Today we were supposed to meet a friend in Chiswick (which is a neighbourhood that is also known as Nappy Valley because there are so many young families there). She called right as we were walking out the door to cancel. I was so relieved!
I am exhausted, so a free morning of just relaxing seemed like the perfect thing to do. (The reason I'm so tired is the sunlight. It's far enough North here that the sun rises at 4:30 a.m. and our room doesn't have any blackout curtains. For the past few years I've been very sensitive about light when I sleep.) A day of staying home and relaxing turned out to be one of the least relaxing things we could do. Our corporate flat is actually quite big. There is plenty of space to run around if you're into that sort of thing. Apparently Vivi wasn't yesterday. She just wanted to do what she shouldn't be doing: playing with electrical outlets, throwing delicate objects and basically whining, screaming or grunting all day. During the day I feel like I tried everything to get her to understand that she was being punished for her bad behavior, but nothing seemed to work. I think she's got a jump on me in the discipline game. I'm always trying to catch up. Maybe one of these days I can be ahead of the game... I think I need to read a book...things with her are much trickier now.
So, not a pleasant day at all really. In the afternoon we left to go pick up the mail, dry cleaning, some water and a bit of salad for dinner and then came back. I never had to walk farther than the end of the block for all of that, but it still took 2 trips and 40 minutes. It's impossible to carry dry cleaning and a 5 liter jug of water while pushing a stroller, and it would have been even harder if I had to corral Vivian at the same time. I have not mastered the art of getting her to obey me when we are... pretty much anywhere. (When you watch British TV, the mums are always portrayed as being frumpy, frazzled and very close to insane. I have not felt like that until today.)
Tonight I'm hoping to black out the windows so that I can sleep. Mark is out with a friend for drinks after work so now that Viv is in bed I'm just going to read until I fall asleep!
31 May 2012
30 May 2012
St. Paul's Cathedral
(Occasionally I will write something as if I'm writing it that day and then post-date it. I feel like it's the best way to keep track of everything.)
Today was a quite busy day. In the morning Viv and I had planned to take the 11 bus to St. Paul's Cathedral to see where all of those birds were fed in Mary Poppins. Instead we went down to Balham to our new place and looked at all of the furniture that the current tenants wouldn't mind selling to us. It proved to be a very good trip for us. We ended up buying their super-cute farmhouse table and chairs for the breakfast nook and their entire dining room/library full of bookshelves. Most of our books we left in storage in Chicago, but I'm sure we'll find something useful to do with all of those shelves! We had wanted to buy more of their furniture because it was beautiful, but they were just asking too much. We could probably buy an entire bedroom worth of furniture for what they wanted for the wardrobes. They were beautiful pieces. They must have spent quite a bit on them the first time around.
After Vivi's nap we met the current tenant near St. Paul's to pay him for the furniture and then Viv and I walked up to St. Paul's, took a few pictures, marveled at some stuff and then took the bus home. After that I was wiped out! Riding the bus with Viv is the only way I have traveled so far. It seems like a pretty good way to go with a toddler. There is plenty to look at and she stays pretty happy. I've managed to compromise so that we don't have to go to the top floor every time. Instead I park the buggy (stroller) in "buggy parking" on the bus, grab the tote bag with all of our gear in it and the sippy cup and head up toward the back where the seating is a bit higher so that she can look out the windows. That way I can still see the buggy and move it in case anyone else needs the space. (I got yelled at the other day by a "mum" who had a baby in a buggy. She wanted to put hers there and mine was already there. I just grabbed mine, folded it up and brought it next to me. It wasn't a problem but I thought it was weird that she was so aggressive and mean.)
When we got home I decided that we would order take-out because I was so tired that I just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. Instead... I sat down for a minute and thought about it. We decided that when we moved to London we would treat it as a chance to make some changes in our life. We could use the major change to make a lot of other minor changes. So far, there have been all kinds of minor changes that we've made, but ordering take-out felt to me like admitting that I wasn't willing to actually make minor changes. So, I got up and made the best imitation of the burritos that we love eating. They had no corn tortillas anywhere, so I bought those crunchy taco shells. They had no ground turkey so I just used chicken and chopped it up really small. Since I thought the crunchy taco shells would be gross (I was totally correct) I made some fried rice with peas (it would have been kind of like Spanish rice but I forgot to buy corn and something tomatoey to add). Cooking in a completely new kitchen with none of your own equipment is always a bit odd. Especially when the corporate housing people don't expect you to do much cooking. It's not too bad, but there were a couple items that I really missed!
Overall it was not a very tasty meal. The chicken was decent because I brought my own taco seasoning (we really like this meal), but everything else just tasted different and a bit wrong. I know that we'll have to adjust the way that we eat, but it was worth a shot, right? I was just impressed that I made dinner at all, and Mark was impressed that I did so well with what was available. All in all, it was a good experience (and I even cleaned up the kitchen afterwards)!
Now I'm going to collapse into sleep!
Today was a quite busy day. In the morning Viv and I had planned to take the 11 bus to St. Paul's Cathedral to see where all of those birds were fed in Mary Poppins. Instead we went down to Balham to our new place and looked at all of the furniture that the current tenants wouldn't mind selling to us. It proved to be a very good trip for us. We ended up buying their super-cute farmhouse table and chairs for the breakfast nook and their entire dining room/library full of bookshelves. Most of our books we left in storage in Chicago, but I'm sure we'll find something useful to do with all of those shelves! We had wanted to buy more of their furniture because it was beautiful, but they were just asking too much. We could probably buy an entire bedroom worth of furniture for what they wanted for the wardrobes. They were beautiful pieces. They must have spent quite a bit on them the first time around.
After Vivi's nap we met the current tenant near St. Paul's to pay him for the furniture and then Viv and I walked up to St. Paul's, took a few pictures, marveled at some stuff and then took the bus home. After that I was wiped out! Riding the bus with Viv is the only way I have traveled so far. It seems like a pretty good way to go with a toddler. There is plenty to look at and she stays pretty happy. I've managed to compromise so that we don't have to go to the top floor every time. Instead I park the buggy (stroller) in "buggy parking" on the bus, grab the tote bag with all of our gear in it and the sippy cup and head up toward the back where the seating is a bit higher so that she can look out the windows. That way I can still see the buggy and move it in case anyone else needs the space. (I got yelled at the other day by a "mum" who had a baby in a buggy. She wanted to put hers there and mine was already there. I just grabbed mine, folded it up and brought it next to me. It wasn't a problem but I thought it was weird that she was so aggressive and mean.)
When we got home I decided that we would order take-out because I was so tired that I just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. Instead... I sat down for a minute and thought about it. We decided that when we moved to London we would treat it as a chance to make some changes in our life. We could use the major change to make a lot of other minor changes. So far, there have been all kinds of minor changes that we've made, but ordering take-out felt to me like admitting that I wasn't willing to actually make minor changes. So, I got up and made the best imitation of the burritos that we love eating. They had no corn tortillas anywhere, so I bought those crunchy taco shells. They had no ground turkey so I just used chicken and chopped it up really small. Since I thought the crunchy taco shells would be gross (I was totally correct) I made some fried rice with peas (it would have been kind of like Spanish rice but I forgot to buy corn and something tomatoey to add). Cooking in a completely new kitchen with none of your own equipment is always a bit odd. Especially when the corporate housing people don't expect you to do much cooking. It's not too bad, but there were a couple items that I really missed!
Overall it was not a very tasty meal. The chicken was decent because I brought my own taco seasoning (we really like this meal), but everything else just tasted different and a bit wrong. I know that we'll have to adjust the way that we eat, but it was worth a shot, right? I was just impressed that I made dinner at all, and Mark was impressed that I did so well with what was available. All in all, it was a good experience (and I even cleaned up the kitchen afterwards)!
Now I'm going to collapse into sleep!
29 May 2012
Pit Bulls
I know this is my third post today but I realized I have not yet addressed this issue and it's kind of a big deal for me.
There are pit bulls everywhere here. Seriously, they outnumber every other breed of dog by 4-1 (at least... it's crazy). I have yet to see one off it's leash that I can recall (a lot of dogs are let off their leash in the big parks), but they still scare me. Today we passed one on Portobello Road with a muzzle on. That was at the same time comforting and terrifying.
