Hello!! Jess here! Some updates since Graduates in Wonderland ended: Rachel moved back to Paris! I’m visiting her TOMORROW via the Eurostar and I will be sleeping on her sofa. I still live in London! I’m still with Sam Singer! I still really like him so it looks like this just might stick! And IRead On >>
Bake These Tarts, Bag Your Own Tyrannical King
(includes gluten because kings love gluten)
If you’re always a bridesmaid, never a bride, don’t fret. Attracting the perfect mate is time-consuming and difficult in the best of times. But there’s an easier way, and it dates back to the 16th century. If you’ve been watching Wolf Hall and want that really joyful time in history to be your reality, then this is theRead On >>
Winter of Discontent
The Worst Thing I Ever Did (Train for a Half-Marathon in Winter)
Here’s a post I wrote for The Daily Telegraph about my training for my first half-marathon in Brighton, England. Don’t expect pro advice, though. I’m just hoping to finish/show up. Here’s how it’s going so far: Midway through my 3-mile run in London, my lungs and legs feel too heavy to continue and I stopRead On >>
How to Do London Like a Local
our top ten tips
You already know London. Everyone knows some part of London, and everyone has their own ideas about what it is — based on traveling, studying abroad, living here, or even too many viewings of Notting Hill or Sherlock Holmes. But, saying that you know London is like saying you know the United States — theRead On >>
Why American Women Fall For British Dudes
The Most Important Article I Have Ever Written
That’s right, I took it upon myself to explore why American women so often love English men, and yet it’s rare to find an American man paired with an English woman (George Clooney’s recent engagement doesn’t count – because George Clooney is the exception to every rule!). ELLE magazine recognized how important this article wasRead On >>
English Wildlife
Looking for bunnies
We took a daytrip to Lewes, a tiny village about an hour train ride outside London. All I wanted from the excursion was to find and pet a bunny. It’s Easter – is that so much to ask for (asks the Chinese Jew)? Instead, we went for a hike here: I tread a bit closer…Read On >>
Happy Pancake Tuesday To You
Birthday Pancake-Cake!
Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras – the day when people wear costumes, engage in debaucherous behavior, dance, throw a parade and then make out with lots of people while wearing rows of beads around their necks. This is otherwise known as the more prim and proper Shrove Tuesday in the UK. Instead of copious amountsRead On >>
Downton Abbey Drama
Don't worry! We spotted them in London and they are fine
America has FINALLY seen the Downton Abbey episode where a terrible, terrible thing happens and we are left devastated and also wondering what is going to happen to Anna and Mr. Bates. Well, don’t worry! Let’s keep in mind that things happen in Downton Abbey (my favorite reality TV show – those people who still thinkRead On >>
24 Hours in Witch Country
Investigating the witches of Lancashire
The wind is howling on Pendle Hill on Halloween. It lies in Northern England, and has been described to me as a seductive hill with a macabre, dark past. My friend Rachel and I are climbing the hill – it’s only 4pm, but the sun sets in less than hour. We can see the small villages of Sabden,Read On >>
A Rule is a Rule: A Day at Royal Ascot
Fancy hats, horse races, and Pimms cup
After six Pimms, 20 squandered pounds, two purchased hats, and one final race at Royal Ascot, the five-day premier horse racing event in England, Rachel and I board the crowded train back to London and end up sitting in the First Class car. We’d somehow found ourselves, two Americans, returning from a day at the races.Read On >>