All posts by Lar

17 October 2012

I Want To Be A Tourist

It’s strange how when you move to a place, even if it’s beautiful and exotic, it quickly becomes pedantic. Instead of seeing stone oozing with historical significance like I did when I was a tourist in Edinburgh, I now think in terms of distances to Tesco and the post office and how someone inconveniently plonked that medieval castle right in my way! Tsk, tsk, Lar. Tsk, tsk.

Obviously I am in dire need of a cure for my jaded brain in the form of consistent doses of Scottish adventures! So Sunday morning I dragged our grumpy bones out of bed to visit Rosslyn Chapel just seven miles south of Edinburgh.

A little warning when visiting: the chapel has been clobbered with lots of Da Vinci Code brewhaha (according to the book it is the resting place of the Holy Grail). I 100% urge you to ignore any Dan Brown mutterings in your head when you visit and just soak in the beauty of the intricately carved stone-work. It is my all-time favorite chapel. I love the wee size and the expressive carvings of people and flowers. I’d seriously take it over the Sistene Chapel and Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Some people might argue that’s like comparing apples to oranges, but what if you think “this is neither apple nor orange, but an oranapple!” That’s what Rosslyn Chapel is, an oranapple — the most delicious of all fruits.

Right below the tasty touristy chapel, tucked in the wooded glen at it’s feet, is the ruins of Roslin Castle. The original structure is much older than the chapel and it looks like something out of Arthurian legend. Another perk; very few Da Vinci fans give a hoot about the castle, so it’s free (but not far) from the maddening crowds.

Ahhhh it feels so good to be a tourist again! Next up? Edinburgh Farmers Market.

—–

Dear Cath,

Remember when we went to Rosslyn in 2004? I loved, loved, loved the chapel and the quiet rolling hills that surround it. Eight years later and it now has a sizable information center attached to it (with a café!) and the chapel was so crowded Matt and I had to skirt around people muttering about spiritual vibrations they felt in the stone. It’s a very different experience post-Dan Brown. I’m glad more people know about it and the chapel has money to be restored, but it was harder to feel all googly-eyed when you are being elbowed by people looking for a glimpse of the holy grail. There’s something very not holy about that.

That said, next time you are here, I will totally take you back to the town of Roslin so that we can go walk around the old ruins of the castle. It is beeeeyootiful and very quiet (I sound like a cranky old lady waving her cane at the rambunctious young whipper snappers and their guide books).

When is a good day for a skype lunch break? Maybe sometime today after my doctors appointment?

Miss you oooodles and schnoooodles,

Lar

 

Category: Edinburgh
7 Comments
12 October 2012

Link Love: American Expats in the UK


Jackie, me and a cup of tea.

Even with its leanings toward soppy weather and an over-abundance of root vegetables, the UK makes me swoon. But a hugmungo downside to moving over here and leaving my family and friends back in the states meant Matt and I were a little isolated and lonely our first few months in Edinburgh. Years before as undergrads studying abroad, we had built-in friends through classes and flatmates. But as an oldie adult in Edinburgh, I spent a lot of time walking to Cath’s flat that she lived in eight years ago when we were students and looking forlornly at the door — willing her to appear. Not the best use of my time or .erm. logic. Also, looking forlorn and crazy is probably not a great way to go about attracting friends . whoops!

But then the magic of the internets happened! AsianCajuns.com must pop up under some Edinburgh/expat searches, and I have now met three other American ladies and their gents because of the blogisphere. Jackie, Rianne and Sara live in Edinburgh too, and write about their adventures as couples living abroad. Ashley, whom I’ve yet to meet in person because she lives in the sunny, “hot” southern tip of this isle, moved to the England to be with her British gent last year.

If you’ve ever dreamed of moving away from home but want to know what it’s really like: the good, the baffling, and the confusing/embarrassing (ex. vocabulary snafus: pants means underwear and napkins mean feminine hygiene products – yipe!), check out these expat blogs below:

• Dreams and Happy Things (Edinburgh)

• I Will See You In Far Off Places (Brighton)

• Kelly Lyfe (Edinburgh)

• We Moved to Scotland (Edinburgh)

So tell me, when are YOU guys coming to join us over here? I promise not to feed you too many potatoes. The rain however, is out of my control. Oh, and happy FRIDAY!!!

