Ten on Tuesday

Lots of little things happening at the moment....

1. Last Wednesday I gave up my passport and submitted my visa application to the UK Border Agency. I am nervous and excited about the possibilities it can bring to me in the coming months. Until my application is processed, I am trapped on this island. I can't travel until I get my passport back.

2. I've been taking care of some domestic things...part of getting settled here and establishing my doctor. I hadn't seen an optician since I lived in Chicago so I started calling around and looking for one. I had my first eye exam yesterday. I don't necessarily understand their system. Although I've worn contacts since I was 12 years old, I still need a follow up exam after a trial pair of lenses, which I am also reluctant to switch...God I miss my eye doctor of 20 years!

3. In my attempt to try and run again, I went to see an Acupuncturist to help with my heel pain. Why not..I am always open to alternative treatments and medicine. It was definitely a different experience. All I could think of was the chant, "Stick a needle in my eye.". I'm not completely convinced of it's healing powers but I will stick it out for a few more sessions.

4. My best friend no longer works for the same company as me. I wish her the best but it's weird not being able to chat with her on IM.

5. I went to see the historic Oxford and Cambridge boat race. We got there early and then left for a bit to watch the England versus Wales football game. I should have known, when we came back to the river, it was super crowded and we were able to catch a small glimpse of the race. Nonetheless, it was very cool to be a part of an age old tradition.

6. For Lent, I gave up alcohol, coffee, chocolate, and candy. I'm definitely being tested lately especially when I saw the first pitchers of Pimms being offered at the boat race. I have to pat myself on the back because I was perfectly okay with ordering apple juice at the pub.

7. The time changed this Sunday. My stylist says that it marks the first official day of the British summer. Geez...this early...I've only just begun my summer workout plan. This is one thing that makes me really homesick...not having a proper Chicago summer.

8. The first official day of the British summer was lovely. I met up Geraldine and her little Louis at my local pub for Sunday roast. Then we took baby Louis for a stroll around the park. It was a gorgeous day. Looking forward to picnics in the park.

9. I am starting to plan activities for my godson Orlando and Alyssa when they visit in July. For the month of July, I will have a test run at being a mum. I am going to take some time off but they will be on their own when I have to go back to work. I purchased tickets for the IMAX cinema near the London eye along the river. I think this is something that teenagers would enjoy.

10. My friend introduced me to this cool website where I can watch the latest TV programmes. I was so hooked that I had a Grey's Anatomy marathon and now I am caught up. I am looking forward to this week's episode. I won't be able to watch it live but the next day will do.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday came from Amber who got this idea from another blogger. Instead of a full on blog, you can write little bits and bobs.

1. I am excited for my upcoming trip to Paris this weekend. This will probably be my last trip for a few months. I was meant to run the half-marathon however, I have a heel injury I am working through with my pyscio aka physical therapist. This weekend I'll be the happy cheerleader.

2. I am in the process of switching my visa. After my trip to Paris, I will be surrendering my passport while my application is submitted to the UK Border Agency. My solicitor (immigration lawyer) told me that I would probably be without my passport from April until July - worse case scenario. Guess I'll have to travel locally! I'm already making plans for travel within the UK for the April and May bank holidays.

3. I watched the pilot of the Chicago Code online. While not the best show, I was captivated by the scenes shot around Chicago. I'm looking forward to the episode that shows Mary Queen of Heaven - my family church. Kind of makes me homesick.

4. I am running low on my favorite items from back home - Q-Tips, Crystal Light, Oatmeal, Oil of Olay body wash. Surprisingly my wish list isn't as long these days. I must have adapted to what is available.....I wish someone would send me a care package. :)

5. I switched Stanley's pet food awhile back and wanted to go back to his old brand because he's very itchy and I noticed his skin is flaky. The problem is that the American manufacturer of his old food is no longer shipping it to the UK. Just another thing to let go of from the US.

