You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'daily life' category.
A display that the Natural History Museum whose relevance to history I don't really understand but find humorous
Backstory:
Huge cities intimidate me. New York, Paris, London, LA, etc. I love visiting them but their chaotic and bustling nature can really fluster and overwhelm my inner country girl at times. Places like Seattle and Glasgow feel perfect to me. Big enough to have lots of culture and interesting things going on, but not so big as to feel impersonal. The boy’s best opportunity for a job (after he graduates in 2011) will certainly be in London however, and he is quite keen on relocating. An idea I certainly wasn’t sold on.
Real story:
Our weekend in “The Big Smoke” began with one flustered and anxious girl and one (thankfully) travel-savvy boy hopping around on the underground at rush hour with a bunch of bags. Buckets of fun.
Then, upon meeting our hosts (the boy’s best man and his girlfriend, from now on referred to as L and J) I discovered that no one but me was at all interested in hitting the major tourist spots which made me feel a bit like the stupid American girl who’d never been anywhere.
It all turned out fabulously though because L&J took us through some amazing back street markets and areas that I’d definitely would have never found on my own (and was too busy enjoying myself to take pictures of!). Then the next day when L&J had to work, the boy and I set off on our own tourist-hot-spot-inspired traipse around London. Best of both worlds.
And now I have to say I’ve become quite enamoured with the place and am actually quite looking forward to making it my home in a few years time! Enough talk, now pictures!
like the occassionally picture happy tourist I am, I took a ton of pics of Tower Bridge but I'll show you just my favorite from a nice sunny day
The Globe Theater
a cute little alley on the way to the Design Museum
How cool are these coffee machines from the Dieter Rams exhibition at the Design Museum
another one from the Design Museum, 70's hairdryers
The Gherkin!
The squirrels in Hyde Park are not shy!
Buckingham Palace, I have better pictures but they have me in them..
Big Ben
I couldn't get far enough away to do this building justice but you get the idea. MASSIVE and wonderfully ornate
Escalator in the the center of the Earth!
I’ve got way more pictures but I think that will conclude our visual tour through my recent memories of London.
Man sitting under metal tree in Manchester
lovely countryside somewhere between Manchester and Glasgow from the train
sheep!
Wow. 45 Days till the wedding! If you subtract the 2 weeks or so the boy and I will be spending with his parents in Manchester (and will get nothing done), that leaves about 3 weeks of time in Glasgow to get our stuff together!
Since switching to ‘in to do list we trust’ method, we’ve been getting lots done but theres still quite a bit left. Luckily, two major items fell into place easier than we expected. We found pretty much all of our chintzy mismatched teacups at one charity shop (and boy are they cute..I’m kind of hoping people don’t take them home so I can keep them). I was expecting to have to trawl around for days finding them all.
And after a very disheartening shopping trip through all the major stores selling suits in Glasgow, we discovered that any suit the boy even remotely liked was way out of our budget. Who wants to feel like they’re in a mediocre outfit on their wedding day? I certainly didnt want him to feel like that so I suggested we have a poke around ebay and huzzah!! a £375 Ted Baker suit (the boy loves TB) in excellent condition for £100. We got it in the mail a few days later and it fits, and is indeed in fantastic condition. Fantastic.
After disovering that there was no way an off the shelf ring would fit with mine because of the unique shape and twists in the metal, we met up with the jewelIers who made it got a ring custom made to fit mine (its a unique shape with twists in the band) and I’d love to be able to show it to you and wear it but I’ll just have to wait..won’t be long now folks.
So thats pretty much all the major items slowly working themselves into place..the last really important thing on the list is writing the ceremony. Though I have to admit I’ve been putting it off because its such a daunting task and I rarely have large chunks of time to work on it. Clearly, with the days counting down I need to get on it!!
I finally found a power converter that fits with my cameras battery charger so you’re in for some picturey goodness! Also, the boy has this week off from school (its ‘reading week’ but none one seems to know why it is the students have off) so we’re kind of half lazing around, half getting things done around the apartment. I thought i’d use this time to take some random photos.
Ice Invaders!