Category: Edinburgh, TGIF Link Love
6 Comments
10 October 2012

Our New Hood in Edinburgh

Here we are in our new alley way hood: Fountainbridge! Upon our return from sunny Greece, we were confronted with stuffing our worldly belongings in boxes and moving out of our lovely flat . and then unpacking and living like this:

Fountainbridge is not as hoity toity as our old neighborhood of Bruntsfield, and our new flat is much teenier and has roughly 105% less charm than our old place. But what it doesn’t have in wood floors and fancy plasterwork, it makes up for in. HEAT! We are so roasty toasty in our new hobbit hole (fewer windows, shorter ceilings) that we are giddy with warmth-induced ebullience! I might even sell my radiator-toasted sweat pants of last winter.

There are a few downsides to this flat apart from the peeling ceiling paint and dung-colored carpet (when I said “less charm” I really meant “none”). The worst offender is the extremely large street lamp attached to our building situated right over our bedroom window. I can read in bed at night without turning any lights on:

Ignore my grumblings though — I love a new place to explore! (Sidenote: Edinburgh is so teeny, this neighborhood abuts our old hood which is a ten minute walk away, so by “explore” I mainly mean “eat at new restaurants.”).

Fountainbridge Fun Facts:

1) Sean Connery was born here (I’m not a fan of his misogynistic leanings, but heyho).

2) The first Wellington boot was made in a Fountainbridge factory (and who is not a fan of wellies?).

3) One of Edinburgh’s meat markets used to be here. It’s now the entrance to the financial district:

And there really is goodness in abundance even if we are sleeping under an interrogation lamp:

We’ve already found our favorite local pub: Lock 25. The food is cheap, but delicious and the bar tender is a lovely man with a red beard:

Speaking of delicious foods, our favorite pho place (Vietnam House) is now 10 minutes closer — perfect for late night take-aways (post Ikea furniture making sessions):

And we are a 8 minute walk away from the heart of the city:

Not too shabby, eh? If you guys are interested to see photos of the charmless flat, do let me know. We are crossing our fingers that the letting agency is going to repaint because the current “decor” is “grease spot” in the kitchen and “large scuffs” in the hallway. Hopefully all to be remedied soon.

—-

Dear Cath,

What do you think of Fountainbridge? I think the neighborhood was “gentrified” in 2009, so it makes sense we avoided it in 2004. The meat market arch hadn’t been refurbished and there weren’t fancy office buildings and new student flats. It’s equivalent to West Side in Atlanta except closer to Tech and further from Star Provisions, if that makes sense. Post “this used to be an empty lot/slums” and pre “now we have overpriced bakeries here.”

Also, let me say it again, I loved your photos from the previous post — you look so beautiful in all the Club Monaco duds and Troy’s directions really worked — who doesn’t want to be that mannequin.

I miss you so very, very much and am staying distracted with flat beautifying so as not to think about it.

Love and Grease Spots,

Lar

Category: Edinburgh, Lar's Style
7 Comments
3 October 2012

No Cars, Just Donkeys

Last week I posted pretty magazine-y photos of my trip to Greece because I didn’t want to muck them up with my usual verboseness. So all that pent-up wordiness and writing-on-photos exploded into this post (rubs hands with glee!):

Cath and I grew up going to Ocean City, Maryland and Amish country Pennsylvania for our family vacations. Exotic it was not. Hearing about other people’s far-flung traveling escapades seemed an extremely distant pipe dream, something done by fancy folk. So I’m still a bit in awe that this move to Scotland has had the wonderful advantage of getting to fling myself further (Istanbul and Greece in two months) without my bank account shriveling up and dying. This totally makes the living too far from family worth it (almost).

Anywhoodles, back to Hydra and donkeys! We chose this lovely isle to visit because we read it had no automobiles, just donkeys and hilly foot paths. We wanted to get away from noisy, night-clubby islands (cuz we oldies at heart), so donkeys and quiet pebble peaches sounded perfect.

Also, donkeys are so sweet looking — who doesn’t want a donkey instead of a Civic. And, I’m convinced if they spoke, they’d all sound like Eddie Murphy (“And in the morning, I’m makin’ waffles!”):

Hydra Port is a town of fancy schmancy yachts, but away from the hubbub of the inlet, the dwellings are far from pretentious. The house we rented (called House Elizabeth) is beautiful and rustic — and I mean authentic rustic, not shabby chic-ified. I love me some peeling paint and creeky shutters (especially when they aren’t in cold places. like Edinburgh!). House Elizabeth is set high up on a hill looking down at the harbor:

It even came with it’s own stray kitty cat! Here she is waiting patiently for her dinner at the back door:

Here’s where the rustic living comes into play. Living up on a hill in Hydra means you get zero water pressure, so our showers were bucket baths and the toilet tanks took about an hour to fill after each flush. I washed my hair only three times during my ten day trip (sorry, travel companions!) because it took so long to get my hair wet. I now know it takes approximately five litres of water to shampoo and rinse my hair — I’m sure I use gallons more when I actually take a shower.

