Say What!?

As we acclimate to our new home, which I am loving more day by day, I can't help but notice the difference in cultures. There are so many Americans here and it's no surprise that this is a frequent hot topic on the discussion boards.

So I figured I would hop on board and share my observations with y'all:)

1. My affinity for the English accent is no secret and I have been known to bring it out after a few drinks. That just ain't cool here. And I don't want to offend anyone! If we do live here long enough for Riya to develop the accent, I will be super jealous.

2. Chee-eeee-se. Ram loves his cheese. He has often said he would give up alcohol (gasp) before he would let go of cheese. Moving back to the UK made him long for the orange stuff again aka cheddar. All we see in the aisles are mature "white" cheddar. It tastes good to me, but if it ain't orange, Ram is disappointed. Well honey, apparently cheddar isn't naturally orange. That's 'Merica for ya!

3. Some of the foods you take for granted have all of a sudden disappeared from your life. Like dips and sauces. Soured cream is NOT the same as sour cream. The ketchup doesn't taste the same. And why is it so hard to come by plain mustard?

4. The "U" in everything. From color to favor, why must there be a "U?"

5. I do believe the English are more articulate but there is a huge disconnect between the way they spell words and pronounce them. Leicester is "Lester" and Chiswick is "Chiz-ick" and Tottenham is "Totten-um." Um, seriously?

6. I had all the currency down in Dubai and now I have to start all over again. Okay, fine, that's a lie. All the coins in Dubai were in Arabic, so I didn't have a clue except for the 1 Dirham coin. But everyone shared that plight. Over here, the 10p is the size of a quarter, the 20p the size of a dime and the 5p is smaller than a penny. It's so obvious when I'm trying to pay with cash that I'm a foreigner. Bear with me please!

7. Double taps. This is high on my pet peeve list! Why on Earth would anyone want scalding hot water on one side and freezing cold water on the other? Why can't they just be one?? Apparently, its a law in some areas to have them separate. Huh???

8. The Brits love to eat a late lunch and early dinner. Most restaurants don't open before noon for lunch which make eating out with a toddler difficult. Dinner is usually at 6:30pm. Lots of expats have adapted to this early dinner style making it impossible for me to ever join in on expat dinners. Will I ever make friends?

9. Dryers. The fact that they do not see the utility in a separate dryer is lost on me. Ours is a combo and every time I attempted to use the dry setting, the washer would lock my clothes in and maintenance would have to come and remove the button and reattach it. So I've given up on the American dream of having warm, soft, clean dry clothes. This means I have to do laundry EVERY. SINGLE.DAY.

10. Closets are usually a permanent fixture and even an attraction to a property when you are on the hunt. Not over here! What do they have against closets? And any type of storage for that matter? And most importantly, where do they keep their Christmas Tree?!?! As a result your truly will be spending her Saturday afternoon at IKEA to solve all my wardrobe and storage problems. Yippee!

Pinspiration

We are at the lovely phase in my 17month old's life where she is refusing her second nap 50% of the time. All signs point to transitioning her to one nap. However, she is still displaying all the signs of teething and though I don't see those damn stubborn bottom teething coming, I don't have the heart to mess with her schedule right now. She's going through enough.

So that leaves us with some loooooong afternoons, often which are spent at home because it's too late to venture out at 2pm to the city to do something and make it back before traffic time. Riya has been getting bored with her toys and I don't blame her. I couldn't pack many toys and I've only bought a few since we got here. Last week I came across Legos for 1.5 year olds, basically they are larger than the normal legos, so they don't pose as a choking hazard. While she rather break them down than build, it has made for a great distraction toy at meal times. That's right, she's too busy to nap and way too busy to eat. Gotta love this age.

With no end in sight of this teething dilemma (it's been months:/), I have become increasingly obsessed with making Riya's playtime more educational and constructive. I searched Amazon for age appropriate toys and kept finding myself saying, "She won't be into that." Ram also gave me a friendly reminder that we are moving out of this place and that means everything has to get packed up again. Riya's wardrobe has already doubled since we got here (eek).

My friend Laine urged me to search through pinterest for some play ideas. So I began to peruse and the creative juices started to flow. I decided I was going to make-shift some toys and if she liked the concept, then I would consider buying the equivalent. 

We drink a lot of bottled water here (I know, I know) and so I decided to upcyle a bottle and create a tunnel for her to play ball with. Riya is obsessed with balls and I thought for sure this would be a winner. I had to strap it to the chair with rubber bands (ghetto). She was perplexed when she saw this the next morning.

