Wall Pigeon

Joel and I have really been missing our chihuahua, Sophie, so you could see how excited we were to gain a stand in – Wall Pigeon.

Perhaps this is just true to England, but Joel and I became the proud parents of a pigeon that lived in our ceiling, walls and floorboards for 5 days. 5 days!

It started out as some clawing above our heads then it slowly moved to fluttering in between the walls and finally, to cooing from behind our electrical outlet. Being the smart human beings that we are, Joel and I removed the electrical outlet box only to find this starring back at us!

OHAI

It was jarring to say the least. After trying and failing to lure it out with marzipan (what? we’ve been in France a lot recently) and bread, I put on 3 pairs of gloves, reached in grabbed that Wall Pigeon. He fought, but with Joel’s cheering, I powered through it and freed him from the wall!

So long Wall Pigeon (also known as F**cking Pigeon). It’s been real.

Rob on Holiday!

As mentioned before, we had a fellow New Yorker, Rob, visit us over the bank holiday weekend. Along with our amazing trip to Hogwart’s, we drank a bunch and saw The Avengers, London style.

Photo courtesy of Rob

By London style, I mean it isn’t even called The Avengers but instead, Avengers Assemble. Also, I am fairly certain that no theater exists in America like the one we saw the movie in – Electric Cinema. This theater served normal non-smelly food, wine, and beer. They had tables next to each incredibly comfortable cushy leather seat… with footstools! I wish I could see every movie in this theater. Movie theater aside, The Avengers was one of the best movies we’ve seen in a long time. HIGH recommendation!

Photo courtesy of Rob

Pre-theather, Rob and I enjoyed some beers at a favorite pub, Euston Tap. They serve great craft beers on one side, and across the street they serve ciders. It’s a win-win for all visitors! I introduced Rob to our favorite local brewery, The Kernel Brewery (not sure if it’s 10 or 20 times I’ve mentioned their awesomeness on Fishmix?). He dug it. Hungry, we headed to another favorite, Union Jacks. Jamie Oliver‘s spot serves flats (pizzas) and fantastic locally sourced small plates. It is always good, every time.

Day 2 of Rob’s visit involved a trip outside of London to see the Warner Brothers Studio Tour of Harry Potter as well as some sightseeing, eating of English food and dining of local beers (You can read more about our Harry Potter Studio visit here). We saw Big Ben, he lived up to his reputation. We saw Westminster Abby, St. Pauls, the Harry Potter Bridge, the Tate (from the outside), Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, the waterfront and so on and so on. After that much walking, English food and drink was well deserved at the Draft House. Many a Camden Town Brewery beers were consumed before we walked up to Camden to sample the Scottish brewery, BrewDog.

BrewDog was sampling some delicious beers of their own as well as a superb collaboration with Stone, a US brewery we miss over here in London. Rob came prepared with Uno and I kicked ass.

All in all, Rob’s visit to London was packed full of awesome. Hope to see him again soon!

Hogwarts and a Friendly Face

This UK Bank Holiday weekend we had a very welcomed visitor (Rob) all the way from NYC by way of Dublin.

A fellow nerd, Rob was interested in some sightseeing, some beer drinking but more importantly – a visit to Warner Brothers Studio Tour of Harry Potter!!!! Joel and I have been talking about a visit to the new WB studio outside London since before we moved to London and Rob gave us the perfect reason to visit.

The studio tour was awesome, to say the least. It was fairly easy to get to – Train from Euston Station to Watford Jct. (tres British sounding, no?) then heavily Harry Potter decorated bus to the studio. After a bit of HP quizzing by the staff and a brief into film, you enter the main area known as The Great Hall. It is stupendous, a full scale, working set of the room where Harry and the other characters spent many a evenings.

Following the Great Hall, you go on a 1+ hour self guided tour through Quidditch, the Common room, classrooms with self stirring caldrons, the 1000′s of props created and sourced and my personal favorite – the Weslesy Brothers catalogue of items from their shop, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.

After that portion of the tour, you enter outside where you see Harry’s ‘home’, the Knight Bus as well as get to sample some Butterbeer! The name was slightly deceiving as it was more of a cream soda with butterscotch cream rather than a beer. But we did drink it all anyhow.

Once the butterbeers were enjoyed, we entered the final leg of the self guided tour – the makings behind the film. This included the original architectural renderings, creature creations (Dobby!) and a full-scale replica of Hogwarts which the film used for every shot of the school. As a designer, I thought it was incredible – such creativity and craftsmanship.

This tour  was totally worth the trip, the money and the time spent if you are a Harry Potter fan, interested in set and prop design or all of the above!

Thank goodness Rob was!