An impulse buy from my trip to Borders for birthday cards. I was going to put these epic ice trays to use today but our freezer can only hold the mini tub of ice cream and coffee grounds. Guess I’ll have to just have to eat the ice cream.. By the way the picture on the back of the package is almost as awesome as the product itself:
high score in your highball!
We have a mail slot! I’ve always dreamed of having one, don’t ask me why. (forgive the big white boring door, if I had my way, I’d paint it red or something) Notice the ridiculous amount of locks and security measures on the door (theres 3 locks and 1 chain). We also have an ADT home alarm system. I’m convinced our land lady is extremely paranoid considering we live in a fairly nice neighborhood.
Over the last few weeks we’ve been working really hard to make the apartment feel like ‘us’ which turned out to be a lot harder than I imagined because the place is fully furnished and the landlady had a very odd sense of mismatched DIY style (theres a big red leather sofa and a green leather chair..who puts red and green right next to each other in a non-christmas setting?!?) The kitchen has turned out to be so cute however, that I’m constantly cleaning it up to keep it all purdy. Thats a good sign.
so in love with my new apron. stage right
Now I’m off to to get ready to have some amazingly delicious chai tea at Tchai-Ovna (highly recommend it to anyone else in Glasgow or planning on a visit– this is the place that inspired me to have tea at the wedding instead of cake. Yes, the tea is THAT good). Then later tonight The Shaky Hands at The Captains Rest!
Bellahouston Park, the path leading to the House for an Art Lover
Well, folks. I’ve been here in Glasgow for about 3 weeks now and slowly but surely the feeling of being a tourist and the general bewilderment about all the differences in the little things is wearing off. I’ve managed not to get hit by a single car when crossing the street (lets hope it stays that way..) and am learning to find my way around (with lots of help from google maps on my phone) despite the lack of a grid system and numbered streets that worked so well for me in Seattle.
Before I’d moved here, I heard that Glasgow had the best shopping in the UK outside of London and now being here, I totally believe it. On one hand, I love how easy it is to find reasonably priced and super fashionable clothes it is in this city, but equally frustrated with how difficult it is to find a decent pair of jeans that fit me properly! What gives Glasgow! Can’t complain too much though cause I’ve bought lots of amazing clothes (i was well overdue in updating my wardrobe) so far.
There are definitely some things that I find odd or frustrating,however.
1. How ultraconservative Brits seem to be with heat/hot water/electricity. Now, I’m all for conserving energy but these people take it to a whole new level. The heat is only turned on once you’re under a blanket on the couch and still cold, you program your water boiler thing to heat water only when you need it and heaven help me if I leave a lamp on once I’ve left a room!
2. How quietly people here speak. I definitely appreciate that people aren’t as loud mouthed as Americans can be, but it sure makes understanding a Glaswegian accent difficult if you can only hear it at a whisper. Especially for someone who’s been exposed to loud music all her life and doesn’t have the most fantastic hearing like me..
3. The council tax office was a beautiful old building and the people were polite and helpful! Not a complaint obviously, but definitely a far cry from all the government buildings I’ve been to in the US thats for sure.
I’m sure I’ll think of more comparisons and observations to relay in the future but for now I’ll leave you with some more pictures of the city on a beautiful day. 
Ironically perhaps, my fiance only being a couple of hours from joining me here, I’m still as impatiently waiting as I have been for the many months this process has taken. I think we’re both in for a big shock at how to feel once the waiting disappears. It’s became such a large and central part of both of our lives that we’re going to have to work lots of things out all over again.
But I wouldn’t change it for anything. Time to stop waiting and start being.
Just a little update to say I GOT MY VISA! the wait is over my friends.
I’m hoppin on the next plane outta here and startin phase 2: life in Glasgow. Stay tuned!
For about as long as I can remember, I knew that my small conservative home town was not the place for me and in the years following high school, I moved as far away as my resources would allow. First to the opposite side of Pennsylvania, then to Wisconsin and most recently Seattle. Sidenote: Can ya tell I’m not a warm weather person?
