Exploring (aka spending money)

I got up early and went into Covent Garden and met Mat for tea/breakfast at Canteen.  Then, I did a ton of shopping with money I don't have :)

I got myself an Oyster card holder - that makes me a real Londoner I think.  Now I don't have to drag out my whole wallet every time I touch in or out of a tube station!

I also bought a watch.  I never had use for a watch before but since I don't have a phone yet, I've found that I never have any idea what time it is.  Problem solved with my new pretty watch!

I also got a case for my computer and some postcards and souvenir-ish things to send back to America.

I seriously need a job.  Having all this free time is getting expensive!

It's "family" dinner night in our flat tonight.  Mat got a bunch of steak from whoever supplies the meat for their restaurant so we're having Mexican night - fajitas and Coronas :)

Here are some pictures from today..

Mounted police in Covent Gardent

My tube route home from Covent Garden - I get off at Finsbury Park or Holloway Road.

Mat's restaurant in Covent Garden :) Go eat there if you ever come to London!

Our room so far.  We'll have so many more decorative pillows and a new throw blanket soon.  America does look beautiful on the wall!

ALSO, I miss my mom. Someone convince here that England needs her more than America does so she'll come for an extended visit :)

My British home

If you've been saying to yourself "Goodness I wish Allie would post pictures of her flat in England," today is your lucky day!  I was out wandering around today and took a few pictures of my street!  My street and the few streets around us are very quiet.  It's a couple minutes walk to the little shops and markets, and about a half-mile walk to the grocery store and the larger department stores.

I found the library today and applied for a library card! 

So old and pretty.

Here's my street!  I live near the end (past that red car).

Houses across the street

My flat :)  The England flag is not my apartment.. it's the downstairs neighbor's.

Third from the end of the street.

The inside of my house is not done enough for me to take pictures yet.. I'll need a few weeks!

PARALYMPICS

Mat and I just purchased Paralympic tickets for September 7th :) I'm BEYOND excited!  Mind you, we're going to watch Boccia. What is Boccia you ask?  I have no idea but I'm going to do extensive research so I know all the rules before we get there :)

Wednesday

I spent all day yesterday cleaning/re-organizing the kitchen.  I mean, ALL DAY.  5 hours start to finish I think.  The problem with Mat and Paul's kitchen is that they have 1 drawer, and 5 cupboards, and enough dishes and glasses for a SMALL ARMY. Why do two men need 24 wine glasses? Or three different sets of bowls?  I don't know either, but I managed to make it all fit into their tiny kitchen.  I did spend some time laying out on the roof terrace in the afternoon - just a treat for myself after such a productive morning!

Mat and I went into Covent Garden last night and ate at Byron Hamburger.  It was probably the best burger I've ever eaten - real American burgers in the middle of London!  And semi-healthy since we had courgette (zucchini) fries instead of french fries?  I'll call that healthy :)  They also had malts.  I might go there for dinner every night!

After we got home from Covent Garden, we cleaned out the bathroom.  Apparently, Mat has a slight obsession with toiletries that was unbeknownst to me until last night.  He had two large shelves FULL of lotions and shampoos and creams and not 1, not 2, but 3 beard trimmers!  We threw a lot of stuff away and now the bathroom is beautiful.. Mat might be having second thoughts about this living arrangement though!

Mat was off today, so we ventured into Oxford Circus for a day of bedding/bathroom accessory shopping.  I know what you're thinking.. "Allie, why are you trying to scare Mat away? Do you want him to break up with you?"  The answer is maybe.......... just kidding!  I don't want him to go anywhere! I'm just trying to turn his bachelor pad into a house I can live in :)  We had a very successful shopping day!  I convinced Mat to get a shower curtain - they have half doors on their showers that just don't seem practical to me.  We also got a new duvet, duvet cover, pillows, bath mats, and towels.  We spent a ridiculous amount of money and will probably need to eat crumbs off the floor for the next few months because we won't be able to afford food.  BUT we will have a pretty house!  Also, it rained all day.  It's started to become a pattern - when Mat and I are inside, it's sunny.  When Mat and I are outside, it rains.

