We Live Where We Are

My parents went to the Australian Open...

2012-02-10T10:12:00.000Z

...and all I got was this giant tennis ball.

Charles and I got a rare baby-free night a few weeks ago and went to the opening night of the Australian Open. The tickets were work sponsored so we had great seats along with free drinks, dinner and sweet little goodie bags. Poor Jack didn't make our as well as his parents.

Federer vs Kudryavtsev

A Day at the Beach

2012-02-01T03:29:00.004Z

We are two months into summer and we only just this past weekend made it to the beach. Although beach time is not nearly as relaxing as it used to be, I wish we had gone sooner. Instead of making things easier on ourselves and just driving to a local beach 10 minutes away we decided to drive for an hour to Sorrento, which is to the south east of Melbourne. Our friends Molly and T.H. came with us and the day couldn't have been more beautiful or perfect.

Jack even got his first taste of sushi (fresh seaweed). The only negative was a baby that decided he didn't need to sleep, at all. I guess the beach was just too exciting.

Happy Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T10:19:00.008Z

I'm trying to adopt Aussie traditions and phrases so it's Happy Christmas, not Merry Christmas. I'm also trying to find some holiday spirit, but it's kind of hard when the weather is so beautiful and the streets and stores are not dripping with holiday tat. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas time. Mulled wine, roaring fires, snowy nights, Christmas cookies :o) I just haven't got used to celebrating the holidays in a warm weather climate and I keep forgetting that tomorrow is the big day! I'm sure next year when we have a 1.5 years old running around I will find my holiday cheer, but for now, look what I'm dealing with.

Sunny skies and 85 degrees at the beach in St. Kilda.

Santa and his reindeer flying by a palm tree.

My morning coffee at the table in our beautiful backyard. Now that I think of it, I could get used to this.

One of the Aussie traditions that we decided to adopt is leaving a glass of beer for Santa and a carrot for his reindeer. I really think Santa will appreciate this offering much more than a warm glass of milk and a plate of cookies.

Happy (Merry) Christmas!

A few more firsts.

2011-11-15T10:41:00.005Z

So, what did y'all think of our TV debut? Did we look like total geeks or professionals? I'm asking simply because we still have not seen the show. We don't get HHI over here, Hulu doesn't have the show listed and we can't seem to find it online anywhere. Very frustrating. Anyhow, we are expecting a DVD from the production company to arrive in the mail any day now so hopefully it won't be long before we can see it. But, I'm curious to know what you thought.

On to more interesting subjects. Little man Jack continues to rock our world. He is really such an awesome baby. He is incredibly happy and content and seems to deal with life's ups and downs incredibly well (more on that later). Some of his new tricks are eating solid food, throwing balls, playing peek-a-boo, holding his own bottle, caressing his momma's face and batting his eye lashes at strangers, just to name a few. I've captured some more of his first on film and thought I would share them with you. Enjoy!

The secret revealed!

2011-10-21T01:37:00.004+01:00

I was really hoping that my first post after being absent for months would be full of cute baby pictures or details about our new home town. Sadly, I just haven't had time to get it together and write about anything that has been going on down here. But, I had to make sure I let you all know about a fun little project that the family and I were part of over the last few months that is finally going to be revealed!

I mentioned in the this post way back in February that Charles and I were followed around London by a camera crew for a day. After we moved to Melbourne a different camera crew followed us around Melbourne for three days.

All this filming was for a little show you might have heard of on HGTV called House Hunters International. Last year I got an email from a production company asking if Charles and I were interested in being a part of the show. Apparently my little blog made it's way to the production company and after reading about our upcoming move they asked us to submit an audition tape for the show. Long story short, after submitting our audition tape we were selected to film and episode that followed us from London to Melbourne and our hunt for a place to live. The whole experience was a lot of fun and very interesting. It's amazing how much footage has to be shot for a 25 minute show!

Our episode will be airing in the US on Saturday, November 12 at 8pm PST and 11pm PST. You will all be able to see the show before we will so let me know what you think. My fingers are crossed that we don't look like complete idiots!

You can find more details by following this link.

The last 3 months is pictures...

2011-09-02T12:02:00.008+01:00

Well, a lot has happened over the last three months and I couldn't even begin to write it all down for you. We moved to Melbourne, took a trip to Sydney, went wine tasting, joined a soccer team (Charles), bought a car, learned to smile (Jack), filmed a TV show and much more. Our little man Jack has been growing and changing and learning new tricks and we are having so much fun with him. Below is a little pictorial of Jack and a bunch of his first caught on film. Enjoy!

Check out this little video I made of Jack giggling.

A little bump in the road... or two.

2011-08-23T03:32:00.001+01:00

So, I'm still playing catch-up with my posts about little Jack. I'm almost done with the whole story and can move on with where we actually are today. I think, after reading this post, you will understand why I took a long time getting all this out. On second hand, this post is ridiculously, embarrassingly late and no excuse is good enough. *sigh* Anyhow, here goes...

Because I had a c-section the normal time spent in hospital in the UK is three to four days. Charles and I were enjoying getting to know our little guy and showing him off to all our friends who came to visit. On day two we noticed that Jack was very jittery and having little spasms in his arms. At first we thought it was just normal baby movements, but I started to get a little concerned when the jitters got worse. I decided to consult the authorities, Google, and ended up freaking myself out because everything I read about the symptoms he was exhibiting was not good. Charles was incredibly sweet and supportive and went and got the pediatrician to check Jack out. She didn't seem too worried about him, but had a midwife do a blood sugar test just to make sure all was well. I'm sure you can guess where this is going... all was not well.

Jack's blood sugar levels were dangerously low. The pediatrician said that we needed to get his levels up ASAP so we had to feed him a bottle of formula. The poor little guy must have been starving because he downed the whole bottle in about two minutes. After that we waited another hour or so and then the midwife did another blood sugar test. Blood sugar tests on babies are done by pricking the heel and squeezing a drop of blood on to a little test strip. I'm sure you can imagine that Jack didn't really like having this done twice. Anyhow, the second test results were not good. His levels were still way too low so they had me try to feed him another bottle of formula. This time around Jack wasn't having it. He was tired and lethargic and wouldn't eat for me. After a few more hours and several attempts to get him to eat, plus another very low blood sugar level the decision was made to put a cannula (IV) into Jack's arm and then move him up to the special care unit (NICU). Not good.

The decision to move Jack upstairs happened very early in the morning so Charles, once again, got woken up really early and was told to rush over to the hospital. When he got there we had to watch as Jack had a feeding tube fed down his nose and into his stomach, an IV drip hooked up and a blood oxygen and heart rate monitor hooked up to him. So many tubes and needles for such a little guy!

Later in the morning we were able to talk with Jack's team of doctors who explained to us that Jack was not only suffering from very low blood sugar, but he was also very anemic and had lost more weight than they would have liked. So, the plan of action was to give him oral iron supplements, top him up with formula through the feeding tube after each breast feed and do a heel prick blood test right before each feed to test his blood sugar. The goal was for his blood sugar to rise to a healthy level and maintain that level for at least three feedings. The next three days were filled with up and down emotions as we would get two really good blood sugar tests and then the third one would drop too low and then the next would drop even lower and then it would jump back up. It was so frustrating.

Charles and I spent as much time as we could sitting with Jack. We took turns so that one of us could sleep while the other kept him company. Although Jack was getting excellent care, there was one nurse for every two babies, we just didn't feel right if one of us wasn't there with him.

For new parents, this whole experience was very scary and overwhelming and seemed much more dire then it actually was. Low blood sugar is one of the most common reasons babies are admitted to the NICU. The chances of any long term damage was so minimal, but, seeing your tiny little baby with cords and tubes poking out of him is not something you expect to see and not something you are prepared for. Considering the company Jack was keeping in the NICU we should have looked at his visit there as very minor and nothing to be too worried about. Of course, that is just about impossible to do when you are there.

On day three we finally got three good blood tests is a row and Jack was discharged from the NICU and sent back down to the post-natal ward to my room (I hadn't been discharged yet). Jack still had the feeding tube in, but they took the cannula out of his arm and let me top him up with a bottle instead of through the tube. The doctors wanted him to have another three good tests in a row before they would discharge us both from the hospital. So, we spent one more night in the hospital and after a few more bad and then good blood tests we were released from the hospital the next afternoon. The doctors said that Jack should be fine and not suffer any long term damage. We just had to monitor him closely and continue with his iron supplements. Happy day!

We were SO excited to finally be taking our little guy home! Six days after he was born. I think we went a little over board with the amount of photos we took. Jack was clearly over being photographed.

We spent the next few days holed up at home enjoying our time as a family, getting to know each other. We only had about a week before Charles had to pack up and fly back to Melbourne to continue with his new job. A few days after we got home one of the midwives did a home visit to check on Jack and me. This is standard practise in the UK and it is such a huge help to have someone come to you and ask how you are doing, check on the baby and answer any questions that you might have. She did a blood sugar test to make sure Jack was still doing ok and checked his umbilical cord and checked his weight. He had lost a full pound from his birth weight which we weren't concerned about because babies always lose weight after they are born. She scheduled another visit for a few days later and then left us to get on with learning how to be parents.

As I mentioned before, Charles had to leave Jack and I to get back to his job in Melbourne. Although I was not at all looking forward to our time apart I was looking forward to spending time with my parents who arrived just after Charles left. Having them around for over two weeks was such a blessing! I'm not sure I would have been able to cope without them there. Jack was well looked after with Gram and Gramps doting over him as much as they could. Unfortunately though, he was not gaining any weight and after another visit from the midwife and several visits to the children's clinic Jack was admitted to the pediatric unit at St. Mary's Hospital. Ugh! I was really beginning to hate that place.

The doctors ran a bunch of tests to try and nail down why Jack wasn't gaining weight. One of those tests required a urine sample. Taking a urine sample from a 4 week old baby is NOT easy. It took my mom and I about 30 minutes, one of us holding Jack and the other hovering near by with a sample cup, to capture about three drops of pee. We got a little wet in the process.

I got to stay with Jack in his room during the four days he was in hospital. While there, I had to pump breast milk to measure how much I was producing. Turns out I'm not much good at the milk making process and after all the tests came back negative it was determined that Jack was not getting enough to eat via the boob. So, after a few days of formula top-ups with a bottle Jack had gained enough weight to be released from the hospital. Again, happy day!

After being released from the hospital we had orders to continue breast feeding Jack and then top him up with formula. He has continued to gain weight and is now doing great!

So, there you go. That's the end of the story about Jack's arrival into our lives. It was exciting and scary and exhausting and rewarding all at the same time. We couldn't be happier with our little man. Of course, now there are many more stories to tell as Jack has grown so much over the last 4 months. I can't wait to share more with you! Let's just hope I can get my s*#t together enough in order to do that ;o)

Welcome to the World Jack Rudolph!

2011-06-20T13:05:00.001+01:00

Yes, this post is about nine weeks late, but that old saying "better late than never" is my motto now-a-days. You understand, right?

I will start where I left off in order to have some continuity. And where I left off was the day little Jack was born. As some of you know, I had a complication with my pregnancy that necessitated the need for an elective c-section. It also caused me to spend about nine days in the hospital before Jack was born. The doctors were trying as long as possible to hold off delivering Jack in order to give him more time to develop, but the longer they waited the more dangerous it was for me. Obviously, Charles and I wanted to give Jack as much time as he needed inside the womb, but selfishly we were so anxious to meet him and I was really ready to get out of the hospital. The night before Jack was born the doctors came to give me the good news and explain the procedure and all the potential complications in great detail. I felt so well informed that I wasn't the least bit nervous about the surgery and I think Charles felt pretty good about it too. We were both able to get a good night sleep before the big day.

The morning of the surgery I was hooked up to an IV drip to hydrate me because I hadn't been able to eat or drink since the night before. Pretty standard for most surgeries I'm guessing.

At about 1:30pm one of my favorite midwives came to collect us and we walked over to the operating theatre. After spending so much time in the hospital I got to know several of the midwives and it was very nice to have a familiar face with us. As Charles was changing into scrubs I was getting prepped by the anesthesiologist. After several more cannulas (IV needles) were attached to my arms I was taken into the theatre and given an epidural. People had told me that epidurals during labor where amazing and I have to say I was loving mine! It relaxed my entire lower body and felt so good.

The operating theatre was a very busy place with about 19 people participating and observing. Everyone was very nice and cheerful and each and every thing that was done to me was explained right before it happened so that I felt totally comfortable. Charles got to sit right next to me holding my hand which was great. The atmosphere was so relaxed and happy.

When the surgery started everything happened so quickly. Before I knew it I could hear everybody squealing that his head was out. The anesthesiologist grabbed our camera from Charles and took a bunch of pictures of the doctor pulling Jack out and Charles got to stand up and watch. The look on his face when he first peered over the curtain was priceless. I can't believe he looked because he does NOT like gory things and this was pretty graphic. In fact, so graphic that I didn't feel like I should post the pictures on my blog. But, in an effort to keep things real and because I've shared everything else throughout my pregnancy I have posted the photos on flikr for those of you who want to see. Just remember, the are very graphic. You have been warned!

As soon as Jack was out the doctor held him up so that I could see him. Now, I know this is supposed to be one of those amazing moments where you instantly fall in love and start crying with joy at the sight of your newborn, but I think I was so overwhelmed with everything that my very first thought was "Wow, there really was a baby in there!" Duh! The dazed and overwhelmed feeling continued as Jack was taken over to the isolet with Charles and the doctors worked on putting me back together.

The surgery went much better than the doctors had anticipated and I only had to have a small amount of blood transfused. Jack needed a little bit of oxygen at the beginning and was a bit anemic because of my initial blood loss, but was breathing well and pinking up nicely after a few minutes. Charles, after a little coaxing from the nurses, did the dad thing and cut the cord. Love the face! Then the nurses sat him down in a corner of the operating theatre with Jack while they finished with me. You would never know by the way Charles was babbling away to Jack that that was the first baby he had ever held. He is a natural father.

When they brought Jack over for me to see up close I remember feeling so weird and not like I thought I should feel right after giving birth. Apparently, I was crying and blabbering about how beautiful he was, but I just remember feeling very disconnected from everything that was going on. All I could see and touch was his little head and I remember asking to see his whole body and that I wanted to hold him against my chest and really be able to feel him.

