Raining and Bursts of Sun - Summer in London to Welcome the Olympics!

People are amazing.

I didn't know that I would be so amazed by all-things "Olympics." Yet, here I am typing away on a blog post with the previous day recap playing in the background. "Background" meaning I keep stopping and staring at the screen every couple of minutes. I can't help it, OK? It's just utterly amazing to me that individuals have the dedication and passion to train for at least 4 years to only have a moment in the spotlight. I haven't been as fascinated by badminton or synchronized swimming which wasn't surprising; the surprising moment for me came when I couldn't take my eyes off of judo and the heptathlon.

I didn't know Jessica Ennis existed before this year. I saw her face everywhere I went in the city and started to learn more about her as I continued to live here. I, of course, wanted my USA team to win whenever possible. Yet, I saw myself rooting for GB athletes and teams alongside the American athletes. BBC is obviously focusing on local athletes and it's so easy to want the best for everyone who competes. Everyone works so hard and I feel as though their story is being told on the iPad, computer and TV screens across the world - a little glimpse into the life of someone with the supreme desire to do well. It feels really special being able to be a part of it in any way possible.

Here is the advertisement from Adidas on Jess Enis. One of my absolute fave ads of all time - it gives me chills whenever I see it. Like just now. Chills; right?! I just love the words:

Queen of the heptathlon, as explosive as a fireworks factory. 3 fractures almost broke her, but in sheffield they're made of steel. so here's to her comeback. now for her coronation.

CHILLS!

Unfortunately tickets are very difficult to acquire as they are very limited and extremely expensive. There are a couple of free events - such as the cycling, triathlon and marathon. I managed to trek down in the non-summer rainy weather to trafalgar square to watch the US women take on the world in a very long 26.2 miles. My spot was perfect - right next to a large group of East Timor supporters (very random, I know) and a couple of Sheffield men. Everyone was so friendly and just enjoyed the day, despite the torrential downpour and sudden heatwaves. Ahhh, London. Never fail to disappoint.

Some of the friends I was with caught even better pictures and I will be adding those later when they send them over! I cannot express how exciting it was to be "this close" to my idols, Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher. Desiree Davila ended up dropping out because of injury but ALL three of them are amazing women. They were so fun to watch and I have read and watched so many of their videos and interviews and then suddenly I was able to see them in action at one of the most important events of all-time. Even writing it now I still cannot believe it happened. They came around to our spot 4 different times and then we watched the very end on an iPhone from BBC streaming.

After that it was American girl out in the city; grabbing some food and pub hopping including a stop at a Blues Bar near Marylebone. Hyde Park was having a large, free, showing of events on big screens and I was able to watch the 100meter men's race and cheer with everyone else on the hope for Bolt to win the gold. He did.

Was such an amazing weekend that it was hard to get back to work today. I was exhausted! Unfortunately my knee has been a huge problem the past couple of weeks and I am stuck with cycling, elliptical and sometimes swimming vs running. I REALLY miss running. I think partly because I can't do it. I am actually quite nervous about it. Sometimes the pain can be so extreme that I feel like I am going to start crying or throw up. Pretty hideous feeling especially when you are out in the public. Like the hair salon for example. BOO. Wednesday I have an appointment with my doctor and I am really hoping for the best. My Osteopath has been very nice and helpful but I think I need x-rays at this point.

In other news, I have a lot of interesting life-events taking place that I cannot openly discuss as of yet. I am hoping in the next couple of weeks I will be able to talk more about that. All I know is that I have realized that I am stronger than I thought I was. I feel brave and happy knowing I will always find the positive, even if I am in a dark place. I admit to myself that I am a naturally happy person and I genuinely avoid and almost shut down a bit when faced with negativity. It makes me sad when I see that to an extreme degree in others; you have to be willing to find the happiness in yourself and the situation. It definitely makes for a better life. Just my little soapbox speech - yet, I truly believe that. As time goes forward I feel confident in the decisions I make and I think coming to London made that happen for me. I trust myself and am proud and happy with who I have become. I have met such amazing people here and cannot begin to express how they have impacted my life for the better. Forever.

So, not wanting to end on such a deep note; here are a couple of my newest favorite pop songs and an amazing video about the Mars "Curiosity" landing. Quite amazing.