6. I am excited to try a new recipe from the cookbook I received for my birthday. It is called Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers. She is the UK's version of Rick Bayless. She fell in love with Mexico as a young adult and went on to open 3 really, really good Mexican restaurants in London called Wahaca. It's the best Mexican food I've had here yet. I like this book because it shows how to make dishes with the ingredients available here. Nothing imported from Chicago.

7. As a birthday present to myself I finally caved in and bought an iPhone 4. I committed myself to a 18-month contract. Feels weird.

8. It's amazing how useful having the internet at your fingertips can be. I've always had it on my Blackberry but I am using it way more now that I have an iPhone. While reading all the captions at the Wildlife Exhibit, if there were words that were not clear, we'd look them up. It helps with my old age...Usually by the time I get home, I'd forget and sit there scratching my head.

9. No more getting lost in London. The Google maps app on my phone is really coming in handy. When I first arrived to London I was constantly getting lost. London doesn't have a grid system compared to Chicago streets so every journey needs to be carefully charted out. Sometimes I would consult my "London A to Z" (pronounced Zed) book. Otherwise, it resulted in expensive cab rides and countless late arrivals. This weekend, I used my app quite a few times. Hasn't failed me yet.

10. The Jersey Shore is hilarious. The UK is always a season behind but I still enjoy watching the episodes. I wonder what the people here think when they sit here watching this program. Nice dose of American culture.

Monday Randomness

Not enough for a blog story but just enough for some random thoughts....

I went to the cinema on Friday to see The Fighter. I went to the concession stand to buy some popcorn. The attendant asked me if I wanted sweet or salted or mixed popcorn. I asked him if the salted popcorn came with butter. I got the strangest look from him and repeated my request. He didn't understand...I guess salted, buttery popcorn must be an American thing.

It's funny what you hear in the ladies bathroom...or toilet as they say here. The Fighter was about an Irish American boxer from Boston. After the movie was over, I heard a few women asking why the main character considered himself Irish. He wasn't from Ireland. Was his parents or grandparents from Ireland? I pretty much get this a lot here in London/Europe. Even though my family are Mexicans, if you were born in American, you are considered American. Although I do get the occasional...but you don't look like an American. Then I have to explain. It seems Americans tend to hold onto their roots.

One final thing about The Fighter. In one of the scenes, the championship title was held in London. I turned to my friend and commented that I didn't know big boxing events were held in London or that boxing was even big here. I was told that no, not everything was "American."

Helen and I went to the Wildlife Photography Exhibit at the Natural History Museum. It was amazing. We laughed like teenagers at the Bearded Tit bird and the Sperm Whale photographs.

I felt like I was in a time warp this weekend. After seeing my friend play a gig in Soho, we decided to bar hop. We thought we heard Jamie Fox' "Gold Digger" song. We went upstairs to check it out only to find George Harrison look a-likes and nothing but 50s music playing. The people/hipsters were even dressed from that era. We decided to leave because we felt slightly out of place and then headed to another bar not too far down. We then transcended to the 60s and 70s. The DJ was a short Asian guy with long hair and a black robin hood velvety hat. He was grooving to his tunes. I think there were other people out of place because there were a few guys overdressed with suits. It was hilarious to be off the beaten path!

A Year Wiser

Today I am 34 years old - my second birthday in London. It 's been wonderful!

On Friday, I went to see my first live mainstream concert - Maroon 5. The cool thing was that the venue was a 10 minute walk from my house. Afterwards, we went to our neighborhood highstreet and had a drink at 63rd and Social, one of the local lounges.

Saturday, Alicia hosted a girls nite out at her flat. We share the same birthday so we decided to have a joint celebration. Our friend Crystal brought this delicious cake from Chinatown. A proper birthday celebration. It was so much fun being surrounded by the friends that I have made here.

