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!

We are moving!

The impossible has happened! We are moving out of our shoebox Highgate flat to a slightly larger shoebox in West London! I have the contract sitting in my inbox right now to review, and we should have it signed, sealed, and delivered by next week, then we move mid-September. I'll be about 32 weeks pregnant at our move.

Definitely one of the craziest decisions we ever made was to move to London, and we really had no idea what to expect other than - they speak English there, how hard can it be? Turns out, kind of difficult! It is hard to move to a different city, and even harder to move internationally and figure out how to do banking, grocery shop, navigate a new culture, and be a foreigner. We have grown to love it here. I think summer sealed the deal for us. 70 - 75 every day and the occasional rainstorm to keep it real. One thing that attracted me to our current Highgate flat was the natural light and white walls. It is something I realize that I need in my life: lots of light. I did the english basement thing for a year, and I was scratching the walls by the end of our year-lease. Side note: they call basement apartments "garden flat" here. Isn't that much more appealing than a dank basement? ;) While I'm happy to be moving on, I will miss the leafy quiet of Highgate and our first little flat here in London, with all its quirks (weird neighbors, foxes going through our garbage, middle of the night dance parties in the flat above ours (or clogging?! someone hates us upstairs).

Our new flat is just the next step I was hoping for. In terms of square footage, it's not too much bigger than our current place, but we have a huge front room/dining room combo, a nice big bedroom for us (a long narrow bedroom for the nursery), and most of all huge windows in every room on a second story terraced home. I cannot wait to move in and get settled before the arrival of baby girl.

I was talking to my sister in Virginia the other day (who is currently getting induced and should have her new baby here any minute now!) about how small our homes feel. She said to me: our place is just so tiny, I just wish we could move. Our place is only 950 square feet!
I just couldn't help but laugh. Our NEW place is 720 square feet and it feels like a palace to me! I think our current flat is somewhere around 600 square feet.
Funny how perspective can change your mind about something.

Anyway, this post is quite rambling, but I wanted to record my thoughts on how happy I am to be finding a new little spot in London, looking forward to exploring West London and finding our favorite parks, cafes, hidden gems, etc. that come along with a new neighborhood. It's hard to believe we've been here nearly a year.l

hi.

just popping by to say hello.

1. i'm back at work.
2. i left my phone at home today.
3. i also left my key fob at home so i had to ring the bell to get into work today, after running up 3 levels of a parking garage.
4. we have moved and life is totally nuts right now, but we have the worlds most supportive family and church congregation and moving was as breezy as it gets. the uhaul was packed and unpacked in about 2 hours. family and friends helped with henry, cleaned our old place, and put away kitchen/linens/set up electronics/closets/beds/cribs in our new place. i feel so lucky to have such a strong support network and to call these amazing people I know my friends and family! we would be in shambles without them.
5. i love henry's chubby cheeks so much i could die.

goodbye and hello.

our house is a disaster right now. boxes everywhere, picture frames lining the baseboards, furniture dissembled...it's moving weekend!! i cannot wait to go from this...

to this.

and now i can start obsessing over how to arrange our house, and where to put the bridge picture and our coke tin lady, and should the couch face the fireplace or just sit next to it, and should we ditch the TV or not, and where is the best place to buy plants in DC?!

hooray for moves. can't wait to share some pictures of our new digs once we get settled.

ps henry is moving from his bassinet next to our bed to a CRIB in his own room. not sure who will have worse separation anxiety - him or me!

here we go again.

if you've seen me in the past few days, you'll have heard this news already (i'm having trouble staying quiet about it): we are moving!

our friends recently moved to utah (boo!! we miss you guys!) and i casually asked them what they were doing with their house, not thinking anything would really come from it. but i stopped by their house a few weeks ago and it just felt so perfect for us. i was holding my breath for weeks, hoping it would work out, and we are signing the lease tomorrow. hoorah!

our friends moved into the house when they had a little boy henry's age, and when they left they had 2 little boys and a brand new baby girl (named Julie!). so now we get to move in with our sweet little boy and watch him grow with plenty of room to crawl around and bump his head on the doors and fill the rooms with laughter. and who knows, maybe see our family grow a little more in the next few years, too!

we move in just a few short weeks. and here are the things we are excited for:

no more basement

huge windows and lots of natural light

henry gets his own room

we get our own room!

hardwood floors -- goodbye carpet

we get to stay on the Hill, and move closer to our favorite sandwich place on the Hill (Mark is no doubt very pleased about this)

backyard patio

bathtub for baby baths (and mama baths)

lots of storage

oh. mah. goodness. is this what heaven feels like?

moving and singing.

who knew you could get so much done in one weekend?
we spent most of the weekend cleaning and organizing, selling stuff on craigslist, and consigning clothes in old town alexandria. and guess what else? looking at couches. i have it narrowed down to about 5 now, and just need to do some more test sits. still looking on craigslist but finding nothing.

we also had a few people over and tested out the new space. i like to do that when moving into a new home to see where people congregate - where it makes the most sense to arrange furniture and hang out. you know?

one thing i'm really excited about is our new piano. i probably shouldn't admit this openly on the internet, but i love sing-a-longs. i adore them. we had what may have been the funniest sing-a-long (next to the garth and kat christmas party at cristy and sierras) of my life on saturday when josh and naomi visited for a little while. what started off as an innocent beatles sing-a-long ended up with 2 saxaphones and a carpenters song and so much laughing i couldn't even see straight to play the piano.

this weekend was so good for my soul. and guess what else, i really love TH. he saves me every day. i'm such a pill sometimes and he is so supportive when i just feel like giving up. thanks love.

so. what did you do this weekend? orrrr do you love sing-a-longs as much as me?