People are amazing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/bigscreen/tv/episode/b01llnb2/

London Week in Review: NFL playoffs, Celebrities, Settling In!

The past couple of weeks have been busy and today I am enjoying a day of leisure! So I am using this opportunity to catch-up a bit on the blog!

Lucy and I met-up to watch the NFL playoffs last weekend at a nearby sports pub. The Steelers lost; I wasn't even able to stay up for the entire game but really, did I need to see the entire loss? Probably not. On my way there I snapped up some pics of the St. Pancras Hotel. These pictures don't do it justice - it is an amazing building.

That being said, it's history is quite boring. Check out Wikipedia for the background but I was expecting more! Oh well.

During the halftime for the Giants game there we a stand-up comedy act. He was 100% not funny. Please see the comedian and Lucy's nonplussed facial expression. This is pretty much what we both looked like when we were not cringing. Apparently he is there often? WHY?!

We enjoyed ourselves despite the poor routine!

Two interesting celebrity tidbits - I have seen two celebrities since coming back to London. Corey Feldman walking down Oxford Street sporting sunglasses at night (which is why I was looking closely in the first place) as he is a part of the UK show "Dancing on Ice," and Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire - Jimmy) at the airport.

In other celebrity news - I am quite obsessed with dailymail.co.uk for celebrity news. I am still behind on who the famous people are out here and have a tendency to not know references in daily conversation but I am determined to know the references before I leave here!

My new routine these days has me "off the sauce" (that one is for Tori; an inside joke about how no one actually uses that phrase except for people who are trying to hard to be "cool"). Too much drinking when I first got here has made me almost completely disinterested in drinking these days. I have limited it to the weekends only and even then it's usually only one day a week. Maybe that will change at some point but for now I am quite content. My flatmates are all very obsessed with healthy eating and exercising and that includes not drinking. My intention is to run in a half-marathon by summer so this is probably a good thing!

I don't know if I mentioned that I live with 6 other people in a gigantic house in central London. I live on the very top floor which makes for some good step exercises! My house is made up of people from all over the world - Denmark, Poland, France, the States, Belgium, and Canada. No brits to speak of though I am subletting my spot from a girl from England.

2 pancake recipes that are kind of interesting that I have learned by living with this group:

Healthy Pancake: Greek 0% yogurt, 1 egg, oat bran - mix well and spread into a crepe-style pan and cook like a pancake. Eat with sweetener or ketchup (the Ketchup was my addition as the sweetener is a bit too sweet to me).

Pancake wrap: Real pancake layered with ham, celery and mayo and roll (I have no tried this recipe yet but I have been assured it's really good. Not so sure!!)

I usually just do my normal meals of chicken or beef with vegetables and sometimes cheese. I have been cutting out carbs in the afternoon and evening and as mentioned above, alcohol. I have spent weekends running through Hyde Park which I really love. It's so beautiful and though quite a few people are in the park I feel that there is a ton of open areas that are less populated. Hyde Park is connected to Kensington Gardens and Green Park so you could run for quite a long time!

Here is a little map showing the connection of the parks:

Here is a shot that I took on my run last weekend - it's a bit foggy as it usually is here in London but a nice view of the Serpentine.

Lack O' Sleep is not an Irish Pub

These past couple of weeks was pretty intense at work which left little time to sleeping or doing anything else but well, working.
A lot of long working nights meant a couple of nights stopping by the local Irish pub for a pint (or two) so that my life wouldn't be comprised of only work then bed. I am little bit obsessed with the pub down the street - though mostly older men frequent the place I feel comforted by the ambiance. The one night I stopped by there was a wake that was more about celebration than sadness. Also, there was an Irish football game on so everyone enjoyed a bit of that while they celebrated the life of their friend and family member. Apparently this had been going on for a couple of days so they were all a bit lit up. I met a couple of very nice people - I feel like that's the theme of my experience. Unexpected new friendships in the oddest of places.

I definitely miss friends and family from back home and since I just booked my ticket I am looking forward to seeing the girlies (dinner plans are all ready booked; yay!), family (Campbells, Bowdens, Boekes, etc), friends and Izzy-face.