Is it just me, or does that seems weird? Pit Bulls were almost banned in Chicago (I think) a few years ago because there were so many incidents of people being mauled. What's going on London?
There are pit bulls everywhere here. Seriously, they outnumber every other breed of dog by 4-1 (at least... it's crazy). I have yet to see one off it's leash that I can recall (a lot of dogs are let off their leash in the big parks), but they still scare me. Today we passed one on Portobello Road with a muzzle on. That was at the same time comforting and terrifying.
Is it just me, or does that seems weird? Pit Bulls were almost banned in Chicago (I think) a few years ago because there were so many incidents of people being mauled. What's going on London?
London is Magical for Children
As we were riding the 148 bus back from Notting Hill along the northern edge of Hyde Park this morning, it struck me how amazing London is for kids. As we drove I continued to point out the amazing statues, fountains, horses and flowers. Vivi absolutely loves riding the Big Red Bus because we get to sit up high and look out the windows at incredible things. (The amount of work it takes to get Vivi, the stroller, the diaper bag, my purse and myself up the stairs of the bus while it's moving is a whole different story - a quite scary one really.)
I think I might use this post as a running commentary while we're in London to record all of the reasons London is great for kids.
Parks - everywhere
so far we've been to:
- St James
- Hyde
- Clapham Common
- Wandsworth Common
and a few tiny green patches scattered about (When I say tiny I mean something on the scale of normal where I'm from.)
Statues -
- On top of the Victoria Palace there is a golden statue of a ballerina twirling or doing something ballet-y. It is striking in the sun. Viv loves it and so do I. It makes me want to be a ballerina.
- In Hyde Park there is a huge statue of a bird with it's head down. I think it's near the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It's a small insignificant statue in the grand scheme of London statues, but it's beautiful!
- Prince Albert Memorial. It's HUGE and gold and glowing and ornate beyond belief. Queen Victoria apparently really loved that guy (or had a lot of money she needed to get rid of).
Fountains -
- There are fountains everywhere. I probably wouldn't notice them except Vivi loves them and points them out whenever she sees one... then she says "Fountains are awesome." It's one of my current favorite things that she does.
Horses -
- There are a lot of horses around here. Cops ride them, the Queens Guard rides them, they have horse riding lessons in the park and occasionally they just walk down the street (that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously it seems like that sometimes).
Flowers -
This might seem silly but there are flowers everywhere. The parks around here are all very well maintained (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the Queen's Jubilee and/or the Olympics or the fact that it's been sunny for the past 10 days so everything is in bloom.) Granted, we have been walking through very nice and wealthy neighborhoods the past couple of days, but they all have flowers in their front gardens. Vivi loves to stop, smell every flower and say "yummy."
Big Red Bus -
Can't forget this one. It's probably the absolute best part of London for our kid at least.
I think I might use this post as a running commentary while we're in London to record all of the reasons London is great for kids.
Parks - everywhere
so far we've been to:
- St James
- Hyde
- Clapham Common
- Wandsworth Common
and a few tiny green patches scattered about (When I say tiny I mean something on the scale of normal where I'm from.)
Statues -
- On top of the Victoria Palace there is a golden statue of a ballerina twirling or doing something ballet-y. It is striking in the sun. Viv loves it and so do I. It makes me want to be a ballerina.
- In Hyde Park there is a huge statue of a bird with it's head down. I think it's near the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It's a small insignificant statue in the grand scheme of London statues, but it's beautiful!
- Prince Albert Memorial. It's HUGE and gold and glowing and ornate beyond belief. Queen Victoria apparently really loved that guy (or had a lot of money she needed to get rid of).
Fountains -
- There are fountains everywhere. I probably wouldn't notice them except Vivi loves them and points them out whenever she sees one... then she says "Fountains are awesome." It's one of my current favorite things that she does.
Horses -
- There are a lot of horses around here. Cops ride them, the Queens Guard rides them, they have horse riding lessons in the park and occasionally they just walk down the street (that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously it seems like that sometimes).
Flowers -
This might seem silly but there are flowers everywhere. The parks around here are all very well maintained (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the Queen's Jubilee and/or the Olympics or the fact that it's been sunny for the past 10 days so everything is in bloom.) Granted, we have been walking through very nice and wealthy neighborhoods the past couple of days, but they all have flowers in their front gardens. Vivi loves to stop, smell every flower and say "yummy."
Big Red Bus -
Can't forget this one. It's probably the absolute best part of London for our kid at least.
Portobello Street Market
This morning Viv and I took a bus up to Notting Hill to walk through the Portobello Street Market. I have decided that every morning after breakfast we will take a bus ride to somewhere cool and then we'll come home for her nap. This morning I figured we could get a good feel for the market without all of the crowds like there must be on the weekend. I was kind of right except getting there at 10 a.m. means you miss out on most of the shops because they're not even set up yet.
The thing that is crazy to me about these street markets is that they set up and tear down every single day. This morning we walked through a market near our flat to get to the bus to go to the other market. The guys near us were putting up their stalls to sell the same stuff they were selling yesterday. They must make a lot of money doing that because there's no rent to pay.
The Portobello Market was really cool, but I was a bit distracted because I was allowing Viv to get out of her stroller and run around. She really loves doing that and I know it's good for her, but it is so much more work for me! One of these days I'll go up to that market by myself and shop for all of the stuff that I wanted to look at but couldn't because I was dashing after Viv to stop her from petting a pit bull (more about that later).
My sister and brother-in-law come into town on Sunday. I can't wait to see them and live vicariously through them as they traipse around London toddler-less. I shouldn't complain! If I didn't have Viv I would probably have a real job and then I'd never get to do any of this!
The thing that is crazy to me about these street markets is that they set up and tear down every single day. This morning we walked through a market near our flat to get to the bus to go to the other market. The guys near us were putting up their stalls to sell the same stuff they were selling yesterday. They must make a lot of money doing that because there's no rent to pay.
The Portobello Market was really cool, but I was a bit distracted because I was allowing Viv to get out of her stroller and run around. She really loves doing that and I know it's good for her, but it is so much more work for me! One of these days I'll go up to that market by myself and shop for all of the stuff that I wanted to look at but couldn't because I was dashing after Viv to stop her from petting a pit bull (more about that later).
My sister and brother-in-law come into town on Sunday. I can't wait to see them and live vicariously through them as they traipse around London toddler-less. I shouldn't complain! If I didn't have Viv I would probably have a real job and then I'd never get to do any of this!
28 May 2012
Oak Park Reunion
Today is Mark's first day of work in the UK. I am sure he is going to do really well. Since I don't want to speak on his behalf, I'll leave it at that and let him write his own post about work sometime if he wants.
After he left for work Viv and I went out to meet a friend of a friend from Oak Park. She told me where to meet her and I mapped out the course before I left but only had the A-Z map with me and not the bus route map or anything else. It was risky, but we survived!
We met our new friend at the Barracks in Hyde Park. We'd not yet been up to Hyde Park so it was a real treat. The playground is just next to a practice area for the horse-riding guards (I'm sure there is a proper name for these guys, but I don't yet know it). We also walked past the Princess Diana memorial fountain and the Prince Albert Memorial. These parks are just absolutely huge. You can (and do) get lost in them. Some older ladies actually asked us for directions at one point.
My new Oak Park friend brought a British (for all intents and purposes) friend of hers that she's met since her arrival in London. They both live in the Kensington/Chelsea area and were telling me about their days filled with museums, parks, cafe lunches and traipsing around. I asked about schedules and my Oak Park friend said that people here aren't quite so "stressy" about schedules and generally as Americans. That was a new perspective for me. I hadn't really thought about myself being stressy about schedules, but I guess I absolutely am. I have always thought that kids do well with structure and in my limited experience being a mother that has been true. The more I keep Viv on her schedule the better she sleeps and behaves. This new friend was telling me that her daughter has learned to nap in her pushchair (stroller).
I don't really know how to handle this information. One of my main goals during my tenure in London is to really see how people here live, raise their children, wash their clothes, get around, cook their meals, shop for groceries, interact with each other, etc. I don't want to be the only one leaving a social activity because my daughter only naps in her cot (crib) at home. However, I have fairly strong feelings about making sure that Vivi has at least some semblance of structure in her life (we don't have tons of structure, but we do eat at the table instead of wandering around and we have set naps and bedtimes).