Hydra doesn’t actually have any fresh sources of water, and so all drinking water has to be shipped in. The water we used to wash ourselves, our clothes, and the dishes, was chock-a-block full of minerals and left a scummy residue on our clothes, plates, skin and hair (when certain people bothered to wash said hairs.ahem).

Low/no water pressure also makes hand-washing clothes tricky (an already difficult skill in my book):

I was grumbling about how I felt a bit dirty and unsatisfied with my bucket-bathing on the fifth day into our trip, and my lovely and very intelligent sister-in-law said “so you are about as clean as most of the developing world.” Said sis-in-law lives in Rwanda and works in development all around eastern Africa (see her amazing blog here) — so she knows what she’s talking about.  I was like “holyschmoly, you are so right!” I forget how stuck-in-my-bubble I am. I whole-heartedly believe any vacation that gets me away from my sanitized bubble world is a priceless thing — even if I feel unwashed at the same time.

And I really shouldn’t have grumbled at all. Hydra is paradise and our house was also good-quirky. For instance we had a large protuberance of rock in the middle of the living room — let the mini rock climbing begin!

And this is what it looked like on the way up the hill to our house:

Most of the days my intrepid travel companions hiked around the mountainous countryside. I joined them once to go to the highest peak (a little more than 500 m) — you could see for miles and miles around: teeny islands floating in the Aegean:

But the rest of my days were spent on a much more serious task: attempting to make up for my lack of vitamin D in Scotland in 8 days (tough life):

Every evening we would sit out on our patio to eat dinner and watch the twinkly lights come on in town. And when night fell we would name constellations and count the number of shooting stars we saw:

Even without showers, this has to have been one of the best vacations of my life (no offense boardwalk fries and Amish bacon!).

—-

Dear Cath,

Isn’t it beautiful! I feel bad that I keep mentioning the poor water conditions on Hydra because everyone is like “ugh!” But the island is such a paradise, it was totally worth it. The water was so clear that looking in the harbor (even with all those oily boats) you could see right down to the rocks below. And I don’t think I will ever stay in a place again with such breath-taking sunsets.

The last night we were in Hydra there was a storm coming in across the sea. Bolts of lightening frizzled from the clouds to the water and island mountains. I can totally see why this was the world of Zeus and Poseidon.

I missed you so much when we were there. Next time we are having waffles with the donkeys together!

xoxoxoxox,

Lar

Category: Experiences, Lar's Style
11 Comments
28 September 2012

Fashionista Fundraiser for Endometriosis Awareness (Part Two)

Cath and I wanted to thank you again for reading my first endometriosis post on Monday. Your comments have meant the world to me. Not only has my fight with endometriosis been a physical pain, it also leaves me feeling pretty low emotionally for at least a week each month. Getting people to talk about it diminishes it’s ability to frighten me and isolate all of us who share the burden of endo. So thank you and thank you again.

We are continuing our fundraising for Endometriosis Foundation of America through next week. Other lovely ladies in the blogisphere are involved. Check out these fabulosas fashionistas for the cause:
• Diane of Snapshot Fashion
• Maegan of Love Maegan
• Jen of Jennifhsieh

If you’d like to donate to the Endometriosis Foundation of America with us, just click this link HERE.

Speaking of fashionistas and fun facts (unrelated to weighty issues), here is one for you: use what’s on your dinner plates in your outfits. I’m sticking broccoli in my lapels next. Yes? No? I’m thinking organic broccolini might set off a gray blazer nicely. I kid, I kid. mostly. Pad Thai-er-ific:

——

Dear Cath,

I know we think you might also have endo cuz mom had/has it and I have it — sharing the same DNA seems like a bad thing at the moment. But! I’ve been reading! And there are some studies that suggest that epigenetics (gene expressions that can switch things on and off in your DNA — I think. Dr. Matteo, is that right?) might have a role to play in endometriosis. And that means that maybe because of environmental reasons and what have you, you might NOT have endo even though we share the same genes. Isn’t that amazing?! Okay, yes we have the same DNA and grew up in the same environment, but we are different people and so (as proved by epigenetists) that means we won’t always be identical — which I usually hate, but in this case — woohoo!