Stonehenge

While we do love to travel outside of Enlgand, we realize there is much to see in England. So when our friend, Lisa, said that her ‘Uncle Ronnie’ was visiting from New York and he wanted to see Stonehenge, we jumped on that bandwagon.

Stonehenge isn’t exactly what you’d expect. As it is a heavily trafficked tourist site, England has built the barriers from which you view the rocks so so so far away. Stonehenge looks as distant from the viewing area as it does from the street driving up. I understand that UNESCO doesn’t want people climbing the rocks or pulling a Griswald, but c’mon – a little bit closer would be fantastic.

I just feel that the impressiveness and spirituality behind the stones is lost at such a distance. However, it’s still pretty amazing to be in the presence of something so old. Something so incredible and unknown that even scientists and historians don’t truly understand it this many years later.

It was worth the trip, distance or not. Plus we got to ride with ‘Uncle Ronnie’ who kept us entertained for hours.

The Côte d’Azur – Moules and Noel Fielding

A friend of ours, Clare, is lucky enough to know someone with an apartment (not a flat!) in the South of France. And we lucky enough to know Clare!  For one superb weekend, Clare, Lisa Joel and I made our way south to the beautiful Cote d’Azur.

Our weekend was filled with (never enough) moules and frites, soaking up the sun, touring the beautiful cities (including Monaco), our horse named Noel and driving the coast.

It was an amazing time and we WILL do it again. If anyone is looking for a partner in an apartment purchase, we’re your man/woman.

Working, Traveling, Working

I have been doing some freelance work for a watch company, IWC Schaffhausen. The gig is very good – I get to travel, implementing their designs, training the global staff and meeting people all over the world! The gig comes to an end this month so here are some pictures of my travels as well as a link to the major project I worked on for them – Their Madison Avenue Boutique. Enjoy!

IWC Madison Avenue Boutique, New York City, NY

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So, Where Have You Been?!

The ‘Mix is back!

Please pardon the hiatus, it has been a busy beginning of Spring here in England. Lots of work, travel and family biznaz. But, we promise to be more emotionally available and around when you need us. That said, moving on!

Some updates for you –

We went to Stonehenge!

I did some traveling for a freelance gig (Hong Kong, Singapore, NYC(!), Switzerland, Madrid). It was been good, I must say. Lots of work, trainings and getting to know the world.

Joel and I went to the South of France with some friends. Enjoyed lots of moules, scenery and Monaco. Almost didn’t leave.

Sophie is doing well, living it up in the South. Sunning, sleep, sun, sleep, sun, sleeeep

Joel and I recently went to France (again) and Spain with his parents. It was beautiful. We stayed with his parents friends in Lautrec then drove to San Sebastian and enjoyed Basque Country. After this trip to France, I can safely say that we will end up there, someday. That trip and it’s photos deserve a separate ‘mix…

And finally, we are expecting a very special guest this coming weekend – our nerd buddy/my musical soulmate Rob. Finally, someone to coax Joel into a trip to see the Harry Potter tour* outside London! *I am sososo excited to see the HP tour.

For the Love of Ziggy

This one’s for you Ziggy –

Zig Zag, Ziggles, Mom’s little poodle…Sweetest face, adorable ears, funny, biscuit loving and burying, tongue hanging out, “tricks for cheese”, mousey,  snaggle-tooth, curly tail, ‘spare parts’, digging!, ‘gimmie that!’, kind eyed, little licks, loved to play, LOVED by us. And SO SO SO MUCH MORE.

Still Here!

It has been a whirlwind year so far, and it’s only February! I didn’t want to leave let the ‘Mixes go by the wayside, so here’s a quick update, with longer posts to follow –

• To start, it’s been a rough February for the Martin’s, we’ve lost two very important and very loved family members…RIP Granddad and Ziggy.

• I am working – Sharon Martin Designs is still active, even in Europe. I am traveling a ton. Funnily enough, to NYC – Only had to move across the ocean to get a job that has me working in New York!

• We’ve discovered that Kernel Brewery makes beer that rivals American craft beer and that there is decent food in London! Union Jacks, by Jamie Oliver is becoming a go-to for good beers and ‘flats’ (what we New Yorkers call pizza). He uses good ingredients and local cheese. And loads of horseradish, one of my favorite ingredients.

• While we (want to ) have been traveling all over Europe, we are trying to get out and see more of England. Last weekend, we went to Henry VIII’s former abode. The exhibit design was laughable, but it was pretty fantastic to be walking around on the same floors as he.

More to come…

Martin’s Rule!

RIP Granddad – You are loved and missed. You left behind an amazing legacy and family.