I guess this is just the first of many situations like this. I have a perspective on how things should be done based on my experiences to date and they differ from the general thinking here causing me to find a middle-ground, or perhaps changing my ways. It is also possible that this very small sample size is the perspective of only a few people and I will discover that there are more people who think like me. Either way, it's a good lesson.
The end of the story in this situation is that I left when these women took their kids to get Happy Meals at McDonalds and came home to feed Vivi and put her down for her nap. I am open to compromise in many areas of life, but feeding McDonalds to my two-year old is just not one of those things!
27 May 2012
Tourism
Now that we've found a place to live we are free to enjoy the benefits of living in Westminster for the next few weeks. We really are in a great location. It's very quiet and secure, but we're right in the middle of everything.
Yesterday was Saturday and we decided that it would be a good idea to walk to St. James Park via Buckingham Palace. We were wrong. It was not a good idea. I don't know how many thousands of people were roaming around the palace and streets around the palace, but it must have been hundreds of thousands. I don't know what they were all looking at to be honest. There were barricades set up to keep people out of the street in front of the palace so the people were just standing against the barricades looking toward the street. Next weekend is the Diamond Jubilee - maybe they were just beginning to camp out to wait and see the queen. (Maybe I'm going to look like an idiot as soon as I read the news and find out that something awesome happened right after we left.)
So, that was stressful and rather unpleasant. We have since decided that anytime we want to do something touristy we'll plan to do it on a day other than Saturday (but I don't know that this plan will work since Mark starts work tomorrow). (However, we still plan to go up to Stonehenge on Summer Solstice because we can...)
After Viv woke up from her nap we decided to do something that she would think was fun so we just went and got on the 88 bus going North instead of South. (She LOVES the big red bus.) This time we got on the bus and rode it North... right past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Circus, through the West End. It took forever because there were so many people walking and driving around. It was so crazy! I took a bunch of pictures because I just couldn't believe that all of those people would want to be doing that. How can that be fun? It makes me nervous! (Once again, Stonehenge on Summer Solstice... but that's different, right?)
I know we've only been here for a week, but it seems to me that London is a much more pleasant place than it seems at first. Once you get out of the super touristy areas there is a lot of laid-back awesomeness (of which I will write more about once we are experiencing it more regularly).
It deserves to be mentioned that the weather has been unbelievably gorgeous this past week! We have been enjoying it but everyone else around seems to be out of control excited. A friend mentioned the other day that it has rained every day for the past 5 years except for this week. Well, in that case we have no idea how cool it is, but we've been spending a lot of time outside while we've been traipsing around house-hunting. I promise that I've stored up the memories of sunshine so that I can reminisce when things are gloomy.
Yesterday was Saturday and we decided that it would be a good idea to walk to St. James Park via Buckingham Palace. We were wrong. It was not a good idea. I don't know how many thousands of people were roaming around the palace and streets around the palace, but it must have been hundreds of thousands. I don't know what they were all looking at to be honest. There were barricades set up to keep people out of the street in front of the palace so the people were just standing against the barricades looking toward the street. Next weekend is the Diamond Jubilee - maybe they were just beginning to camp out to wait and see the queen. (Maybe I'm going to look like an idiot as soon as I read the news and find out that something awesome happened right after we left.)
So, that was stressful and rather unpleasant. We have since decided that anytime we want to do something touristy we'll plan to do it on a day other than Saturday (but I don't know that this plan will work since Mark starts work tomorrow). (However, we still plan to go up to Stonehenge on Summer Solstice because we can...)
After Viv woke up from her nap we decided to do something that she would think was fun so we just went and got on the 88 bus going North instead of South. (She LOVES the big red bus.) This time we got on the bus and rode it North... right past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Circus, through the West End. It took forever because there were so many people walking and driving around. It was so crazy! I took a bunch of pictures because I just couldn't believe that all of those people would want to be doing that. How can that be fun? It makes me nervous! (Once again, Stonehenge on Summer Solstice... but that's different, right?)
I know we've only been here for a week, but it seems to me that London is a much more pleasant place than it seems at first. Once you get out of the super touristy areas there is a lot of laid-back awesomeness (of which I will write more about once we are experiencing it more regularly).
It deserves to be mentioned that the weather has been unbelievably gorgeous this past week! We have been enjoying it but everyone else around seems to be out of control excited. A friend mentioned the other day that it has rained every day for the past 5 years except for this week. Well, in that case we have no idea how cool it is, but we've been spending a lot of time outside while we've been traipsing around house-hunting. I promise that I've stored up the memories of sunshine so that I can reminisce when things are gloomy.
25 May 2012
We got it!!!
Our first offer was not accepted because it turned out to be lower than the current tenants are paying, but our second offer was. I did not think that would happen and I am just absolutely ecstatic. This place is the stuff of dreams... okay, maybe I'm over-reacting, but seriously. I'm so happy.
It is less than a ten minute walk from Wandsworth Common (at a leisurely pace) where people were throwing tennis balls to their dogs and hordes of children were traipsing into the center of the common to apparently play Cricket. There are bits of untamed wildlife strewn throughout and people scattered around the area sunbathing. London reminds me of how my mom described Oregon in the 70s when she was in college. As soon as the sun comes out everyone rushes outside, strips down and soaks it up. It's been sunny almost the whole time we've been here so we have no idea what it's really like here most of the time. I hope we like it when it starts getting real. :)
We have a move-in date of July 1 but the place is empty after mid-June so we could probably move that up if we wanted.
We already started doing research on schools nearby and there are some schools that are rated among the best in London down the street from our house. I had no idea, but honestly, we won't get in. Each year they only accept 28 new students into Reception (what they basically call Kindergarten except it starts at age 4), and you pretty much have to be Catholic to get in. We have considered converting... J/K. I hate that we have to be thinking about getting our kid into a good school already, but it's a reality now. Maybe I'll have to submit her APGAR score like my Aunt did for my cousin. ;)
One extra awesome perk is regarding taxes. In London (and maybe all of England and the UK) the renter pays the property tax rather than the property owner. I guess they might pay additional taxes, but I don't know how that works. In our house-hunt we have learned that the Borough of Wandsworth (where our new place is) has the lowest council tax rate of any in the COUNTRY. I couldn't believe it! You would think that a place with such low rates would be undesirable with bad parks and dirty streets, but nope! It's amazing and awesome and perfect.
I may or may not be done dancing around the apartment with glee. I guess I can let you know later how it plays out from here.
It is less than a ten minute walk from Wandsworth Common (at a leisurely pace) where people were throwing tennis balls to their dogs and hordes of children were traipsing into the center of the common to apparently play Cricket. There are bits of untamed wildlife strewn throughout and people scattered around the area sunbathing. London reminds me of how my mom described Oregon in the 70s when she was in college. As soon as the sun comes out everyone rushes outside, strips down and soaks it up. It's been sunny almost the whole time we've been here so we have no idea what it's really like here most of the time. I hope we like it when it starts getting real. :)
We have a move-in date of July 1 but the place is empty after mid-June so we could probably move that up if we wanted.
We already started doing research on schools nearby and there are some schools that are rated among the best in London down the street from our house. I had no idea, but honestly, we won't get in. Each year they only accept 28 new students into Reception (what they basically call Kindergarten except it starts at age 4), and you pretty much have to be Catholic to get in. We have considered converting... J/K. I hate that we have to be thinking about getting our kid into a good school already, but it's a reality now. Maybe I'll have to submit her APGAR score like my Aunt did for my cousin. ;)
One extra awesome perk is regarding taxes. In London (and maybe all of England and the UK) the renter pays the property tax rather than the property owner. I guess they might pay additional taxes, but I don't know how that works. In our house-hunt we have learned that the Borough of Wandsworth (where our new place is) has the lowest council tax rate of any in the COUNTRY. I couldn't believe it! You would think that a place with such low rates would be undesirable with bad parks and dirty streets, but nope! It's amazing and awesome and perfect.
I may or may not be done dancing around the apartment with glee. I guess I can let you know later how it plays out from here.
We placed an offer!
We toured a house this morning in Balham that is honestly just the best thing ever! I am all a twitter over it. Honestly, my stomach is in knots.
