Chad and Catherine's Adventures in London

Ah, Paris

This past weekend, we were reminded once again why we decided to move to London.  We made our first Eurostar train trip (2 hours and 15 minutes) across the channel for a three day weekend in Paris.  Short story, it was fabulous.  Because we'd been there once before, this time we didn't feel like we had to rush around and hit all of the big must-do tourist highlights like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Orsay, etc.  Our focus this time was relaxing, spending time with our wonderful friends Sarah and John Dalena who were in town from New York (and our inspiration for booking our trip) and exploring the two neighborhoods of Montmartre and Marais.  Check out the slide show below for pictures from the trip - mouse over and click on the small box in the bottom left hand corner it if you want to see our comments for each photo:

Wimbledon... and other important social events

The month of June in London hosts the top three British social events of the year. Anyone who is anyone in British society spends months planning for each (particularly what to wear!): 

(1) The Royal Ascot

(2) Wimbledon

(3) The Royal Regatta  Of course, the third one is debatable and some people say the third big event is actually the Cartier Polo Tournament.  Your call.

The Royal Ascot is the nation's most celebrated horse race... and also just a big fat party. More important than the horse racing is what everyone is wearing, particularly if you have tickets within "The Royal Enclosure".   They even offer "stag and hen" packages which is the British equivalent of bachelor and bachelorette parties.  Here's an excerpt on the dress code:

Her Majesty’s Representative wishes to point out that only formal day dresswith a hat or substantial fascinator will be acceptable. Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and miniskirts are considered unsuitable. Midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour. Gentlemen are required to wear either black or grey morning dress, including a waistcoat, with a top hat. A gentleman may remove his top hat within a restaurant, a private box, a private club or that facility’s terrace, balcony or garden. Hats may also be removed within any enclosed external seating area within the Royal Enclosure Garden.  Overseas visitors are welcome to wear the formal national dress of their country or Service dress.

My office really got into the Wimbledon spirit.  Not only did we have TVs broadcasting matches all day long, surprise afternoon snacks of strawberries and cream (traditional Wimbledon food - probably because English strawberries are in peak season), but a highly competitive, two week long tennis tournament between our office and a business downstairs- - all held on our Wii video game console. 

Months ago (pre-William) Chad and I had big plans to try and attend a few of these events but didn't seem to pull it together to go.  The hardest part is that you really want to get a big group of people together to really have a good time.  Maybe next year we can talk more folks into coming to visit and attending the fabulous June events in London (hint, hint, hint).

Finding his voice

Sorry there has been such a dry spell this past week or so on the blog.  Things have really heated up at work and I'm still trying to figure out this mysterious thing called "work life balance" with a baby.  William is really thriving and in just the past few days, found his voice.  He has made all types of sounds before, but just this weekend, started tying them together and really talking to us.  Check out this video clip for more.  I personally can't get enough :)

Father's Day in the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds is an area of Great Britain best described as the "quintessential English countryside" - rolling green hills dotted with sheep, authentic thatched roof cottages in tiny quaint country towns, sprawling gardens filled with all kinds of blooming flowers. In the 12th century, this region was one of the wealthiest in England due to the booming wool industry.  However, the industrial revolution ruined the area's prosperity, and today it's almost like a time warp - wee little ancient villages, churches built with wool money and stone fences that run on for miles over the countryside.  

The names of the villages are a mouthful: Stow-on-the-Wold, Upper Slaughter, Moreton-in-Marsh.  We stayed in Chipping Camden, a beautiful town in northern Cotwolds in a place called the Noel Arms Hotel.  The following picture is of our four month old, enjoying a hotel bed carved in 1657, in which Charles II was *believed* to have slept in during a stop over with his troops during the English Civil War (who knew the English had a Civil War?  Need to read up on that..).  I've posted additional pictures in the photo album section of the blog with more details about the trip. It was just perfect for our first official weekend traveling out of town with William (only 2 hours from London by car) and to celebrate Chad's first Father's Day.