Anyway, I absolutely do not regret leaving home but leaving my family is another thing. I always felt deeply guilty and worried about missing time with them that I’d never get back, especially my sister who is 18 years my junior and seems to be growing, maturing and doing new and infinitely cute things every time I see her. When she was first born, I dreamed of teaching her all about great indie music and imparting my love of books and helping her learn to challenge the norm. Basically being the coolest and best big sister evar.
One day it dawned on me how ridiculous this guilt was. One of the people that inspired me and I respected most was my black sheep uncle who had bolted out of this place at the same time in his life as I had. I only saw him maybe once a year at most, and yet! thats all it took for him to rock my world and make me reconsider everything I thought I knew.
So it turns out that that the best big sister, daughter, friend and *gasp* wife! I can be is the same me that isn’t going to turn down all these chances to see the world because of a silly little thing like guilt. Go figure.
100 days!
I knew that when we started planning the wedding, that it’d be fun, and stressfull and complicated and that the boy and i would learn a lot about eachother and whats important to the two of us.
what i didnt anticipate, was how much i’d learn about myself in the process. part of it came from the barage of ‘why?’s i got from the boy when i rattled off all the stuff i wanted in/for the wedding. when i couldnt really answer his questions with any sort of logic, i realized i was getting sucked under the wedding industrial complex bus and if i didnt back away soon, i’d have bridezilla tiremarks all over my face. Read the rest of this entry »
121 days
Today I got a root canal for $25.
The same procedure my mother had a few years ago at a private dentists’ office and paid $750 because she didn’t have insurance.
So how did I get mine for so cheap? Thanks to a government program at a dental clinic that bases your fees on your salary, I was assesed to be poor enough to only pay a small percentage of the fees. Whoohoo!
I’ve been to a few of these clinics that offer health services on a sliding scale now since I have no health insurance, and always found them perfectly pleasant and efficient, suggesting (in my eyes) that America may in fact be capable of decent socialized healthcare.
Now, I’m not saying that Americas health services are perfect, or suggesting that occasional clinic visits are a replacement for having a regular GP or dentist. I’m just wondering how pleasant I’ll find the UK’s NHS in comparison.
I know there’s been a big uproar of Brits standing up to defend their precious NHS against American criticism, but I have to admit I am concerned about the quality of care I will eventually recieve when more dental work is required. I’ve read tons of other expat bloggers tell unsettling stories and outright refusals to partake in the system. With so many people complaining, there’s gotta be something to it right?
Only time will tell, and I’ll be sure to report my experiences.
I’ve been in my sleepy home town in Pennsylvania and away from my beloved Seattle for about 2 and a half months now. Seeing as I’ll be moving thousands of miles away (and tickets overseas cost way more than flying home from Seattle) its been great to spend the extra time with my friends and family but country life is not for me, lemme tell ya. Sort of stealing the idea from Shannon at The Looking Glasgow I’ve decided to make a list of things I miss about Seattle.
1. the music scene! Oh how I miss good live music.
2. sushi! or all of Seattle’s awesome organic, fresh and fantastically delicious food really.
3. public transportation-you can’t get anywhere in my hometown without a car
4. the weather-summers in Seattle are gorgeous..not too hot, not too cold
5. having everything I need within walking distance, though I suppose that could be said of anyone comparing city life to small town life
6. the views-i could see the space needle from my bedroom window and Mount Rainier from a block away, doesn’t get much better than that.
7. the homeless people, they always kept things interesting thats for sure.
8. Pike Place Market
9. KEXP radio
10. seriously good coffee
11. The Stranger-the only newspaper in Seattle
12. Afternoons of bubble tea and scrabble in the U-District
13. how most drivers actually respect pedestrians and stop or wait for them
14. the generally liberal and laid back attitude of most people out there
15. Easy Street Records
16. all the vintage/used/consignment clothes shops
17. the amount of dog lovers!
18. Gasworks park
19. the Seattle Public Library
20. the super active and amazing craigslist seattle’s got going on
21. being surrounded by water
I’m sure I’ll fall in love with Glasgow as well, but Seattle will always have a special place in my heart.
the girl
the boy