After the surgery we were taken to recovery where I was finally able to really see my baby and hold him close. I wanted to try breast feeding right away. Because I was hooked to so many wires and IV's I needed a little help from Charles and my midwife (who basically grabbed my boob and stuffed it into the baby's mouth). Like a champ, Jack started to breast feed right away, no problems.

Jack and I spent one night in recovery where I got very little sleep, what with all the machines I was hooked up to and figuring out how to care for a brand new little person. The next morning Jack and I both got a sponge bath from one of the midwives (it's amazing how un-modest you become after having a baby) and then we were taken down to the post natal ward. Charles was with us by this point, having arrived with a life saving cup of StarBucks. I had, for the most part, been feeling pretty good because I was all doped up on morphine and other goodies. Unfortunately, as soon as they wheeled us into our room, that we were sharing with 3 other new moms and their babies, the pains meds started to wear off and I was in serious pain. I think the combination of pain and lots of crying babies and a bunch of doctors and nurses running around the room made me kind of lose it. I waddled over to the nurses station and basically demanded a private room. I felt like a mega-bitch, but it worked and a few minutes and an extra dose of morphine later Jack, Charles and I were all cozy in our own little room.

So, after nine long days sitting in hospital waiting for our little boy to arrive, he was finally here and we were all together as a family. I had some nice souvenirs in the form of bruises from my visit and got an awesome parting gift in the form of little Jack Jones Rudolph.

Trying to Catch Up

2011-05-08T20:24:00.004+01:00

I'm guessing this is something that I will be trying to do for the next few months, maybe even the next few years. While having a baby has been one of the most awesome experiences of my life it has also been one of the most exhausting. I know all you other moms and dads out there can sympathize. Having said that, I am going to attempt to get back to a semi-regular blogging schedule.

So much has happened since Jack's birth and I really want to share it all with you, but it may take some time so bear with me. In the meantime here are a few gratuitous baby pictures for you. We think he's pretty awesome :o)

Introducing...

2011-04-22T23:32:00.003+01:00

Jack Jones Rudolph
Born: April 19, 2011
Time: 2:29pm local London time
Weeks: 36 + 6 days
Weight: 7 lbs exactly
Height: Unknown (UK does not measure height)

I know, I know. You're thinking that our baby Jack is quite possibly the most adorable baby you have ever seen. That's fine, have it your way. I'm not going to argue with you.

Obviously we are thrilled and will try to get back to you shortly with more details. Until then, Cheers!

A day in the life...

2011-04-21T18:00:00.000+01:00

... on the ante-natal ward at St. Mary's Hospital in London. I'm sure you are dying to know what it's like to live in a hospital so I thought I'd share.

I am living on the ante-natal/post-natal ward. So there are other pregnant ladies and new moms with their babies. There are only a few private rooms and it seems they don't like to let people use those ones. I am in a 4-bed room and have had quite a few roommates. Right now it's just me and one other lady, but the room has also been full. It may sound horrible to have to share a room with total strangers, but it is actually kind of nice. I think I would go stir crazy in one of the tiny little private rooms. We each have a bed, chair, table, TV and storage cabinet and then a pretty blue curtain to close ourselves off from the rest of the room if we want. It's quite cozy.

Each day starts out the same. At about 6:30am the mid-wife comes around to check on us and starts handing out meds, taking blood pressures, temperatures and in my case monitoring the babies heart beat and any uterine activity, like contractions.

At 8am breakfast is served. Not the greatest selection as you can see below. Partner visiting hours do not start until 9am so I have some downtime before Charles arrives. Usually, I try to catch up on some sleep. Throughout the day, there is tea and coffee service (cuppa tea hun?) - very British. All instant. Blech. Where is my S'Bucks?

Charles is allowed to stay till 1pm. We have been passing the time by snacking on contraband brought in from the outside and discussing what baby items are still needed. My unexpected early arrival at hospital left me unprepared and Charles has been playing errand boy for me. Buying giant maxi pads, disposable diapers, and other such fun necessities.

Working from my hospital office...

Quite hours are between 1-3pm and this is when lunch is served. I do get to choose from a menu, but my selections sometimes leave much to be desired.

Main visiting hours are between 3-8pm when anyone can drop by. Not a day has gone by where at least 2 or 3 friends haven't come by baring gifts and scrumptious foods. I cannot begin to thank them enough for all the love and support over these last few weeks. They have been amazing. Thank you so much - you know who you are!

My condition requires quite a bit of bloodwork. They must retain a fair amount of fresh blood in case of a transfusion. Because of this, the midwife comes by everyday to take samples. One day she surprised me with 11 vials that needed to be filled. I ended up feeling like a human pin cushion as they have now stuck me 20+ times and left me with loads of bruises on my arms.

My dinner, that is usually supplemented by Charles with Lebanese food from a nice little place across the street. From the picture below you can see why.

Visiting hours end at 8pm and they are quite strict. So its everybody out. For the rest of the evening, I spend my time catching up on emails, watching bad TV, and procrastinating about blogging.

It's Day 6 at hospital and I am patiently awaiting news about my scheduled Cesarean. The next post should be an announcement of Jacks arrival. Charles and I are anxious to meet the little guy. Wish us luck....

Week 36

2011-04-20T20:00:00.002+01:00

So, I hit my 36th week on day three of my hospital incarceration. I'm not really up and about like I used to be and quite often the above images demonstrate what my belly looks like - hooked up to the baby heart monitor. I suspected that I had grown over the past two weeks and that suspicion was confirmed when Charles arrived at the hospital after his epic journey from Melbourne. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw me. I could say it was due to the shock of seeing his beloved in a big hospital bed, but I would just be fooling myself. I feel VERY pregnant.

I am trying to be positive and look at the upsides to being in hospital sooner than I had expected. Two things stand out as positives: Charles came home two weeks sooner than he had planned (sweet!) and we get to meet our little boy two weeks sooner than planned. We can't wait!

Complications and Explanations

2011-04-18T23:08:00.007+01:00

So, a few weeks back I mentioned that there were a few complications with my pregnancy that put me in a high-risk category. At the time I really thought that nothing would come of it and the doctors were just having us take the necessary precautions "just in case" so I didn't really go into any kind of explanation about what the complication was. I thought I'd take a minute now to explain to y'all what the complication is. Just a little warning before reading on: this could be boring for some and TMI for others. Just saying.

I have a condition called placenta previa, which I'm sure some of you have heard of and some of you may have even experienced considering that it occurs to 1 in every 200 pregnancies. Instead of tyring to explain in my own words what this means and possibly mess it up I will just quote BabyCenter.com.

"If you have placenta previa, it means that your placenta is lying unusually low in your uterus, next to or covering your cervix. The placenta is the pancake-shaped organ – normally located near the top of the uterus – that supplies your baby with nutrients through the umbilical cord.

If you're found to have placenta previa early in pregnancy, it's not usually considered a problem. But if the placenta is still close to the cervix later in pregnancy, it can cause bleeding, which can lead to other complications and may mean that you'll need to deliver early. If you have placenta previa when it's time to deliver your baby, you'll need to have a cesarean section."

Usually this condition is diagnosed at the 20 week scan and quite often resolves itself as pregnancy progresses. Unfortunately, mine did not. My placenta has been very stubborn and not at all cooperative. Since being told that I had this condition I have been monitored a little more closely than normal, more scans, more doctors appointments, etc. At 30 weeks we discovered that the problem had not resolved itself, but was, in fact, more complicated than originally thought, hence the no travel restriction.

There are four stages of placenta previa, 1 being minor, 4 being major. I, of course, have stage 4. Nice. Anyhow, the risks are mostly to me and not the baby. Basically, with placenta previa, as the uterus grows the placenta starts to stretch across the cervix and can tear which can result in bleeding. Sometime it is just spotting, but other times it can be a really big bleed and if not stopped right away can be deadly. The doctors gave us all the gorey details and worst case scenarios just to prepare us, but I really thought that I would be just fine and the only negative that I would experience would be having to have a c-section at 38 weeks instead of getting to give birth naturally. Well, as you might have guessed, I was wrong.

A few days ago, my friend Kat and I (who is I have been staying with while Charles is in Melbourne and who is also pregnant) took a tour of the maternity ward at St. Mary's where we both were to plan to deliver. After that we went shopping for dinner food and then when back to Kat's flat. Being 35 weeks pregnant and with a bladder the size of a pea I had to use the facilities for the 37 time that day so excused myself for a few minutes. That's when all the fun began. I sat down to do my business and a few minutes later when I finished I was met with a huge shock. I'm not going to go into great detail, but will just say it wasn't pretty. I had started to bleed and lost a fair amount of blood and hadn't even realized it. Luckily Kat was on hand, totally calm when I yelled for her to call the paramedics and helped me get myself situated. The paramedics arrived within 5 minutes of her call and within 30 minutes of the call I was back in the very same room we had just taken a tour of on the labour ward at St. Marys. Kind of ironic, don't you think.

To sum it all up for you: the bleeding stopped, I was told that if it started again I would have to have the c-section immediately, Charles was called in Melbourne and told to fly home (he arrived 36 hour s later), I was told that I would be camping out on the hospital's ante-natal ward for the duration of my pregnancy and that I needed to take it easy. So, here I sit, in my hospital bed, my new digs, my blue curtained prison, trying to keep this little baby inside of my for a few more days. The baby is totally healthy and has not been affected at in any way by all the trauma. It seems that his mama is the problem child, not him :o)

I'm blushing!

2011-04-06T19:53:00.003+01:00

Not because I've done anything really embarassing or because I've been the lucky recipient of a great compliment. No, nothing like that. I'm blushing because the sun was shining so brightly today and the temperature actually reached into the low 20's and made my cheeks turn a great blush-pink color. The sun literally washed away the grey zombie-like color of my skin and now I look a bit more alive. The sunshine even inspired me to bare my pastey-white legs to the world while sitting on the balcony. It's amazing what a bit of vitamin D can do for you, both physically and mentally.

Week 34

2011-04-01T12:58:00.002+01:00

So, do I look bigger than I did at 32 weeks? I feel a little bit bigger, but I don't think the pictures are showing it. I mean, I am pretty huge, but I think I may have hit a plateau. Baby boy is still growing, of course, and measured at almost 5 lbs when I had my scan earlier this week. I am getting really anxious now. I am so ready to meet the little guy AND to not be pregnant anymore. Less than four weeks to go!

We have finally decided...

2011-03-29T17:23:00.003+01:00

...on a name for our little man.

Now, on to the middle name. We are tossing around two ideas, but have not come to a final decision, so I need your help. It's either Jack Sullivan Rudolph or Jack Jones Rudolph. Both family names. What do you think?

Right on Time!

2011-03-25T10:00:00.001Z

Spring has arrived in London. Four days ago the clouds parted and the sun started to shine and warm the air just enough to make being outside enjoyable. I am trying my best to take advantage of the good days while they are here.

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are too.

He's Gone

2011-03-23T09:33:00.002Z

So, Charles left me this morning. He's gone. For five weeks. Off to Melbourne to start his new job. I'm stuck here in London. By myself. I'm 33 weeks pregnant and my partner is not here with me. I'm kind of bummed. Can you tell?

We got up at 7am this morning and started the walk over to Paddington train station around 7:45am so Charles could catch a train to the airport at 8am. I knew that I was going to be sad, but I didn't think I would cry. I'm not a big crier when it comes to our relationship. I guess that's a good thing, right. It would kind of suck if I was crying all the time because of our relationship. Anyhow, I didn't think I would cry, but during our final hug I could feel the tears starting to well up in the corners of my eyes. We said good bye and he walked away and that's when the tears started to fall. I walked away slowly trying to keep myself under control. The only reason that I didn't break into a full-on bawl-fest is because I was walking through a crowded train station during the morning rush hour and I kind of looked like a homeless person because I was wearing what looked like ratty pajama pants and my scruffy Uggs. I wanted to maintain at least a tiny bit of my dignity until I was out of the public eye. (sigh) (BIG sigh)

Did I make you feel sufficiently sorry for me? I'm pathetic, I know. I'm really not alone here in London. I have a super great group of friends who are all queuing up to help taking care of me and I really am very lucky. Very sad, but also very lucky.

Week 32

2011-03-18T12:05:00.003Z

Since becoming homeless during the last week of February, after giving up our flat too soon, we have been bunking with some of our very generous friends. We are now in our fourth temporary accommodation and still have two more moves to make. It's been a little inconvenient, mostly for our friends, but we are so grateful to have people in our lives who are willing to let us invade their space for weeks at a time. Luckily, for the last six or seven weeks of our stay in London (right before and then after the baby is born) we have found a great flat to rent right in our neighborhood.

Finally, it feels as though everything is falling into place. Except, of course, that Charles is still leaving in a few days to start work in Melbourne. So sad.

Guess What?

2011-03-14T16:01:00.003Z

A couple of weeks ago Charles and I were followed around London for a day by a camera crew. They filmed us in our house, shopping on Portobello Road, eating our favorite falafel and even filmed an afternoon spent with friends at a local pub.

It was a lot of fun and we will get to do a little more of it sometime in the near future. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it was all for just yet. But, I promise you will be the first to know as soon as I'm allowed to spill the beans. Cheers!

A change of plans...

2011-03-10T13:40:00.004Z

Charles and I were supposed to be here this week.

Relaxing in this beautiful chalet, eating yummy food and hanging out with friends.

Enjoying the slopes of Chamonix, France (the non-pregnant people in the group) and sipping hot chocolates and eating cheese.

Sadly, we are not there. In fact, the pregnant one (that's me) will not be going anywhere, anytime soon. We received some unexpected news from the doctor last week after I had my 30 week scan. Due to a complication with my pregnancy that places me in a semi-high risk category I cannot travel. At all. In fact, I was told that I need to be near a hospital at all times and should not be alone. UGH! Of course the doctors need to prepare you for the worst so while it may sound bad the baby and I are in perfectly good health and the risk of anything going wrong is very slim. But still, the travel restriction thing really sucks. Especially given the fact that I am supposed to be flying to Melbourne to start setting up our new home on Saturday! Finding out that I can't go to Melbourne until after the baby is born was really not part of the plan. Charles having to go without me because he has a new job to start was really, really, really not part of the plan (big sign).

