It has rather suddenly come to my attention that shopping in Hampstead is beyond the abilities of my bank account. I seek a pair of black boots, which, around here range in price from about $300-600. I also popped into an innocent looking maternity store where I glanced at the price tag for a simple top--95 pounds (that's about $200, folks!) Looks like I'll be heading to Brent Cross, land of the common man for my shopping needs. How much things cost in London never ceases to amaze me.
On the flip side, I love indulging in freshly baked bread and other such luxuries that we couldn't access in our old neighborhood. The park is incredible and we love our flat, which is bringing us much joy. Who needs boots anyway? And I swore that I wasn't going to buy any more maternity clothes. So, problem solved!
Monday, October 06, 2008
Friends from long ago
This weekend we got to visit with our friend Will, who we haven't seen since high school (oh the glory of Facebook!). He and his girlfriend Anna are in London for a few days and it's been great catching up on old times and enjoying getting to know each other as adults. We wandered around some key parts of London yesterday, stopping in warm pubs along the way (because now it's not exactly warm anymore and yesterday evening it almost felt bitter.)
Cute Jim in the tube:
The advertisements have peeled off the wall in the tube station, which makes for good artsy picture opportunities (courtesy of Jim, of course):
Cute Jim in the tube:
The advertisements have peeled off the wall in the tube station, which makes for good artsy picture opportunities (courtesy of Jim, of course):
Riddle me this....
If your house is very large and costs far more than I make each year to maintain (energy-wise) and you have a SUV, a non-fuel efficient sports car, several OTHER houses and who knows what else (private jet? yacht?), how much difference does having an electric car really make in saving the environment?
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Moved
Well, one of the first frustrations we've experienced since moving is that for some reason we can't get our wireless internet to work. This would be fine if we had a desk or something, but for since we don't have a desk and haven't been able to find one yet that is a. made of real wood b. costs less than 500 pounds and c. isn't hideously ugly, I'm forced to sit on the couch next to where the internet hook up is, which just gets old after a while. So here I am at Starbucks, where I THOUGHT the internet was free, but it turns out it's not. I guess it will have to do until I do find free wireless internet someplace or until we can figure out how to get our wireless to work at home.
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.
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.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Finchley and the Mattress
I know I said no more cat pictures for a while, but I couldn't resist posting this one. We are in the final stretch of packing and we move tomorrow. The cats are taking it in stride, really. I think it may have dawned on Finchley last night that something weird is going on around here. This morning I sent him out to play for the final day with his girlfriend and it made me sad. We've really enjoyed living in this neighborhood and all the nice people we've met along the way. At least we're not moving that far away!
Anyway, last night Jim dismantled our bed frame because it won't fit through the door in one piece. Almost as soon as he put the mattress up against the wardrobe, Finchley assumed King of the Mountain status. I am forever grateful to our cats (at home and in England) for providing constant entertainment.
Anyway, last night Jim dismantled our bed frame because it won't fit through the door in one piece. Almost as soon as he put the mattress up against the wardrobe, Finchley assumed King of the Mountain status. I am forever grateful to our cats (at home and in England) for providing constant entertainment.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
People
Apologies for the lack of pictures lately. It's just really hard to motivate to take pictures when wandering around taking pictures is not your forte. I like taking pictures of people I know and love. Jim likes taking pictures of people he knows and loves and also inanimate objects (doors and signs in particular) and also complete strangers. This is where we differ. So, during this time of long weekdays unpunctuated by work or people I know, there are no pictures to share.
But I can share experiences! I enjoy a blog: www.emilymagazine.com. Emily has a very dry sense of humor and shares her daily thoughts and experiences in NYC in a way that I find very intellectual and also hilarious (mostly). A couple of weeks ago, she posted a really funny description of the people who were sharing her space in one of NYC's public libraries and I thought to myself that I needed to make a point of remembering people who strike me as being annoying/interesting/intriguing/worth blogging about. It sounds easy, but I'm finding that because my work involves (or involved, rather) daily interactions with people who would fall into the "intersting/annoying/odd/freakish" category, I'm a little desensitized to those kinds of things. Even at my new main hangout, the laundromat, the people are pretty normal and boring and rather refined.
Fortunately, today's jaunt to the pharmacy provided some much needed annoying and strange people. The first (strange) was the guy with very few teeth and Crystal Gail length dreadlocks. I was standing behind him and was so entranced by his mammoth dreadlocks that I almost asked him how long it took to get them to such great lengths. But then the pharmacist brought him a bottle of some medicine and the guy drank the whole thing right there at the counter before handing it back and I decided that some questions are better left unasked and concentrated on trying not to say something about personal space to the other person (annoying) who had caught my attention. She was an older woman who got into the line behind me and immediately started tisking and huffing about having to wait. Not only that, but every time she tisked and huffed, she also shuffled forward a little bit so that she was practically tisking and huffing in my ear. And I could smell her hair, which is one of my sensitivities when it comes to people. If I can smell your not very clean hair, you are way in my personal space (I also am quite used to people being in my personal space, as previously mentioned people from work frequently lack the ability to recognize that I don't need to be nose to nose with them to have a conversation). Finally some people left and I could scuttle away from the space invader, but unfortunately I could still hear her and then the pharmacy couldn't find her prescription and she really started to kick off.
What I have learned from today is that I'm going to try not to be come a crotchety, impatient person and I'm going to wash my hair a lot throughout life.
But I can share experiences! I enjoy a blog: www.emilymagazine.com. Emily has a very dry sense of humor and shares her daily thoughts and experiences in NYC in a way that I find very intellectual and also hilarious (mostly). A couple of weeks ago, she posted a really funny description of the people who were sharing her space in one of NYC's public libraries and I thought to myself that I needed to make a point of remembering people who strike me as being annoying/interesting/intriguing/worth blogging about. It sounds easy, but I'm finding that because my work involves (or involved, rather) daily interactions with people who would fall into the "intersting/annoying/odd/freakish" category, I'm a little desensitized to those kinds of things. Even at my new main hangout, the laundromat, the people are pretty normal and boring and rather refined.
Fortunately, today's jaunt to the pharmacy provided some much needed annoying and strange people. The first (strange) was the guy with very few teeth and Crystal Gail length dreadlocks. I was standing behind him and was so entranced by his mammoth dreadlocks that I almost asked him how long it took to get them to such great lengths. But then the pharmacist brought him a bottle of some medicine and the guy drank the whole thing right there at the counter before handing it back and I decided that some questions are better left unasked and concentrated on trying not to say something about personal space to the other person (annoying) who had caught my attention. She was an older woman who got into the line behind me and immediately started tisking and huffing about having to wait. Not only that, but every time she tisked and huffed, she also shuffled forward a little bit so that she was practically tisking and huffing in my ear. And I could smell her hair, which is one of my sensitivities when it comes to people. If I can smell your not very clean hair, you are way in my personal space (I also am quite used to people being in my personal space, as previously mentioned people from work frequently lack the ability to recognize that I don't need to be nose to nose with them to have a conversation). Finally some people left and I could scuttle away from the space invader, but unfortunately I could still hear her and then the pharmacy couldn't find her prescription and she really started to kick off.
What I have learned from today is that I'm going to try not to be come a crotchety, impatient person and I'm going to wash my hair a lot throughout life.
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