November update

Since we last blogged, we have been pretty busy people! In mid-October, we traveled to Monte Carlo, Monaco. Scott had a business conference there (poor thing) and it just so happened that his lovely wife rode his coattails out there too! From London, we took an airplane to Nice and then traveled via helicopter into Monte Carlo...you know, how the movie stars do it. And even though it was slightly scary...okay, super scary (I think my knuckles are still white), it was absolutely fantastic and the scenery was stunning. Dad, you would be so proud, we walked along the path of the Formula 1 Grand Prix - very cool. We also oohed and aahed as rich people drove their cars out of the hulls of their amazing yachts, laid out at the rooftop pool, gambled in the posh casinos, and even came home with an extra 9 Euro. When Scott and I got married, I never saw myself sitting next to him and a bunch of French people in an American-style sports bar in Monaco cheering for England's Rugby team to win the world cup finals! Crazy!

After a wonderful trip to Monte Carlo, Scott returned to London to bring home the bacon (i.e. dredge through the drowning finance world thanks to the US sub-prime crisis) and I flew to North Carolina for Jess' wedding (Katie's best friend). It was such a fun and beautiful wedding! The leaves in Asheville were ideal for her fall wedding outside on the top of Crest Mountain. Jess looked beautiful, Jimmy cried, the cake was awesome, and the dancing was even better! It was great to see Jess and so many good friends from college like Danielle and her adorable little Madison. And it was great to see Jess and Jimmy have such a great start to their life together. Definitely in the running for wedding of the year! Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Luke!!!

Scott's Mom, Bub, came to London with her good friend, Judi Seagroves, for a little visit. We took the Big Bus tour around London, saw "Wicked" The Musical (appropriate for "Wicked Wanda"), visited Windsor Castle and saw the largest dollhouse in the world, and ate a lot of ethnic foods - not so sure that Bub loved the Indian food! Although they don't really celebrate Halloween in the UK, there were a few kids around the neighborhood and Bruno, of course, was in full Henry VIII costume. Bub even sang him a rendition of his song! It was so great to have them here and we hope that they come back very soon!

Recently, we have seen more fireworks than we do in the US on the 4th of July! There have been celebrations for Guy Fawkes' Day all around London. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in 1605 and failed and now they celebrate with bonfires and fireworks every year. Although I doubt Americans would celebrate some random guy trying to blow up the White House, we have really enjoyed the festivities!
We went to the Lord Mayor's Show this past weekend for even more fireworks. There was a huge parade with all the Beef Eaters and Horse Guards. (The Lord Mayor is the Mayor of the City of London, i.e. the square mile which is now home to the financial district where Scott works, who is appointed by a council versus the Mayor of metro London who is elected democratically.) At any rate, he puts on a good show. :)

It is really starting to get cold here (like 40's all day today!) and it now gets dark at 4:30 but, we're still having an amazing time traveling all around Europe. Our next stops are Paris and Normandy with Charlie over Thanksgiving...so stay tuned.