Scotland! Pt 1

Sunday morning Kev drove me to Washington DC where my flight left out of Regan. I've flown out of Dullas before, but never Regan. I was in and at the gate in something like 20 minutes, and that was even with an international flight. I flew from there to Newark where my plane left at 8:10pm.

I flew United and I have to say, not really a fan. The gate people aren't the nicest. We're actually flying them again next month to Germany. Please don't suck.... 

The flight from DC to Newark was delayed leaving and again on the runway waiting to leave. When we arrived in Newark I had to actually run to get to the shuttle and again to the gate. My flight was almost finished boarding when I got there. Not cool. 

The flight was overnight and we were set to arrive in Edinburgh at 8am. There's a 5 hour time difference so yeah, 3am our time. The one thing that seemed odd to me on the flight was the sheer amount of food and beverage they gave us. I swear, they were always coming around with something. We took off, then it was time for dinner, a choice of ravioli or turkey meatloaf (really). Then beverages, then ice cream dessert, then clean up. Finally we go a few hours break, but 1.5 hours before we arrived, it was breakfast time. A croissant and coffee, or a 2am snack.I think I got about an hour and a half of sleep on the plane. 

Really though, the flight was uneventful and we landed safely in Edinburgh at 815am. I made it through customs and took a cab to my hotel which was about 25 minutes from the airport. I was really, really thankful that when I got to the hotel at 930am my room was ready because I totally took a 3 hour nap. 

After I was showered and relatively coherent, I wandered over to the office which was a short walk away. When I stepped out of the hotel, this is what I saw.

Yes, the Edinburgh Castle right up the hill from my hotel. How flipping awesome is that??

I went into the office for a few hours to make sure everything was set up and ready for my training the next three days. When  I got in, the CEO was there too. Awesome. Hey Walt. 

Even the strip clubs are classy AF in Scotland, 

After a few hours of work, I needed to find some dinner. I was on a mission to find decent fish and chips on my trip. I'd been really, really wanting some and this was my first. Note the tiny pot of peas. Gross.

After my dinner, I stumbled back to my hotel and went to sleep.

The next morning it was time for some training, I wasn't up early enough for the hotel breakfast so I stopped and grabbed something on the way. I went with the bacon roll which was literally, a piece of bacon on a bun. Scottish people love their sandwiches, let me tell you. Can't find a salad anywhere.

Off for a full day of training, before I move on, I'd like to briefly chat about the sheer quantity of gummy candy they ate during class. Bags and bags and bags of Haribo. In their defense, the Haribo of the UK is FAR superior to US gummy candy. It just is.

Soon enough, it was time to do some exploring! Fun Lara fact, my undergrad degree is in the History of Art and Architecture (then I got my MBA because I wanted to be able to eat). What that means is my heart skips a beat when I see amazing architecture.

It was SOOOOO QUAINT! It's really the best word I could use. Everything was all old and quaint and historical. I loved it. 

That particular day I wandered around and found myself at the Greyfriars Kirkyard. It's the cemetery that overlooks the restaurant where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. I'll chat more about the cemetery later because I went on a haunted tour that included it on Friday night.

But here are some daytime pics of the place because when I went later, it was definitely darker. 

(Not as impressive on the inside)

There were some spooky stories about this place

And even more spooky behind the locked gate. The tour I went on actually got you behind the gate into a place that's regularly has a lot of haunted activity. 

More wandering, LOOK AT THAT VIEW!

And this one which is crooked for some reason. But that sky, and those buildings!

I saw this sign and didn't ask what Haggis Poo was. I figured it was for the best. 

Then I saw this!! A cat cafe!

It was 7 pounds for an hour with the cats. This trip was my break from having cats crawling all over me and having to pet them. I passed but I LOVE that it exists!

Pretty much everywhere you go, there's the castle. So pretty.

By that point I was pretty hungry and I found a pub.

He he he..

I got a giant cider and it was good. I also made friends with 2 airline attendants who were there on a layover. We drank cider and chatted about how fricking quaint everything was.

Apparently there are ghosts at the pub, but there are ghosts everywhere in Edinburgh and it's not that big of a deal.

More pretty streets.

and amazing views

And the church! Ahhh look at it!!! I'll chat more about it later, I ended up over there on Saturday and was inside where it's even better than on the outside.

