Film review: “The Five-Year Engagement”
Last weekend, I finally watched “The Five-Year Engagement” (thank you, HBO, for putting it On Demand!). Have you seen it?
Jason Segel was his usual amazing self (hello, how great was “I Love You, Man”?!). Emily Blunt was adorable and so likeable. Together, they were a great Brit/American couple – flawed, yes, but also quirky and believable and real. 🙂
Sunday lunch + creche
I’ve been trying to track down some good family-friendly eats in London (and when I say family-friendly, I’m not talking about the British alternative to Applebee’s, Chili’s or TGIF’s, thank you very much).
I want to simply go to an independently owned place with good food, little fussiness, no surly looks from fellow customers or waitstaff when my kids drop a fork or eschew the fork altogether in favor of taking fistfuls of pasta into their mouths. Is that too much to ask? This is what I’m investigating.
What I’ve found so far is Julie’s Restaurant, a Holland Park institution (darling) that provides a Sunday lunch as well as a creche for kids ages 2-12 run by fully qualified and vetted creche staff. Genius! I want to go to there.
The trouble with booking a British hotel room
Premier Inn
I’ve been investigating hotels in the U.K. for our upcoming trip. Sounds simple, right?
I assumed my biggest challenge would be finding a room available, and maybe finding something in my price range (after all, the current exchange rate is 1.49, which means that a gorgeous room at the Savoy for £330 pounds converts to $494 and is decidedly out of our price range). And so it goes …
But no. The real challenge has been finding  a hotel willing to accommodate a family of four. I’ve discovered that many nice hotels have a person limit and two adults and two children exceed capacity, unless you’d like to book a second adjoining room. I’ve realized that I’ve taken for granted the all-suite family hotel options that are a dime-a-dozen in the U.S. (with Embassy Suites being my #1 pick, particularly when Manager’s Reception comes around) but really it’s a concept that is sorely lacking in the U.K.
Which isn’t to say that there aren’t any “family rooms” available in the U.K. Some are available for a steep price. Others seem to get booked up months in advance. But thankfully I have tracked down larger family rooms with the Premier Inn hotel group, which have worked well for our needs. It’s still one big room (usually two double beds and a sofa bed, along with the option of adding a crib) instead of the suite-style option so it isn’t perfect, but we stayed at a Premier Inn near Heathrow Airport at our last visit in 2010 and it was very easy to book a family room for four (at a very good rate of under £200, as well). I’ve also read good things about Base2Stay, which has locations in Liverpool and Kensington. And of course, there’s always Airbnb.com, HomeAway.com and any of the other vacation rental sites if you’re looking for some extra space.
Do you know of a good family-friendly hotel in the U.K.? Please share!
Beginner’s guide to mouse taxidermy
Thanks to Greatlittleplace.com, I’ve discovered The Hendrick’s Lecture Series and their anthropomorphic mouse taxidermy class. Don’t worry, it’s for beginners and is offered March through July at Hackney City Farm in London. What a find!
(PS. Be sure to read their “Notes” section about the class, if you are thinking of signing up. Most important notes: All mice are ethically sourced and not killed for this class. And please don’t bring any dead animals with you to the class. Thanks!)
Mila Kunis, Nando’s chicken and Blue Moon
BBC Radio One’s Chris Stark had the nerve-wracking opportunity to interview Mila Kunis about “Oz The Great and Powerful” and ends up veering off into a conversation about Baywatch, Nando’s chicken, jagerbombs and dropping trou at weddings. Needless to say, it ends up being one of her favorite interviews of the day.
Man flu
I’ve mentioned man flu briefly in a previous post. But I feel it is my public health duty to dedicate a full post to this malady.
For the uninitiated: “Man flu is a crippling and debilitating disorder indiscriminately striking down male members of the human species without warning. The illness is often referred to pejoratively by female members of the species who are in fact immune from the illness as man flu is now known to exclusively attack the XY chromosome carrier. If Man Flu is kind enough not to kill the infected party it will definitely leave him weak, sick, hurting everywhere and in dire need of TLC.”
Sound familiar? Check out www.manflu.info. It has been created to provide assistance for the men who are hapless victims of man flu (and the women who love them).
David Brent is back!
If you loved the British (and original!) version of “The Office,” I have good news. Ricky Gervais is reprising his role as David Brent this month in “The Office Revisited.” It’s a one-off episode made as part of BBC Comic Relief, which will be shown on BBC One on March 15.
I, for one, and am looking forward to catching up with David Brent and finding out what he’s up to these days!
Flavored crisps in the U.S.A.
There’s no doubt that Brits take their crisps (translation: potato chips) seriously.
Check out some of their flavors: roasted chicken, prawn cocktail, tomato ketchup, smokey bacon, and worcester sauce to name a few.
Then check out some of our flavors: salted, barbecue, sour cream and onion, vinegar. Bo-ring.
But Lay’s is shaking things up with three new Brit-like flavors: Cheesy garlic bread, Chicken and waffles, and Sriracha. These flavors are only available during this limited time. The flavor that gets the most votes on the Lay’s Facebook page will become a permanent selection.
I haven’t tried any of the flavors yet, but I’ve heard good things so far about the Cheesy garlic bread flavor. Have you tried any of these? What did you think?
50 years of Bond
My son got his first exposure to James Bond on Sunday with the 007 video montage that was shown at the Oscars. Questionably inappropriate material for a 5-year-old? Uh, yeah. But a piece of British culture that my husband eagerly wanted to pass down.
I couldn’t find said video montage online, but found this excellent look at the past 50 years of Bond.
Who’s your favorite James Bond? I have to say Daniel Craig is mine.
The Aston Martin of strollers
You can’t be too posh to push this pram! Photo credit: Silver Cross/PA
If your baby needs a posh ride, look no further than this new Aston Martin-designed pram (translation: stroller), which costs a cool £2,000. It makes the Orbit look positively primeval! The Silver Cross Surf – the Aston Martin Edition (how’s that for a name?!) will be available exclusively from Harrods beginning in April.
BRITRISH.COM 