Decided to make a quick list of my current "likes" and "dislikes" about living in London:

London Loves	Bloody Hell
Cider	Texting while walking in central london
Beautiful Sights	Public transport closures
Kettles & Tea	Way too close and personal on all transport
Fish & Chips	People walking out of a store and stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and looking around
The melodic sounds of accents and different languages	Extremely loud phone conversations on the bus in many different languages
Amazing location names	Lack of peanut butter and wheat pasta
Amazing friendly people and great London friends (ie Lucy, Andy, Tori, Mikey, Steph, etc)	The sense of panic everytime you cross into a heard of people at a major walking intersection or outside of a tube station in Holborn

I would love it if there was a coinstar out here as well...the amount of coinage is a bit extreme. I am sticking to some of the things I know from back in the states - ie enjoying some "Waking Dead Season 2"- so glad that I get that show over here! As everyone knows, I love a good zombie flick and entire show is even better!

Other little fun things from the past two weeks:

• Little cafes are economical and the service is terrible and the food is only fair
• Perrier in a can is so cute; I am surprised that more fizzy water isn't available here cause it's my fave
• You CAN have multiple Thanksgiving dinners in the UK - just need to know the right people. Thanks to Leslie and Steph I had two amazing Turkey dinners with some new friends (Pics of Berkhamsted and London where I ate some delicious food including hanging out a bit with a super sweet border collie)

• Frankfurt is a beautiful city - I only spent a night there with Steph saying some basic German for work and need to get back
• I had multiple bday celebrations and have included some new pics of those (Cake and Wine from Work; Cupcakes and wine from Tori); very sweet

A Change in Scope and the BIG MOVE!

Old versus New - A Change in Scope
The original intention of this blog was for my anticipated move to Istanbul to teach English. That didn't exactly happen as I planned. I ended up getting a job in pharma advertising and I am still with that company 3+ years later. I didn't want to create a brand new blog as I believe even my posts from a few years ago show how my life has evolved.

Before the BIG MOVE

My move to Europe had been discussed for quite a long time but logistically wasn't given the go-ahead until a few months ago. As soon as I got the go-ahead I sprinted into action researching all of the things I will need to do before moving across the Atlantic. My first thought was what I would do with my kitten, Isabelle. My parents have a cat as well that doesn't exactly see eye-to-eye with Isabelle so I knew that would only be a temporary solution at-best. Isabelle is confined to the guest bedroom but thankfully my family is good about visiting her often. She is so very friendly and fun to be around and I want her with me always!

I got right to work applying for a UK bank (I chose Barclays) online - but I had to get my documents certified so I didn't get the application in till I got to London. It takes about 7-10 working days for the bank to post a decision about your acct. I should have mine in the next couple of days!

The VISA process was fairly simple - my employer had to provide documentation supporting my move to the UK and I had to complete an online application, a biometric evaluation (taking fingerprints at a local government office - appt required), and submitting all of the documents with my passport and a picture to the border agency. The picture had to be with no smiling - I look ridiculous. Almost borderline depressed to be honest - I am much more of a smiling-type.

I received my visa extremely quickly - it took like a week via priority mail. It costs a bit more but definitely worth it!

I also was set-up with temporary housing through my company which is definitely extremely helpful - it's definitely a bit tough trying to find a flat. I did a bit of looking before heading over through Gumtree and SpareRoom. I would advise learning more about the areas before you come over but to be honest, I found that I learned the most by just being here and walking around. And walking around. And Walking, walking, walking...you got it.

Saying Goodbye almost deserves it's own post. I felt as if I had a manifest destiny - yet this time moving East. That doesn't mean I wasn't in a state of stress and sadness for the last month in the states. Everytime I would see someone from my gym instructor to friends I would think, "is this the last time I will see them?" There was a sense that I was either dying or going off to war versus becoming an expat in a country a mere 6+ hours by plane away. I wanted to be moved already so that I could focus on my new residence and visiting back home versus leaving everyone behind.

After several farewell parties and packing (and repacking quite a number of times) I was ready to go. My aunt and uncle thankfully were also visiting the UK and took over a suitcase for me. In total I moved three suitcases, mini carry-on bag and computer bag (which looks purse-like) to the UK. Everything else was moved into storage (thank you, parents for letting me use yours)!

Below is my departing flowers/Corona's from the colleagues from the states. I definitely miss them!!