I've never been here

A couple days ago, we hit our year mark of living here in London. I can't believe how much has happened and both how much shorter and longer it has felt! Does that even make sense? When I look back on our DC home and our routines there, my full time job, etc. it feels like a million years away, but it also feels like we just got off the plane on that grey London day in September 2013.

Anyway, we are settling into our second official flat here in London. I can't believe we moved again, but moreso, I wish that we would have been smarter the first time around. I loved living in Highgate but we were hoping for baby #2, and it was just too small and far away from city life for my taste. But we did get a good dose of quasi suburban life, and it was nice to be away from chaos after our last neighborhood in DC which was, as I've been describing it lately, "crime-y".

So far in this week of living in West Kensington, I've been to so many new places I would've never gone before, just because it's an awkward trip from Highgate. To name a few, Brook Green is lovely, our little neighborhood is just charming, and we're just a quick bus ride away from Kensington High street, Kensington Palace and the amazing Princess Diana memorial playground. And let's talk about the grocery stores. They are HUGE down here. We had just a tiny little Sainsburys by our place in Highgate, and I didn't think there was such a thing as large grocery stores in London. But the Waitrose, Tesco, and Whole Foods have blown my mind and meal planning just got so much easier.

We have lovely big windows and high ceilings that let in so much light, and even though it's an old flat, it is (mostly) charming and I'm happy to be here. Just need to find an IKEA wardrobe for the bedroom and then we're pretty set up.

We have our first appointment today at the new hospital, and seeing as how I'm nearly 34 weeks pregnant, I'm going to feel much better knowing we are settled and close to a great hospital with a comfortable and private birth center. Maybe that will make the fact that we're having a baby seem more real. (Living in denial currently.) We still need to find somewhere for the baby to sleep, some diapers, and a few soft receiving blankets to snuggle her, and then hopefully I can feel some peace of mind.

Photos of the flat to come, once it's not a total disaster!