just do it!

This day has been crazy good. Thank you Jane!

*simon jenkins*

Here are some visuals so far.....up to day 4:

This is Tim and our Host Frank at Franks local pub, the Old Vic, short for Victoria. Frank is one of the quickest witted blokes I have met and a right proper gent

above is me on the stairway of King William's apartments, then the view of the gardens from his rooms.

then a picturesque photo of where we are staying at walking thru, we actually had to help 7 cars up the hill that could not. It sucked.

*wink Tiffany Miner*

King's, Beheading's and Snozberries: day 3

Today we were off to Hampton Court, a palace built for Ann Bolyne by Henry the VIII. I found it most difficult not singing 'Enry the eighth, I am I am Enry the eighth I am' every time I said his name which only Tim thought was funny, til about the 13th time, then not so much.......I still sing it in my head though. Anyway, this place is massive! Both decadent and overwhelming in size and what it took to run, it definitely was good to be king. Seeped in both the rich english history that still nodded to roman times in its art, the amount of brink and marble just attested to the sheer labour and artistry of its architects. As the snow began falling here we weaved between inner courtyard's with manicured lawns and fountains that looks as if time never touched them. The tudor style is so grand, you almost wonder if was actually a overcompensation for male anatomy like those guys who drive Hummer's, hmmm, smaller the pillars bigger the....well you get my point.

I could of spent all day just admiring the craftmenship of the wall tapestries and paintings on the walls and ceiling's, let alone the carvings on all the wood. Even the royal toilet was padded in velvet. ok thats kinda gross when you think about it, but in concept I can see where they were going.

Turning every ornate corner you could feel the past as real as it is today. At one point we were in the actual dining room that has become synonymous for Henry's decadence. I was engrossed in the table cloths that has facts printed on them on what it took to run his sumptuous meal and when looking up I was startled by the actual person himself walking with another. No, don't call Ghost Hunters yet, it turned out to be a paid actor to give 'realness' to what you were experiencing.

They even had an outdoor skating rink with a cafe right outside with an ornate old fashioned Merry-go-round. (this would be for the tourist's, I doubt Henry had one installed.) Driving thru Cobham from the castle to lunch you would almost expect to see knights riding on horses thru the woods, and the whole time I am thinking I am taking the same path's and footsteps these actual people of yore did and seeing the same sights. Ok perhaps not the Panda Express and Starbucks but other than that the village with its upscale shops of apothecaries, candle necessitates, and the like kept reminding me for such a span in years, some things hardly change regardless of the length of time and evolution of man's needs. I must admit though, I did snicker in my head when I past the dentistry office. Usually one doesn't put Dentistry and the english in the same sentence, as much as one doesn't put the word 'hot new gay bar' and 'downtown Port Orchard' together. Just saying.

Lunch was wonderful at the New York Grill (Jane's idea, she thought it would be a taste of home) and as we ate the snow started falling fast so after my California chicken burger we went to the grocery store to get supplies for tonight's dinner when I saw the coolest thing. It is a scanner that you check out, pop it on your grocery cart. You then scan in each item you put in your basket as your stocking it up. THEN you swipe your card on it, pay for it, and leave. NO check out, No checker, No waiting for someone to finally have the stuff wrung up, then dig thru their purse to write a check ect. ect. ect. BRILLIANT! Do you hear that Safeway, I WANT A SCANNER! It was the coolest thing EVER!

Tim, Frank and I just came back from the 'old vic', their local pub, a bustling group of cheering english kicking off Friday. What a jolly lot, they even have gambling machines that pay out money. I had to do it, not that I knew what buttons I was pressing or doing, but I did walk away with £6. Beginners luck, but it was fun. Well anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for anything twinkling with buttons to push. (that would explain what attracted me to Tim, HAHA)

Anyway tonight Frank and Jane are having their friends over for dinner who want to meet us. I guess he is a multimillionaire and she,

who studied at 'le cordon blue' in France and who always wear's the kickiest high heels. I love her already. Tim is cooking for us all, Polenta bars with balsamic,mushrooms, parmesan, onions and tomato's and a pork loin. YUM!

p.s. Operation Snozberry was a huge success and I promise we will post the video and I promise pictures ARE coming!