Sunday, Sandra hosted brunch at her flat with some of our friends. She had a nice spread. Cinnamon muffins, eggs, british bacon, strawberries, walnut bread from our favorite brunch place. She also made pancakes with the Aunt Jemima pancake mix she brought back from Canada and we drank mimosas all afternoon. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Then a special friend cooked me a nice Sunday roast for dinner. It was the perfect weekend.

Today, I took the day off and will pamper myself with a facial and a massage at a spa in Notting Hill. This will be my first spa experience in London. Then I am going to meet up with my friend Helen for dinner.

I've asked myself, what is so different than all the other years....And the answer is not much.

I write this all in a good way. As I grow older, I've come to stop searching for the next best thing and be satisfied with what I have. I've realized that the best birthday celebrations involve being around the people that make you happy. It feels really good to be in a comfortable place within yourself - to know who you are, what makes you happy and where you want to be. Most importantly to be happy with the simple things in life.

With all my great fortune, I still can't help but feel a little sad today. Today was always a special day for me and my mom. We'd always take the day off from work and we'd do go shopping, to dinner at Lalo's or the Ale House, or get a manicure or a massage. She'd wake me up at 7:11a.m. on the dot to wish me a happy birthday and tell me the story about my birth.

My mom will always live within me but like I said, it's just the simple things that make you happy and you come to appreciate.

Hello 2011!

I resolved to blog more often in 2011 but this New Year has been quite busy. I figured I'd get a blog in before January ended.

I rang in the New Year on a low key note. I went to dinner with my friend Amber and her boyfriend Stuart in Kensington. It was the first time that I met him and he was hilarious! Then we moved to a pub and stayed for the countdown. Around 11:40p.m. the pub cleared out so there were only about 10 people including the staff. However, I would much rather spend my time this way then being in a crowded club with drunk people. Maybe I am getting older.

Then I went on one of my top destinations on my 'To Do' list - Morocco...One word...AMAZING!!!! I didn't know what to expect. This was my first really long holiday. Mari flew in from Chicago and Amber joined us. We spent 8 days in Morocco travelling by train to Casablanca, Fes, and Marrakesh. Morocco was so raw and filled with so many emotions. It was a bit of a culture shock because it is Muslim country and not too touristy. Mari was our comic relief. At the end of the trip, I came back with loads of memories.

Eventually, I will blog more about my amazing journey but the highlights include the Gran Mosque in Casablanca built over the Atlantic Ocean, the ancient Medina in Fes and wandering the many paths while dodging donkeys, hidden gem restaurants within the medina (countless lamb and cous cous dishes), starting and ending my day with mint tea, riding a camel, having a monkey on my shoulder, street food in Marrakesh, the traditional hamman (scrub) and the bonding moment in the hamman with Amber, the drive to the waterfalls and climbing the High Atlas mountains and making friends with the locals.

I could go on.....

We then came back to London for 5 hours and went to Dublin to unwind like the locals do. I hope you can sense the sarcasm in my voice.

I had some downtime in between and started to refocus on my personal life.

Now I am back in Chicago for a few days for business. I was fortunate enough to catch up with my family to make up for the Christmas holiday and got to see Ceclie's baby.

Not a bad start to 2011! Life is good!

Christmas Time

The Christmas season is really huge in London. People like to go all out with their celebrations. The women's clothing shops are stocked with party wear. It is really nice!

Early in the season, my friend organized a Christmas pub crawl. We all dressed festive with some of the girls actually wearing Christmas themed skirts. For work, we had a Christmas lunch. We had a 3 course meal. Afterwards we pub hoped. All in all, the celebration lasted from 2 - 11p.m.

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. This year I really wanted to capture some of my great memories of Christmas pasts from back home. One of the first things I did was buy an artificial tree. I tried getting a real one last year but it just sat in my lounge and dried out. It was a small tree and I am not really into small trees.

My 6'6"slim tree arrived and it was great fun to decorate. I rearranged the furniture in my flat. Most of my decorations were bought from the pound store. It was difficult to get to a DIY (aka Home Depot) store to buy anything because of the distance and the weather. Now I was ready to host a few gatherings.