Here, the landlords put their lettings on the market at a certain price expecting tenants to negotiate down. The place we found is a bit over what we wanted to spend every week (which is a A LOT more than we really WANT to spend, or would be spending in the US but that's beside the point), but it's absolutely perfect. It has three bedrooms, a bathtub, and eat in kitchen, 2 receptions (which means two living rooms although in this place it operates more as a formal dining room) and the most amazing little garden in the back. The location is absolutely perfect and I'm in love with it.
Now we are waiting to hear back from the estate agent to see what the landlord says. I should really be distracting myself instead of dwelling on it. Maybe I'll go buy an iPhone... that will distract me!
Here, the landlords put their lettings on the market at a certain price expecting tenants to negotiate down. The place we found is a bit over what we wanted to spend every week (which is a A LOT more than we really WANT to spend, or would be spending in the US but that's beside the point), but it's absolutely perfect. It has three bedrooms, a bathtub, and eat in kitchen, 2 receptions (which means two living rooms although in this place it operates more as a formal dining room) and the most amazing little garden in the back. The location is absolutely perfect and I'm in love with it.
Now we are waiting to hear back from the estate agent to see what the landlord says. I should really be distracting myself instead of dwelling on it. Maybe I'll go buy an iPhone... that will distract me!
24 May 2012
My first load of Laundry
Well, Mark is out to get a bank account set up (quite the process when you have no permanent address and haven't started earning money in the UK yet) and I decided to finally do some laundry. I have learned a lot and have only just begun.
First, the washing machine is a bit less than half the load capacity of the one we are used to using. I separated our clothes into loads and ended up separating them again. I guess that makes it easy to never mix colors that you shouldn't. I have heard that the dry cycles on the washing machines (because it's one machine that does both washing and "drying") are more like the soggy, wet cycles. I would amend that to be the soggy, wet and warm cycle. At least the clothes are a bit warmer when you pull them out to lay them on the drying rack (as is the case here since we are in a high-rise with no garden area for a clothesline).
Here are some of the positives of this situation:
- It forces me to do something I've always wanted to do. I hung out Vivi's baby clothes for about two weeks when she was first born because I thought it would be good for her little skin. It didn't last long because it was a lot of work. Well, now I have no choice, so I'll do it (and I'll be happy about it!).
- It saves energy (carbon energy, not my energy).
- It makes me feel a little bit more like I want to feel. That sounds weird, but it's true. I can't really explain the feeling that I want, but this helps. Maybe I want to feel a bit more like a pioneer or a subsistence farmer. I've always romanticized that notion, but have never done much to move toward it.
- The small washing machine load size means that everything fits on the drying rack at the same time. Since it's so sunny today, the clothes on the drying rack may even be done by the time my load of wash finishes (it's going to take an hour and 51 minutes).
Lessons learned from this situation:
- DO NOT wait to do all of your laundry on one day. That's what I did in Oak Park once I started staying home with Viv. Laundry day was Thursday. I rarely actually finished in one day and then we had clothes laying around the basement all weekend. Trying to do a week's worth of laundry in one day while also caring for a toddler will just not happen!
- DO NOT wash your clothes unless they are legitimately dirty. Not that I'm going to have Viv walking around in pants with applesauce stuck to the legs, but I also won't wash my jeans until I've worn them a few times (that will probably help everything stay nice longer too).
- Don't buy pants thinking that they'll shrink up and fit... they won't.
- I should probably put all of the socks and underwear in one load so that I can hang all of the annoying stuff out at once.
- That reminds me - I should probably also stop wearing socks and underwear so that I don't have to wash it!
- Rent a place with a garden so that I can hang stuff outside instead of littering the entire house with wet clothes (of course, it does rain all the time here - except the past 5 days since we've arrived).
- This must be why everyone hires a diaper service when they have a baby. Cloth diapers are used far more here than in the states and I had read that almost everyone uses a diaper service. Now I know why. Doing all the laundry that you already have with a family, plus all the extra tiny baby clothes, poopy onesies, burp cloths would be enough work. Adding diapers to that is unnecessary (unless it is of course-not everyone can afford a diaper service).
- On the baby/toddler note: Strip Viv down to naked to eat. No use washing clothes that got food on them when I could just hose the girl down!
I'm sure I will have more lessons once I have finished my second load of laundry. :)
Betcha didn't think my blog post about laundry would be the longest one yet!
First, the washing machine is a bit less than half the load capacity of the one we are used to using. I separated our clothes into loads and ended up separating them again. I guess that makes it easy to never mix colors that you shouldn't. I have heard that the dry cycles on the washing machines (because it's one machine that does both washing and "drying") are more like the soggy, wet cycles. I would amend that to be the soggy, wet and warm cycle. At least the clothes are a bit warmer when you pull them out to lay them on the drying rack (as is the case here since we are in a high-rise with no garden area for a clothesline).
Here are some of the positives of this situation:
- It forces me to do something I've always wanted to do. I hung out Vivi's baby clothes for about two weeks when she was first born because I thought it would be good for her little skin. It didn't last long because it was a lot of work. Well, now I have no choice, so I'll do it (and I'll be happy about it!).
- It saves energy (carbon energy, not my energy).
- It makes me feel a little bit more like I want to feel. That sounds weird, but it's true. I can't really explain the feeling that I want, but this helps. Maybe I want to feel a bit more like a pioneer or a subsistence farmer. I've always romanticized that notion, but have never done much to move toward it.
- The small washing machine load size means that everything fits on the drying rack at the same time. Since it's so sunny today, the clothes on the drying rack may even be done by the time my load of wash finishes (it's going to take an hour and 51 minutes).
Lessons learned from this situation:
- DO NOT wait to do all of your laundry on one day. That's what I did in Oak Park once I started staying home with Viv. Laundry day was Thursday. I rarely actually finished in one day and then we had clothes laying around the basement all weekend. Trying to do a week's worth of laundry in one day while also caring for a toddler will just not happen!
- DO NOT wash your clothes unless they are legitimately dirty. Not that I'm going to have Viv walking around in pants with applesauce stuck to the legs, but I also won't wash my jeans until I've worn them a few times (that will probably help everything stay nice longer too).
- Don't buy pants thinking that they'll shrink up and fit... they won't.
- I should probably put all of the socks and underwear in one load so that I can hang all of the annoying stuff out at once.
- That reminds me - I should probably also stop wearing socks and underwear so that I don't have to wash it!
- Rent a place with a garden so that I can hang stuff outside instead of littering the entire house with wet clothes (of course, it does rain all the time here - except the past 5 days since we've arrived).
- This must be why everyone hires a diaper service when they have a baby. Cloth diapers are used far more here than in the states and I had read that almost everyone uses a diaper service. Now I know why. Doing all the laundry that you already have with a family, plus all the extra tiny baby clothes, poopy onesies, burp cloths would be enough work. Adding diapers to that is unnecessary (unless it is of course-not everyone can afford a diaper service).
- On the baby/toddler note: Strip Viv down to naked to eat. No use washing clothes that got food on them when I could just hose the girl down!
I'm sure I will have more lessons once I have finished my second load of laundry. :)
Betcha didn't think my blog post about laundry would be the longest one yet!
23 May 2012
Expectation Update
I just want to make a quick note that things are not quite as I had interpreted them to be on our visit in March. The fashion here is not so uniform-like. Maybe it was just the neighborhoods that we visited. Now that I see more different kinds of clothing choices I feel a bit more comfortable. And the thing is, no matter how cute some of these girls look, I would NEVER wear what they're wearing. Not with a toddler and not when I have to walk 17 miles a day to get where I'm going.
I do think I might get a bit more stylish while I'm here. I don't think I'll be able to help it. It's much better than the midwest that way!
I do think I might get a bit more stylish while I'm here. I don't think I'll be able to help it. It's much better than the midwest that way!
I think it might be Balham
Today we saw a place in Clapham that looked amazing online. When we got there it smelled horrible and we found black mold growing in the closet. After that we saw a few more places in Clapham and then ventured down to Balham which is just one stop south on the tube. I loved it from the moment I stepped off the bus. Do you know why? There was a quite robust health food store right there named "As Nature Intended." I see it as a sign from God. I went in and found applesauce (the first I've found in London), quinoa, almond milk, lemon juice and a bunch of other stuff I refrained from buying because it wouldn't fit in our stroller (I mean buggy).