Things could be much worse, of course, and if I'm totally honest, although we are very disappointed with this change of plan we are just rolling with it. We can't do anything about it so we are adopting the attitude of "why stress about it." Of course that may all change in a few weeks, but we are trying to stay positive. And there are a lot of positive aspects of staying in London to have the baby. 1. All of our friends are here and they are all so happy that they will actually get to meet the baby now. 2. The birth will be free because I am still employed (now on semi-maternity leave) so NHS covers everything. We will not have to pay the estimated A$15,000 that it would have cost us in Melbourne. 3. I don't have to find a new GP, midwife and hospital and get to stay with a health care system that I am comfortable and familiar with. 4. I don't have to make a 24 hour flight while hugely pregnant and uncomfortable.

We have arranged most of our/my accommodation for the next three months, booked mine and the baby's flight over to Melbourne, scheduled my parents visit and can also book Charles' flight back to London for the birth. Because of the complication I cannot deliver naturally, therefore a scheduled c-section at 38 weeks is how are boy will arrive. We were hoping for a natural birth, but the positive side of having a scheduled c-section is that we get to meet out baby a little sooner than later. 50 days and counting!

Week 30

2011-03-04T17:37:00.003Z

Things are moving right along over here. Ten more weeks and counting! I am starting to get really excited to meet our little boy. I can't wait to see what he looks like! Charles and I are really hoping that he doesn't inherit our bad bits like tiny heads and my bad eye-sight and thin hair. We were both scrawny little kids, but it looks as though our boy is on the larger side at the moment. He is measuring on the high end of the scale and seems to be very healthy.

I am also on the larger side at the moment. My stomach is getting really big and I am moving at about half speed. I am currently on the hunt for some bigger jeans to accommodate my ever-expanding belly.

Thank you to everyone for all the words of encouragement and advice. It means a lot too me. Cheers!

We're Moving!

2011-02-22T12:57:00.004Z

I'm not even sure where to start. The past few weeks have been a bit crazy and chaotic and we have so many exciting things happening, all at once it seems. I will do my best not to make this the longest post ever and just give you an overview, but I have a feeling I will fail miserably, so bear with me.

Although Charles and I have loved our time here in London we have felt, for sometime, that a change was needed. We have been missing the sunshine and outdoor lifestyle that we used to have in California. With a baby on the way we wanted to find someplace to live that would provide our child with the kind of lifestyle that we both grew up with. Beaches, mountains, hiking, surfing, camping... all things that are kind of hard to find in a big city like London. We also knew that we weren't quite ready to end our overseas adventure so moving back to California was not an option.

As I may have mentioned a few time in older posts, Charles has traveled a lot. All over the world (except South American), living in several countries for a few months at a time or just spending a few days before moving on. One country in particular has always held a special place in his heart - Australia. A few years ago we had the chance to spend about two weeks on the East coast of Australia. Of course, we loved it! The easy-going, friendly nature of the people we met, the beautiful landscapes, the sunshine! We were kind of hooked and decided that someday we would make it back to Australia to live and work there, permanently.

Now, four years later, about to start a family, Charles and I found ourselves at a crossroads and had some big decisions to make. Knowing that we didn't want to stay in London, but not really wanting to go back to the States we started thinking about Australia again. Moving there was still something that we both really wanted to do, but didn't know how to make it happen. After hours of plotting and planning we decided that in January of 2011 Charles would need to fly to Sydney and spend a few weeks there talking with recruiters, meeting with potential employers and find himself a job so we could make our dream come true. I could find a job after moving. We figured that all this would take quite a few months and any potential move would not happen until after we had our baby. Turns out, we were very wrong.

This past December Charles' business partner, Simon, had dinner with an old colleague of his who lives in Sydney and works for a software company. Just so happens that his company was looking for a sales manager to work in Melbourne and manage the Western Australia territory. Simon, knowing of our dream to move to Australia and knowing that he might potentially lose his business partner and good friend, mentioned that Charles was looking for a job and he would be perfect for the position. Turns out, he was.

A few phone calls, a handful of emails and another couple weeks later Charles was offered the job. We were moving to Melbourne! This is when things started to get a bit crazy, as you can imagine. The new company wanted Charles to start ASAP, which was fine with us, but there were so many things to factor into a move to a new country, not to mention one that is literally on the other side of the world from where we were currently living. Visas needed to be applied for, two months notice to leave needed to be given to both jobs and landlords, a shipping company needed to be arranged, accounts need to be closed. Temporary accommodation, transportation, bank accounts and pre-natal care in Melbourne needed to be set up. Plus there was the not so pleasant task of telling our families that we were moving even farther away from them. All very exciting, but also very nerve-wracking.

Now, here we are, more than two months after the job offer and we are ready to go. Of course a major move like this rarely goes perfectly smoothly. We have hit a few bumps in the road, like not receiving our visas yet, giving our notice on our flat a little too soon which means we are now bunking with friends and living out of our suitcases. We have our fingers crossed and our flights booked and we are scheduled to leave London for good on March 11th. We are beyond excited and are trying to not let the stress of this huge move get to us. We are confident that all the little kinks will work themselves out and in a few short weeks we will be cruising the streets of Melbourne looking for the perfect spot to set up our little home and get ready for our little baby boy. I can't wait!

Big News, Big, Huge!

2011-02-18T17:23:00.001Z

So, can you guess what our BIG news might be? I'll be back shortly with a full explanation. Stay tuned!

Week 28

2011-02-17T15:32:00.005Z

We are in the home stretch - third trimester! According to the pregnancy iPhone app that I check everyday I have 82 days left. That still seems like a long time to me, but I guess it's not really.

My birthday is tomorrow and, I have to say, I am feeling like an old woman for sure! Not really because I am turning 39, but because my body feels like it's about 70 years old! My bones are sore, I need help getting off the floor, I walk really slowly and I waddle. I waddle when I walk. It's kind of funny.

Earlier this week when I went to my 28 week appointment with my mid-wife she measured my stomach at 29cm. I guess this old fashion technique of measure a pregnant belly to determine size and proper growth of your baby is still very reliable. I am supposed to measure at 1cm per week, give or take 2cm. So, I am right on track and even though I FEEL huge I don't really think I LOOK huge. Apparently, I am the only one that thinks this. The general consensus among my friends and family is that my belly is HUGE. This hasn't really bothered me until just the other day.

I was on my way home and when I got on the tube (subway) it was really busy and there was no place for me to sit. All the seats around me were occupied by men. Thus far in my pregnancy only one man has offered his seat to me, the rest have all been women. I chalk this up to a few things: women recognize a pregnant women more easily and they may have once been in the same situation. Men aren't sure if I'm pregnant or just fat and are scared to offer their seat for fear of offending me and most of the men on the tube on their way home from work are too engrossed in the evening paper to even notice me standing in front of them. Usually I can get a seat within one or two stops so I'm not bothered with standing for a bit. The other day, however, the lady standing next to me was VERY bothered that no one offered me a seat. She took it upon herself to ask the men in front of me to get up so I could sit down. I assured her that I was fine standing, but she insisted that I should have a seat because I was "obviously enormously pregnant" and the men should be ashamed. Thanks lady! I think I turned three shades of red and couldn't look at anyone as I sat down in one of the vacated seats. I'm surprised I even fit in one of them because I'm so "enormous."

Anyhow, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I plan on spending mine eating some yummy food and celebrating my b-day with a few friends. Cheers!

Happy Valentines Day...

2011-02-14T13:57:00.003Z

...Mr. Rudolph.

Bjorn vs. Ergo

2011-02-07T15:02:00.001Z

I never thought I would see the day when Charles Rudolph would be wearing a baby carrier! He doesn't think this is something that we will need or that it will be very useful. I've been trying to convince him that it is not at all uncool for a dad to use a baby carrier and it is actually a bit of a turn-on for a lot of woman. He has yet to be convinced.

There are so many gadgets and gizmos out there that claim to make your life with baby easier and better. For the most part I think they are all just more things to spend money on and not at all necessities. I do, however, think that a baby carrier is one of the few items that actually IS really important to have. So, I need help from any mom's and dad's out there. Which is better, the Baby Bjorn or the Ergo?

Week 26

2011-02-04T15:29:00.005Z

It's happened. I've taken to wearing Charles t-shirts around the house. I'm one week away from wearing his pajamas and boxers too. Nothing fits me anymore. Everything I put on feels too tight. I can't seem to find any clothes that are comfortable in my tiny little selection of maternity clothes. It's kind of frustrating. Any time I leave the house I wear either the same pair of jeans or black leggings and a long shirt or sweater. It's kind of pathetic, folks.

I thought my stomach had hit a bit of a plateau in the growth department two weeks ago, but I'm pretty sure I have started to grow again, as evidenced below. My belly button is stubbornly holding on. It just doesn't want to pop out and give me a nice smooth bump.

And look how lopsided I still am. Maybe little Ocky is pushing his bum up against my left side to make it stick out like that. Just in case you're wondering about the name Ocky, it's not permanent. We still can't decide on a name so we decided to come up with something that we would never actually name him, but that was very different and kind of funny. Charles chose Ocky after some Australian surfer. My choice was Barstow, which is what my parents called all four of their children while in-utero. Sorry, Mom and Dad, I tried.

I have several post almost ready to go for you so stay tuned for a few more next week. They aren't all baby related either, I promise :o) Have a super weekend!

Week 24

2011-01-20T16:02:00.003Z

I have to say, it's really nice to be past the half way mark and to look pregnant enough, even with my bulky winter coat on, that strangers are now commenting on my pregnancy. It helps the reality of my being pregnant really sink in. I know, it's been 24 weeks. I should be used to what is going on with my body and that we have actually achieved what we tried so hard for. No matter, every single day either Charles or myself exclaim with some surprise, "Wow, I'm/you're actually pregnant!"

I wonder when we are going to get used to being pregnant or if it's always going to seem a bit like a strange dream? I suppose the reality of all these months will hit us when we are handed a tiny little human that we are solely responsible for. I wonder how we are going to handle it? Is it going to feel completely natural or will it take a few days/weeks to really sink in that we are parents? I wonder if we are going to feel as clueless then as we do right now? There's a lot of things I'm wondering about lately.

I'm just going to keep telling myself to enjoy right now and not to worry about all the unknowns. Enjoy the last few months of having Charles all to myself and being able to spend baby-free time with my friends. Big things are happening in the next few months so I really want to focus on what's in front of me right now, to soak it all up and enjoy it. I'm going to start tonight, with dinner and a movie with my favorite person. Have a great weekend!

Thank You Anonymous

2011-01-18T16:21:00.002Z

I wanted to take a quick moment to thank all my anonymous commenters (and my named commenters). I really appreciate all the nice comments that I have been receiving lately and I wish I could respond to you with individual thanks. But, alas, you are anonymous so a group thank you will have to do. Cheers!

photo via here

Paris When it Snows

2011-01-14T13:25:00.009Z

The week before Christmas Charles and I were gifted train tickets to Paris for the weekend with all hotel and restaurant reservations already planned for us. Our good fortune was due to the misfortune of our friends Lauren and Simon. Lauren had seriously hurt her back the week before and could barely get out of bed, much less walk the streets of Paris. We had nothing planned for the weekend so jumped at the chance to visit Paris when they offered us the tickets.

We've been to the City of Light numerous times and have already seen and done most of the "must see and do's" on our list. We decided that this trip was going to be all about exploring the lesser know parts of the city (at least to us) and just spend our time walking, eating and shopping.

We focused our time in the Marais and Saint Germain with several trips to the larger department stores BHV, Gallaries la Fayette and Le Bon Marche. We got to experience the somewhat rare occurrence of snow in Paris which made for very cold and wet days so we needed to retreat to the warmth of these lovely stores several times over the weekend. In the Marais we sampled dueling falafel houses L'As du Falafel and Mi-Va-Mi with the latter being our favorite. We had a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants Au Bougnat near Notre Dame and a really nice lunch at a cafe right next to Chatelet metro station called Au Vieux Comptoir.

Below is a small pictorial of our weekend. All the photos were taken with Charles iPhone and an app called Hipstamatic. It's a pretty cool app that allows you to choose your film, lens, filters and flash to mimic film photography. The results are not always good, but we had fun with it and I think we got some really dramatic photos.

Church near our hotel in the Marais

Place de la Bastille Monument

Wine bar next to our hotel (note the street name)

Our morning cafe and croissant

Champs Elysees on a snowy night

View of the Eiffel Tower in the distance

Jardin des Tuileries

The famous Les Deux Magots where we stopped for a drink

The Pont Neuf

Except for almost getting stuck in Paris for an extra few days due to the snow storms which nearly brought the Eurostar to a standstill causing us to arrive home 8 hours later than we had intended, the trip was wonderful.

*Special thanks to my loving partner Charles who did everything in his power to get his pregnant girlfriend home during the Eurostar debacle including, but not limited to: pushing, pleading, exaggerating the truth, queue jumping, charming a few officials and throwing the pregnancy card. I am forever grateful.

Week 22 (a bit late)

2011-01-09T19:37:00.005Z

I'm late with the latest belly shots. Shocking, I know. I do have a valid excuse though. Charles' parent's were kind enough to fly us to New Orleans right after Christmas so that we could visit with them and check out there new home town. They bought a home in NOLA last year and this has been our first chance to come visit them. We have had a great time and I have hardly touched a computer in the two weeks we have been gone. We fly home today so I thought I should get back online and catch up a little bit before getting back to real life.

I have pictures from our NOLA trip to share with you and a few from a trip we took right before Christmas, but today I am just going to share pictures of my expanding belly with you. You might want to sit down for these. I have grown a lot in the last two weeks.

(Does my stomach look a little lopsided or is it just me?)

The newest and most exciting development is that I can feel the little guy kicking! I had read in several books and been told by many women that you would just feel a little flutter that could easily be mistaken as gas and then slowly you would feel little nudges. Not so with our boy. Christmas night while sitting on the couch with my hands resting on my belly I felt a big punch. So much so it made me jump. I told Charles and he dismissed it as gas, but put his head down on my belly to check and got a big kick in the face. It's pretty cool. It's funny how I felt nothing at all one day and then the next he's kicking constantly. In fact, he's kicking right now as I write about it :o)

Thank you so much for all your name suggestions. We are having quite a difficult time coming up with a few that we both agree on. I think the name game is going to be a long battle and will not be decided until the very end. I promise to keep you updated and would still appreciate any and all suggestions. Til' next time. Cheers!