That was part one and my first 2 days in Scotland! Part 2 and maybe 3 coming soon! 

Enjoy!

Linking up with Meet at the Barre!

Not done talking about Pittsburgh yet.

Remember how I said I ate my way through Pittsburgh? Yea, this is a continuation of that. :)

Friday morning we woke up and headed over to Shadyside to Pamela's for breakfast. Let me tell you about Pamela's... When I was a kid I had to go to Pittsburgh several times to get tubes in my ears and my tonsils out. Children's Hospital is in Oakland, where Pitt is. Anywho, every time we went up there, we always ate at some Pancake House. It might have been called the Pancake House or the Pancake Kitchen or something like that and their pancakes were delish. 

A few years later that pancake restaurant turned into Pamela's and my Mom said that Pamela was a waitress who bought the place; however, according to Wikipedia, Pamela was a teacher before she went into the restaurant biz.. Sorry Mom.

The Pamela's in Oakland is the place where you spend Sunday mornings drinking coffee, eating pancakes and lyonaise potatoes and sopping up Saturday night's booze. Pamela's is great hangover food. 

We weren't hungover but Kev wanted some pancakes. Yummy crepe-y, thin pancakes of happiness. 

I also had some unpictured Lyonaise potatoes. I can't describe them, it's a seasoned potato, sliced and cooked with onions and stupid good. In my opinion, it's the best thing on the menu. 

After breakfast I dropped Kev off at the casino and drove back to Monroeville to meet up with an old friend for lunch (Hi Kristin!) 3.5 hours later, I think they were ready to kick us out. Luckily for them, we're both former waitresses and tip really well. 

After lunch I braved the Pittsburgh traffic to pick Kev up and we checked into our hotel in Downtown Pgh. We were at Hotel Monaco and it was super cool. It was pet friendly and the room even had a huge dog bed in it. And a bowl. 

We changed and went to Capital Grille for dinner. Kev had steak and I had... tartare. It wasn't bad,

After dinner I took my first Uber across the river over to the casino. :) Gotta say, big fan of the Uber. I get it. Noce cars, the people aren't shady and it's super cheap AND no money changes hands. It's all through Paypal. 

Saturday morning it was time for our annual trip to the Strip District to load up on all the Pittsburgh-y goodness. 

Breakfast was at DeLuca's. I miss diner food. We have 0 good diners in NC. We can get a biscuit but a nice crispy potato? No so much...

We loaded up on sauce, some bread for the potluck Kev was having at the house the next night and some cookies for my Dad. Then we saw these.

That friends, is a pepperoni roll longer than my forearm. And it was $5. It was also lunch for the afternoon. Well. half of it was lunch for Kev and I. Mmmmm....

The Pittsburgh Popcorn Company had this amazing delight. I got a bag, Kev put it in the pantry and when I got back from Scotland, sadly it was stale, I'm still sad but my pants aren't.

What else, I got a big girl pizzelle maker instead of the plastic one I've been using for years. Truth though, I'm keeping the other one too and am going to run both when I have to make my 12 dozen for the cookie exchange. Hell yeah.

After our trip to the Strip, we headed to my parent's, saw grandma, had dinner then back to the hotel (and maybe the casino). 

We got up bright and early on Sunday because we needed to get me to DC for my flight.

But first, Pamela's again and those Lyonaise potatoes.

Up next, SCOTLAND!

Linking Up

Obviously that blogging while in Scotland thing didn't happen

I'm going to have soo much time on the plane to blog while I'm flying back and forth from Scotland... yeah, nope. That didn't happen. Sometimes you have the best of intentions but yeah, not so much.

Complete disclosure, in the evening after work, I roamed the city, looked at stuff, drank cider and had a great time, because I was in frickin Scotland. When I got back to the hotel I watched UK trash TV. Because UK trash TV is so much better than US trash. It just is.

Alright, I'm back obviously I have a lot to recap and a few sponsored posts I have to put up and I made some cookies to share, so let's get this started.

