cupcakes, crumpets, and Pimm’s, oh my!

It felt so good this morning to wake up to a slightly cooler house and the promise of many comfortably warm days ahead. We had a lazy morning and then the joyful moment of being reunited with Alene, who arrived in the early afternoon to move in with us for four days! There were lots of hugs all around and then she settled into her upstairs room as Bill and the boys headed out to see Mission Impossible at Westfield. I proposed that we walk along the Thames towards Hammersmith, stop at Bill’s and my favorite pub in that area, and then maaaaybe a little side quest to my favorite cupcake shop in Fulham. Alene was game so off we went!

It was truly a gorgeous day for a walk along the river, with just enough cloud cover that the sun wasn’t too intense, but the air was still pleasantly warm and breezy. The footpath was crowded with lots of people out to enjoy the day, and I showed Alene the gated gardens and rowing clubs and all of the other gorgeous sights along the Thames. The pub that Bill and I really like in Fulham, the Crabtree, was hopping with lots of people out to enjoy the sun, but with the breeze turning into a stronger wind, we were happy to grab a table indoors and order some salads for lunch. We are also both Pimm’s enthusiasts so we each got a tall Pimm’s Cup.

After lunch we wandered further south along the river, past Fulham’s football stadium and through Bishops Park by Fulham Pier where we discovered a local Bulgarian Folk Festival underway. Alene spotted a place that looked great for soft serve ice cream so we each got one, and continued wandering through Fulham until we made it to my beloved bakery where Alene bought two cupcakes and I bought four. Then we caught a bus from there to Hammersmith, where we made a stop at the M&S for crumpets, and another bus home to the quiet house with all of the dudes still out at the movie. So we set up shop in the living room on separate couches with dueling laptops and relaxed until the crew got home for a 6:30pm Sunday roast at the Roebuck.

We had an amazing time introducing Alene to our home-away-from-home-away-from-home. Nearly all of my faves were there so she got to see Elliott, Josh, Andrew, and Salv, at least in passing. We got to chat with Elliott at the bar for a while, and Josh tried to sell us on Pimm’s with a gin float which just about knocked us on our asses with one sip. Just as I was standing there with them talking about our “Traitor’s Day” approach to July 4th and giving credit to Josh’s friend-in-absentia Richard and saying “I love your friend Richard!” he said, “he’s right behind you.”

So there was Richard with a huge smile, lifting his glass and saying “this is the best Sunday!” and then Josh comically stalks off saying, “well now that you’ve done that his ego will be impossible to deal with.” This all resulted in me hugging Richard and taking a selfie with him. He promised to be at our Traitor’s Day party. Ben ran ahead home, James followed, and the rest of us attempted to make a dent in the gin-heavy Pimm’s before making our way back too.

The evening ended with the sneeze episode of Seinfeld, inspired by our dinner conversation about whether it’s rude to not say “bless you” if someone sneezes. Personally I hate this outdated tradition and have avoided teaching my kids to do it, so I’m curious about whether they’ll be perceived as jerks by the rest of the world. Stay tuned! There may also have been a second dessert of Flavourtown cupcakes but I can neither confirm nor deny. Oh, and we subjected baseball-wary Alene to a Giants game full of quirks and errors, with multiple pickles, a ton of home runs, and we won!