Week 20

2010-12-24T19:13:00.003Z

We've reached the half way point folks! It seems like I have been pregnant forever. I think that has to do with the fact that we went through IVF and that whole process felt like part of the pregnancy. Maybe this second half will fly by. Especially now that we know we are having a little...

... boy! Yep, we had our 20 week scan on Wednesday and found out that we will be welcoming a sweet baby boy in a few months.

Now, the challenge is to find a name that both Charles and I like. He is incredibly particular when it comes to names because he has always hated his. Super simple and common is the goal. Any suggestions for a name that goes well with Rudolph as the surname? We need help!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Week 18

2010-12-10T12:12:00.003Z

Wha-Bamm!! The belly is out! Look at that sucker. I didn't realize how much it had grown in the last two weeks until I looked at my last post. Now I'm wondering when my belly button is going to pop out, if at all. That little indent is interfering with a perfectly round and smooth belly.

There's been two interesting development over the past few weeks as far as the prego symptoms go. Even though I am supposedly past the "morning sickness" phase and I never actually threw up during the first trimester I have now started throwing up. It's not a daily occurrence, but it kind of sucks. Especially considering the first time it happened I was walking to the Tube in the morning and I wasn't able to make it back home in time and ended up puking on the side of the road between two cars. Not one of my finer moments. The other thing is a twice weekly nose bleed. Again, the first time it happened I was stuck on a Tube with no tissues and I had to use my hat to stop the flow. Lovely stuff. I've read this is not uncommon in your forth month so I'm not worried. I've just started to carry a pack of tissues with me at all times.

Despite the inconveniences mentioned above, things are going well. I am starting to feel a bit more connected to the little guy/girl growing inside of me. I think Charles is too as he is constantly touching and kissing my belly. It's a nice feeling. Apparently, I should start to feel some kicking pretty soon. That, I'm guessing, is going to be really cool.

The weather here has still been very cold, but we are supposed to get a break over the weekend which be so great. I hoping to put a couple Christmas decorations and maybe check out the holiday village set up in Hyde Park. I think a mug of hot cocoa is just what I need. - Cheers!

Week 16

2010-11-24T13:12:00.003Z

Today has been a good day. Despite record-breaking, below freezing temperatures and a Tube strike, which meant I had to leave extra early this morning and walk more than usual, I made it to my 16 week midwife appointment on time and got to hear my baby's heart beat. Even though my stomach has been slowly growing and I am still experiencing yucky morning sickness symptoms, I was a little worried there wasn't REALLY a baby in there. Stupid, I know. Anyhow, everything checked out fine, all my blood tests have come back with good results, I've gained just the right amount of weight and booked our next scan appointment where we will get to find out the sex.

Now, on to the pictures. I think I look legitimately pregnant now. Especially when you look at the picture of me facing forward.

Total strangers are even noticing now. Today, a very nice lady gave up her seat on the Tube to me when she noticed my bump. I tried to decline the offer, but she insisted. I guess my tactic of unbuttoning my coat and pulling my scarf to the side to show off my bump was very effective. I felt guilty for using such a tactic, but was also incredibly thankful as the train got extremely full and I had a long ride ahead of me.

Not much else is happening over here in London, which explains my lack of regular posts. We have a few holiday parties coming up and I since we are spending Christmas here (our first in five years) I get to decorate a little bit. Hopefully, something post-worthy will happen soon so I can share with you guys. Until that happens, stay warm!

Eating for two - Texas style!

2010-11-15T15:09:00.004Z

I know the saying "eating for two" when you are pregnant is NOT something you should take literally, but I think I forgot that a few weeks ago. On my way to California I had a layover in Dallas for two days to visit a good friend who used to live here in London, but now lives just North of Dallas. We had a great time hanging out, shopping, playing with her son and eating. Eating a lot. Seriously, our days were planned around what restaurants we were going to hit.

One thing high on my list was to eat some Texas BBQ. I had never visited anywhere in the south, but have always heard about how great the bbq is. Fran knew just the place to take me so on the afternoon of my departure she took me to Hutchins BBQ in McKinney.

OMG, it was so good! We made complete pigs of ourselves and I probably embarrassed Fran a bit by taking a bunch of pictures, but it was all so yummy! All the meat choices followed by a bunch of hot and cold sides like mac-n-cheese, potato salad, macaroni salad, jalapeno cornbread and ranch beans. I think there were also a few veggies in there, but I bypassed them all for the most fattening, carbo-loaded choice available.

After we polished off the majority of our lunch we went for dessert which consisted of a giant trough of vanilla pudding with bananas and Nilla Wafers and a warm pan of peach cobbler.

I don't know if Hutchins BBQ is the best out there, but it gets a thumbs up in my book.

Weeks 13 and 14

2010-11-11T11:43:00.006Z

So, I am officially showing. Not in the "Oh, you're pregnant" way, but in the "Wow, your kind of thick" way. If you didn't know me you would think I had a beer gut under my shirt, not a baby. Getting dressed in the morning has become a bit of a chore. None of my pants really fit anymore. I've adopted the rubber band trick for keeping my pants closed, but the zipper never makes it all the way to the top. I'm kind of ready to have a bigger belly so that maternity clothes will start to fit.

Speaking of maternity clothes, there is not a lot of cute, affordable options out there. Most of what I have seen is seriously ugly. Luckily, while I was in California my mom and sister, who both have experience with this whole pregnancy thing, took my on a little shopping spree. Apparently, buying regular clothes a few sizes bigger than your normal size is the key. I did purchase a few pairs of maternity jeans, which I kind of like, but just about everything else was non-maternity. My mom and sister were SO helpful! They loaded up with armfuls of options, carried everything around for me, never got annoyed when I turned my nose up at one of their choices and did all the hanging and re-hanging of the stuff I tried on. It was like have my own personal shoppers! Now, thanks to the shopping spree and a load of stuff my best friend loaned me and several things from my existing wardrobe I am pretty well stocked.

The last few weeks have been kind of rough ones. Although I had an amazing time at my girlfriends wedding and loved spending so much time with my family I have not been feeling that great. I still feel queasy most days and now I have horrible back pain and can't sleep well. I am officially in my second trimester so I am hoping that I will start feeling better soon. Being pregnant is not what I had expected, that is for sure! I'm ready for that pregnancy glow that everyone talks about to kick in.

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I'm a bad blogger.

2010-11-10T12:26:00.003Z

A very bad blogger. It's been nearly three weeks since my last post. Now, I realize that most of you didn't even notice that I was gone and your lives went on as usual, completely unaffected by absence, as it should be, but I still feel like a huge flake. I do have a good excuse though. I was in California visiting my family and attending a friends wedding and I was kind of busy. I think I only touched a computer three times while I was away. It was kind of nice to take a break from being constantly connected via the internet, but I think I am ready to jump back into things. I have a few different posts lined up for the next few days showing off my baby bump and a few of the things I did while I was gone. Stay tuned!

11 Weeks

2010-10-20T22:43:00.004+01:00

Ahhh! We literally just walked in the door from our 11 week ultrasound and it was so cool. Instead of a little blob with a tiny flutter of a heart beat we could see an actual person! Still kind of alien-like, but definitely a baby. This scan was to test for genetic abnormalities. I also had to get a blood test. The ultrasound tech said everything looked really good, but I'm sure they always say that. Anyhow, we will get the results from the test in two weeks, so keep your fingers crossed that it's all good.

This week the baby is the size of a fig. About 1.5 inches long. My slight nausea has turned into full-blown all day sickness. I feel like CRAP about 80% of the day, but no throwing up so I still consider myself lucky. I am getting on a plane for a 10 hour flight in about 3 hours so I'm hoping that it all goes well and I don't feel horribly bad during the whole trip. I'm heading for California to visit family and because I am a bridesmaid in a friends wedding. I am so looking forward to some California sunshine. It will be a nice break from the freezing cold London temps.

Cheers!

Week 10

2010-10-14T11:07:00.005+01:00

Yep, we've reach week 10 which means I am a quarter of the way through. Only 209 days to go! Man, that seems like forever doesn't. This weeks food comparison is to that of a kumquat. I couldn't find a kumquat so I decide a large cherry tomato would do the trick. The baby is about an inch long from head to bum and weighs only a quarter of an once. It's surprising something so tiny can make you feel so gross. While I haven't experienced any traditional morning sickness, I have started to feel nauseous about 5 out of 7 days a week. Yesterday I was really late to work and left early because I felt so crappy. All part of the process I guess. One thing I have found to help alleviate the nauseous feeling is exercise so I plan to up my gym trips to at least four times a week.

In non-baby related news, because I know it bores many of you, we are starting to experience the first signs of winter over here. The high today was 52 and there has been a fine mist falling all day. I have been resisting for weeks, but I finally had to break out my winter coat. I'm hoping for a slight reprieve when I am in Dallas and California later next week. Bring on the sunshine!

Speed Racer

2010-10-12T10:16:00.004+01:00

This past Sunday Charles ran in the Royal Parks Half Marathon. He didn't really want to. He didn't even really train for it that much. But, he loves his girlfriend and because she couldn't run the race, as originally intended, he volunteered to take her place. Such a nice guy!

For someone who really didn't want to do the race and only completed about 12 training runs he did exceptionally well. His goal was to run 8 minute 15 second mile for a finish time of about 1 hour 47 minutes. Being the competitive guy that he is he crushed his goal and came in at 1 hour 33 minutes! He shaved a full minute off his mile time. He was so fast, that we almost missed him at a few of the points along the course that we stopped to cheer him on. He finished 423 overall out of 12,000 runners. Not bad for a 42 year old!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Charles on the day of the race and thanks to those who sponsored him beforehand. If you didn't get a chance to sponsor Charles before the race you still have time. Just click the link below. Thanks!

Tuscany

2010-10-08T14:34:00.009+01:00

Tuscany was wonderful, beautiful, delicious and warm. Our hosts were extremely welcoming and generous. The villa we stayed in was so nice, smack-dab in the middle of vineyards and sunflower fields. The food we ate was fresh and so tasty that we ate way more than was necessary. And the weather was perfect! I can't wait until we get to go back!

We seemed to fit so much into each day, while never feeling rushed or overwhelmed. I'm not sure I will be able to describe the trip accurately enough just in words so I am going to rely mostly on pictures. Prepare yourself because there are a lot. But they are really pretty!

Day 1 - Arrived early morning in Perugia and drove to the hilltop town for some sight seeing and lunch. We also picked up a few bottles of wine and nibbles to bring to our hosts at the villa. We got a little lost when we tried to leave the city and ended up circling the base of Perugia about four times before we finally found the right road. Getting lost is actually kind of fun when you're not in a hurry.

We arrived a little late to the villa because of bad directions. Apparently, the five other couples that were staying at the villa got lost too so we didn't feel too stupid. Our hosts were the parents of a friend from Santa Cruz that Charles grew up with. Her whole family was there along with a few more of their friends. We feel so lucky to have been invited.

Day 2 - After breakfast at the communal dining table at the villa we headed out with our friends Jason, Keiki and their daughter Chiara. Our destination was a few little towns in the Chianti region. Because it was mid-week and the end of the season all the little villages we stopped at were very quiet, which was just perfect.

At the end of the day we stopped in Siena in search of a supposed amazing enoteca where Charles wanted to sample some wines. Unfortunately, we never found it. We headed back to the villa and spent the evening eating yummy cheese and meats and bread and drinking way too much wine and limoncello (not me, of course) and stayed up way too late playing poker.

Side note: Chiara fell in love with Charles and they were best buddies during the whole trip. We literally had to pry her off his legs when we left at the end of the trip. It was really fun to watch them together.

Day 3 - After a somewhat extended drive, due to misleading road signs we had a yummy lunch in Florence (Firenze). Charles and hiked up to the top of the Duomo, roamed the shops for awhile and then we met our friends for a drink and some gelato before heading back to the villa for a big family dinner.

Day 4 - Charles and I didn't feel like we had enough time to see everything in Florence the day before so we headed back, taking the train this time, and spent the day walking around the city, exploring the food market (always a favorite), walked along the River Arno while eating a gelato and across the Ponte Vecchio and finished the day with a peak at Michelangelo's David. For dinner that night we met Keike and Jason at an old monastery in Chianti called Badia a Coltibuono for a really nice dinner.

Day 5 - This day was pretty jam-packed, but was a lot of fun. We all got up early and drove to Arezzo to check out the antiquities market. A-ma-zing! The streets were lined with vendors selling everything from beautiful antique furniture to vintage radios to antique jewelry. If we had had some way of getting it back home we would have left with a really cool old sideboard for our living room. Maybe some day we will make it back there.

After the market, Charles, Jason, Keiki and myself hopped on a train back to Florence. We had tickets to Florence vs. Palermo football game (soccer). Both Charles and Jason are huge football fans so this was a must-do activity on this trip. Although the game was a good one Florence lost, which was a bummer. For our last dinner, we met Keiki and Jason's friends in the center of Florence and squeezed in one last gelato before hopping on the train back home.

Day 6 - After saying our goodbyes and prying Chiara off Charles' legs we drove back to Perugia to catch our flight home. We had such a good time and I would recommend a Tuscan holiday to anybody who loves beautiful landscapes, good food and gorgeous old cities. We're already plotting a way to get back there soon. Arrivederci!

Week 9

2010-10-06T15:32:00.005+01:00

Week 9 started out pretty good. How could it not when we were spending our days roaming the Italian countryside and cities. I did my very best not to over-indulge on all the delicious food that was available and limited myself to only one gelato each day. I was also happy to discover that I didn't miss out on drinking a bunch of good wine. The few times I tried a sip of what Charles was drinking it tasted like vinegar to me. I think maybe my taste buds have changed over the last few weeks.

I am still feeling pretty good over all. I am a lot more tired than normal and my trips to the toilet have increased ten-fold, which means I go pee about 30 times a day, no joke. No weight gain as of yet and no visible "baby bump" other than what was there before I got prego. Sadly, I did not have and never have had a flat stomach so after a big meal I could easily be mistaken for someone much farther into her pregnancy than I actually am. I have an occasional "off" feeling where I'm not really nauseous, but I just don't feel very good. It usually goes away quite quickly though. Of course, I am experiencing one of those moments as I'm writing this. Ugh. Maybe some chocolate will help :o)

This week the baby is the size of a grape!