First up, Pittsburgh! I traveled to the home of my people and ate my way through the city. #IwishIwasJoking. We left Weds night and drove to the other side of Richmond where we stayed in this random hotel that Priceline has put us at 5 times before. It's fine, nice place and it gets us a head start on the trip. We left Thursday morning and headed to the PA turnpike. Side rant, it's now $13!! to take the turnpike from Breezewood to the Monroeville exit. When I first moved away 11 years ago I'd take the turnpike home and it was $4! FOUR DOLLARS. Don't tell me that inflation raised it 300+%. Kevin loves it when we go to Pittsburgh and I rage about the turnpike. loves it.

We get in to Monroeville where we're staying at the Holiday Inn because gameday = no hotels near the city. But first, before the hotel a stop at Moios. Moios is has the best Italian cookies and cake and they make me cray happy tears. They did my wedding cake and the cookie table. (Cookie tables are a Western PA thing and should spread across the country and world because there's nothing better than a cookie table.)

Fancy Macaroon. My very most favorite cookie of all time.

Look a that wall of cake slices!! We had white with strawberry filling for our wedding cake. Yum....

Come to me my lovelies

Ahhhhhhh....

After a cookie coma we drove into the city to find some food before the game. Kev had been eyeing up Butcher and the Rye online for a while and couldn't get reservations. Instead we drove over right as they opened and decided to try our luck. Thankfully they had a seat because it was AMAZING.

I'd like to point out the daily feature of pan drippings and rustic sourdough bread. It was a sourdough loaf and a pan of beef dripping gravy and it might be one of the top 10 best things I've ever eaten. O.M.G.

I got a cosmo, of course, because that's how classy people booze up before a football game. I'd also like to point out how the cosmo goes right to the tippy top of my glass. Often you get bartenders who leave room a the top because they're stingy and don't want the server to spill. Not here.

That's the Pig Candy which made a recent list of best things to eat in Pittsburgh. It was yum. Kev loved it more than I did, but still delish,

Repping the 'Burgh in the bathroom.

Then I had some sort of Whisky Punch, which was also yum.

And the Steak Tartare Appetizer. BTW, when we go to Paris next month, it's going to be nothing but pictures of tartare and frites. 

Kev ordered this and I can't remember what it was, but he wanted me to take a picture of it. Obvs it's some sort of steak and potatoes, because. Kev.

After we were stuffed with meat and I had a solid buzz,it was time to head across the river and go to the game. Kev hadn't ever seen the Steelers play the Ravens in person, for some reason we always end up at a Bengals game, so Ravens it was.

I left my purse in the car because you're prohibited from bringing them into the game. You can do a clear bag or a tiny bag, instead I took my debit card and drivers license out of my wallet and out them in my jacket pocket (bad idea). I literally walked from the car, into the stadium, to my seat and promptly lost both. Yes, I lost my debit card and license at the game. Thankfully I had my passport, which I needed for Scotland, but the whole no debit card thing was an enormous pain in the ass. I went to guest services 3x and no one turned it in. I cancelled my debit card while I was at the game and it really sucked.

There is a bright side to the story. When I got home, there was a letter from an nice gentleman in Ohio, He saw my license and debit card fall out of my pocket when I was going through security, he tried to catch me, couldn't and instead he mailed them back to me. And that's why Steelers fans are the best in the world. (I'm going to send him a muffin basket).

Annual football selfies!

For those of you who don't follow football, the Steelers lost. In overtime. Because the kicker sucked. A lot. They fired him the next day.

Because there's still nothing  funnier to me than a Stevie Wonder joke.

Alrighty! Time to catch up on some posts! Have a great Friday!

Linking up with BLoved Boston! AND

#YSLRougePurCouture Influenster Review

Sometimes I'm surprised that Influenster keeps asking me to review things. If I don't like something, I'll tell you I don't. If you've read my blog in you know that if they send me something I don't like, I don't say that I do, just because it's free. 

They sent me a YSL primer box a few months ago and it was nice. I really liked one of the products and not the other. Well. recently they asked me if I wanted to review the #YSLRougePurCouture lipstick. Um YES. If there's one thing I do love is a nice lipstick and these ones are amazing.

*I was provided these products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I received the black box in the mail and couldn't wait to bust into it. 

I was instantly struck by the shiny gold packaging. Remember, I love bright shiny things.

Out of the packaging, the Case is also shiny and gold. 

As part of the program, they sent me Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture lipstick in No. 9 Rose Stiletto and No. 19 Fuchsia.