I had two Christmas gatherings at my flat. One for my book club friends and the other for my neighbhorhood and close friends. For one of the parties, I choose a more British menu. I cooked a roast ham with green beans and au gratin potatoes. Cooking a ham is a big ordeal. You have to soak it to remove the salt, then boil it and then bake it. Nothing is ever easy here...In the end, it came out fabulous! I brought some leftovers into work for my colleague. She had some and gave it to her daughter and she loved. It was great to have my cooking validated by British people!For my second celebration, I cooked my famous chicken chipoltle dish however I made a new dessert - Italian bread pudding that I saw on the food network. It was really easy to make and again came out fabulous. We had traditional Christmas crackers with a crown hat and a joke. Elaine got to pop her first cracker. We also had a Secret Santa.


The finally to wind down the Christmas season, I attended a Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The Kings College Choir from Cambridge and the London Symphony Orchestra performed. At one point in the show, we were able to sing along with the Choir. It was lovely!
I love that I am making new traditions here and building strong friendships. I can only see every year getting better!

My first Christmas in London

This year I spent Christmas in London....Not by choice but by an unfortunate series of weather related events. A week prior to Christmas, the UK was hit with a really bad snow storm. See the pic below taken in my neighborhood of the snow a few weeks earlier that also disrupted travel. While this is not the actual snow that caused the delays, it wasn't much worse than this.
The UK is not used to getting snow nor were they prepared. Heathrow had severe delays and was operating with one runway. The travel delays had a ripple effect on Christmas travel and European travel overall.

Lately, when I've gone back to Chicago, I fly on standby because my friend works for the airline. Getting on a flight is dependent on the available open seats. Because of the delays, flights were canceled and passengers were pushed to other flights. My flight that had been wide open for the last month suddenly was oversold.

My friends and I were mentally preparing ourselves a few days prior for the possibility of spending Christmas in London. My friend Holly actually choose to stay in London so we all said that we would spend Christmas at her flat.

My other friends had delays but eventually were able to get home. Like it or not, I was spending my first Christmas in London. I have to say that it was not the worst thing. While I missed seeing my family, I didn't miss the stress of traveling from house to house and being on a schedule to visit this family and then go to that house.

For three days (Eve Eve, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), I'd wake up late and take nice long relaxing baths. In the early evening, I would walk 10 minutes to my friend Holly's house. Our other friend Maria Ann flew in from Milan and we all celebrated together. Holly would serve me a nice glass of cava or something fizzy and we'd eat then sit and relax on the sofa watching the endless Christmas movies that were showing on the Tele. Christmas tele is really good compared to the US. They play popular movies. I watched Elf, the Grinch, Muppets Christmas Carole, Santa Clause the Movie, Fred Claus....See how much time I had on my hands.

On Christmas Eve, I cooked chicken mole and rice to keep my Mexican tradition alive. We went to Midnight Mass. It was absolutely beautiful. The mass opened with everyone holding candles and singing religious Christmas caroles. It was kind of funny to hear a Catholic sermon given in British English. After mass, we bumped into some really drunk guy on the street. Apparently, people get really pissed on Christmas Eve....Kind of like our Black Wednesday.

On Christmas Day, Maria Ann cooked homemade Italian meatballs, lasagna, and sauce. It was great. I usually have lasagna on Christmas Day so while it was different, it was still the same. Later in the evening, I came home and caught up with my family and friends.

London in general was a ghost town. Everything shuts down. There were maybe 5 shops open. Mostly convenient stores. On Christmas Eve, the supermarket was flooded with people stocking up on food for Christmas and Boxing Day. Taxis are double fare on Christmas Day. Even today, there are still not that many people in town.

I am not sure if I would want to spend next Christmas in London but it was a good test for me. It showed me that I really do love London and can be okay with being far away from my family around the holidays.