We looked at a place that we would have made an offer on if it had a bathtub. Now that we have gotten home and looked online we have realized that we can probably find a better place that is absolutely perfect. We're not in a rush, but sometimes it creates a false sense of urgency because these places get snatched up in literally one day. (So, I guess it's not a false sense of urgency, it's a real sense of urgency if you need a place right away. We have until mid-July.)
After we got done with our extremely long and hot and sweaty day we had dinner at a Greek restaurant that was yummy but mostly very friendly and kid-welcoming (which apparently is rare at dinner time. A lot of places do not allow children in after 7 p.m. because of their license or something.)
Basically, I love Balham. I want to go to there. NOW!
We looked at a place that we would have made an offer on if it had a bathtub. Now that we have gotten home and looked online we have realized that we can probably find a better place that is absolutely perfect. We're not in a rush, but sometimes it creates a false sense of urgency because these places get snatched up in literally one day. (So, I guess it's not a false sense of urgency, it's a real sense of urgency if you need a place right away. We have until mid-July.)
After we got done with our extremely long and hot and sweaty day we had dinner at a Greek restaurant that was yummy but mostly very friendly and kid-welcoming (which apparently is rare at dinner time. A lot of places do not allow children in after 7 p.m. because of their license or something.)
Basically, I love Balham. I want to go to there. NOW!
My First Social Event
Last night I went to a party hosted by Mark's former bosses wife. It was in Hampstead and there were quite a lot of women there. Most of them were American expats and they were all very friendly and impressed that I made it out my first week here. I exchanged numbers with some and do look forward to meeting them.
There was a brief moment when I thought maybe we should move to Hampstead because it would be so easy to make friends with other Americans there. However, if we moved there we would be living near people who have FAR more money than we do and we would be spending all we had on rent. I don't want to be so cash-strapped because I live in a nice place that we can't afford to do the things that are cool about living in London - like going to museums, zoos, other countries!
I did get some great advice about places to visit near Westminster while we're living here, as well as advice about relating to people born and raised in England. I'm very glad I went last night (plus I bought some cute jewellry (they spell it with two Ls here).
Vivian is sitting in her time out chair at this moment. She has been generally sweet, but has been acting out from time to time and we need to nip this in the bud. All she has to do is count to ten. She got to nine about 15 minutes ago but now she is just being a stinkpot. I have been way too lenient about consistent discipline to this point.. no more Mrs. Nice Guy.
We have been travelling down to Clapham daily to look at flats. There are some pretty good places. I have been adequately prepped for things being smaller, so I'm not even phased (of course I'm not living there yet either). We have a bunch more to see today, tomorrow and Friday. It's really fun. I LOVE walking through houses!
There was a brief moment when I thought maybe we should move to Hampstead because it would be so easy to make friends with other Americans there. However, if we moved there we would be living near people who have FAR more money than we do and we would be spending all we had on rent. I don't want to be so cash-strapped because I live in a nice place that we can't afford to do the things that are cool about living in London - like going to museums, zoos, other countries!
I did get some great advice about places to visit near Westminster while we're living here, as well as advice about relating to people born and raised in England. I'm very glad I went last night (plus I bought some cute jewellry (they spell it with two Ls here).
Vivian is sitting in her time out chair at this moment. She has been generally sweet, but has been acting out from time to time and we need to nip this in the bud. All she has to do is count to ten. She got to nine about 15 minutes ago but now she is just being a stinkpot. I have been way too lenient about consistent discipline to this point.. no more Mrs. Nice Guy.
We have been travelling down to Clapham daily to look at flats. There are some pretty good places. I have been adequately prepped for things being smaller, so I'm not even phased (of course I'm not living there yet either). We have a bunch more to see today, tomorrow and Friday. It's really fun. I LOVE walking through houses!
21 May 2012
Lessons from Day 3
Favorite new thing: Electric Tea Kettle ( I had one in college, but these are just fancier and more amazing. I'm in love)
Second favorite new thing: Towel warmers. They have them everywhere and they are great for drying towels but also for warming them up before you get out of the shower. Yummy.
New words:
- Hob - stovetop
- Can't remember anymore - I'm exhausted.
We thought we were doing really well with Viv and her sleep schedule until she woke up at 10:30 p.m. last night and didn't go back down until 2:30 a.m. (despite us laying her down at midnight and singing to here for two and a half hours!). Today we decided to keep her up a little later to avoid that happening (which it still might) and she completely melted down making it take twice as long to get her to bed. That was unpleasant.
I'm so tired that I was literally falling asleep while I was reading out loud to her. The book kept falling out of my hand. Off to bed.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that we went to Westminster Abbey this afternoon. It is literally a 5 minute walk from our corporate flat so we walked over with Vivian after we went down to Clapham. We thought Vivi might think it was a cool big building... NOPE! She just wanted to look at the yellow gate that kept people out of the private living quarters. The gate keeper was charmed and even raised and lowered the gate a couple of times for her. She has been talking about it ever since.
Second favorite new thing: Towel warmers. They have them everywhere and they are great for drying towels but also for warming them up before you get out of the shower. Yummy.
New words:
- Hob - stovetop
- Can't remember anymore - I'm exhausted.
We thought we were doing really well with Viv and her sleep schedule until she woke up at 10:30 p.m. last night and didn't go back down until 2:30 a.m. (despite us laying her down at midnight and singing to here for two and a half hours!). Today we decided to keep her up a little later to avoid that happening (which it still might) and she completely melted down making it take twice as long to get her to bed. That was unpleasant.
I'm so tired that I was literally falling asleep while I was reading out loud to her. The book kept falling out of my hand. Off to bed.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that we went to Westminster Abbey this afternoon. It is literally a 5 minute walk from our corporate flat so we walked over with Vivian after we went down to Clapham. We thought Vivi might think it was a cool big building... NOPE! She just wanted to look at the yellow gate that kept people out of the private living quarters. The gate keeper was charmed and even raised and lowered the gate a couple of times for her. She has been talking about it ever since.
20 May 2012
Day 2
Normal-ish adjusting day.
Things that stand out:
1) It is quite tricky to do a reasonable amount of grocery shopping with no car and a baby. Luckily Mark was there. If he hadn't been I would have either cried or given up and gone home (or more likely... just taken two hours to get home). I now completely understand why everyone gets groceries delivered.
2) People in the market are aggressive. They don't care if you're trying to navigate produce with a cart that seems to wander off on it's own... they just cut right in front of you or occasionally slam into you.
3) Having a kitchen on the opposite side of your apartment as the dining room makes it tricky with a toddler. Great place, but it makes me realize why apartment listings highlight "eat-in kitchen." I want one.
4) It's cold here.
5) Vivian loves checking everything out. I had previously considered London to be fairly clean until going on a walk with her. She points out every little bit of trash including two banana peels within 15 feet of each other. Seriously? I thought banana peels on the sidewalk were only from cartoons.
6) The bells from Westminster Abbey (I think that's where they came from) ring beautifully from about 5 - 5:30 p.m. Haven't figured out what it's all about, but I love it!
7) Lesson: don't mess around with the intercom phone. It calls a grumpy reception desk guy. Oops.
8) Vivi is super fun. While we were walking to the market (our only outing of the day), she kept saying "I want to playing with toys, dancing, singing, jumping." That pretty much sums it up... Child-like awesomeness. She has been an impressive traveler!
Things that stand out:
1) It is quite tricky to do a reasonable amount of grocery shopping with no car and a baby. Luckily Mark was there. If he hadn't been I would have either cried or given up and gone home (or more likely... just taken two hours to get home). I now completely understand why everyone gets groceries delivered.
2) People in the market are aggressive. They don't care if you're trying to navigate produce with a cart that seems to wander off on it's own... they just cut right in front of you or occasionally slam into you.
3) Having a kitchen on the opposite side of your apartment as the dining room makes it tricky with a toddler. Great place, but it makes me realize why apartment listings highlight "eat-in kitchen." I want one.
4) It's cold here.
5) Vivian loves checking everything out. I had previously considered London to be fairly clean until going on a walk with her. She points out every little bit of trash including two banana peels within 15 feet of each other. Seriously? I thought banana peels on the sidewalk were only from cartoons.
