My week of Independence has been filled mainly with planning my trip with my sister who comes this week! We will be taking the cities of Berlin, Rome, Milan, London, Bristol, and Manchester by storm! I won't be updating this until we are back from all our traveling...so in three weeks. But there will be more than enough pictures for you guys in that update I'm sure.
Independence Day is not really celebrated here in the UK, shocker. You would think they'd love an excuse to celebrate not having to put up with Americans on a regular basis. Just the occasional American student and tourists that always look the wrong way for traffic. I decided that since I'm a whole ocean away and don't know any other Americans here that I had to be EXTRA patriotic for 4th of July.
I started off by cooking. What could be more American than that?
I baked brownies. I have done this before, but...they tend to end in disaster, and that's putting it mildly. In the past when I've made brownies they end up being burnt "blackies", or they just explode. Both are equally not tasty.
I tasted them before going on to the next step to be sure I had finally made edible brownies. It passed the taste test which made the overnight wait all the more difficult (I baked this the night before the 4th, look at me thinking ahead!)
Then I decorated! I took the idea from Barefoot Contessa's flag cake. I love her cake, but it requires a big ol' cookie sheet which I don't have, plus I made this to take to work...I can't carry a cookie sheet on the bus. So I compromised...a lot. I made brownies instead of Barefoot Contessa's cake and instead of her frosting I used the topping from my grandmother's blueberry salad recipe I recently made for church.
So I brought my beautifully decorated brownie to work and surprised my bosses and coworkers. Surprised them that today was suppose to be a holiday and surprised them with brownies :P They were a big success and I got many compliments, one person asked for my recipe and my boss said I had converted him. He was American for the day, if only for the food :D
After work I met up with a friend from church and we went out for a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant (my choice! I was being very southern) and we went to see The East. I wouldn't recommend it for most people I know. I went in thinking it was going to be a psychological thriller about a woman being seduced by a cult, but it was really just a message about the evils of corporations and expressing sympathy for well-meaning eco-terrorists. As far as its message go it was interesting and food for thought, but as a movie it didn't know what it was (which I think is why the reviews I read didn't accurately describe what I was going to see) and the ending was truly awful. Not only did the ending come out of nowhere but I disagreed with what the ending said thematically about the whole movie...That being said, I enjoyed the night out and it was a nice way to celebrate 4th of July considering that I don't know where to buy fireworks here ;)
Saturday I spent some of my free time at the mall and bought a few essentials for when my sister arrives. While at the mall I went to Manchester's only Taco Bell for the first time. The burrito was good but they serve it as a meal with either nachos or fries. I tried the fries because that seemed interesting. They were awful. Don't try them. They put a "Mexican" seasoning on them. I don't know what is in it but it is not good at all. Get a burrito and call it good. I may be over Taco Bell for a while now. I can make my own burritos.
It is a beautiful sunny day here. It's actually like summer finally and not just a chilly spring. I'm going out to enjoy the sunshine while it is here so I will talk you guys again in 3 weeks!
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