We finally moved on Saturday and are now settling into our new place (formerly known as 'Meg and Dan's Flat') which is awesome. It's amazing what you get used to (kitchen appliances that don't work, really loud neighbors, drunk people screaming down the street) and once you get to live in a nice place how shocking it is to find yourselves surrounded by seemingly luxurious conditions. Our neighbors are so quiet! We have a private garden! The carpet is clean!!
On moving day, we were tired, but moving is so much easier when there are two strong men with a van doing all the hard work. We had lots of time to take pictures.
Ready for the move (for the record, we did all the packing ourselves, so it wasn't a totally stress free move):
It was a foggy morning on our last morning in our old hood:
The van. There is a great picture of Jim's mom with her long legs out and making a 'honk the horn trucker' sign, while climbing into a moving van in Hawaii. I am not so adventurous when it comes to moving van pictures. But I did agree to stand with the van.
The cats had to stay in the bathrooms. Despite being confined and his whole world being turned upside down, Finchley was still in full play mode. Jack was having none of it.
Jim pretends to go all DIY:
And then tells me about some incredible guitar that Phil let him try out the night before.
This is another thing that happens when other people are doing all the work:
We were sad to move away from our next door neighbors, Julie, Phil, Maddy and Joe (they are neither loud, nor drunk). Julie was out in her yard looking at some incredible spider webs. These rather large spiders come out every year and build beautiful nests in her front garden.
Maddy came over to help us unpack on our first day in the new flat. She practiced Finchley's superhero moves with him:
Boxes!
I would say that Finchley is a stress eater, but he's actually an anytime/anywhere eater. Moving day is not an exception.
On our first night, I discovered that I have way more clothes than there is room for.
Day 2: A tour of the house (this part is kind of boring...or maybe the whole thing is kind of boring, but such is life.)
The conservatory is the cats' favorite place to hang out:
Our bedroom and French doors in our bedroom that lead out to the garden:
Kitchen:
TWO SINKS!!! What luxury!
Storage space! (Still not enough for my clothes, alas):
I'm a true American and can appreciate a working washer AND a DRYER!!!! Although the dryer is really small and takes forever to dry things, I'm still happy to have it. I have learned a lot from the English about saving energy, so we'll still hang all of our clothes, except for things like towels, jeans and sheets--you know, things that are supposed to be soft and supple, rather than hard and crunchy.
Garden:
And Finchley wishing he could come out into the garden (not yet!):
Future baby room:
And, finally, the living room!
These cars came with the flat:
In front of our new place:
Out and about in Hampstead:
And then we went to Camden AGAIN (and swore we weren't going back for at least a month). There are great things to be had in Camden market, but a beautiful, sunny day is not the best time to go because of the crowds. We did find a great costume shop, though! This is my newest look:
It was a long couple of days, but we're all settling into our new life in Hampstead. Finchley is very curious about all the new noises (as evidenced by his obese mere cat pose). And we figured out that the frequent rumbling we hear is the tube going under our flat, which is pretty cool.
And now the two young women sitting next to me and gabbing about their messed up relationships in their loudest Lily Allen voices are getting on my nerves, so I'm going to vacate Starbucks and head out into the world again.