6) The bells from Westminster Abbey (I think that's where they came from) ring beautifully from about 5 - 5:30 p.m. Haven't figured out what it's all about, but I love it!
7) Lesson: don't mess around with the intercom phone. It calls a grumpy reception desk guy. Oops.
8) Vivi is super fun. While we were walking to the market (our only outing of the day), she kept saying "I want to playing with toys, dancing, singing, jumping." That pretty much sums it up... Child-like awesomeness. She has been an impressive traveler!
19 May 2012
Our First Day
We landed this morning at 6 a.m. UK time. It was a long flight of Vivi wiggliness but she did pretty well. She only slept about an hour and a half on the plane, so we are all tired as a result!
Getting through the airport with 9 checked bags (most of them between 50-70 pounds) and 7 carry-ons and a two-year-old was a bit of a challenge. To be honest, I don't really know how we did it but I'm sure we'll feel it tomorrow! Mark was wielding two luggage carts packed higher than any luggage cart should be. He had the brilliant idea to call a car service the day before we left because we realized that our stuff might not all fit in a regular taxi. Man, was he right. It barely fit in the full sized van that we got!
As we drove through the city I noticed signs for neighborhoods that we have heard about, like Chiswick, West Kensington and others. It makes me excited to explore. I really think we'll end up in Clapham, but having 2 full months of corporate housing definitely gives us time to find other cool areas. We also drove right by the Natural History Museum which was GORGEOUS! I want to go to there.
We got to Westminster, where we are staying in corporate housing, and there was all of this construction going on. Not office or apartment buildings, but monument looking things. I attributed it all to the Olympics which begin in 2 months, but realized soon after that some of the mayhem was related to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which happens June 1-4ish. We were really looking forward to that (not that we know at all what it entails) and now we'll be right in the heart of it in Westminster. We drove right past Buckingham Palace to get to our housing. I'm really looking forward to the craziness for a little while at least, and then it will be nice to get somewhere a bit more residential and calm.
Before we did anything we went to a Tesco Express right down the block from us (it's like a convenience store with some produce and "fresh meat." My list included bananas, applesauce, eggs, olives, maybe some snacks that we could actually eat (since we have recently given up wheat). In the tiny abbreviated version of a grocery store they had some things I found interesting: horseradish sauce, mincemeat, all kinds of Indian sauces in jars, sliced mangoes, and TONS of fresh-baked pastries. I could not find olives or applesauce and the eggs were not refrigerated and only came in packs of 6. When I considered what to write about regarding my expectations of what it's like here I never considered writing about what I expected to see in a Tesco Express... but mincemeat would definitely have not been on the list!
After a 5 hour nap (it was supposed to be four hours, but Mark dismissed the alarm and I conked right back out) we woke up Viv and went to get some food and items that were on our list to buy the first day. We were told there was an Argos not too far down so we set out in that direction. We decided to have lunch/dinner at a small pub that seemed to be the only thing opened around. I managed to find some items on the menu that did not have wheat but there were probably only the three things we ordered. I learned a valuable lesson from this experience: even the worst Indian food at a pub is better than ordering nachos. I am pretty sure that our Mexican food days are OVER. Not eating wheat in London is going to be extremely difficult if we continue eating in pubs! British food is almost all wheat. The good thing is that there is almost every kind of food imaginable within walking distance.
As we were sitting in this pub (which I do not remember the name of) I got a bit overwhelmed by how little I know about what we've gotten ourselves into. There were lots of people (mostly men) sitting around watching a soccer game (I mean football match) on one TV and a cricket match on another. They were yelling quite boisterously and scaring Viv (she never cried but got very concerned about why they were yelling). Mark had to go up to the front to order food and pay for it. All of these things are not a problem, and are actually quite charming when you're visiting for a week or two, but now that I live here I'm just thinking about how many situations like this I'll get into where I have no idea the right way to behave. Like they said in one of the expat blogs I read, "Just ask questions. People would much rather help you because you ask nicely than be annoyed because you're doing it the wrong way."
After we ate we went to go buy the things that we decided we needed our first day here. A baby monitor, hair dryer, crib and accessories and a converter box (for our computers and the few electronics we brought). We arrived and couldn't figure out how to get from the area that looks like checkout to the area where they have and display all of the stuff. Turns out they don't have an area to look at stuff. You just go in, browse through their paper catalog, order it and they deliver it to your home. We ended up deciding that we didn't need anything that bad so we left and will just order stuff online. It takes 5 days either way.
Vivi went straight down tonight and actually slept without moving at all for over an hour. She is still sleeping but she has moved slightly now. Poor sweet thing. She is SO tired. I am too. I'm falling asleep as I type.
I don't expect that I'll be recording the blow-by-blow for every single day, but at the beginning there are probably all sorts of things that I'll learning, discovering or processing, so this might be annoying for a while.
I'm really excited about this. We both are. We're ready for the adventure and the kind of normal-ish life that we'll have before long. I'm just glad that I get to be with Mark and Vivi... they're awesome travel companions!
Getting through the airport with 9 checked bags (most of them between 50-70 pounds) and 7 carry-ons and a two-year-old was a bit of a challenge. To be honest, I don't really know how we did it but I'm sure we'll feel it tomorrow! Mark was wielding two luggage carts packed higher than any luggage cart should be. He had the brilliant idea to call a car service the day before we left because we realized that our stuff might not all fit in a regular taxi. Man, was he right. It barely fit in the full sized van that we got!
As we drove through the city I noticed signs for neighborhoods that we have heard about, like Chiswick, West Kensington and others. It makes me excited to explore. I really think we'll end up in Clapham, but having 2 full months of corporate housing definitely gives us time to find other cool areas. We also drove right by the Natural History Museum which was GORGEOUS! I want to go to there.
We got to Westminster, where we are staying in corporate housing, and there was all of this construction going on. Not office or apartment buildings, but monument looking things. I attributed it all to the Olympics which begin in 2 months, but realized soon after that some of the mayhem was related to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which happens June 1-4ish. We were really looking forward to that (not that we know at all what it entails) and now we'll be right in the heart of it in Westminster. We drove right past Buckingham Palace to get to our housing. I'm really looking forward to the craziness for a little while at least, and then it will be nice to get somewhere a bit more residential and calm.
Before we did anything we went to a Tesco Express right down the block from us (it's like a convenience store with some produce and "fresh meat." My list included bananas, applesauce, eggs, olives, maybe some snacks that we could actually eat (since we have recently given up wheat). In the tiny abbreviated version of a grocery store they had some things I found interesting: horseradish sauce, mincemeat, all kinds of Indian sauces in jars, sliced mangoes, and TONS of fresh-baked pastries. I could not find olives or applesauce and the eggs were not refrigerated and only came in packs of 6. When I considered what to write about regarding my expectations of what it's like here I never considered writing about what I expected to see in a Tesco Express... but mincemeat would definitely have not been on the list!
After a 5 hour nap (it was supposed to be four hours, but Mark dismissed the alarm and I conked right back out) we woke up Viv and went to get some food and items that were on our list to buy the first day. We were told there was an Argos not too far down so we set out in that direction. We decided to have lunch/dinner at a small pub that seemed to be the only thing opened around. I managed to find some items on the menu that did not have wheat but there were probably only the three things we ordered. I learned a valuable lesson from this experience: even the worst Indian food at a pub is better than ordering nachos. I am pretty sure that our Mexican food days are OVER. Not eating wheat in London is going to be extremely difficult if we continue eating in pubs! British food is almost all wheat. The good thing is that there is almost every kind of food imaginable within walking distance.
As we were sitting in this pub (which I do not remember the name of) I got a bit overwhelmed by how little I know about what we've gotten ourselves into. There were lots of people (mostly men) sitting around watching a soccer game (I mean football match) on one TV and a cricket match on another. They were yelling quite boisterously and scaring Viv (she never cried but got very concerned about why they were yelling). Mark had to go up to the front to order food and pay for it. All of these things are not a problem, and are actually quite charming when you're visiting for a week or two, but now that I live here I'm just thinking about how many situations like this I'll get into where I have no idea the right way to behave. Like they said in one of the expat blogs I read, "Just ask questions. People would much rather help you because you ask nicely than be annoyed because you're doing it the wrong way."