Look for a post on our Italy trip in a few days. Cheers!

Week 8

2010-09-29T11:00:00.000+01:00

First off, I want to say a big thank you to everyone for all the sweet comments that I got last week. I really appreciate everyones well wishes, advice and support. It means a lot to me. Hopefully you will keep coming back every week to check on our progress and my growing belly.

So, I am officially eight weeks into my pregnancy. I had my second ultra sound yesterday morning and the doctors moved my due date up by just two days, so it is now May 11th, 2011. There wasn't a lot more to see on this ultra sound. I could still see the heart beat, but other than that it's just a little black blob in a sea of fuzzy grey. Still, it was pretty cool.

Each week I am going to try and show you how big the baby is with a little food comparison and once I have a noticeable belly I will also show you that. This week the baby is about the size of a kidney bean.

We are off today for a little Tuscan sunshine. Be back next week!

She's up to her old tricks again.

2010-09-24T11:52:00.004+01:00

Mother Nature, that is. It seems as thought the very day summer ticked over into fall she decided she was done being nice to us over here in London. The temperature has dropped by at least 10 degrees, the sky has been painted a dreary gray and the rain faucet has been set to drizzle or downpour. I'm thinking that I should just keep my wellies parked by the door because I think I will be needing them a lot over the next few months. Luckily, Charles and I will have a slight respite from the drizzle as we head off to Italy next week to meet some friends for a few days. I can't wait!

photo via here

Two hearts are better than one.

2010-09-22T12:15:00.005+01:00

OMG, OMG, OMG! We saw our baby's heart beat the other day! We are 6+ weeks into the pregnancy and I haven't really felt any symptoms so it almost didn't seem real. But, as soon as we saw the little flutter of a heart beat on the scan monitor it became so much more real. How crazy to think that I have two hearts inside of me right now, mine and the baby's. Because it is still so early in my pregnancy the doctor wasn't able to get an accurate measurement so I will have to go in again next week for another scan, which is totally fine with me. I feel lucky that we got to see the heart beat so early. Most people don't have a scan until 12 weeks, but because we went through IVF the clinic preforms a 6 weeks scan before they release you to your regular GP. Anyhow, next weeks appointment will confirm this, but the tentative due date is May 13th, 2011. Just after Mother's Day!

Run Charles, Run!

2010-09-21T15:07:00.004+01:00

So... I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but before I got knocked up I was training for a half marathon. I signed up for a team that raises money for the Elephant Family charity and I pledged to raise £350. I assumed, somewhat ignorantly, that I would be able to continue with my training and run the race even while pregnant. Not so, said the doctor. In fact, she kind of laughed at me when I asked her if I could resume my training a few weeks ago. I really, really thought that if I had been regularly exercising before getting pregnant that I would be able to continue on. I thought exercising would help me throughout the pregnancy and delivery and facilitate a speedy recovery. While this is all true, running is one of the exercises I cannot do, at least according the the NHS doctors. So, I had to give up the half marathon training and go back to my normal gym routine.

Charles, being the wonderful, supportive guy that he is, had been training with me even though he had no desire to run the race and has kept up the training even though I have stopped. I'm not sure how I did it, but somehow I convinced him to take my place in the race. After all, he's been training for 10 weeks, he should put all that hard work to the test. The only catch is that I promised to do all the fund raising for him.

The race is on October 10th and the course winds through Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James Park, down to the River Thames and back. Charles' training is going really well, but my fund raising efforts have been pretty dismal. I would truly appreciate any support you could give us by making a donation to a really good cause. Just click on the "Just Giving" button below to sponsor Charles. I promise to document the race and blog about it afterward. Cheers!

A little more detail

2010-09-14T13:47:00.006+01:00

Realizing that my last post was lacking details of any kind regarding how we found out the good news, I thought I would elaborate for you now. It's really not a super exciting story, but, of course, it was life changing for us.

After our embryo implantation we were handed a home pregnancy test and instructions on how to use it and what to do once we found out the results. We were also given the exact date that we were to take the test which was 11 days later. A life-time, it seemed. I wish I could say that the days between implantation and the test were easy to get through and that I hardly thought of what the results might be, but that would be a huge lie. Would I be or won't I be was an all-consuming thought. I was totally annoyed with myself for thinking about it so much, but I couldn't help it. I started out being very optimistic, but as the days wore on I started feeling gloomy and kept telling Charles that I didn't think it had worked. If I could have I would have had a nice BIG glass of wine after having completing a mellow run through the park each night to calm my nerves, but I wasn't allowed to exercise or drink alcohol until the results were in. So unfair!

The night before the test I didn't sleep well. I was anxious to find out the result, but also dreading it, fearing I would be really disappointed. After waking up nearly every hour, at 7:00am I rolled over to Charles and told him I couldn't wait any longer. So, with shaking hands I went in to the bathroom, peed on the stick, then got back in bed to wait. After the three minutes was up we both walked into the bathroom to read our fate. Charles picked up the stick and said "It's positive, it's positive!" I looked at it and only saw a faint line and asked if he was sure. He read the directions again which said even a faint line is a positive result. I think I was in shock because I asked if that meant I was only a little bit pregnant. We hugged and then crawled back in bed stupidly thinking we might be able to go back to sleep for a few more hours. It would have been nice to keep the news all to ourselves for a little while, but because all of our friends knew what we were going through and because we chose to blog about it everyone kept asking. We were able to ignore everyone for a day, but then figured we might as well tell everyone. It was really nice to hear all the excitement of our friends and family.

It's still very early days and I am a little bit nervous, but mostly nothing feels different. I'm not sure the reality of what we have achieved has totally sunk in. I am not really experiencing any symptoms yet so maybe when I do it will feel more real. Or maybe after we have our first ultrasound (which is a week) and I can see with my own two eyes that there really is something in there I will feel pregnant. I will admit that every few days I have a moment of panic and ask myself "What were we thinking!" I will be 39 and Charles will be 43 by the time this baby is born. Are we crazy for embarking on this journey so much later in life than most people? But, then I remember all the reasons why we wanted this and I feel excited. I think about how many cool things we have already done and all the places we've traveled to and the many friends that we have made around the world. We've done a lot of the things that most people do after their kids have grown and moved out. I guess we are just doing it all backwards.

Either way, we are pretty stoked that IVF worked for us on the first try and we are being "cautiously optimistic" as Charles likes to say. A huge thank you to all of you who have supported us and to the NHS for making this whole thing possible. I'm hoping to get back to more regular posts about life in London and other nonsense, but rest assured, I will be giving regular updates about the pregnancy and all that entails. I might even post a few pictures of my growing belly, just to keep it real. Cheers!

The full story here.

The results are in!

2010-09-10T11:35:00.003+01:00

I'll be back next week to give you a little more detail, but I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all your support. It's been a pretty cool journey and I'm glad you came along for the ride!

Notting Hill Carnival

2010-09-09T11:50:00.000+01:00

This post is coming to you a little bit late. Two weeks late in fact. I've had other things on my mind and just forgot to post this, so I apologize. I realize that some of you probably don't care to hear about anything other than the results of our IVF journey and I promise, that will be coming soon, very soon. In the meantime, take a peak at the craziness that engulfed our neighborhood for two days.

Notting Hill Carnival is held every year on the last weekend of August which is our last bank holiday weekend of the summer. Sunday and Monday finds our peaceful little neighborhood transformed. Food stalls, beer stalls, sound stages and a chaotic parade fill the streets and about 1,000,000 people show up to enjoy the festivities. Our quite street is transformed into one of the main thoroughfares into the carnival and the sound of whistles and horns can be heard all day long. Even though Carnival can be a bit of an inconvenience it is still a pretty cool thing that Europe's largest block party happens right outside our door.

Step 4 - Embryo Transfer

2010-09-02T15:10:00.000+01:00

We've come to the final step in our journey. The step that makes the last few weeks worthwhile and gives me a chance to become pregnant. That step is the embryo transfer.

After egg collection when the eggs have been fertilized they develop into embryos. As I mentioned before, seven of my fertilized eggs developed into embryos. In a normal IVF cycle embryos are transferred to the uterus three days after egg collection. In some cases the patient can choose to wait until five days after egg collection when the embryos have had a chance to reach the blastocyst stage. This stage allows the embryos to develop more fully and for the embryologists to choose the best embryos for transfer. An embryo has to develop into a blastocyst in order to implant into the uterus and continue developing. Only about 25-60% of embryos will progress to the blastocyst stage.

If you've been following along you might remember that the council I pay taxes to is in charge of funding my IVF cycles. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where the council will fund up to three cycles for woman aged 39 or younger. The only thing they won't fund is blastocyst transfer. The cost to wait the extra days for the embryos to develop more fully is £550 ($845). Although not a small sum of money, we decided that after going through all that we had we wanted the best possible chance of conceiving so we paid the £550. After letting the embryos develop for two extra days three of the seven had developed into blastocysts and we were ready for the transfer.

The morning of the transfer we chatted with an embryologist about the quality of the embryos and how many we wanted to transfer. In the UK doctors are only allowed to transfer up to two embryos for women aged 39 or younger and up to three for women 40+. We had lots of questions about the chances of getting pregnant with only one embryo vs. two and the chances of conceiving twins or a singleton with two embryos. Many factors play a part in a woman's chance of conceiving via IVF like age, general health, quality of embryos, normal cycles, etc. We were given a bunch of stats (of which most I can't remember now because I was very nervous) but the most important was that I have about a 35% chance of conceiving. We took a few minutes by ourselves to discuss how many we wanted to transfer (which I'm keeping a secret), I got a little emotional, we told the embryologists our decision and then I got ready for the transfer.

Embryo transfer is very much like a smear test (my female readers will know what this is) and it only takes a few minutes. I had to change into a hospital gown, Charles into a lovely paper bodysuit. We walked into the room where the deed was done, Charles got to see the embryos appear in my uterus on the scan monitor and then I was wheeled into the recovery area where I had to lay on my back for 20 minutes. The only part of the procedure that was uncomfortable was that I had to have a VERY full bladder in order for the doctor to correctly place the embryo in my uterus. After the 20 minutes were up we were sent home with a pregnancy test and instructions on when to take it. Simple as that.

So... we have a few more days left before we can take the test to see if it worked. The waiting is horrible! Will I be or won't I be has been an all-consuming thought for the last several days. I can't wait to find out, but I am also dreading the results. As one friend has said, please send me all the good mojo you can, because I sure as heck need it right now.

To read the whole IVF story go here.

Step 3.5 - Fertilization

2010-08-27T17:07:00.000+01:00

With all the serious, medically technical procedures going on around here lately I thought you might enjoy something a little simpler and entertaining. At least I found it entertaining. It was also a crucial step in the IVF process as it's the time where Charles got to step up and shine!

Throughout the long process of trying to get to where we are today, Charles has had to do very little, physically. Of course, he has been a great support to me, has attended all the appointments that were required and we have made all the tough decisions together. But as far as getting poked, prodded and scanned on a weekly basis he has had to endure none of this. His main task has been to provide a few "samples." Although a relatively straightforward and simple concept, the actual procuring of these samples was not a fun task, but did provide a lot of entertainment afterward.

The pictures below are priceless!

After receiving detailed instructions and the necessary kit Charles was ready to go.

The facilities, while sorely lacking in charm, provided the all that was needed to get the job done.

Just in case one did not quite know what to do once in the room, simple illustrations were provided. And to ease any worries that might be had, the following line was typed at the bottom of the illustration, "We need a semen sample to test and it doesn't make you blind." Thank God!

Four separate times Charles had to join the queue of husbands and partners at the donation clinic, the last, most important time on the day of egg collection. While I do not envy what he had to do, he provided the key ingredient to make the fertilization of my eggs possible. Charles, were it not for your precious samples, we would not be where we are today. To quote the doctors and nurses "Good Job!"

Step 1, Step 2, Step 2.5, Step 3

Step 3 - Egg Collection

2010-08-20T14:13:00.007+01:00

Egg collection day started WAY too early. When the alarm went off at 6:00am I hit snooze, rolled over and almost fell back asleep. In anticipation of the events to come I barely slept the night before. After the second snooze, we finally got out of bed, got ready to go and then headed to the hospital.

We arrived promptly at 7:10am, checked in and then were led back to "surgery." Egg collection is an out patient procedure, but it felt very much like I was going in for some major operation. Hospital beds, monitors, nurses in scrubs, paper curtains around the beds, crash carts. Our nurse came in, introduced herself and then began to explain what was going to be happening. Lots and LOTS of information was shared with us, taken from us, double checked with us and so on. I was patient number two that morning and the actual procedures didn't start until 9:00am so we settled in for a wait.

Luckily, we had a lot of visitors before the procedure so the time went by pretty quickly. We were visited by the embryologist who explained how they collect and fertilize the eggs, then the nurse came back to explain to Charles how and where to make his "donation" (more on that later). Next, the doctor came in and basically told us all the same stuff the embryologist had told us. At least I think he told us the same stuff. He had a very heavy accent and I really only understood about every fourth word he said. Then the anesthesiologist came in and I promptly asked him to please knock me out completely, I didn't want to be aware of what was going on at all. He explained that although I was only being given a local anesthetic I would be heavily sedated and would most likely sleep through the whole procedure. Just what I wanted to hear. Last, was an extremely sweet little male nurse, whom I later, in a drug induced state, said smelled like cinnamon and chocolate. He was the nurse that took into the operating room and got me settled.

Just as the anesthesiologists promised, I was in lala land during the procedure. I remember him inserting my IV and telling me he was starting the sedation and then the next thing I know, I was waking up in the recovery area to someone calling my name. While I was in surgery Charles had run to the cafeteria to get some breakfast and made it back just as I was waking up. He was kind enough to take a little video of the first few moments of my post-op consciousness. As you know, I am not adverse to posting embarrassing pictures of myself as shown here and here, but I just can't bring myself to share this video with you. It's just a little too embarrassing. I will tell you that when asked where I wanted to go next I said "I'm going to Disneyland," as if I was some football player won had just won the SuperBowl. Nice.