Talk to you on skype sooooon! Wish us luck as we schlep our boxes to our new flat this weekend. I’ll take pics of our new (incredibly humble) abode once we have keys!

xoxoxoxoxoxox,

Lar

Category: Endometriosis, Lar's Style
8 Comments
24 September 2012

Fashionista Fundraiser for Endometriosis Awareness

I have endometriosis. Me and roughly 8.5 million other North American women suffer from what can be an incredibly painful condition. It isn’t a terminal disease, but it can cause debilitating pain and infertility. And even with the large number of women who suffer from endo, there is very little known about it and there is no cure.

What is Endometriosis, you ask?

Great question! I had no clue until I did some web MDing after I was diagnosed a year ago. A woman with endometriosis has uterine cells elsewhere in her body other than her uterus. They can be anywhere in the pelvis (by the bladder, intestines, colon, ovaries) or anywhere in the body (the brain, lungs, etc.). These uterine cells act just like uterine cells in your uterus, each month they bleed, but unlike uterine cells in the uterus, they have have no way to escape the body. This can cause a buildup of nodules and cause scaring.

When I first read what was going on in my body I was like “&^%$! No wonder why this hurts so much!” But the interesting thing is some women with endometriosis don’t exhibit any symptoms, and the amount of pain you feel does not correlate to the amount of nodules and scaring you have. A woman with  stage one endometriosis (little scaring) can have tremendous pain, while another woman with stage four (a lot of scaring and adhesions) won’t necessarily exhibit any symptoms and might not find out she has the condition until she is trying to get pregnant.

That’s the other real downer to endo. Apart from the pain, roughly a third of women diagnosed with endometriosis are also infertile. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Why is it important to know about endometriosis?

Roughly 10% of women suffer from it, but very little is known about endometriosis and it’s often misdiagnosed. Even as recently as a few decades ago, women were told their painful symptoms were in their head OR that being in constant pain was just a natural part of being a woman (What the what?!). Not only was that incredibly unhelpful and alienating,  it also prevented any research from happening.

The Endometriosis Foundation of America works to bring awareness to this condition and toward finding a cure. As of now, women can have surgery to remove these painful nodules, but it isn’t a cure. Sometimes the surgery helps, but more often than not, more adhesions develop and women suffering from endometriosis have multiple surgeries throughout their lifetime.

Endometriosis Foundation of America founders: Padma Lakshmi and Susan Sarandon with Bridget Moynahan (photo credit).

Thanks, you guys, for letting me bend your ear about this stuff. It means the world to me if you just gave this post a little read and know a bit more about this pervasive condition. Feel free to click the donate link below to contribute to the Endometriosis Foundation of America if you so choose, but know I’m just as grateful that you took a minute to read this post. Spreading awareness is the first step toward helping us become even more educated about our bodies.

Donate to the Endometriosis Foundation of America:
Click HERE to safely and securely donate through paypal.

And a big thank you to Diane of Snapshot Fashion! Thank you for organizing this fundraiser, Diane and sharing your story with us!

Category: Endometriosis, Lar's Style
24 Comments
21 September 2012

Tied for Best Fashion Blogger

What a lovely jubly surprise Cath and I got yesterday. A fellow instagramer let Cath know we had tied* for Best Fashion Blogger in Atlanta by Creative Loafing! For those of you non-Southeasterners, Creative Loafing is the local newspaper/online blog source for places to eat, shop, tipple and who to see and hear (and where to be seen and heard).

Cath and I are so wonderfully chuffed! So, thank you Creative Loafing readers, from the very bottom of our AsianCajun hearts. You’ve made our day(s)!

And thank YOU, loyal readers, for not minding us whilst we horn toot a bit. We hope you have equally good news to lead you into your weekend.

P.S. Our contest to win tickets to the Urban Hoedown closes today (Friday, Sept. 21) so don’t forget to enter, locals!

*We tied with the lovely Witty and Pretty — whom we’ve just discovered and are so honored to share an award with.

Category: General AsianCajuns Info
11 Comments
19 September 2012

Mini Photo Journal: Greece

I spent 10 days on the beautiful island of Hydra. I wanted you to just get a delicious sunsety taste before I clutter-up my next posts with sketchy arrows and fronts. Isn’t it dreamy?

—–

Dear Cath,

Thank you so much for being such a blogging pro while I was gone away from wifi-land! As wonderful and donkey-filled as Greece was, I couldn’t wait to get back to you (at least digitally) — also, as you’ve heard, showering is so nice!