After we ate we went to go buy the things that we decided we needed our first day here. A baby monitor, hair dryer, crib and accessories and a converter box (for our computers and the few electronics we brought). We arrived and couldn't figure out how to get from the area that looks like checkout to the area where they have and display all of the stuff. Turns out they don't have an area to look at stuff. You just go in, browse through their paper catalog, order it and they deliver it to your home. We ended up deciding that we didn't need anything that bad so we left and will just order stuff online. It takes 5 days either way.
Vivi went straight down tonight and actually slept without moving at all for over an hour. She is still sleeping but she has moved slightly now. Poor sweet thing. She is SO tired. I am too. I'm falling asleep as I type.
I don't expect that I'll be recording the blow-by-blow for every single day, but at the beginning there are probably all sorts of things that I'll learning, discovering or processing, so this might be annoying for a while.
I'm really excited about this. We both are. We're ready for the adventure and the kind of normal-ish life that we'll have before long. I'm just glad that I get to be with Mark and Vivi... they're awesome travel companions!
18 May 2012
Saying Goodbye
I haven't really been nervous about our move for the past couple of months. I have been too busy getting everything done in order to get over there. I have, however, been very aware of the need to say goodbye to the people I love.
I cried a lot. I know that I'm not saying goodbye forever, but it has been a very emotionally charged couple of weeks. I will miss the easy access to friends and family and envy the normal life I feel like I would have had if we had stayed. This will be great, but I definitely appreciate and will miss the community we are leaving (even if they are a 4 hour car trip or plane ride away).
I cried a lot. I know that I'm not saying goodbye forever, but it has been a very emotionally charged couple of weeks. I will miss the easy access to friends and family and envy the normal life I feel like I would have had if we had stayed. This will be great, but I definitely appreciate and will miss the community we are leaving (even if they are a 4 hour car trip or plane ride away).
09 May 2012
London Fashion (based on our visit in March)
I was very concerned about how I would dress when we went to visit London. I generally dress very casual in the US and don't pay much attention to trends, so I was thinking I would arrive and look like a country bumpkin. So, I went shopping and bought a bunch of stuff that I thought would work. Well, the only things I bought that were appropriate were a pair of black skinny jeans (which honestly just weren't skinny enough).
Here are my impressions of London fashion:
- It was *almost* like the girls were wearing a uniform. Black opaque tights or leggings or skinny jeans with flats (often brown, camel or taupe and often wingtips or oxfords). Sometimes mini-skirts over the tights, sometimes cut off jean shorts, sometimes long shirts, sometimes short shirts.
- Not a lot of high heels anywhere. Mostly flats.
- The only boot cut jeans I saw (maybe 10 pairs the entire time we were there) were on older women (probably Americans).
- Cross-body bags were everywhere and most often they were brown (even if the outfit was black). A LOT of these very simple tote-bags which we discovered later were very expensive! (Longchamps)
- Most of the jackets were belted (which I really liked a lot). I bought a khaki trench to wear on my trip and I'm so glad I did. It wasn't the most fashionable but it was solid and I can buy something with a bit more flair once we move over.
- NO ONE wears sunglasses. I brought my sunglasses and then stopped wearing them because I felt like I looked weird. I didn't see anyone else wearing them. Maybe people just don't need them most of the time because it's gloomy? I don't know.
- It felt like the styles were very funky. Lots of floral prints on other floral prints.
- I expected to see what looked like more designer type clothing or accessories and just didn't. Everything seemed to be fairly normalish.
I know that I won't fit in right away, but I am looking forward to changing up my style a bit. When I come back to the US no one is going to recognize me! :)
UPDATE 28/5/12: After being here for just a little over a week I want to comment on my impression from March. Aside from most women wearing flats, almost nothing I reported in March continues to hold true. It could be that the weather is much warmer, but I think perhaps I noticed several people wearing a certain style of clothes and then looked only for that style the rest of the time I was here. There still aren't many boot-cut jeans, but right now no one is wearing jeans (but me). They're all wearing dresses and skirts because it's so warm.
Here are my impressions of London fashion:
- It was *almost* like the girls were wearing a uniform. Black opaque tights or leggings or skinny jeans with flats (often brown, camel or taupe and often wingtips or oxfords). Sometimes mini-skirts over the tights, sometimes cut off jean shorts, sometimes long shirts, sometimes short shirts.
- Not a lot of high heels anywhere. Mostly flats.
- The only boot cut jeans I saw (maybe 10 pairs the entire time we were there) were on older women (probably Americans).
- Cross-body bags were everywhere and most often they were brown (even if the outfit was black). A LOT of these very simple tote-bags which we discovered later were very expensive! (Longchamps)
- Most of the jackets were belted (which I really liked a lot). I bought a khaki trench to wear on my trip and I'm so glad I did. It wasn't the most fashionable but it was solid and I can buy something with a bit more flair once we move over.
- NO ONE wears sunglasses. I brought my sunglasses and then stopped wearing them because I felt like I looked weird. I didn't see anyone else wearing them. Maybe people just don't need them most of the time because it's gloomy? I don't know.
- It felt like the styles were very funky. Lots of floral prints on other floral prints.
- I expected to see what looked like more designer type clothing or accessories and just didn't. Everything seemed to be fairly normalish.
I know that I won't fit in right away, but I am looking forward to changing up my style a bit. When I come back to the US no one is going to recognize me! :)
UPDATE 28/5/12: After being here for just a little over a week I want to comment on my impression from March. Aside from most women wearing flats, almost nothing I reported in March continues to hold true. It could be that the weather is much warmer, but I think perhaps I noticed several people wearing a certain style of clothes and then looked only for that style the rest of the time I was here. There still aren't many boot-cut jeans, but right now no one is wearing jeans (but me). They're all wearing dresses and skirts because it's so warm.
Our Visit to Confirm We Don't Hate It.
I am a bit behind schedule in recording the events of our visit to London in March, but in my defense we have had a bit going on. Since our visit we have organized and pulled off a two-day in-house moving sale, cleaned up from the moving sale, moved our stuff onto a container to ship to London (okay, we didn't move it, other people packed us and moved us, but it was still a lot of work to organize everything before hand), moved the rest of our stuff into storage (same note as above), had a bunch of friends stay with us for the weekend, hosted a Squatter's Party, cleaned up from said visits, parties and moves, readied our house for the renters (which sounds MUCH easier than it actually was), moved into Mark's parents house, applied for Visas (which once again sounds MUCH easier than it actually was), visited Emily and Etienne and flew to California (where I sit typing this right now). An international move is supposedly one of the most stressful things in life. Now I understand why... just when you think it must all be downhill from here there is another hill. I seriously feel like we will never be done and feel normal again!
So, in March we visited London. We stayed in Islington near the Old Town tube stop. The hotel was fine but I would have preferred a different location. We stayed there because it's near the office, but I wasn't a huge fan of the neighborhood.
The first day we arrived we checked into our hotel and then immediately went out to meet Paige Sieh, a friend of Lisa Fairchild whom I had been emailing for a couple of months. We had coffee with her at a tiny bakery in St. John's Wood and then walked back through Primrose Hill to the Chalk Farm tube stop. The meeting with her was brief but nice. She gave us some great tips about how to get to know London when we first arrive and told us a bit about her husband, job and life. I'm looking forward to getting together with her again once we move. Our walk through Primrose Hill was nice. It was cute and there were lots of shops but we didn't really look that closely because we didn't plan to move there. That night we had Indian food in Shoreditch. It was DELICIOUS. Then we got a pint at a bar called Mason and something down the street. We were exhausted so we went home.
The rest of the trip was kind of a blur. I think we looked at flats with an estate agent the next day (must have been a Thursday). There was one in Primrose Hill and two in Belsize Park. We were pleasantly surprised by how big they were. I guess people adequately warned us about the tiny living space. We also walked through Archway and the eastern spur of the Northern Line. I LOVED it. I thought there were super cute little pockets where I could imagine seeing myself, so at that point I decided that we could for sure move there (which is fortunate because we had already signed a lease to rent our house the the Kelloggs). That night we ate at a hotel down the street from ours called the Hoxton (good American-style food - we were in a hurry) and then went at saw The 39 Steps in the West End. It was a fun show but didn't blow us away. I'm sure I fell asleep in the tube on the way there and back. It seemed I fell asleep every time we were on the trains. Once I even woke up and had been drooling on Mark's sleeve!