After the anesthesia wore off and I was given some food and drink the doctor came in to tell us that he had retrieved 11 eggs and they were very happy with the results. It's kind of funny how we have been told, at every step in this process, that the doctors/nurses are very happy with the results and that we did very well. I always feel as though we are being praised for our efforts, as if we tried extra hard therefore we have had good results. In actual truth, we followed the same instructions that everyone going through IVF has to follow and we have been lucky to get good results. I TOTALLY appreciate being told that everyone is very happy and that we did a good job because that means the IVF is working, but the phrasing always sounds kind of weird to me.

My eggs were fertilized right after they were retrieved and we were sent home with instructions for me to take it easy for the rest of the day, start my antibiotics and take aspirin for any pain. The embryologist would call us the next day to let us now how many of my eggs accepted fertilization. I was feeling great when we left and figured I would take a little nap and then everything would be great. Wrong. After the nap the pain medication wore off and aspirin did little to easy it. I've definitely had worse pain, but post-egg collection was really not a lot of fun. Not only was I hurting, but my stomach was also really bloated. I couldn't button my pants and could only walk at about about half speed. What's that old saying? No pain, no gain. That's what I kept telling myself. Over and over and over.

The next day we got a call from the embryologist telling us that out of the 11 eggs they collected three of them were immature so they didn't really count, but seven of the eight remaining eggs fertilized. Again, I was told I did very well and they were please with the results. Seven out of eight eggs fertilized so now we have seven little embryos. Seemed pretty good to me. The next step, embryo transfer!

Step 1, Step 2, Step 2.5

Step 2.5 - Blood Tests & Scans

2010-08-18T14:26:00.005+01:00

Well, folks, it seems I have been quite successful in my bid to recruit and ripen several follicles. So, successful, in fact that we are moving on to step 3 sooner than expected. But, before I get ahead of myself here's a run down on what's happened over the last few days.

On day five of my stimulation injections I went in for a quick blood test. The nurse told me to continue on as normal unless I got a phone call...of course, I got a phone call. Apparently, my hormone levels were higher than they should be and I was given special instructions regarding the injections that I was to give myself on the morning of my next scan (day nine). The nurse I spoke with on the phone said it was not a big deal, but my mind jumped to the worse case scenario. I figured I was in danger of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and they were going to cancel my treatment. BIG Bummer. OHSS is caused by a swelling of the ovaries because of all the follicles being developed and can be dangerous in severe cases.

Jump to day nine and Charles and I arrived for my second scan. I was nervous and a bit negative about the whole IVF process now that I had got it in my head that my treatment was going to be canceled. All those weeks of sticking myself with needles for nothing! Anyhow, the doctor called us in and I got settled and she started the scan. As I watched the doctor measure the many follicles in my ovaries I started to relax. It was a really cool thing to watch and I'm really glad that Charles got to see it too. We took a picture of the scan, but it didn't turn out very good. I grabbed the one below to use as an example, but it's almost exactly what my scan looked like. Each of the little black blobs is a follicle in one ovary. Kind of cool, huh!

When the doctor finished with the scan she told us that I was ready for egg collection, 3 days early! As I mentioned above, my recruiting and ripening skills were quite good. So good that I had produced, at the time of the scan, about 20 follicles. It's no wonder I've been feeling "full". In a normal stimulated cycle the ideal is to recruit between 8-15 follicles. Apparently, my ovaries are over-achievers. Because I have produced so many follicles and because they will continue to ripen I will be at risk for OHSS if the doctors don't perform the egg collection sooner than normal.

After getting the news that we were moving forward my nervousness and negativity turned to excitement. I think all the hormones that I have been injecting are seriously messing with my emotions. I walked into the clinic hating the idea of IVF, but walked out super stoked about the whole thing.

The doctor gave us a prescription for more drugs and sent us over to the hospital pharmacy to collect them. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but the only thing that we have had to pay for during our IVF cycle are the drugs. I realize that may seem like a big deal considering the drugs are the most expensive part of this whole process. Luckily, since we have the NHS we only have to pay £7.20 ($11.25) per drug, no matter how much it actually cost. One pre-loaded pen of Gonal-F cost roughly £400 (625), but I only had to pay £7.20, for three pens! So far our out-of-pocket costs have been about £44 ($69). Not bad, huh.

After collecting my prescription I got a call from a nurse explaining what I was to do with all the new drugs I had picked up. Along with some unpleasant things like not eating or drinking after midnight the night before, the use of a suppository (ugh) and arriving at the clinic at 7:10am on the morning of egg collection, I had to give myself one final injection exactly 36 hours before the procedure could happen. This last injection is called an hCG trigger. It's the last step in helping the eggs to ripen and be ready for collection.

So... last night, after a nice dinner of sushi and a couple beers I gave myself the trigger shot. I figured if all goes according to plan I might be pregnant in a few days so I should get my sushi while I can. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we are off to the clinic. Wish us luck!

Step 1 - Suppression
Step 2 - Stimulation

Step 2: Stimulation

2010-08-13T18:15:00.000+01:00

Last week I went for my first scan (ultrasound) since starting this cycle of IVF and I am happy to report that my ovaries have been properly suppressed! It seems really weird to be happy that my ovaries have basically been shut down and no eggs have been produced. After all, we are going through this process to try and make a baby and you can't make a baby without an egg, right? Anyhow, the doctor told me all the technical things like "the lining of your womb is thinning and your ovaries are inactive so now you are ready for the next step." WhooHoo!

So, the next step in our IVF journey is the stimulation period. It sounds a lot more sexy than it really is. Now, instead of just one shot a day I get to stick myself twice! I'm not complaining, really, but for some reason I thought that I was still only going to have to give myself one shot a day and that maybe the two drugs would be mixed together in the same syringe. No such luck.

The new drug that has been added to my daily regime is called Gonal F and it is meant to "recruit" a bunch of follicles which contain eggs. In a normal month, only one follicle is recruited, so only one egg is released. In a stimulated cycle, which is what I am doing, several follicles are recruited in the ovaries and "ripened" for fertilization. The terms recruited and ripened sound so...wrong... when talking about trying to make a baby, don't they?

Anyhow, the new drug comes in a pre-filled pen. It's really easy to use and I barely feel the prick of the needle or the drug being injected.

First thing I have to do is screw on a new needle. If you look closely you can see the needle is only 12mm long and less than a mm wide so it's really tiny.

The I have to turn the dial to the correct dosage on the end of the pen and then pull out the plunger.

The last step is to inject the drug into my thigh by pushing the plunger down until it stops clicking. Easy.

I am supposed to be on this drug for about 12 days in total. During this period of stimulation I have to go in for several blood tests to check my hormone levels and scans to check how well the follicles, if any, are developing. Now, let's all think positive thoughts and hope that I am doing well with my recruiting and ripening ;o)

Read about step 1 here.

New Wheels

2010-08-11T12:30:00.006+01:00

I am officially one of the cool kids because I have one of these.

Which allows me to ride one of these.

Which allows me to cycle all around central London. I feel pretty special, as I'm sure the other 35,000 people who have signed up for the new Barclays Cycle Hire do.

Charles and I were so excited when we found out about Barclays Cycle hire scheme. We had rented similar bikes in Paris when we were there in April and thought it was such a great way to explore the city. As soon as registration opened up on www.tfl.gov.uk we signed up, paid for a one year access fee and received our key fobs the next day in the mail. Since the beginning of August we have been hoping on and off the bikes as much as we can. It really is amazing how much more of the city you see when riding a bike. Not only because you can cover more ground in a shorter period of time, but because you are always looking up instead of down at the ground as you do so often while walking.

Right now, the scheme is only available to those who register online to become a member. Pretty soon anyone who wants to will be able to rent a bike from one of the hundreds of docking stations located around central London. There are even a few iPhone app that have maps with all of the docking stations and that tells you how many bikes are available at each station at anytime. The bikes have been really easy to use and we only had one problem right after the scheme started, but it seems like most of the kinks with the system have been worked out. My only complaint about the bikes is the lack of a basket. There is a small shelf with a bungee cord on the front of the bike, but it's relatively useless as it is so small and awkward. Aside from that, I love the flexibility the bikes have allowed us. I can't wait until more docking stations are added so we can explore even more of the city on two wheels.

Step 1 - Supression

2010-08-05T14:55:00.004+01:00

So, the last two weeks have gone very smoothly. Every morning I start my day off with an injection of Buserelin. This drug is supposed to suppress my pituitary gland, which, I just found out, controls my ovaries. Suppression of the pituitary gland helps to achieve optimum stimulation, increasing the number of eggs and embryos and most importantly prevents my ovaries from releasing eggs prior to egg collection. To put it more simply, I have to give me self a shot every morning, to stop anything happening down below.

Now, the whole idea of sticking my self with a needle everyday is not a pleasant one. Unfortunately, because Charles HATES needles he can't administer the shot for me. I have, however, convinced him to help me out and share in this bizarre process of "making a baby" by getting the shot ready for me each morning. It's a very simple process that only takes a few minutes and, to be honest, it doesn't really hurt. As you can see below the needle is very tiny. We made a little video of the whole process if your interested. If you are like Charles and you hate needles you might want to skip the video.

See, it's all pretty simple and relatively pain free. I still don't like the idea of sticking myself with a needle each day and I haven't come away from it totally unscathed. On two separate occasions I've developed a little bruise/blood blister at the injection site. Whether this was due to the fact that I am not a natural at giving myself shots or that I just ate way too much of the giant burrito I had for lunch on those days, causing my stomach fat to get pinched in my jeans, we'll never know. I prefer to think it was the former :o)

Turkey Time!

2010-08-02T16:32:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago Charles and I took a last minute trip to Turkey for a week. We knew that once we started our first, and hopefully our last, cycle of IVF traveling would probably not be possible for the rest of the summer. Both in desperate need of a tan and a break from the city we booked an incredibly cheap all-inclusive package holiday to a town called Bitez on the Turkish coast. Our plan was very simple: lay on the beach, read books, play cards, drink cheap beer and eat some yummy Turkish food.

Bitez is a tiny little town near Bodrum and Gumbet. There is a nice little promenade about half a mile long lined with restaurants and cafes on one side and lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach side. Our hotel was towards one end and was one of the only hotels with a private beach. The beach consisted on a mixture of about 80% dirt and 20% sand with bits of scrubby grass and water that was so calm it was more a lake than a sea. I'm not complaining. I just want to impress upon you that, although we really liked our hotel, we were not soaking up luxury at every turn.

To mix things up a little bit on a few nights we took a short bus ride into the next town over called Gumbet. The nightlife here was way different than that of Bitez. Nearly every bar had some sort of entertainment, whether it was break dancing shows, pole dancing, karaoke or a group of man-boys performing a choreographed dance to really bad house music. Each time we visited Gumbet we had a blast, but we were very thankful to leave the craziness and go back to our quiet little hotel in Bitez.

For the last night of our trip we skipped the buffet dinner at the hotel and hopped a bus for Bodrum, which was about 20 minutes away. There is a big castle in the middle of the port, but because our plan for the week involved nothing more than lying in the sun, eating and drinking we decided to skip it. Instead we strolled along the marina for a bit and then found a nice restaurant nestled behind a fruit market, tucked between a butcher and a fishmonger. The restaurant didn't have a menu and you went next door to pick out your own meat and/or fish. It was a nice break from the big buffet dinners at our hotel.

At the end of the week we had read seven books between the two of us, played 38 games of gin rummy, drank about 42 beers each (they were tiny little beers) and clocked countless hours of sunbathing. We had accomplished all our goals for the week and were nicely tanned and thoroughly relaxed. To finish the trip off we had the grossest meal I have ever had at an airport.

Nice!

To Baby or Not To Baby? - part 2

2010-07-30T14:01:00.001+01:00

Continuing from the other day...

We had done our research and figured the next step was to try artificial insemination or IUI. Both Charles and I had decided that we wanted to try this, but that if it didn't work that would probably be as far as we went. The whole process of trying to have a baby just seemed to be getting out of control and there was no longer anything natural or fun about it. We didn't think we wanted to go as far as IVF (in vitro fertilization). I can't really explain why, but IVF didn't seem like the right choice for us. Anyhow, when we sat down with our nice doctor to discuss our options he shocked us by saying that our next step was indeed IVF.

Here in the UK everyone lives in a borough which is like sort of like a county. Each borough is maintained by a council. We live in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. We pay the equivalent of property taxes each month, called council tax, which pays for things like garbage collection, street cleaning and... fertility treatment. Actually, I think the council is given a sum of money from the government to pay for medical treatment and the council is responsible for approving and budgeting for these things. It's all a little strange and confusing to me and very different than the way things are done in the states. So, after our initial shock off hearing that IVF was the next step we asked our doctor why not IUI. Apparently in the UK, that treatment is more "involved" and our council was much less likely to approve it and it would also take much longer to have the procedure completed. Our doctor sent us home to think about what we wanted to do.

It's funny how decisions that you seem so sure of, a decision that took a lot of thought and time to make, can change in an instant. I think we both knew, before we even really discussed it, that we were going to move forward with IVF. Just as I still can't explain fully why we initially didn't think IVF was right for us, I can't really explain why we changed our minds. Maybe, it's because it was the next logical step (here in the UK) or maybe because it meant avoiding a surgical procedure with IUI or maybe, just maybe, it was because when we asked our doctor how much IFV would cost us he said it was totally free. In fact, our council will cover up to three treatment cycles for woman aged 39 or younger. Decision made.

A month later (February) we went back to the fertility clinic and told our doctor we were ready to move forward with IVF. Six months later (July) we finally started the treatment. We are now in the second week of about a five-week long process of making a baby. Yikes! This whole process has been a long one, but also an interesting, exciting and sometimes entertaining one. Its also been kind of scary and overwhelming. I thought that writing about our experience as we go through IVF treatment might help make it a little less scary. So, if you're up for it I'm going to be showing all the steps that we are taking, sharing with you what happens along the way, good or bad. Let's all hope for the good.

To Baby or Not To Baby? - part 1

2010-07-28T15:33:00.002+01:00

That is the question. That is the big, exciting, scary question.

First, a little bit of background for those of you who don't already know us. I am 38, Charles a few years older than me. We have been in a happy, committed relationship for over 6 years now. The so-called "biological clock" did not start to tick until just a few years ago, about age 36 for me. Even then, it was a very quiet, faint tick. So, we decided to take the approach that so many couples take: let's stop trying "not" to have a baby and see what happens. Neither of us felt that our lives would be incomplete without a child so we figured if it didn't happen for us that would be ok.