All of our bags :)

We came home and I made homemade sloppy joes for dinner!  While shopping for ingredients for sloppy joes, I realized that England doesn't have a massive pickle selection in the grocery store like America does.  This was literally the only jar of pickles, and they barely even call them pickles - they're "Cucumber Spears with Dill - Pickled."

In any case, the sloppy joes were amazing and Mat loved them :)  

We are now drinking wine and watching the Paralympic Opening Ceremony.  At the end, we're going to turn off the TV volume and listen to the fireworks out the window because we should be able to hear them :)

Tuesday.

I am all unpacked (finally!).. I managed to fit all of my clothes into our tiny wardrobe and only had to move a few of Mat's into the wardrobe in the hallway :)

Good news - our landlord emailed us yesterday and gave us permission to buy a new garbage can (ours is very broken), a new door handle (we don't have one on the back door at all) AND he's going to call someone about installing the dishwasher (that's been sitting in the kitchen for 3 weeks now).  Very exciting!  Because it's a furnished apartment, we have to ask before we throw anything away, hence the need for permission to buy new things (and he'll reimburse us too).

I managed to piss off our downstairs neighbor yesterday - oops?  I took the garbage out and didn't take keys with me.  We have 2 doors, the outside door, then the door to our apartment and the neighbor apartment (only 2 apartments in the building).  I left the doors open, but the outside door slammed shut with the wind, so I had to ring the doorbell.  I rang it twice before the guy finally came out yelling all sorts of profanities, in a towel.  I apologized but he was just not happy.  It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon.. not like it was 6 am or anything!  Needless to say we won't be having any barbecues with the neighbors :)

I went to Covent Garden yesterday to meet Mat at his restaurant for lunch.  Only my second solo tube ride ever!  Covent Garden was really busy - it was a bank holiday and the Paralympics started yesterday.  We haven't been able to get tickets.. it's nearly impossible!

Got to Skype with Momma Keys last night :)

Today is kitchen cleaning day.  I accidentally slept in until 1030 this morning so I'm having a hard time finding any motivation.  I just want to sit on the couch all day!

Wedding weekend

I survived the weekend!  Holy cow was it a long one!

Wedding number 1:  We left for Stratford Upon Avon around 3 on Saturday.  It was an hour and a half on the train.  We got to the station and were going to get a taxi to the hotel.  We go to the taxi rank and the guy says it's a 15 minute wait, but we "can just walk.. it's only a 15 minute walk."  British people have such a warped sense of time/walking distances!  It was a 2.2 mile walk to the hotel.. and it started raining about 1 mile in.  We met up with Mat's friends from university at the hotel and had a few drinks before we went to the reception.  It was a great night!  We were up until 4, though, and had to be on a train at 915 the next morning back to London.  We took a nap when we got back, then got ready for wedding number 2!

Wedding number 2:  We met Paul at Victoria station at 340 to get a 345 train to West Malling (we tend to cut it really close.. I was pretty sure we were going to miss the train).  It was a 40 minute train ride, then a "15 minute walk" to the reception - we got a taxi since I now understand what a 15 minute walk really means.  The reception was at The Swan, which is a sister restaurant to the Globe.  It was beautiful!  We ate amazing food and drank lots of beer, then got back on the train to London at 930.  Back to London at 1020, 20 minutes on the tube, then a 10 minute walk home.  Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we got back last night.

Today I'm going to unpack, finally!  I'm walking to the shop down the road to buy hangers and hoping all of my clothes will fit in the tiny wardrobe in our room.. Mat's clothes might need to go in the hallway :)

I live in England...

I made it to London!  My journey was pretty uneventful.  Flight to Dallas was quick.  Left Dallas on time for London.  9 hour flight.  I tried so hard to sleep but I wasn't really successful - maybe slept 2 hours?  I started reading a new book - Gone Girl - that I just couldn't stop reading!  The flight went by pretty quickly.  The line at immigration at Heathrow wasn't tooooo bad.. I waited about half an hour.  No problems getting through immigration except that my passport wouldn't scan.  I picked up my suitcases, which was no easy task!  I had to carry my backpack (at least 35 pounds) plus my carry-on bag, a 62-pound suitcase, and a 47-pound suitcase.  I was stubborn and refused to hire a person to help me so I just struggled out of baggage claim, and then made Mat carry them :) After an hour on the tube and a 15-minute walk we finally arrived at our new house (well, new to me.. not so new to Mat).  

