Our life didn't just start a new season, this is a whole new spin-off show. Hence, the title of this post. ;) 

(*disclaimer* I am practising British English spelling. I'm not perfect at it, obviously, ((how am I supposed to know what I don't know?)). So try to be patient if you see misspelling, all you grammatically correct Americans!)

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As soon as we get wifi in our flat, I will be spending some quality time with our blog here. A little TLC and geographic updates are due. 

Let me rewind. 

We made it!

Distance travelled from Newark Airport: 3,254 miles. 

Too many feelings about being almost five thousand miles from 'home'. Home is now wherever Taylor is :)

 

River Thames from the plane

I was too far away from the sign that says 'no photography, no cell phones' so please forgive! 

Driving past Buckingham Palace on our way to the city and Taylor's office to pick up the cell phone SIM cards that we ordered ahead of time. 

Trafalgar Square. You can see a couple of the lions that guard Nelson's Column. 

We stayed with a friend from the Hyde Park 2nd ward and I looooved this cute little street. It's exactly what I dreamed London would be like. 

One of our estate agents looks like Christian Bale! Haha stealth shot. 

This was the last and our favourite flat of all 17 that we got to see. Isn't that always how it is? 

We got it by participating in the 'gazumping' of another offer that was made. Apparently, this is a common practice here. I will explain. 

We made an offer right after seeing this flat because we liked it and there were other offers that the landlord was considering. We waited around in the park that is across the street from this place until we got the phone call saying our offer was accepted! 

We took a few minutes to consider putting down the deposit and then called back to go all in. 

Within what was not even 30 minutes that we took to discuss, the landlord had accepted a private offer. Say what?! 

It was indescribably disappointing. 

Because it had gone, we had no other place to fall back on confidently and no properties that were as close to our desired budget as that had been. We decided it was worth it to us to offer more that this flat since we would have to pay significantly more for all the other flats that were available. 

And it worked! The estate agent that helped us communicate with the landlord was as shocked as we were that the landlord decided to reject the private offer and rent to us instead. 

Gazumping: to refuse to sell/rent a property that you own to someone you have agreed to sell/rent it to, and to sell/rent instead to someone who offers to pay more for it. 

It sounds rough, maybe a little unfair, but that's how it goes over here. 

This was the first double decker bus that we got on here. We sat on the top level in the very front seats. I loved it but it made Taylor feel ill. Haha

The bus is cheaper than the tube but the buses fight traffic so a 30 minute ride could take over an hour if the traffic happens to be bad. Which it usually is. 

I will try to be more focused in my posts because it's getting to be too overwhelming to post at all. There's so much to share!!! 

Next post will be about how to we moved in and share some (possibly) helpful info for anyone who plans to be in London for an extended period of time :) 

Love you all!

Taylor kept unpredictable hours. A little annoying and lots disappointing because we didn't get to do as much together as we had hoped. But it's probably going to the the story of our next couple of years so....good practice. 

I did a mini 'You've Got Mail' tour. I adore that movie and just had to come to Cafe Lalo where they meet with the book and a flower. 

If you've never heard of or seen the 1940 version of this story, I recommend it! Jimmy Stewart in The Shop Around the Corner. 

The stairs that look like this are a huge reason I love the upper west side. 

I failed to find the 152 Riverside awning but I found another memorial I wouldn't have known about with a little exploration. 

Cute bench across the way from the Civil War memorial. 

Sat and read for a while. Just beyond the trees is the Hudson River. A nice quiet spot for a rest. 

The Madeline exhibit celebrating 75 years since it's publication at the New-York Historical Society Museum and Library. It was so great! Goes until October 19. 

Museum of Natural History 

Favorite subway station! 

I HAD to go to Levine's bakery and try one of these cookies. I went all in with the double chocolate. W-O-R-T-H IT. I couldn't eat it all at once-- it's a big mound of cookie going on there-- it took me a whole day to finish!

It's a random hole-in-the-wall place. If I hadn't been looking for it, I would have missed it completely. You have to go down the stairs to get in and see the goodies. 

Just down the street is the Doughnut Plant. Had to try a PB&J doughnut! 

Doughnut pillows! Cutesy cute!

Crunchy peanut butter and blackberry jam. Surprisingly good but I'll be fine with just one in my life. 

I wish you could see this in person. Those are presidents chillin up there on the Surrogates Court building. Across the street from City Hall. 

Goodbye, bedroom. I blanked on taking pictures of the kitchen and living room. I was waiting until we moved all of our junk but we left in a hurry. Friday afternoon traffic heading out of the city, you know?  