Cut to two and half years later and we still feel the same way. Our lives would not be incomplete without a child, but now the desire and want to have one is much, much stronger. Shocking, I know. After about a year of "let's see what happens" where nothing happened I figure that there must be something wrong with one of us. I didn't like not knowing and needed an answer, positive or negative, so that we could accept our situation and move on. So, I booked us an appointment with a private fertility clinic (not cheap) for some basic testing. I figured that we would be told it just wasn't going to happen for us and then we would be able to grieve or mourn or whatever one does when you find out you can't have children and then we would be able to move forward with our lives as DINKs (dual income, no kids). My attitude about wanting to move on may seem very cavalier, but I just didn't want to spend years of my life trying for something that was never going to be possible.

Anyhow, as you might have guessed, we were told all was good. There was nothing wrong with either of us other than being on the old end of the age spectrum and we just needed to stop thinking about it and keep trying. Or, we could begin the very expensive process of private fertility treatment. Instead of dishing out thousands of pounds that we couldn't afford to part with and because we are very fortunate to live in a country with national health services we decided to give the NHS fertility clinic a try. We knew that this process would probably take months, but it was totally free and, after all, we were getting used to waiting months for something to happen.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have always had good experiences with the NHS. Although some of the facilities at the fertility clinic at St. Mary's Hospital in London are in need of some TLC the staff were very nice and very helpful. We went through the same tests that we had at the private clinic and, of course, the answer was the same. The next step was to go through all the more extensive testing which involved all sorts of stuff like cycle monitoring, scans, blood test, HSG test and so on. Again, everything was normal. Now what?

Stay tuned for more... that is if I haven't already bored you to tears.

Newspeak at Saatchi

2010-07-27T12:13:00.006+01:00

This is really for all you Londoners. We went to the Saatchi Gallery on Kings Road this weekend to see the Newspeak: British Art Now exhibit. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a big smile on my face the whole time. I'm not a huge fan of contemporary art and I certainly didn't "get" a lot of the pieces, but I really enjoyed Newspeak. Plus, the Saatchi Gallery is worth a visit if only to admire the beautiful building and gallery space. Go check it out!

Doctor, Doctor!!

2010-07-21T15:23:00.006+01:00

Like the picture says, I love the UK's National Health Service. In my opinion it is far superior compared to the healthcare system in America. It's not perfect, but very few things in this world are. "The NHS was created from ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. It has at its heart three core principles:
• That it meet the needs of everyone
• That it be free at the point of delivery
• That it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay."

Those principles just seem so obvious to me.

Access to healthcare, at least in my experience, has been very easy. My doctor's office is a five minute walk from my house, there is a walk-in clinic 10 minutes away by tube from my office and a hospital that is a 20 minute bus ride from my house. I can visit any of them without paying a dime. Nothing, zilch, nada! In fact, I can even get reimbursed for some of my transportation costs if I wanted. The only things that I have to pay for are my prescriptions. No matter what drug I might be picking up it will only cost me £7.60. Nothing more.

Both Charles and I have had a fair amount of dealings with the NHS over the four + years that we having been living in London. In most cases, we have had very positive experiences. We can normally get in to see our doctor the same or next day. Emergency room waits have usually been minimal and almost every member of NHS staff that we have dealt with has been kind and helpful.

Like I said above, it's not perfect. A lot of the facilities are dated and badly in need of refurbishing. If you want to see a specialist you have to get a referral from your GP and the specialist appointments usually have a bit of a waiting list. But again, all this treatment is free at the point of delivery. We have private health insurance through my work, but we have found that it's just easier to use the NHS (even though we hardly go private I greatly appreciate my employer providing it for us).

I could go on and on extolling the many virtues of a National Health Service, but I would probably bore you and I certainly don't want to do that. I think you probably get it by now that I think it's pretty great. To be honest, this blog post is kind of a set-up for one that I will be posting in the next few days. Charles and I will be receiving almost daily benefits from the NHS in the next few weeks and I thought it might be interesting to some people so... stay tuned!

*Disclaimer: I am only expressing my opinions and experiences. I realize that not everyone shares those opinions nor have they had great experiences with the NHS. My aim is merely to share my experiences with the hope that they are interesting and helpful to others.

photo via here

Nothing much...

2010-07-02T14:54:00.003+01:00

As you can tell by my lack of posts over the last two weeks, not much has been going on. We've just been enjoying our summer and soaking up as much outdoor-time as we can before Mother Nature decides we've had enough of the warm sunshine. Below is a pic of a pub down the road from us. My iPhone camera couldn't even begin to capture how amazing the flowers are.

The Cheap Seats

2010-06-28T17:11:00.005+01:00

Hard Rock Calling was this weekend. We had contemplated going on Friday night to see Pearl Jam, but when it came down to it we just didn't feel like forking over the cash. After several years of being treated to the Hard Rock VIP section with complimentary all you can eat and drink for the entire weekend, plus a roped off area out in the crowd for excellent viewing, going back to having to pay for our tickets and stand in the thronging crowds just didn't seem so appealing. Anyhow, we went the cheap option and brought a bottle of wine to the park and sat outside on the grass with the hundreds of other cheapskates and enjoyed the concert from there. Sure, we couldn't see anything, but the sound was pretty good and it only cost us a £10 bottle of rose.

Flying through the air with the greatest of easy...

2010-06-23T14:00:00.001+01:00

Look what I did on Sunday. It was so much fun! A bit scary, but not too bad. I will definitely be trying this again.

If you live in the London area you should definitely check these guys out. Gorilla Circus

Royal Ascot

2010-06-18T15:00:00.013+01:00

Ever since we moved to London I have been wanting to go to Royal Ascot. This year I finally had the opportunity to attend. I went with three good friends and we had such a great time! We started the day with brunch at Canteen at the Royal Festival Hall and then hopped on a train at Waterloo Station to make the 50 minute journey to Ascot. The train was packed with race-goers all very excited to get to the track.

When we arrived at Ascot station we followed the crowds making their way to the track. After a bit of a ticket dilemma (read: I somehow lost my tickets en route) we entered the gates to Royal Ascot. The scene was so overwhelming I didn't know where to look first. The track facilities themselves are quite nice, but what had my attention jumping all over the place were the all the amazing hats and outfits of the race-goers. People put a lot of attention and detail into the outfits they wear to Ascot. Our little foursome was pretty conservative when it came to our outfits (as seen below), but I'd say we were the exception, not the rule.

Before the races started we got a little glimpse of the Queen and her Guards.

There were so many great outfits to chose from, I probably took about 100 photos of hats alone! Below I've picked out a few of my favorites.

Mid-way through the races we had a nice little afternoon tea that we had pre-ordered. I'm not sure why it was called afternoon tea because there was no tea to be had, only champagne.

We were very lucky to have such beautiful weather the day we went.

Three of us pooled our resources and placed a few bets on several of the races. I get overly excited if I win anything no matter how small, but we actually walked away with about £100 in winnings. Not bad.

After the races were over everybody moved out to the parade ring for a group sing-along.

The atmosphere for the day was very festive and happy. Everyone seemed to be having such a good time, enjoying the races and the beautiful weather. Even though it was a really long day the actual races seemed to go by so quickly. I wasn't ready for it to end.

I have now been to four of the six "English" sporting events that I have on my list. Rugby, football, Henley Royal Regatta and Royal Ascot horse races. Next up: cricket and polo!

Ummm... yeah...

2010-06-15T17:02:00.005+01:00

So, I had every intention of being very mellow and low key while watching the USA vs England game on Saturday. I really, really didn't want to embarrass myself like I did last time. I didn't leave the house with a red, white and blue mullet on and there was not a trace of face paint to be found on me. I walked into the pub dressed like a very respectable American. Unfortunately, I didn't leave that way.

So, much for good intentions.

I think the English understand far better than I do how one should show support for their team. These are just a few of the pictures I've managed to snap over the last few days.

3 1/2 weeks to go until the madness ends!

In preparation for...

2010-06-09T14:16:00.006+01:00

... World Cup 2010!

Red, white and blue mullet wig... check.
Brightly colored face paint...check.
American flag to wear around you neck like a cape... check.
American friends to celebrate with... check, check and check!

The above is Charles' checklist, not mine. I did it once, four years ago for World Cup 06' in Germany. I went all out, over-the-top in support of my country and of my boyfriends favorite sport, football (soccer). I will not be going all out this time around. I'm leaving that to Charles and our three American friends who flew over to London just for the occasion. I do plan on watching several of the games and contributing to the chaos that is bound to ensue. I will just be doing it with a little less flare than the above picture demonstrates. BTW, it took a lot for me to post this picture. I look like I'm about 12, my upper lip has nearly disappeared and my nose looks ginormous!

USA vs England is this Saturday at 19:30 GMT.

One kiss, two kiss, three?

2010-06-08T14:00:00.001+01:00

I'm confused. Even after four years of living in a European country I am still never quite sure what the protocol is for social kissing. As a native Californian kissing on the cheek when saying hello or goodbye was not standard practice for me when I was young. Sure, I gave my family members a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, but that was about it. I was also a very shy, sometimes socially awkward teenager so physical affection with non-family members was not easy for me. As I've gotten older I've become much more confident and quite comfortable socially. I don't have a problem showing or receiving affection with friends and acquaintances. But, the social kiss is something I still haven't figured out.

A hug, to me, is intimate, but not too intimate. You can vary the strength and length of a hug depending on how well you know a person or to convey how much you have missed them or how glad you are to see them. A kiss or multiple kisses is harder. A kiss, even just on the cheek, can be too much sometimes. It seems especially weird to me if you've only just met the person. So what am I supposed to do? Which combination should I go with?

- the hug with one cheek kiss
- the double air cheek kiss
- the just-miss-the-lips kiss
- the double cheek kiss
- the triple cheek kiss

After choosing which type of kiss to go for there are still a bunch of other questions to answer.
What are you supposed to do in a professional setting?
Which cheek do you kiss first to avoid the awkward almost make-out moment?
How do you avoid the near nose collision when you both go for the same side?
What do people do in different countries? With different genders? I don't want to offend anyone.

I think I prefer the hug with one cheek kiss. What do you do? What's your go to greeting?

Going Underground

2010-06-03T16:02:00.001+01:00

About a month ago Charles and I and two other food-loving friends attend our first "underground restaurant". Underground restaurants or supper clubs have been around for awhile now, but they have become really popular in London over the past two years. They are a cross between a dinner party and a restaurant; you have a home cooked dinner in someones house, but you pay them for the dinner, plus you bring your own wine. The payment is "technically" called a donation as these dinners are not "technically" legal. Maybe that's part of the reason that they have become so popular? Or maybe it's because you get to meet some fun and interesting people in a relaxed home environment while eating some really good food.

After reading several great reviews we secured four seats for dinner at Fernandez and Leluu. The proprietors, Simon and Uyen, serve up a new menu every few weeks combining both their backgrounds, Spanish and Vietnamese. The night we went they were sold out and when we arrived the living room/dining room was filled to the brink with 24 excited diners. We were seated by Uyen, who doubled as host and server, at a table with a couple in their early 30's and two girlfriends in their early twenties.. After introductions were made we popped open our first bottle of champagne and got ready to partake in a seven course meal.

The first and second courses did not disappoint. The starter, pea and ham soup with basil, cream and white wine with pork scratchings and Parmesan shavings was absolutely amazing! Next up were Mini Ham-Burgers made with pork, served inside Turkish bread with cherry tomatoes and gems lettuce were super juicy and quite generous in size.

Before the third course we decided to open up our first bottle of white wine. Charles had bought a case of really nice Meursault about three years ago and he had been saving the last bottle for a special occasion. The four of us had all tasted the wine before and told everyone at our table how good it was and that it had been saved for years and that if they were really nice we might let them have a taste too. Well, apparently (or should I say, obviously) moving a bottle of white wine from two different flats, packing it up in storage for a year, then keeping it in your fridge for a year and then opening it up 6 years after it was made is not a good idea. The wine was horrible. Undrinkable, in fact. We had to run down to the corner store to buy a new bottle of white to replace it. Very sad. Luckily we had five more courses of food to distract us.

Course three - fish and chips made with fresh sashimi grade tuna, with ginger, soy, mirin and wasabi dressing, chips, pickled shallots and wasabi mayo (pictured below). This was one of my favorite dishes, although quite an odd mix.

Course four - sweet potato tortilla and Ferdie's ketchup. Interesting. Very filling dish that made me wonder how on Earth I was going to eat three more courses. A nice bottle of red wine helped wash the tortilla down.

Course five - poached egg set in a tarragon and chicken jelly and served with a bacon pastry that had cream cheese, cheddar cheese and spring onions (pictured below). So, this was my most and least favorite dish. The bacon pastry was amazingly good and super rich, but the egg set in jelly... not to my liking, at all. I mentioned in a previous post how much I detest jelly (jello), but I wasn't going to let that stop me from at least sampling the egg dish. Although very clever and nicely flavored I couldn't get past the texture. And I was not the only one. Simon didn't even touch his egg. No worries, we had more wine to help us move on to the next course.

Course six - slow roast spring lamb with cous cous. Very simple and probably the most disappointing of all the courses. We were all pretty stuffed by this point so it wasn't really a big deal. Plus, we had another very nice bottle of red wine to drink!

 Course seven - lime mousse with chilli chocolate topping. This was a nice way to end our meal because it was light and refreshing. I'm pretty sure we also had some more wine.

After dinner was over our hosts Simon and Uyen were able to sit down and chat with us and have a glass of wine. Yes, more wine. I'm pretty sure we were all slurring our words by this point and didn't make the best impression. They were both very good hosts and I think it's incredible that they open up their home to large groups of perfect strangers every month. And they only charge £35 pp. Their love of good food and relaxed entertaining was very obvious and hopefully we will be able to visit them again. Only this time, I don't think I will drink as much wine ;o)

Race for Life

2010-05-24T11:32:00.004+01:00

A few weeks I ago I mentioned that I was running through Kensington Gardens while training for a 5km Race for Life that my girlfriends and I were participating in. Well, the race was this past Saturday at Regent Park in London and I'm happy to report that we all performed very well and raised over £1200 in support of cancer research.