These lipsticks are amazing, I can't even really put it into words how much I love them. When I put them on, I was immediately struck by the smoothness of the application, So creamy, no caking, no flaking and it smells good! I don't know about you but there are some lipsticks I've purchased in the past and they smell like chemicals and taste like crap. 

Considering women end up eating 6 pounds of lipstick in their lifetime (although Snopes says this is a lie) it might as well taste good. 

Really though, this lipstick is awesome, It leaves a little bit of lip stain in its place and doesn't immediately wear off over the day. The Fuchsia was a little bright for me and I gave it to my mom but if it was a better color for me, I would have kept it. 

I might have to head to Belk and see what other colors they have because I see this being my new go-to lipstick. Love, love, love....

What I did last weekend and some packing!

I mentioned things have been a little wacky round these parts recently. Last week at work was quite insane. A big part of the reason being that we finalized plans for me to go over to our UK office and do some training of their Associates!

I've mentioned before that I manage the junior sales people for my company but in my past life I was a Sales Trainer. Well, I created the program I use to train my people and the UK is adopting a similar set up. Guess who's going over to do the training?? Yep, this gal. Oh, did I mention that I leave on Sunday? AHHHHHH...

In addition to leaving for Scotland, yes, I'll be in Edinburgh for a week, Kev and I already had plans to head up to Pittsburgh to see a Steelers game. Yes, I go to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning, then Sunday fly to Newark then on to Edinburgh. A few days of training, a little sight seeing and on home I go! Oh, and when I get back I have 2 new people starting that day. I've got a lot of -ish to get done before I go.

This past weekend was spent getting a bunch of things together and trying to figure out what the heck to pack.

Friday night Kev and I went to Brasa, it's a Brazilian steakhouse where they bring round all sorts of meats on sticks. I'm really picky about my meat and only eat it if it's half a step above mooing. OK, not really a half step, it should moo. Most normal people want their meat cooked so I pass on a lot of the skewers and make the gauchos sad. They never know what to do with me. It's really simple, get your raw meat, run it though a fire for a minute and give it to me. It was really fine though, I had a 10 mile run in the morning and a belly full of last night's meat and a 2+ hours of running does not a happy Lara make.

I got up Saturday morning and was really concerned that it was going to rain. Thankfully it held off. I went with the run club and we did 10.16 miles. I guess it made up for being short last week but dangit, I like nice even run numbers. We even did an out and back, we could have turned around at exactly 5 miles but nooooo.

When I got to the store, I didn't have my Garmin. I left it at home... No lie, I almost turned around and went home to get it. I need to have a record of my run! Sadly my phone only had a 20% charge and the Nike app wasn't going to last that long. Instead I ran "naked".

The run was fine, a little wet but fine. We left from the North Raleigh store and that's my hood. Ran down Six Forks,m out the Greenway, turned around and back. It's the Greenway I run all the time so I knew exactly where we were which was really helpful.

Got home, showered and laid on the couch and asked Kev to bring me things.

The last few days I've been experimenting with milk and seeing if it gave me intestinal distress. So far so good! I tried the Graham Latte and I like it a LOT better than the #PSL. Non-fat, extra, extra hot and only 1.5 pumps of the juice. A grande would normally get 4 pumps which is insane. 1.5 is plenty for me.

What else,  went to Whole Foods (shocker) and got this peanut brittle. Take a closer look there... I see like 2 peanuts. 

I think there's a peanut in the corner by my nail.

Sunday was, you guessed it, errand day! and laundry day!!! One good thing about the Sunday after a long run, no pressure to work out. Nada.

I needed to go to Target and find a neck pillow (they were out) and to Trader Joe's to get some Kind and Quest bars. I need handy snacks just in case, while I'm at the office in Edinburgh. I'll be training most of the day and I'm sure they'll feed me during the day, but in case it's gross or something I can't eat, Kind bar to the rescue! Vega bars saved me at Convention when the lunch food was gross.

I started packing for my trips and that's about it! 

I'm going to work on getting some posts ready for when I'm away. I might be able to churn out a post or two while I'm away but yeah, don't count on it. lol. I'm going to enjoy my time instead of typing on a computer. 

See you all in a week and a half!