BY THE SEA [MR. TODD]

 After our magical night turned morning on Friday/Saturday, I had to hit the ground running on Saturday, and boy that was a bit rough after 2.5 hours of sleep.  But then, I had Sunday off, and Kelly and I decided to bookend our amazing weekend with more awesomeness and head down to Brighton.  Now, I'd already been there once a couple weeks previously with my sister (which is a post I still have yet to create... whoops), but it had been on the chilly side then, and rather cloudy/drizzly weather.  This time, it was sunny and hot!  The train down there was packed full of people all heading to the beach, and Kelly and I ended up sitting on the floor of the train car aisle where we had been standing.  But we got to Brighton raring to go and headed straight for that beautiful, albeit rocky, beach.

 Being unprepared in the sense that neither of us had brought swimming or beach things as we weren't planning to spend all day there, I had to resort to impromptu creative measures to beach-ify myself when the desire to sunbathe and go in the water hit.  We had just seen a guy walking along in tighty-whitey briefs for heaven's sake, so I figured what the hell and took my shirt off and just walked around in my bra for a good while (which to be honest, looked like it could have been a bandeau or something so whatever).

We eventually got off the beach and walked along the seafront, stopping to try on some hats and admire the goods being sold on the pier.  Part of me thinks I should invest in a proper sunhat, but then I think how often will I really wear it?  That is still TBD, and probably will continue to be one of the great unanswered questions of my life.  Anyway, having had enough sun, we wanted food and shade, so we set off to find a pub to eat at.  We ended up sitting outside of one, and while waiting for our food to arrive, a cello player set up just a bit away from us and we were treated to some beautifully played music, most of which we recognized from various musicals and operas, etc.  It was perfectly timed and absolutely wonderful to listen to!

 After lunch, we walked around Brighton, and eventually made our way to the Laines, which are filled with all kinds of little vintage shops, antique stores, cafes, etc.  I bought a beautiful old map of Scotland on a canvas cloth for only a few quid which I hope to eventually frame and use as decor in my future home.  After shopping ourselves out and reaching our breaking point in the heat, we sat down for some strawberry smoothies before heading back to the train station to return to London.