Later in the day, she finally got into it.

On a high, I decided to make a lacing toy for her. Lacing is one way to practice hand-eye coordination. I took the string off a shopping bag and cut paper into different shapes. At first, Riya tore and crumpled the paper. I forgot that she loves paper. But after that first round, she was interested as she saw me string paper on the string. So I decided to take it to the next level and cut holes in the bottle water caps. She wasn't interested in lacing, but liked pulling the caps off. I'm glad I didn't spend $15 on the real deal! 

I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve...waiting on some pipe cleaners to come in today :) Crafting is fun y'all! 

10 years young

I cannot believe my pup is 10 years old today...that means in dog years he's...well, I'll let you do the math.

I still remember the day I got him. He was a present from my sister and a complete surprise for my 25th birthday. Way to curb my quarter-life crisis sis! He could barely walk those first few days, he was only 5 weeks old. And his nose was the size of a chocolate chip.

He has been one of the best gifts in my life. His loyalty is unconditional and I can always count on him to keep me company on many lonely nights. I am so blessed that he has been apart of our crazy journey in life. Life would just not be the same without my Luca...snoring and all :)

We celebrated one day early so that we could all be together for park fun and cake of course!

Regent's Park

I've been wanting to check out Regent's Park ever since we landed in London. Its the largest green space in London that covers over 300 acres (bigger than Central Park I believe) and is home to Queen Mary's Garden, the London Zoo, an Open Air Theatre and more. It's also very close to Primrose Hill which gives panoramic views of Central London.

Now that Riya was recovered from being sick, it was time to head back out into the real world. Baby girl took a 2+ hour nap yesterday morning, so I figured it was the best day to go. Unfortunately, it was really cloudy and after our 30 minute bus ride, Riya wasn't in the best mood, so we didn't get to stay very long. I tried desperately to make it to see Queen Mary's Garden and Primrose Hill, which were high on my list, but we didn't make it. Riya is expecting her second pair of bottom teeth (she is the SLOWEST teether ever), so that has left the little lady in distress lately.

We started off in the outer circle and I saw many runners jogging along and even a gym class being held out there. Not too shabby to have gym class in a royal park! This was the first section we walked through and even though it was cloudy, I thought it was very colorful and beautiful.

We walked further in and I saw golden gates. Behind there was Queen Mary's Gardens, the Open Air Theatre and the London Zoo. We only got as far as the theatre, but we saw ducks along the way. There was also a bridge with a small stream of water running under it with more ducks swimming about. We came across lots of buggies and babes walking around happily with their mums. Riya, however, didn't seem too interested in making new friends. I can only imagine how much prettier this place is in the summer when everything is in full bloom. Can't wait to go back!

Winter chic babe :)

Just had to throw this in...surely this doesn't mean what I think it does :p

Our second week in London

Ram was off to Mountainview Cali our second week in London. With all the nuances of getting settled the week before, we didn't have much time to explore our area before he left. So I promised myself that I would be adventurous and walk to a different part of Islington at least 3 times that week.

Funny how this time around I'm spending hours locating nearby parks and child friendly places versus pubs and restaurants. It's a welcome change though. We'll make it out to the pubs eventually.

As you all know, I'm directionally challenged. Living in a city where public transportation is the best way to get around, spotlights my handicap. The fact that Riya is totally dependent on me to get her to and fro, gave me anxiety. So it was settled: only walkable distances for now.

Luckily, Google Maps (my new best friend), showed me that there were at least 3 parks within a 15 minute walk from where we live. (It takes just as long to get us both bundled up, throw the stroller down a million flight of stairs with Riya wedged on my hip and out the door). So I figured why not.

These stairs are just outside my front door. Not stroller friendly at ALL. 

Our building from the outside. More stairs, but these are manageable.

I'm sure Riya couldn't tell the difference between any of the 3 parks we visited that week, but I was quite pleased that we found them:) Baby girl is becoming more and more adventurous and wants to go up and down the slide and all! She is growing up so fast. I have a feeling she is going to start running soon....nooooooo! 

Later that week, with my 100% success rate boosting my ego, I decided to attempt the bus. There is a Gymboree class that is a 20 min bus ride away followed by a 10 min walk. I decided to give myself an hour, just in case. Luckily Riya slept till 7:40am (!!!) that morning, so it was really easy to push her morning nap. By 9:40am we were on the sidewalk. The bus stop I needed to walk to was 5 minutes away. As I followed Google Maps, I walked towards the bus stop indicated. However, there were 2 bus stops across the street from each other, and though it looked like I was waiting at the right bus stop, as I let 3 buses pass, I realized I wasn't in the right place. At least I didn't get on the wrong bus! Crisis averted. I walked across the street and noticed it was already 10am at this point. Anxiety began to creep up on me as the bus arrived a few minutes later.

