DISSERTATION GRADE! and Mat's chalkboard

Most important news this week - I got a B+ on my dissertation!  Which means this girl officially has a Master's Degree!  And I think I'll be graduating with merit as well :) Very proud of myself!

Baby is growing.  Our picture-taking session was quite stressful this morning because I was having a hard time looking pretty and we just couldn't get a good angle on the belly. Poor Mat was ready to kill me.  

Mat did the board this week... he thinks it's the best board ever (I beg to differ!).  Here he is, hard at work!

The picture on the bottom is supposed to mean that Baby is the size of an ear of corn.  Such a kind and artistic fiancé I have! :)

For the record, he doesn't really call me fat.  He tells me I'm beautiful and skinny and amazing all the time :) He just thought the board was funny!

We had a lovely weekend this weekend.  I went out to celebrate a friend's engagement on Friday night. I have to say going out to a busy bar in London with a belly is quite stressful (lots of elbows flying around).. and everyone stares at you! 

Mat and I had a relaxing Saturday.  We did a bit of shopping then went out to dinner in Canary Wharf to celebrate my dissertation grade.  We ate at a fancy restaurant called Plateau in Canada Square and it was beautiful!  And very good food!  Then we went across the street for some wine/mocktails at Parlour, which is owned by the same company Mat works for.  Here's my handsome date with his wine and me with my mocktail!

I made myself this beautiful bolognese sauce the other day.  Who knew it was so easy to make such yummy sauce!  It's fine to be jealous.

This is what the sky has looked like in London the last few days.  Cloudy, rainy and cold! I didn't even change the colour on the photo at all.  Just so gloomy.

The girls from my MA programme threw me a baby shower today.  A bit of miscommunication led me to have to race across London on the tube, train and in a cab to get there and I was still an hour and a half late!  However, it was still a lovely day! We played shower games and Baby got lots of good presents.  Thanks Dasha and Aileen for hosting!

That's all I have to report this week!

Week 23

Here's my belly. It's getting bigger.  I always get a seat on the tube now, even without my Baby on Board badge.  I realise I'm a bit obsessed with the tube and having a seat but I spend A LOT of time on the tube.

Mat and I got this nice little surprise from Katie last week!  Since we couldn't have a real wedding shower, she sent this letter along with a small postage paid box to family and a few friends.  They sent them back to Katie and she packed them all in a big box and sent them to us!  Such a creative idea!  We LOVED it. It was very exciting to open all the presents.  Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

This was my favourite present in the little boxes!  Thanks Grandma Doris :)  

Mat was on his stag do this weekend (aka bachelor party).  He went to Brighton with his friends Friday-Sunday.  This is how he was when he came home... 

I spent the whole weekend cleaning, shopping for house things, and being domestic so I wasn't very sympathetic when he got home and didn't let him sleep very long.  We went to meet Linda and Mark for dinner in Hammersmith shortly after these photos and Mat was struggling to be a functional human.

This is his trophy from go karting this weekend.  He won first place and is so proud of himself.  He may be getting old but he's a kid at heart :)

That's all I know.  We're catching up on some X Factor and then going to bed early.

NFL London and week 22

I'm well aware my chalkboard is not cute this week but there's a reason I'm not a graphic designer. I do my best.  Baby is growing quickly these days.  I don't even have to wear my Baby on Board badge on the tube/bus anymore because you can't miss the basketball under my t-shirt.  Although, funnily enough, it is always women who give me their seats on the tube, which makes me feel guilty for taking their seats!  Men pretend to not notice my pregnant belly and leave their tushes planted in their seats.  It's fine.. I don't have swollen ankles or anything yet so I am perfectly capable of standing up.. I won't be so nice in a few weeks though so men of London, watch out!

London living.

I did some wandering around Westminster with my friends from uni the other day.  Westminster Abbey never fails to impress me!

Mat, Baby and I managed to get tickets to the Vikings-Steelers game at Wembley Stadium in London.  Shame it had to be the Vikings playing but we went with our Packers gear on and cheered for the Steelers :)  Mat is not sold on American football as a game (partly because it goes on forever!) but we had a good time anyway!  And he particularly liked the cheerleaders, as did every other British male who attended the game.

Wembley Field.

View of the field.  Vikings were the home team so there was purple garbage everywhere.

It was quite funny at the beginning of the game.. they sang the American national anthem and all the Americans sang along.  Then they played God Save the Queen.. keep in mind that Brits are not patriotic people at all.. most of them probably don't even know the words to God Save the Queen!  But the whole stadium sang along.  The only time the Brits are patriotic is when they're trying to out-patriotic the Americans at an American sporting event :)

Pre-game festivities.

Finally, we got our first baby present from my friend Verere on my volleyball team.  Baby has a play mat!  Thanks V!  We love it :)

Not a lot else to report.  I'm home sick from work today.  Was up all night with a sore throat and cough, and a coughing fiancé next to me.  It's safe to say I'm refusing to leave my bed today except to walk to the couch and maybe the refrigerator.  

Finally, if you haven't sent your RSVP for the wedding, DO IT!  Only 1 month to go :)