 

The best part of the weekend was simply cruising through the country side from town to town via tiny one lane roads (where passing cars required one of the two parties pull over to let the other through).  The mustard seed plants were in full bloom delighting us with bright yellow fields.  Locals were playing cricket as we explored 12th century churches and wandered through the high streets of different villages.  The saving grace of our trip?  Our video monitor which allows us to have dinner on Friday and Saturday night at the hotel while William peacefully slept away up in the room. 

Body Heat

Yesterday was rumored to be the hottest day of the summer in London... and what do you think this "high" temperature actually was?

Wait for it...

Wait for it....

A balmy 77 degrees.  Now those of you living in the southern or southwestern part of the US are probably laughing hard by now.  77 degrees - hot? 

Now I have to say, I love the weather we've had in London this spring and summer.  It still rains more here than your average location around the world, but the past few months have been relatively dry and very temperate.  However, there is a grimy under-belly of what you might perceive as the luxury of spring-like weather throughout the summer months:

(1) Very few air conditioning units... anywhere.  Most modern office buildings have AC, but the majority of residential buildings do not. 

(2) No window screens.  This I don't get.  If you don't have AC and have to open windows, wouldn't you invest in some window screens to keep out the flies and other random insects?  Granted, it's hard to find screens for windows on 100-200 year old buildings.  I think I see a business opportunity...

(3) Public transportation.  You guessed it, no AC here either.  The train isn't that bad - above ground, fast moving and lots of individual seats and windows you can open.  The tube, however, is totally gross.  Today, when I stepped into the tube, I could literally feel the body heat and humidity inside. The interesting part is that the windows on most tube cars are sealed shut - even on the above ground units.  Why?  Why?  No AC on buses either but at least you can open windows.

Something else particularly prevalent in the summertime in this country - sour clothing.  When we first got here last year, I constantly smelled sour clothing on people in our office.  It only took a few weeks of doing laundry in our temporary flat to realize it is because of (1) the crappy all-in-one washer/dryer units they put in these tiny flats (one machine that washes and then "dries" your clothes... but no one's clothes are every really dry) and (2) the humidity.  You can take semi-wet clothes out of your washer/dryer unit and hang them to dry.  Come back 8 hours later, they are still wet, and now sour! Now you can do the math on the sour clothes in the tube experience, right?

Moral of the story, enjoy the fabulous London weather above ground - - stay off the tube whenever possible - - keep a fly swatter of some sort in every room of your house.

Survivors Guilt

For some reason, this didn't post last Friday so please imagine this was June 19th when you are reading this...

My first full week back at work is over and I'm exhausted. Building back my mental endurance has been tough - I feel like my brain is a little mushy after 4 months at home with a baby. However, more than ever, I'm really, really happy to have my job. The week I returned to work, the UK Head of sales (my peer) and half of our on-site sales team were displaced (the UK term is 'made redundant'). This was only one day before over 250 people in the US Small Business Division were impacted. Although no one has seen a full list of names, the understanding is that almost 50 percent of the US small business marketing team were let go.  Yikes.

This wasn't about poor performers as some of the strongest, most experienced people I know are out - entire teams of people cut. I actually felt nauseous as I've slowly discovered more and more people at all levels who are gone. These are people I respect, that I've worked with for several years - many of whom I call friends.  If I had been in my old role working as a remote employee from DC, I would never have made the cut. After all, who would be crazy enough to spend the money flying someone coast to coast every other week during times like these? I feel extremely lucky to have the job I have. Secondly, I feel waves of survivor guilt. Why should I stay when so many awesome people leave?

What I do know about displacements is that it can often be one of the best things that happens to you. Intuit was extremely generous with packages... I heard if you were a US employee with the company for only a year you got about 4 months pay. Intuit has a reputation for taking care of employees - and many companies are giving significantly less as they cut their workforces. Many folks I talk with plan to take a few months off to spend with their kids, travel and simply re-evaluate what they want to do next. Some are even excited - happy to have a reason to do something different. Those that are left are still uncomfortable - looking forward yet struggling to figure out how to work smarter with significantly fewer people.

Running behind

It’s Wednesday morning and I’ve hit a new low.  This morning, while commuting to work, I put on my make up while on the train.  The US equivalent would be putting on mascara while driving a car.  My alarm went off and when I looked the clock it said 6:40.  What?  I’m supposed to get up at 6:15?  Yesterday, however, William was up crying between 5-6 (and I fed him) so I had set the alarm to wake up at 6:40.  Whoops. 

