Yes Virginia, you are a Blue state!

Wahoo! VA Baracks along with rest of the US and a huge scream and sigh of relief goes up from across the UK as American ex-pats and Brits alike revel in the Democratic landslide! Spent election night staying up the wee hours of 4:30am watching the excellent BBC coverage. Their talking heads included Ted Koppel and UVA Prof Larry Sabato! After starting out the evening saying they weren’t going to call states early, the BBC quickly got on the Barack bandwagon and called many states such as PA way before any US outlets did, as I was furiously Skype messaging my mom in the US (“No one here has called PA – Really?” – Yup, really!).

My flatmate and I kept our strength up through a great feast of American treats, courtesy of Selfridge’s fabulous food hall. Hot dogs, chips, brownies and to top it off? Obama cupcakes! Tasty! I had to work the next day and thought I’d be dragging my butt in on 3 hours of sleep, but I was (and still am) so elated, that I really felt like I was walking on air and with a spring in my step. Lots of Brit colleagues popped in my office to offer congrats and share their excitement and the papers all went nuts w/coverage. Loved the juxtaposition of the front of the Londonpaper (pictured here) with Obama and then an ad for a new musical 'Imagine This"! See more pics online of our Obama Feast and UK headlines. I’m now trying to find a way to come back to DC for the Inauguration!

To 'B' or not to 'B'

Along with Barack-mania, life across the pond has included visits to see the latest Bond film, the Coen Bros’ Burn After Reading and Kenneth Branagh in the Chekov play ‘Ivanov.’ I would give all of them solid ‘Bs’. I love Daniel Craig as Bond – he’s just fantastic (and can wear a tux like no one else!), but found Quantum a bit too short on plot and long dark/broody and also a bit. I was blown away by most of the performances in Burn (especially Brad Pitt – he stole every scene he was in), and it was also fun to spot all the DC locations, but also found it a bit short and a bit odd of an ending. My friend Lynne and I had 3rd row seats to see Branagh and he really brought the house down with an incredible performance – practically moving me to tears. Gina McKee (aka Hugh G’s wheelchair friend from Notting Hill) was also fantastic as his wife. Now looking forward to seeing Tony-winning play August: Osage County which hits the National Theatre this month with the original Chicago cast! And speaking of to be or not to be, on Dec. 10 I go to see the RSC’s Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart! Sigh….

From Avenue Q to the Royal Mile

My friend David made his very first trip to London a few weeks ago and we had a great weekend playing tourist, including climbing to the (almost) top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, checking out the Tate Modern and making a trip to Avenue Q. David had never seen it and I’d just seen it once in NYC years ago. We both loved it. I’d forgotten how funny, joyous and infectious the show is and the whole crowd roared at the lyric that George Bush ‘is only for now.’ From the far east side of New York to the Royal Mile of Edinburgh, work travel brought my first trip to Scotland. Alas, I was only there for 2 days (and mainly working), but my colleague Elaine and I were able to squeeze out about 3 hours exploring one morning. What a gorgeous city. It’s very European, but with a cool, funky, University-city vibe and extremely friendly and funny people. I will definitely be going back, hopefully for the Fringe Fest in August! See Scotland pics here.

Mamma Mia – Here I go again (and to Sweden!)

Speaking of travel, tomorrow morning my friend Sarah and I leave at the crack of dawn to go to Gothenburg, Sweden for 3 days. One of the discount airlines was offering fares of 2 pence (yes, really!) for various destinations and we were able to land tix to head to the land of ABBA. And then fittingly enough, next Sunday I will be queueing up at the Prince Charles Cinema for a FREE Sing-along screening of the “Mamma Mia” film. Can’t wait! Also can’t wait to see many of you in just one month when I’m back in DC!