Anglophile, I am one.

Well it's been a snotty few days at Chez Hez.  Not necessarily because of the weather and mostly because I've been down and out with the Crud of 2013.  Everyone I know has had it.  So, I shouldn't feel special or anything but being surrounded by a half-used up roll of toilet paper and tiny wads of tissue on my bed is not particularly dignified....but I think I'm on the uphill swing and have only sneezed 40 some odd times this morning. 

I hate sneezing. 

Blech. 

So, the title of my blog:  Anglophile.

I was expressing my excitement via gchat to my pal, Candice, about my new Union Jack tee shirt that had arrived from Etsy yesterday and she laughed calling me a proper anglophile.  Not recognizing that word, I promptly toggled over and opened a new tab on Firefox.  Typing the word into google (freaking love Google), I was soon given the meaning of the this new vocabulary word.  Essentially, it means a person who is fascinated by all things 'English/British'. 

Huh.

That's me alright.  That's me in a nutshell.

After telling her that she's not allowed to bandy about words that I don't know, I tried to think/remember where my fascination began. 

I couldn't, of course.

It's always just kind of....been there.

I've loved the Beatles and can't remember when I didn't.

I've always had a fascination for the British Royals.  I remember finding out that Princess Diana and I shared a birthday (not the year thank you very much) and thinking just how very cool that was.  (I was a kid.  Gimme a break.  I had no idea at the time of what she was going through behind those palace doors)

And the older I got, the more this interest increased.

Harry Potter came along and again my interest in all things British soared.  There were new words to learn (ie. In Brit speak, sweaters = jumpers; trash cans = bins; brilliant = awesome; etc, etc) and after having made a few virtual friends from across the pond, I could honestly say I was properly hooked.

Why?

I don't honestly know.

It'd probably take me at least three hours on the therapist's couch to figure out why I think British things are 'cool'.  I just do.

It's the same way I think Irish things are cool, too (but I think that has to do more with my lineage....plus their accents are hella awesome). 

I wanna tromp around in a small village in my wellies with a fisherman's sweater to keep me warm and drink a pint of Guinness with my Mom while a musician plays in the corner and a fire crackles with life.  (It's a stereotype, okay? But it's my dream so let me keep it, yeah?)

You can tell I've put some thought into that, right?

I also wanna do the Literary Pub Crawl in Dublin.

My bucket list on pinterest is full of all things Irish and Uk related places that I'd love to visit/to see sometime in my life.  (Please, disregard that peeing in every ocean.  I thought that was just too hilarious to pass up)

And God willing (along with a little old-fashioned Heather-ingenuity) it might be possible.

Some day.

Just not today.

Until then, I'll keep listening to my Brit faves (Adele, Ed Sheeran, The Beatles, and yes, even One Direction), following the happenings of the next generation of the Royals (Harry, Wills, Kate, and Andrew's girls), wear my union jack tee shirt, and see if I can ever properly get through a glass of Guinness (I keep trying).  

Is there something you're fascinated with and have no earthly reason why?  What are the places on your bucket list that you'd like to visit?  How do you take your coffee and/or tea?