The worst part about coming home though was when I got on the plane in Athens. I got confused and thought I was flying back to Atlanta. As much as I love Edinburgh, I wanted to cry when I heard the Easy Jet pilot say something over the speaker in a Scottish accent (and you know how much we love those accents). Och, I’m such a baby. But I miss you terribly! Who knew sunny paradises could be so bittersweet.

xoxoxo,

Lar

p.s. These photos don’t reflect it, but I’ve attempted to store up as much vitamin D as possible via a tan. That’s how it works, right?

Category: Experiences, Lar's Style
15 Comments
9 September 2012

Water of Leith

Aren’t hidden bits of greenery in cities wonderful? The Water of Leith Walkway is one of those spots in Edinburgh: a dappled oasis in a dessert of stone and asphalt. It’s a 12 mile foot and bike path that follows the Water of Leith through the western neighborhoods of the city.

It runs fairly close to our flat, and we can take it down to the sea, to the sea, to the beautiful sea!

Above: a secret garden. Below: a view of one of the city’s gothicy spires.

When Cath was here we went to the Water of Leith, donned matching hats, had a picnic on the banks of the water, and posed for . erm.chic blogger photos:

Unrelated: at this very moment I’m on a Greek isle (yea for blog post scheduling!) without wifi (eeegads, I’m missing a limb!), but I promise to take lots of photos of what is sure to be a dreamy place.

While I was working in the states I took two vacations in six years and one of them was my honeymoon. So two vacations in the span of six weeks is blowing my mind a bit. But when I’m not looking bewilderingly at sun and warm beaches, I’ll be mentally blowing kisses your way.

—-

Dear Cath,

How’s your week going? (You’ll have to respond telepathically unless I’ve found an internet café via donkey). I never imagined myself on a Greek isle, but if I had, it would have been with you in tow too. As beautiful as this place is (sure to be), I’d take Ocean City, Maryland with my twinie any day, rather than an exotic locale without.

Miss you so very much!

Donkeys and ouzo-ly yours,

Lar

 

Category: Edinburgh
6 Comments
3 September 2012

Jamie’s Italian in Edinburgh

I used to have a massive crush on Jamie Oliver way back when. Cath doesn’t even know this, but for a brief few weeks my first year in college I investigated ways to move to London and work at the first restaurant he was starting with a staff of under-privileged young adults he trained. Being privileged and in the wrong country didn’t stop me from filling out an application online. I am shocked — shocked, I tell you!– that I never heard back.

The crush has long since fizzled (and I have my own talented foodie/chef/scientist in my kitchen), but I still have soft spot for Jamie because I think his push for education and healthy food is inspiring. So when Cath was here, we decided we should stop at the new Jamie’s Italian off Rose/George Street in Edinburgh.

The restaurant is in Edinburgh’s historic Assembly Rooms, and the decor is incredibly bold: abattoir meets Italian café meets Jane Austen (because of the Assembly Room restoration bits). Not right for a child’s nursery perhaps (a bit like that red room that so frightens a young Jane Eyre) or a spa, but an intriguing background for chomping on polenta and tippling prosecco.

And though it’s a chain it doesn’t feel too chain-y (mostly to do with the decor) and the food was deeeelicious! The only downside is the service. Our waiter was pretty nice, but the rest of the staff look a bit dour and aren’t particularly friendly. Cath and I stumbled in right before they opened for the day (the doors were propped open, so we walked in), and the staff at first ignored us and then made us feel a bit silly that we walked through the open door in the first place. Maybe you aren’t meant to be charming in a meaty ballroom café — ruins the ambiance?

We stuck around for 15 minutes (waiting for it to properly open) before re-entering the lion’s den/stomach, and overall I’m glad we did. With a friendlier staff I would definitely make this a go-to place when Naked Chef nostalgia hits and/or I get a polenta fry craving

Have you guys tried a Jamie restaurant or any celebrity chef restaurant? Tell me the good, the bad, and the delicious!

—–

Dear Cath,

Okay, now it’s beginning to really feel like you haven’t been here for a month and I do NOT like it a bit. Writing these posts make me feel like you still are just sort of waiting for me to go meet you in town some where. HARUMPH.

Once I leave for Greece on Thursday it’s really going to feel like I’m missing a limb without any wifi and connection to you! We must make a skype date sometime before then!

xoxoxoxox,

Lar

 

Category: Edinburgh
7 Comments