Of course the bus didn't pull up to the curb properly and it was a pain in the ass to get the stroller on and swipe my card, but I did it. Luckily for us, the bus was pretty empty, so I was able to make my way to the wheel chair/buggy area and lock her stroller in place. Google Maps said it would take about 15 minutes to get to my stop. My good friend Debbie, already warned me not to count the number of stops the bus is supposed to take, because if no one is at the stop, they won't stop. So I just stood there watching over Riya while watching the electronic sign like a hawk and eyeing the "STOP" button in case I needed to push it. About 10 minutes in, the name of the next stop popped up and I erroneously thought it was ours. The minute I got off, I knew I was in the wrong place. I was so mad at myself for not pulling out my phone to check. Google Maps was tracking my journey and I should have checked it before getting off. For a minute I attempted to walk the remaining part of our journey but after taking 2 steep turns took me to a juncture with way too many road splits, I decided to go back and wait for the next bus.

After that, I'm happy to report it was smooth sailing! Riya was a perfect angel while I was a stress ball and she was rewarded for her patience. She had a blast at Gymboree. She wasn't interested in the class at all, but she loved playing with all the equipment! I think we may have a gymnast in the family!

Riya's fav toy

Now that I have one bus ride under my belt, I have a little more confidence to venture out again. Sadly, Riya caught her first cough and cold of the year and we have been stuck indoors all week. Plus there is a bus strike today (third this year already!), so doesn't look like we'll make it to our class.

Borough Shopping Part 3

This was actually the first Borough we visited when we set out on our hunt. But since it was my favorite, I saved it for last:)

We got dropped off at the tube station and though it was drizzling, we immediately fell in love. There were so many cute cafes and side streets with British charm oozing out of them. I could automatically picture Riya and I having a mid-week coffee at one of the cafes and then heading over to the library (!) for story time. The river Thames is also there and during the Spring and Summer I could picture us all heading over there for a picnic and Luca actually being able to join and run around (though he won't, haha) in the great outdoors.

All of the Boroughs we are considering have plenty of child friendly parks, movie theaters and shopping. So those don't really distinguish one from the other. But it doesn't hurt that my all time favorite store, Anthropologie, is located in Richmond. They also have a Whole Foods. There is also a very active American Expat Spouses group in Richmond that has weekly coffees and book clubs and the like. (I'm secretly hoping there are some Mahjong enthusiasts!) Although I don't want to surround myself soley with American Expats, they will definitely aid in my transition to this great city. They will have overcome many of the hurdles I'm about to face. Many of the Americans that move here, come to stay, and it's not as transient of a location like the other cities we've lived in. So hopefully some new friends are just around the corner!

Its hard to capture the vibe and charm that we felt instantly, especially since it was really cloudy, but here is what I got of our soon to be new home (fingers crossed!).

House hunt begins in 2 weeks! 

Borough Shopping Part 2

After Chiswick, we went back home so Riya could nap. After she woke up, we took the 40 min taxi ride to Wimbledon. We got dropped off at the train station which was at the end of a hill. On top of the hill, was the high street. Wimbledon was mapped out in an interesting manner. To my knowledge everything is usually concentrated in one area but Wimbledon seemed to split it up in two.

On the bottom end of the hill, there was a shopping centre, as well as a street full of independent shops (a tk maxi, US equivalent to tj maxx-major selling point!), grocery stores, an indoor soft play area (the size of a hallway, so not a selling point) and cafes. On the upside of the hill, there also more shops (including 2 baby toy stores), pubs, and greenery.

We decided to start by going uphill. As we pushed Riya upwards in her stroller (she has it so good), we took in the scenery. We definitely got a good vibe from Wimbledon. It had loads of charm. Not to mention some of Ram's favorite restaurants (Wagamama, Chipoptle, etc.) Okay fiiiine I love Wagamama too. Oh, and who could forget that we could actually watch tennis live! That would be such a cool experience. I can see why Debbie and Luke live there.

I forgot to take pics, but here are some I found online that shows what we saw:

SOURCE

SOURCE

Going up and down that hill on a regular basis would be a pain since I have a stroller holding a 20 pounder, and the borough is located farther south than we originally planned. That's why it holds spot #2 on our list. Next stop, Richmond!