Family in London, Part 2

Been a little while since I've blogged. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will be a bit more prolific but we shall see :)

We had a great time with Katherine's dad and step-mom. Two things I'll mention that were great were going to the Eye (first time for me), and some great food.
The Eye- you know the London Eye by now. I thought maybe it would be lame, all hype and touristy and not that much fun. Well, not the case at all. It was a beautiful day and you could see up as far north as Wembly stadium, and south to....well, I don't actually know anything down that way, but a long way. Very cool, worth the £13.

Food - Sunday and Monday night we went to two great restaurants. Sunday night it was Limani, a Greek restaurant located in Primrose Hill Neighborhood, right by Regents Park. Very very cute neighborhood. The decor was simple, small space, great service (as we were sitting about 2 feet from where the head waiter (owner?) was standing. The food was delicious, wonderfully marinated kebabs of different types. And, Katherine had her fortune read based on the grounds of her Greek coffee, so how great is that? Very excited to have a new restuarant that we found on our own that we can share with some of our London friends. The restaurant is the sister restaurant of another Greek place just up the street that we meant to go to originally - so we will also have to check that out.
On Monday night we went to a gastro-pub, the Anchor and Hope, south of the River. I had a chance to go there my first week, actually had a pint there with some people who are now our friends but had to leave before dinner. If I had known what I was missing, I would have skipped the conference call. OMG. So so good. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table for 4 on the pub side, had a pint. Then got over to the the eating side. Great space, nice art (artists lives upstairs), and a very simple menu with fresh local ingredients. It was absolutely amazing. I had partridge. Katherine had a pie, Kathleen and Bob each had the fish (a flat fish of some sort, don't remember). All very delicious, and really underpriced.

Great to see some family, and an excellent reason to continue exploring this city we live in.

bad news

We found out today that we lost another flat because they won't allow a dog! This one is a little more complicated than the last - too hard to explain on the blog. We have to be out of our current flat on the 9th, so Andy is out right now trying to see what's available to rent. I would be with him, but I'm feeling sick, and am not up to the multiple mile trek that will be involved in going to the estate agencies in the area begging for a place that will take a dog. This has been a very frustrating experience for me. All I can think when things go wrong here is that I want to leave and go back to Seattle. This clearly isn't an option - we wouldn't have a place to live there either - but it's always my first reaction. It doesn't help that I'm not feeling 100% at the moment. I'm not sure what we'll do if we don't find a place by the 9th, our current landlord would probably let us stay here. I don't think she's rented out the flat yet, but that would probably mean we're locked in until the end of May. I don't know if I can live in this flat until then, but our options are very limited at this point. I hear people commenting all the time about how the "English love their dogs", I guess they just mean that the English love their own dogs, but not other people's dogs.....

She's so cute and she doesn't bark that much!!

Family in London

My Dad and Stepmom (Kathleen) arrived in London Wednesday afternoon after flying to Paris and then to Heathrow. Andy and I met up with them that evening for an Italian dinner near their hotel. Then we took a nice stroll around the neighborhood they are staying in and went for a pint in a local pub. Thursday they were on their own exploring the city and some of the many museums here. Last night we went to another dinner in the neighborhood of their hotel (Maida Vale) which was excellent. Today they, along with Andy, wandered around Knightbridge (V&A Museum, Harrods, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace). We all went to Imli for dinner. A tapas-style Indian restaurant. Andy had been once before I moved here with some friends here. We all enjoyed it, great food. Tomorrow we're heading south of the river to the Tate Modern and Borough Market and whatever else we happen upon. It's fun having people visit so we can do all the touristy things London has to offer.

1/2 Way Through

Today marks the 1/2 point in my flower design classes. It's been a really fun and interesting week. Not only have I learned about floral design, but about starting and running a small business in the UK. I don't by any means feel ready to open a shop, but I know a lot more if that time ever comes. I've attached a few pictures of some of the arrangements I've done so far. Let me know if you want to hire me :)

Exciting Updates!

Two exciting updates to share...