Getting ready

Back from Nica, never knew I had the nerves that are currently ruining my digestive system. Unless, of course, I got a little tapeworm in Central America...this is highly possible.

I'm freaking out, ya'll. I'm supposed to be moving in like 4 days and I haven't started packing or preparing for this move because I am straight up in DENIAL. I don't WANT to move. I don't WANT to go to school. All my friends are here. So many of the people I love are situated in one little metropolitan area, its so easy! Why would I LEAVE that? Because someone had the brilliant idea of accepting me to one of the best schools in the country I had no choice but to say yes. This is not my fault. The cosmos are working against me. The heavens want me in New York for some reason and I am fighting the heavens with all the courage I can muster (which isn't much right now).

I submitted my photo for my student ID today. This is the one I sent:
See? I don't LOOK crazy. Or scared. I look totally calm. Maybe I should refer to that picture during times of high stress = I should refer to it 24/7. I do look kind of old, though. And wise. And pretty damn smart, too. Ok, its no wonder they let me in to their little program.

I haven't even decided when I'm moving yet. I want to stay here for the weekend, but I know I should get up to my apartment to get prepared for Tuesday. TUESDAY.

And then I have nights like last night, wherein I get together with a bunch of friends and go out to eat at delicious restaurants that I love and laugh about silly things and plan future parties involving elastic sweatpant outfits. It makes leaving seem that much more ridiculous. Usually I move because I need a change and a new start. I guess I'm glad I'm going to be experiencing a change from my job situation. I didn't want to be a pencil sharpener for the rest of my life, after all. My mind is a jumble right now.

Atleast Mickey will be taking me up to school. Shopping spree anyone???

Biznass trips change everything

I'm back from Indy (gladly returned. i don't care if i never go back). This past month has been so stressful - I didn't think I'd ever make it out in one piece. And, well, I didn't. I feel a bit scattered right now. But here are the bright sides:
1. It's a new month in 2 days.
2. It's getting warmer.
3. My last day of work is Friday
4. I'm painting a room this week.
5. I'm going on vacation next month.

Here are the sad parts:
1. I'm moving soon.
2. I won't know anybody where I'm moving
3. Me and R1 have parted ways.
4. In 3 1/2 weeks I won't get to see Iggy every day.
5. I've been plagued with a killer cold.

A lot has happened in my personal, professional, physical, and emotional life. (Lives?) And I am feeling rather down in the dumps. Kind of. I'm also feeling very hopeful. It's another New Beginning for me. A new month, a new home, a new career path, a new daily routine, a new city, new friends, new goals to set, etc. It's exciting. I just need to put on my Big Girl shoes and take my life back! First Stop: Ben and Jerry's for free ice cream day!

It's done

Yesterday I walked into my boss's office and put in my notice that I would be leaving to go to grad school. My heart was pounding, but I had to do it because I was about to get a promotion and I couldn't have felt right about accepting the promotion knowing that I would be leaving in 1 1/2 months.

So after telling my work that I'm getting the H out of Dodge - I'm feeling like this decision is actually real. I really am going to quit my job. I really am going to move to Manhattan. I really am going to Columbia University. I really am going to have a really hard, intense year of studying and learning and growing and trying to survive on my own without knowing a SOUL in the city. It's a bit intimidating, but I'm starting to feel like - just maybe - I can do this.

Another item that sweetens the deal is that I get to quit my JOB! I love working here, but it's been a challenge to get things accomplished that I feel I'm capable on doing. One thing that is definite is this job helped shape my career path and focus my professional goals - I've learned so much about the energy sector, being a "professional" and learning how to behave in an office environment (no, its not ok to turn up your computer speakers when your watching a video with "buttcheeks" being screamed in the background). I've also learned how to keep plants alive in low sunlight, how to smile at people you don't really know who are always walking by your cubicle, and that you must put your name on food items in the fridge or people WILL eat them.

And yet ANOTHER item that sweetens the deal is that right after I quit, me and Iggy are going to go on a vacay for our double birthdays!! Somewhere warm and somewhere with an ocean for me to lay in front of and sip cold beverages as I run my fingers through the sand. Ahhhh...I can hardly stand the wait.

However, with all these great opportunities, I'm finding it really hard to deal with the reality that I'll be moving, leaving the city of poliical love, leaving my dearest friends and my family, going to a strange and unfamiliar place, ugh. I was hanging up pictures in my room last night even though I won't be there for much longer. I'm looking for rugs and furniture for the house even though I am leaving. I'm making new friends in the neighborhood to hang out with, even though I'll probably never see them after April. I can't help but feel a little sad about all this. I mean - it's the END of an ERA!!