Friday we met with Christine Balzano. She picked us up from the Hampstead tube stop and walked us through Hampstead to her flat right on the border of the Heath. Hampstead is beautiful and very "posh" as Londoners would say. When we got to where she lives we got into her car and she drove us ALL around the area. Seriously, it was a very comprehensive tour. She drove us past the homes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Ricky Gervais, Anthony Hopkins, the drummer from Pink Floyd, the lead singer of Oasis, a famous footballer... it was crazy. LOTS of very wealthy people live there. The high street is very busy and there were all kinds of shops that I recognized from the US - Gap, etc (I can't think of the others right now.) When we asked her how much we should expect to pay for a 3 bedroom she said at least 800 GBP per week, but probably more like 1000. WHAT?! That is so much. After that visit we decided Hampstead probably isn't the place for us. It's gorgeous, green and has everything you'd need, but we just don't want to spend that kind of money, and definitely don't need to be neighbors with celebrities!
I was kind of bummed after that. I guess we would have to start all over deciding where to live. Friday night we went to a Thai restaurant in Belsize Park, which was delicious, and then Saturday morning we got up and started researching other neighborhoods that might work for us. Mark did research while I was in the shower and found a place nick-named "Nappy Valley" (nappy being what the Brits call diapers). The online description sounded just like what we were looking for - lots of families, lots of restaurants, mostly British (not too many expats, but you can find expats anywhere), a huge park AND it was right on the Northern Line. Sounded promising. We took the train down and loved it from the very beginning. We got off at the Clapham North stop and walked south along the high street to the Clapham Common stop. There were tons of Indian restaurants and all kinds of other restaurants and bars/pubs. At the end of the high street was a farmers market! I was sold!
We walked through some of the residential streets and ended up on another street with shops where I stopped in and asked the owner of a children's bookshop what kinds of things you could do with kids around here. She went on and on... so I didn't worry about remembering it. There was plenty and it wouldn't be hard to track down once we moved. We found Clapham Common (wasn't hard... it's HUGE) and walked across it to the east side of the area. It was a sunny day (so I realize it makes everything seem more awesome that it's sunny on a Saturday) so there were people littered all over the grass in the park eating their lunches or drinking wine or beer from open containers (gasp). It was such a charming feel even though aesthetically it doesn't hold a candle to the beauty of Hampstead.
We decided that this is the place for us. That night we had dinner with Geoff and Christine which was lovely. They talked with us about all kinds of things that we never would have thought about, like how truly liberal England is compared to the US. Apparently even the most conservative Londoners are more liberal than the most liberal Americans. Interesting... I'm very curious to see how that looks and how we will changes as a result of living there. They also warned us about blackout curtains. Funny tidbit for me to remember from the long conversation, but they said when looking for places to live, keep in mind that the sun is up for a long time in the summer and you'll need to be able to black out your kids rooms so don't get rooms with skylights. Great advice!
When we move over we'll be in corporate housing in Westminster for at least a few weeks, so our decision about Clapham may change, but I doubt that it will. It seems like a great place to live and it's FAR cheaper than anywhere near Hampstead, Belsize or Primrose.
During our trip I noticed TONS of things about fashion because I was looking for it, but I'll start a new post for that.
So, in March we visited London. We stayed in Islington near the Old Town tube stop. The hotel was fine but I would have preferred a different location. We stayed there because it's near the office, but I wasn't a huge fan of the neighborhood.
The first day we arrived we checked into our hotel and then immediately went out to meet Paige Sieh, a friend of Lisa Fairchild whom I had been emailing for a couple of months. We had coffee with her at a tiny bakery in St. John's Wood and then walked back through Primrose Hill to the Chalk Farm tube stop. The meeting with her was brief but nice. She gave us some great tips about how to get to know London when we first arrive and told us a bit about her husband, job and life. I'm looking forward to getting together with her again once we move. Our walk through Primrose Hill was nice. It was cute and there were lots of shops but we didn't really look that closely because we didn't plan to move there. That night we had Indian food in Shoreditch. It was DELICIOUS. Then we got a pint at a bar called Mason and something down the street. We were exhausted so we went home.
The rest of the trip was kind of a blur. I think we looked at flats with an estate agent the next day (must have been a Thursday). There was one in Primrose Hill and two in Belsize Park. We were pleasantly surprised by how big they were. I guess people adequately warned us about the tiny living space. We also walked through Archway and the eastern spur of the Northern Line. I LOVED it. I thought there were super cute little pockets where I could imagine seeing myself, so at that point I decided that we could for sure move there (which is fortunate because we had already signed a lease to rent our house the the Kelloggs). That night we ate at a hotel down the street from ours called the Hoxton (good American-style food - we were in a hurry) and then went at saw The 39 Steps in the West End. It was a fun show but didn't blow us away. I'm sure I fell asleep in the tube on the way there and back. It seemed I fell asleep every time we were on the trains. Once I even woke up and had been drooling on Mark's sleeve!
Friday we met with Christine Balzano. She picked us up from the Hampstead tube stop and walked us through Hampstead to her flat right on the border of the Heath. Hampstead is beautiful and very "posh" as Londoners would say. When we got to where she lives we got into her car and she drove us ALL around the area. Seriously, it was a very comprehensive tour. She drove us past the homes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Ricky Gervais, Anthony Hopkins, the drummer from Pink Floyd, the lead singer of Oasis, a famous footballer... it was crazy. LOTS of very wealthy people live there. The high street is very busy and there were all kinds of shops that I recognized from the US - Gap, etc (I can't think of the others right now.) When we asked her how much we should expect to pay for a 3 bedroom she said at least 800 GBP per week, but probably more like 1000. WHAT?! That is so much. After that visit we decided Hampstead probably isn't the place for us. It's gorgeous, green and has everything you'd need, but we just don't want to spend that kind of money, and definitely don't need to be neighbors with celebrities!
I was kind of bummed after that. I guess we would have to start all over deciding where to live. Friday night we went to a Thai restaurant in Belsize Park, which was delicious, and then Saturday morning we got up and started researching other neighborhoods that might work for us. Mark did research while I was in the shower and found a place nick-named "Nappy Valley" (nappy being what the Brits call diapers). The online description sounded just like what we were looking for - lots of families, lots of restaurants, mostly British (not too many expats, but you can find expats anywhere), a huge park AND it was right on the Northern Line. Sounded promising. We took the train down and loved it from the very beginning. We got off at the Clapham North stop and walked south along the high street to the Clapham Common stop. There were tons of Indian restaurants and all kinds of other restaurants and bars/pubs. At the end of the high street was a farmers market! I was sold!
We walked through some of the residential streets and ended up on another street with shops where I stopped in and asked the owner of a children's bookshop what kinds of things you could do with kids around here. She went on and on... so I didn't worry about remembering it. There was plenty and it wouldn't be hard to track down once we moved. We found Clapham Common (wasn't hard... it's HUGE) and walked across it to the east side of the area. It was a sunny day (so I realize it makes everything seem more awesome that it's sunny on a Saturday) so there were people littered all over the grass in the park eating their lunches or drinking wine or beer from open containers (gasp). It was such a charming feel even though aesthetically it doesn't hold a candle to the beauty of Hampstead.
We decided that this is the place for us. That night we had dinner with Geoff and Christine which was lovely. They talked with us about all kinds of things that we never would have thought about, like how truly liberal England is compared to the US. Apparently even the most conservative Londoners are more liberal than the most liberal Americans. Interesting... I'm very curious to see how that looks and how we will changes as a result of living there. They also warned us about blackout curtains. Funny tidbit for me to remember from the long conversation, but they said when looking for places to live, keep in mind that the sun is up for a long time in the summer and you'll need to be able to black out your kids rooms so don't get rooms with skylights. Great advice!
When we move over we'll be in corporate housing in Westminster for at least a few weeks, so our decision about Clapham may change, but I doubt that it will. It seems like a great place to live and it's FAR cheaper than anywhere near Hampstead, Belsize or Primrose.
During our trip I noticed TONS of things about fashion because I was looking for it, but I'll start a new post for that.
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