It’s not that I’m afraid to leave the house without make up on - - in fact, I do it all the time.  I do not, however, put make up on in public.  Why? I remember sitting in a restaurant in Hickory, NC with my Grandmother, asking her why she went to the bathroom to put on her lipstick after a meal.  She told me putting on make up in public was really impolite.  She asked me if I would put on deodorant in the middle of a restaurant.  When I said no, she said “why should make up be any different?”  Amazing how those little things stick with you.  Also amazing how quickly having a baby makes you throw long held habits out the window.

Peek a boo

Just took this photo today on my last day off work for a while.  We've just started playing peek-a-boo and William loves it! 

Tube strike

Yes, the city of London is in mild chaos due to a two day tube strike.  The entire system is down which means literally a few million people are having to find alternate transportation... or just stay home.   It is estimated that each day of the strike costs the country 50 MILLION pounds. 

I couldn't take my normal hop from my local tube station to Paddington to catch the train (which was still running), so I walked.  This has always been an option as it isn't really that far away.  In fact, it was eerily quiet as I made the 13 minute journey from my front door to the train.  That is until I hit the outside of Paddington station where there were literally hundreds and hundreds of people in line for taxi cabs.  Needless to say, today is a really, REALLY good day to be a taxi driver. 

Given we moved into the neighborhood in December when it was cold, rainy and we only had about 6 or 7 hours worth of daylight, I didn't think walking was a serious option.  This morning, I realized if I simply walked 13 minutes a day to and from Paddington, 5 days a week, that is nearly 2.5 hours of exercise I wasn't already getting.  With my new Mama status, that is precious time that I could be burning calories!  For me, this tube strike certainly has a silver lining.

Catching our breath

After three weekends straight of friends and family in town, this weekend we had a chance to catch our breath.  That meant catching up on all kinds of mundane chores and to-dos around the house, and most wonderfully, sleeping when William was down for at least one nap a day! 

I have to say, living in London makes me appreciate visitors more than ever before.  Whether or not it is someone who just wants to grab coffee (like a previous Intuit co-worker who was in town for business a few weeks back) or folks who are actually staying with us, all familiar faces and loved ones are welcome!  Here are a few highlights of the past few weekends in London:

Friends of mine from college, Tracy, Ashley, Kara and Christy were in town one weekend.  This photo was snapped on their way to a Arsenal football game (aka soccer).  We managed to have several drinks at The Westbourne - our favorite local pub- and dinner at Crazy Homies - our favorite Mexican restaurant.   We also visited the Tower of London for an afternoon, enjoying a tour by a resident beefeater, the crown jewels and the display on Henry the 8th.

 

The following weekend, our friend Louisa Harrison arrived and we synched up with Kara and Tracy... who spent the previous mid-week in Seville, Spain.  This picture is of us before we headed out to a walking tour of the pubs of Knightsbridge and a wonderful dinner at Tom's Kitchen.  For those of you wondering, my amazing husband braved not one, but TWO nights alone with William (the 11 pm feed is still touch and go as to whether or not he'll take a bottle) so I could go out on the town and play with the ladies.  Kara and Louisa also attended the FA cup which is the English Football (soccer) equivalent of the super bowl at Wembley stadium - they had a blast!

  

Chad's cousin Brianne and her husband Clint were in town for a week on vacation, celebrating the recent completion of his residency.  In July/August, Clint will be opening up his own medical practice with a fellow med-schooler in Bossier City, Louisiana.  Brianne and Clint joined us for a low key dinner at our place mid week and then we met up with them for a walking tour of South Kensington over the weekend.  The weather was beautiful (per the sunshine in the picture below) and we got to see lots of hidden gem spots/learn more historical fun facts about a neighborhood we already love.  Of course the best part was getting to see the two of them!  Brianne and Clint took in more London sights - and a day trip to Paris - in a week than we have in the 9 months we've lived here!

 

And of course, during the month of May, William got LOTS of love from the ladies...