*wink Lacy Orser*

on our way to Oxshott,England: DAY 1

What a long trip here.But what made it worth it was flying into Schiphol airport in Amsterdam before daylight was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! Twinkling lights suddenly broke the darkness from below. Yellow's, whites and green's that outlines building from above, with long freeways packed with rushing cars headlights shining white and brake lights red. I am sure it was maddening if your were one of the motorist's, as most rush hours are, but from 2000 feet above, it was beautiful! Nudges between Tim and I while trying to crane two heads out one window with 'oh what's that?' and ' look look look ' was the only dialog going on between.

Our flight steward Don was a wealth of info (Tim scored us seats next to the emergency exit, which I recommend you try to do, there was so much leg room we could totally stretch out, make sure its Delta cause they use airbus, which tend to be roomier anyway) Being Don's 490th trip to Amsterdam he was able to answer a lot of our questions. He informed us the huge different rectangle buildings that glowed amber turned out to be where they grow the tulips in green houses.The city almost looked as if we were approaching a space station, surreal and beautiful. I felt like early man who just witnessed fire for the first time. I am kicking myself for not filming it, but I was so entranced by it at the time, any thoughts of getting the Flipcam out were lost. I hope at some point we will one day retake that route just so I can film it to share with others.

Another quintesential moment was at custom's at Heathrow, where you fill out a card with your info and they ask questions before they stamp the book. Tim and I are so used to doing those sort of things seperatley but she asked who I was in with, I said Tim, who went off to another agent, and asked how did I know him, were we work college's? I said yes, and she started to 'clue in', then asked do we live together and for some reason I said yes and kind of motioned to my ring and she instantly said to call him over and totally treated it as 'married' without even blinking and then talked to us as a couple, with no wierdness. I have to tell you, I felt like a slave who was then addressed as a free man. Do you understand the difference? From her there was no 'specialness' it was addressed as normalcy. I wanted to cry ( in a good way) I can't explain why, and yes I know that won't be everywhere, but hope was instilled from that moment, she was young and it gave me a glimpse of a future hopefully where it won't be an issue, just different variations. oh I wished I got her picture and hugged her, but I am sure they frown on that as customs agents. I was just so grateful to witness it.

Anywho, Jane, my mothers cousin, collected us from the airport and drove us to her amazing village of Oxshott. I had to close my eyes for most of it, because these people are crazy. The car's fly like bat's out of hell, weaving in and out. In America we like our 3 car lengths and elbow room, and who has not witnessed a 'slamming of breaks' when people have felt you have infringes into their space. There seems to be none of that alpha road rage entitlement here. Space is limited, so if you can nick in, you do, and the other driver's know this and let you. I will still be keeping my eyes closed. And if Tim thinks we will get a car here if we ever move here, he is out of his skull.

Oxshott is such a lovely village, the homes here are massive. I mean massive. Jane and her lovable husband Frank run in some posh circles, thats for sure. Their home seems to be the quintessential english manor home, in fact as I am typing this I am in their sitting room, coal fire burning warm, BBC on 'telly' in the background, looking out upon their beautifully manicured english garden. Frank even groomed and transformed a gigantically long hedge into a long steam train. Jane and Frank are the perfect host, and their daughter Lydia is gorgeous. I could sit for hours listening to her accent. Tim and I are going to secretly try and get her to say ' what's a snozzberry' ala Willy Wonka. Yes we are sick and wrong, but c'mon, thats funny. Our first night on advice of our flight steward we stayed awake until 10 ish to help with the jet lag (and it worked!) and Jane invited their colorful neighbors over, she canadian and child therapist, he a new yorker and Citibank upper management. 6 empty bottles of Champagne later we went to bed.

Love, the boy's

*wink yedda and gunner*