Off to London! Direct flight leaving 9pm ET and arriving 9am local time. About 7 hours of actual air time. We'll be zombies because we are terrible at sleeping on planes. Wish us luck!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. A NY visit must. 

Our last selfie had been on top of Mount Juneau. Rooftop garden at the Met is good,  too. 

See what she did there?
Can you see the dragonfly hanging out with us? 

So much to see, so little time 

One of those was mine 

It was a goal of mine to eat a New York hot dog from a cart. Check!

Boats on the pond in Central Park (xoxo GG)

This is our attempt at getting frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. Line was too long for us. 

Got Sprinkles ice cream instead! This is their red velvet flavor. Not too bad. Not my favorite though. Also, I was warned not to eat the ATM-style cupcakes. I guess you can order your cupcake from outside. But only try it if you like your cupcakes stale. ;)

This midtown Hilton has some great stories. Not only is it the Hilton in which Keira has stayed for her model UN, but it is the same place where we share a special Larson memory. 

Last year, we flew into JFK for a quick weekend in Connecticut when Nick (BIL) got home from an LDS mission to Brazil. Our flight from SLC had been circling over Pennsylvania awaiting permission to land. We circled so long, we were getting low on fuel and were directed to Detroit to land and refuel. 

This part of the story is so that you know that we got to the hotel MUCH later that anticipated. Since we didn't check in, our rooms were probably given away so Bruce stood at the desk while the desk attendants attempted to find enough room for 7 of us that had arrived at 2:00am. The attendants whispered to each other, clacked away on the keyboard and then went 'in the back'. One guy came back and asked, 'Mr. Larson, would you be willing to be upgraded to the penthouse suite for no extra charge?' 

Yes! Duh. 

We grabbed our bags and followed an attendant to the correct elevator, got out at the highest floor and followed to the next elevator. This very small elevator opened only with our room key. What?

We stepped out into the two-story penthouse, gawking at everything. The spiral staircase. Modern art. The view. A secret bookshelf door that led from the study to the kitchen. There were huge rooms with canopy beds and plenty of room for us all. It was lush, spacious and amazing. Too bad we were only there for a few hours to sleep. 

We discovered that it used to be Lucille Ball's private apartment. Nbd. 

A dandelion fountain in front of the hotel. 

A rocking horse bush. By Jeff Koons. (He's a really big deal.....according to cabs across the city, fashion loves him)

We were running low on battery for our phones so we cheated the system and visited Grand Central Apple Store and charged our phones while we played games on the demo iPads. 

The Brooklyn Bridge at night is stunning. The brightest light out there is the Empire State Building. 

Downtown Manhattan

My man <3

Keira!!!!

We brunches at Kitchenette! It is cute and delicious! 

The strongest lemonade ever. But very, very real. Not a speck of powdered or artificial flavor in that jar there. 

Omelette was delish. Great biscuit (still love Ruth's Diner mile high biscuits more) and yummy potatoes!

This area is the public use area of the Hudson in which a volunteer group operates a free kayaking place! 

All volunteer operated means they run off of donations so bring a few bucks because it's worth it. They have everything you need: life jackets, paddles and the kayaks. If you're a kayaking veteran, be aware they don't have spray skirts so dress accordingly. You WILL get wet. 

Love him! 

We were taking fun group selfies until we realized we were missing the best back drop. 

There we go. 

One of those identical buildings out there (far left) is where we have been staying.

We were all funned out. Keira and Taylor got nice and burned. 

The classic touristy map 

Keira had Bellingham, Washington covered. 

Taylor and I pinned Utah county :)

Cannoli from Caffe Dante. L-E-G-I-T

We have been trying to eat our way through a list 'Best Thing I Ever Ate' from a good friend who is a major foodie. It's still ongoing. This list is loooong. 

Washington Square park gems. Yes, she made paper pigeons...

Keira's dream guy. Desperately looking for her all over the East Village. 

Vietnamese sandwich from heaven. I looooved it. Grilled pork, cilantro and pickled carrots. YUM! 

Taylor got the pork over rice. He said he still likes Oh Mai in Holladay, UT better though. 

Matchy matchy saltwater sandals in Times Square. 

This girl got soooo close to Keira on a subway car with broken A/C. At one point, she was mimicking Keira's posture. Cutie. 

I brought her out to the balcony as soon as she got here. The view took her breath away the first time she saw it. We had to go say goodbye here, too. 

Love you, dearest Keira!