1) We have a new flat! After last weeks upset with losing the new flat we thought we had, we got another one today. Andy and I worked very hard contacting agents and having viewings of flats to find this new one. Between the two us we looked about about 15 flats in 3 days. Like I said last week, adding a doggie into the flat equation makes things difficult, but having Middy here is worth the extra "trouble". Cross your fingers out there that we don't lose this flat! Let the packing begin...I'm excited to know we'll be in this flat for a year. This move will be the 3rd one in less than 1 1/2 years. I'm pretty done with packing...

2) I started floral design classes today! It was a great day, we made 3 arrangements just today. I know it's something I'm going to enjoy and get a lot out of. I'll start my job at the school after the 2 weeks of classes are over. I'll post pictures of some of the stuff we make later in the week. It's fun, our flat is going to be covered in flowers with all the fun stuff I'll be bringing home. I got lots of interesting looks today carrying two huge bags with flowers spilling out of them! I think they were jealous of how beautiful they were :)

The Monkee's?

I guess some or most people who'd be reading this blog would know about the Monkee's, the "rock n roll" band from the 1960's.

Today at work, I was meeting with a new director and another woman. In the middle of our conversation, he yelled out, "You know who you look like, one of the Monkee's! Is this something you've ever heard before?" No, this is not something I've ever heard before. He quickly googled and found my Monkee twin -not the famous hearthrob Davey Jones, the triangle playing background singer. Not great, but I'll let you be the judge.

Funny sidebar, when I came home and told Katherine the story, she wondered why I wasn't more offended by the story. When I forwarded her the picture of my Monkee twin, she laughed, loudly. She thought I was referring to a monkey more like this:

Middy Update

I promise I will not post about Middy too often,
but every now and then she'll make the blog. She's been in London for a week now and is adjusting as well as expected. It's great having her here, for the most part. We have to walk her 3-4 times a day now since we have no yard for her bathroom breaks, and that's fine - we walk so much anyway it's not that much of a change in routine. Admittedly, Andy has been doing more than his fair share of the early morning outings. She's barking a little more than we'd like, I don't want our neighbors to hate us - even though we are moving soon. Living here we will always have neighbors very close and her barking will be a problem - so we're doing the best we can to make it better.

Besides the barking, a downside we've already seen from having her here is the fact that we lost the new flat we were supposed to be moving into this coming weekend because at the last minute, after $ had already been transferred for the deposit and first month's rent, we found out that the building won't allow a dog. The landlord of the unit is cool with dogs, but the building is not. Needless to say, I was a bit upset when the agent told me this when I got to her office to drop off the signed contract. I gave her a small, angry piece of my mind about how I felt she did, or didn't, do her job very well by waiting to follow up about the dog situation. To make matters worse, for me, my mobile phone was out of minutes (I have a pay-as-you-go plan), so I couldn't call Andy on the walk home to complain and cry. Probably really for the best so I could focus on not letting Middy run out in the road.

In the end, I am glad we had Middy shipped (flown) over here to be with us. It didn't feel right without her, but having her here makes things a little more difficult. I guess that's what we signed up for when we drove to Auburn 2 years ago and picked her up.

The White Hot

When Andy and I were just in Seattle, we ate White Hots at my Mom's house. I tried to explain what white hots were to a group of friends, but I failed miserably. All I knew is that they were some form of Hot Dog, but white and from upstate New York (sorry Mom, for not knowing the whole story of these great treats). Until I did a little research, I was unaware, or had just forgotten, that they are actually from Rochester, NY (my Mom's birthplace). They are uncured, unsmoked pork and that is how they are white in color.

They are a tasty treat that I don't get very often, probably once a year when my Mom goes to visit her sisters or one of them comes to Seattle.

Big day for UK Sports

Don't know if folks in the States know (or care) but the Rugby World Cup 2007 kicked off last night. We were lucky enough to watch the opening match with friends who knew what was going on, and taught us a lot about the game over the 90 minutes (40 minute halves, 10 minute half time). Yesterday was great - Argentina upset the host country and higher ranked team, France.