I knew everything was going WAY too smoothly for my life.  So, of course, something had to go wrong.  I went to open my old blue suitcase and the zipper was stuck closed.  It would not unzip.  So Mat had to cut it open with a knife.  Needless to say I'll be throwing that suitcase away.  Upon opening the suitcase, I found a note that said TSA had searched my suitcase so I'm confident the broken zipper was their fault. 

Mat and I spent the day being in love.  We took a nap (I tried to hard to make it through the day without sleeping to avoid jet-lag but it was not happening), went grocery shopping, cooked dinner and hung out (and skyped with Katie and Nug!).  Doesn't sound very exciting but it is exciting to do normal things with each other after being long-distance for so long!  

Tomorrow begins wedding weekend!  We're going to Stratford Upon Avon for a wedding tomorrow afternoon, then down to Kent on Sunday for another wedding.  I will sleep like the dead come Sunday night!

That's all for now!

Last Day in America

Last day in America! Spent the day packing and getting my hair done.  Now I'm spending the night drinking Spotted Cow with Momma Keys and Pops, and eventually going out to eat.  Cameron might even take a night off from his hoppin' social life and go out with us!

I wonder if I'll know which bags are mine in the airport in England? :)

The flight from Dallas to London is 9 hours long.  I have a hard time sitting for 9 hours, so I usually try to sit in an aisle seat.  Apparently, British Airways/American Airlines now charge extra to sit in the aisle seat! How annoying.  So I'm not in an aisle seat.. I'm going to have to warn the person who's lucky (or rich) enough to sit in the aisle that I'll be climbing over them every 2 hours to stretch my legs and use the bathroom.  Hopefully they'll just trade seats with me :)

My next post will be from across the pond.. hope you're ready Mathew!

Packing

Packing is proving to be far more difficult than I originally anticipated.  The fact that America wouldn't fit into any of my current suitcases was the stress of the day today.  We took America to the FedEx shipping place who said they could pack it and ship it..... for $250!  Outrageous.  So we went on a hunt for a larger suitcase.  I managed to knock over a whole suitcase display at JCPenney - fell just like dominoes.  After testing America in about 48530 different suitcases, we finally settled on a Samsonite that's almost as big as me.  We packed it - aka Momma Keys packed it while I watched - and weighed it.  Of course it weighs 57 pounds (50 pounds being the airport limit).  We're going to do some re-situating and see if we can fix the weight problem tomorrow.  We might even take a trip to the airport and weigh both suitcases on their scales before Thursday!

I also bought a new laptop today.. a brand spankin new MacBook Pro.  She's a beaut!  Cameron's going to take my old one and use it till it runs out of steam (which may be sooner rather than later, unfortunately for him!).

That was the excitement for the day.. only 3 more days until the big move!

A little over a week until my next adventure in England starts!  I was thinking today and realized (soon I'll be spelling that with an 's' instead of a 'z') that I'm making so many huge life changes at one time..

1. Moving to another country.
2. Moving in with a boy.
3. Starting graduate school.

All very exciting developments in my life (that I'm sure will take some adjusting to..)!

I've received more information about my grad program over the past few weeks.  The syllabus has time built in for tea between 3-330 everyday - how very British of them!  I've also started reading some books on my 3-page introductory reading list.  I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of academic reading over the next 12 months!

I started the packing process today - by that I mean I watched my mom pack one of my 2 massive suitcases :)  I sent a suitcase of boots and winter clothes back with Mat when he was here in June so I should be able to fit all my belongings into 2 (very large) suitcases.  All I have left to do before I leave is sell my car, buy a new computer, finish packing, and say goodbye to all my friends and family - although hopefully it won't be too long until I'm back in the US of A for a visit.

This post is not very exciting, but soon I'll have tons of pictures and stories about my assimilation into British culture.. stay tuned! :)