Today there were two big games kicked off at 5pm, one rugby, one Eurocup qualifying. In rugby, England, winner of the last world cup, was playing the US, not a powerhouse. And as expected, US lost 28-10. Respectable considering some other games today. In Eurocup qualifying England played Israel in pool play. There was a lot of concern on how they would play - all for not. It ended as a blowout, 3-0 for England. Good stuff.

The Docklands

Today we decided to explore another new part of the city, The Docklands. In my mind the name invokes the East India Trading Company, shady business, probably some dead bodies floating around. And that couldn't be further from the truth.

From where we live, you can't go much further away than that and stay within the greater London area. We hopped on the Jubilee (Grey) line and rode from West Hampstead to Canary Wharf. Once we got there it was pretty mind boggling. It is southeast of the City right along the Themes. Historically it really was a launching pad for their India excursions. These days however, it is undergoing a redevelopment and seems to have more high rises, cranes, and upcoming development than the rest of London combined. Coming up from the tube felt like stepping out into downtown Vancouver or Portland, not the type of feel you get from the rest of London. It was very cool, and we will be back. Apparently there is a bar there that has the widest selection of Champagne in the City...

They really are Docklands - with water and everything

Construction along the Themes - expensive condo's I'm sure
Katherine with the Gherkin over right shoulderShould have gone into banking...Some sort of construction on waterArtistic shot

The Trip in Pictures

On the first full day we were in Seattle, we met up with Andy's parents (Pablo & Gwen) for the M's game and dinner out. It was nice to see Andy's parents, and fun to catch a game. Poor Andy has been in withdrawal without being able to go to a M's game in person, let alone watch any baseball on TV!

Andy and Me in our M's caps!

We got together with a bunch of friends at the George and Dragon the Friday night we were home. It was great to see everyone that was there, especially those that weren't at the wedding over the weekend.Me, Andy and Nathan

Angela, Sarah, Me and Stephanie

Me and Rich

Andy and I had a great time at Tim and Michele's wedding! Even though we brought our camera with us, we didn't actually manage to take any pictures. Here are a few pictures from Lisa's camera.

The first dance

Andy and Me

Sarah and Will (Happy Anniversary, on the 12th!)

Beth and Andy

Dave, Me and Lisa

Sadly, I don't think we'll make it to Seattle together for a visit until March. Andy might be there some time in between for work, but nothing is planned at this point on that front. It will be interesting to see how the time here until March is for us, I'm sure a lot will have changed with our lives here by that point. I've had 2 visits home early on which helps and hurts the adjustment to London. I'm looking forward to moving into our new flat (in the next few weeks), starting my new job (beginning of October), taking floral design classes (end of this month), having more visitors (at this point my Dad & Kathleen, Rich, Beorn, and my Mom are all booked to come), exploring the city through Middy's eye (about 8 inches off the ground), experiencing life with Andy, more travel, and whatever else we can squeeze in before coming back to Seattle! 2 years seems like a long time, but with 4 months already gone, I know moving back is going to come quicker than I/we think.

Back Home to London

First off apologies for the long lay off on posting (although Katherine did do a quick one early this afternoon on Midnights arrival). We have been home to Seattle for a little over a week and have been otherwise occupied. We had an amazing time seeing lots of friends and family - an M's game with my mom and dad; sushi, thai, mexican with family and friends, of course the George and Dragon on Friday, capped off by our 5th anniversary, and an amazing wedding over the weekend that Katherine and I were both in out at Semiahmoo- Congratulations Tim and Michele Campbell! They are off on their honeymoon today, have fun!

We will do a bigger post in the next few days but we are all pretty exhausted, and are working on getting Midnight settled in.

Great to see everyone in Seattle, those who are there, and those who traveled in!

Middy Made It To London!

After 2 flights and over 24 hours of travel and layovers, Midnight (aka Middy) is finally with us in London! Andy and I arrived to our flat from our flight from Seattle, and an hour or so later Middy was delivered to our doorstep. We quickly took her on a walk around the block and then introduced her to her new home. She seems like she's doing ok, a little tired, but that probably has more to do with spending the weekend playing with my brother's dog than the flights! It will be adjustment for us all now that she's here, but worth it completely.