We were incredibly lucky to have the most amazing weather on the day of the race. The sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky and there was a slight breeze to keep the temperature just about perfect. Charles and Simon met all the girls right before the race started, cheered us on at the finish line and had a picnic on the grass waiting for us when we were done. We spent all afternoon in the park lounging, snacking and playing football and frisbee. I think everyone of us went home with painful sunburns, but also a proud sense of accomplishment for participating in an event that was so worthwhile.

Broadway Market

2010-05-19T12:50:00.002+01:00

I know what you're thinking. Really, another market?! Haven't we seen all the markets in London already? My answer to you: yes, another wonderful market and no, we haven't even come close to seeing all the markets that London (and other cities) have to offer. I am working hard to visit them all so that you don't feel as though you've missed out ;o)

On this day we went to Broadway Market, right next to London Fields park in East London. We decide to make the long trek out there for three reasons. 1. I get my hair cut at a cute shop on the market street and my hair stylist is always telling me how nice the weekend market is. 2. Charles read a review on An American in London food blog about this Vietnamese sandwich that he really wanted to try. 3. We wanted to see what hot jellied eels (gross!) looked like in person.

For the most part this is a really sweet, relatively small, mostly food-based market with a few arts/crafts and fashion stalls. We were able to walk the whole street and stop for the aforementioned sandwich in just about an hour. There is a nice spot about halfway down the street where you can eat your market purchases while relaxing on lounge chairs, listening to street musicians.

When we were done we stopped at one of the pubs at the end of the street and had a pint and some cookies bought at the market with our friend Karin who had joined us on our outing. I'm looking forward to going back to the market once the weather is nicer. I think a picnic in London Fields park with all our market goodies sounds just about perfect.

Over the last few years several new cafes and restaurants have opened, helping to revitalize the market. One of the most well-know restaurants on Broadway Market is F. Cooke Imports. Their specialty – hot jellied eels. Fred Cooke started selling jellied eels on Broadway Market in 1900 to feed the crowds thronging the street’s first market. Apparently, at the time, the market was a bawdy, drunken, vibrant street and the heart of the East London community. Now it is one of the most successful community markets in London. And F. Cooke’s is still selling jellied eels.

I don't consider myself to be a picky eater and I am usually up for trying new foods, but there is one thing that I really can't stand and that is jelly or jello. It's not the taste, it's the texture. The slimmy, gloopy stuff makes me gag every time I try it. My Gram used to make every fruit/veggie combination of jello know to man when I was a kid and I always hated the stuff. Anyhow, after spying a big pot of the jelly coated eels through the window of F. Cooke's I decided that I am fine with my hatred for jelly and opted NOT to sample this particular English delicacy.

images 2, 3, 4 & 7 via here

Elephants on Parade!

2010-05-14T16:00:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago I was reading the weekend guide on Daily Candy, looking for something fun to do on our days off. I came across a mention for an art installation that sounded really cool. As part of a major conservation and fundraising campaign Elephant Family.org has installed 260 life-sized replicas of the endangered baby Asian elephants all over London. Each elephant has been decorated by and an artist or celebrity and they will be on display from May to July. At the end of the event all the elephants will be auctioned off with the hope of raising £2 million to benefit the Asian elephants and other conservation charities.

Anyhow, I kind of forgot about the whole thing until last weekend. I was out with a friend and we turned a corner and there they were. Well, only two, but still! I was so excited, I probably took about 15 pictures of it. Since then I've seen about 25 elephants. Because I am totally geeking out on them, I have a map of where they're all located stashed in my purse and I plan on checking out as many of them as I can in the next few months. It's a really nice surprise to turn a corner and run into one of these little guys. Some of them are so creative. I've spared you the whole slide show and just posted some of my favorites. Enjoy!

I really like these two below.

Old Spitalfields Market

2010-05-11T12:05:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago when our friends Simon and Shannon were in town we spent the afternoon at one of London's most popular markets called Old Spitalfields. This is a great market showcasing emerging fashion and jewellery designers, arts and crafts, vintage collectibles, antiques and more. Spitalfields is the perfect place to go if you’re looking for unique, often one-of-a-kind items. I love that the t-shirts or jewellery that I have bought there were handmade and sold to me by the person who made them. Of course like any market there are a handful of cheap, uninspiring stalls, but you have to take the good with the bad, right?

When we first moved to London Old Spitalfields Market was really kind of dirty and dingy. The open ceilings were really dark, the floors were rough and uneven and navigating the stalls was like walking through a maze. That may not sound appealing, but it gave the market a really authentic feel. Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, about two years ago the market hall and surrounding areas were redeveloped. Now the market has a much more open and expansive feel along with a bunch of chain restaurants and new office spaces around the edges. The vendors are all the same, which is what is really important, but I miss the feel of the old space.

Spitalfields has a bunch of food stalls featuring food from all around the world so we all chose something different for lunch. The day we went we were still being blessed by good weather so we spent some time drinking cider at one of the pubs just outside the market. We also took a short walk over to The Sunday Upmarket and Brick Lane, both of which deserve posts of there own so I'll have to write more about those later. Spitalfields is located very near Liverpool Street Station so it's really easy to get to. The main market stalls are all open on Sundays although there are a lot of nice shops and restaurants surrounding the stalls that are open daily.

If the weather decides to improve sometime in the next few weeks we'll have to make a trip back to that area so we can get pictures of Brick Lane, The Sunday Upmarket and one of my all time favorites, Columbia Road flower market. - Cheers!

I jumped the gun.

2010-05-06T17:33:00.004+01:00

I may have spoken a little too soon when I declared spring had found it's way to London. It happens every year so I really shouldn't be surprised. We get a little taste of warmth and sunshine and then BAM, the frosty temperature's and rain are back.

Last weekend was the first May bank holiday (3 day weekend!) and it was cold and raining almost the entire time. We managed to fit in several indoor activities like a movie, checking out a new gallery at the V&A and an exhibit at the Royal Academy. I also managed a short run through the park on Monday. A few girlfriends and I are running in a 5km race to help raise money for cancer research (donate here to support me) at the end of the month so I thought I should try to get in shape for that. To say that I nearly died of exhaustion is only a slight exaggeration. I'm totally pathetic. If not for the treat of seeing the beautiful flowers in Kensington Gardens at the end of the run I might not have made it.

Check it out!

2010-04-23T13:00:00.005+01:00

Do you see how bright white my shoes look? How green the grass is? The bright yellow flowers on the bush in the background? That's because the sun was shining today! I ate lunch in the park across the street from my office today... without a coat or scarf on!

I'm gonna go ahead and just say it. I think Spring might actually have found its way to England :)

I love Paris in the spring time!

2010-04-15T17:02:00.018+01:00

Charles and a friend started their own business about 18 months ago. It's been a challenge in many ways, but their hard work is just now starting to pay off. However, because of the new business our travel schedule, until recently, has been almost nil. Instead of the five or six long weekend trips and two or three week long trips we dropped down to one weekend trip and one week long trip for the entire year (I don't count going home to California as holiday, that's mandatory). This was a big sacrifice for us considering one of the major reasons we moved to London was the access to travel. A cheap, two-hour plane ride from home and we can be walking the streets of many a different countries: France, Italy, Spain, Germany to name just a few. A trip to Rome from London for the weekend is like a trip to San Francisco from Fresno. We have been doing our best to make up for last year as documented here, here and here, but we still have a lot of catching up to do.

Paris has been high on my list for quite some time now. I've been several times before, usually because I was tagging along on one of Charles' business trips, but I've been trying to figure out a good excuse to go back. Thankfully, our friends Simon and Shannon who live in San Diego happen to be in France for a family ski trip and Charles mentioned to them that we could meet them in Paris for a weekend. Perfect excuse! We get to hang out with our much-loved friends AND go to Paris.

We took the Eurostar over (a two hour train ride), which dumps you out right in central Paris, and made our way over to our hotel. After checking in we took a stroll around the cute pedestrian street we were staying on and I spied this little kid lounging on a public sculpture outside a shopping mall. He, like so many other people around us that day, was taking advantage of the amazing weather. I love this picture!

Neither of us had ever been to the Pompidou Center so that was first on our to-do list. Before going in we grabbed a table at a little cafe outside the museum and sat in the sun for about an hour eating lunch and people watching. There is so much going on outside the Pompidou you could spend hours there watching all the street performers, listening to music while catching some rays.

Once lunch was finished and the obligatory cafe had been drunk we walk down to the entrance of the museum, right past all the people waiting to buy tickets (tip: pre-book tickets online to avoid wasting time standing in line) and over to the visitors desk to pick up a wheelchair for Charles. Whoops! I forgot to mention earlier that my dear boyfriend broke his ankle playing football (soccer) two days before we left. Yep, cast, crutches and all that accompanies a broke ankle came with us to Paris. A city where you walk nearly everywhere you go. Anyhow, we made the best of the situation and took advantage of a loaner wheelchair at the museum and off we went.

The Pompidou is a modern art museum and it is quite amazing. The exhibits are well curated and the building itself is very interesting. Definitely worth a visit!

Simon and Shannon were late getting into the city so we met up with them later that evening just before dinner. We chose the restaurant based on a review that Charles had read, but unfortunately it didn't live up to it's reputation. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was not worth going out of our way for. No matter, we had a good time catching up with our friends.

Next on the agenda was something I was really looking forward to. A few years ago my friend Ange and I made a girls trip to Paris. One of the nights we were there we were wondering our way through the Latin Quarter, stopping at way too may bars along the way, but having a such a good time. Somehow, I think based on the recommendation of a waiter we met, we ended up at Au Trois Mailletz. We had an unforgettable night and I have been wanting to go back again ever since!

Au Trois Mailletz is a paino bar and cabaret. The piano bar is upstairs, where you can have dinner and listen to great music in a very comfortable atmosphere. Downstairs is the cabaret and that is what we wanted to see. After walking down some very steep steps (difficult to manage on crutches) you arrive in a stone cave with a long table down the center and little tables pushed against the walls. The space is very small, but they pack it full. The show starts at about 11:30pm with an amazing singer/guitar player. Most of the songs are in French, but we recognized the tune of a lot of them and didn't feel lost at all. Throughout the night about 10 different performers go up on stage singing solos, duets and group sing-a-longs. Audience participation is always encouraged and even though we didn't know the words we were still singing along. After about an hour the dancers come out. Beautiful girls dancing their way down the central table, shaking their hips like you wouldn't believe. Although the show continues through the night ending at about 6am we called it quits at about 3:30am. This is such a fun thing to do while in Paris and I couldn't recommend it more!

Needless to say we got a late start the next morning. The plan was to head to one of our favorite markets that is only held on Sunday mornings, ending at about 2pm. The market is on Rue Mouffetard and is mostly a food market where locals come to buy their food, at least as far as we can tell. We grabbed some breakfast at a little cafe and then wonder the market for a bit.

I have never had white asparagus, but I'm guessing it's kind of a big deal because people were selling it all around the market. I'll have to buy some next time to bring home. One of those bundles would probably feed about six people. Each stalk is about 1" thick! Check out the fist-sized kiwis in the background. Huge!

Yummmm.... rotisserie chicken.

After the market Simon and Shannon took off to visit the Eiffel Tower (both us have been up the tower before) while we walk/hobbled around a bit more. After about 30 minutes we decide that walking on crutches in Paris was no fun at all, so we rented some bikes. All over Paris are these bike rental stations where locals and tourist alike can buy a pass, check out a bike, ride around, park the bike at another bike station, go shopping, hop on another bike, ride around some more, lock that bike to a tree and check out a park, ride some more, etc. Seriously cool idea that we have seen in a few other cities, but never tried. We figured this was the perfect opportunity to try them out and pedaling the bike didn't put any pressure on Charles' bad ankle. We had so much fun! I highly recommend doing this in any city that provides the service. We were able to see so much more of the city than we would have had we been walking, crutches or not.

Pretty building with beautiful blue sky background. Not sure where I took this picture.

We spent a few hours on the bikes before meeting Simon and Shannon at the Musee d'Orsay. Another great museum that we have been to before but was so worth making the return visit. Again, pre-book your tickets as the lines can be huge.

Later that night, after consulting TripAdvisor for a recommendation, we had a very nice dinner at a small restaurant called Au Bougnat just around the corner from Notre Dame. After stuffing ourselves with really good food and wine we called it a day and headed back to the hotel.

Simon and Shannon had driven a car to Paris so instead of taking the train back we hitched a ride with them. A three hour drive to Calais, an hour+ ferry ride across the channel, then two more hours of driving from Dover to Putney and finally a 20 minute tube ride and we were home. Most definitely not as fast or comfortable as the train, but we got to spend more time with our friends so it was worth it.

The whole trip was very quick, but we packed each day full and had a great time. There is always so much to do and see in Paris it's hard to not to have a great time. In fact, we are already planning our next trip back!

The Language of d'Oc - Part 2

2010-04-08T12:17:00.002+01:00

You can read about Part 1 here.

Sometimes getting lost is not a bad thing. Sometimes your mistakes turn out to be a blessing. Case in point; our choosing to drive to Sete was a mistake, but if we had not gone there we never would have ended up in Pezenas, the blessing, disguised as a charming little village where we stayed on the second night of our trip.

The drive from Sete to Pezenas takes you through Meze, a seafood paradise, of which we came back to later for a meal. Meze is between a lake and the Med. Thousands of oyster beds line the waterway. Charles drooled his way through the town with oyster bars lining the streets.

With the help of our trusty TomTom and advice from the Michelin Guide, we found our way to a nice hotel in the centre of town called The Grand Moliere. Walking through the front door and into the lobby I could see why it was called “grand.” Fifteen-foot ceilings, walls covered in beautiful tapestries and carved mirrors and heavy gilded furniture.

I did my very best to butcher the French language a bit more as a non-English speaking clerk checked us in to the hotel. By the time we were settled it was late afternoon and we knew most of the businesses in town would be closing soon so we set out to see what we could before everything shut down.

Pezenas is what I think of as the perfect little French village. Winding cobblestone streets, beautiful old buildings, charming shops and friendly people. We spent about an hour wondering through a maze of streets, checking out all the shops and deciding which ones we would come back to the next day when we had more time and more shops were open.

Well rested and ready for a night on the town we left the hotel in search of a restaurant. We didn’t make it too far because we were distracted by the country western line dancing French dance troupe in the town plaza. Yes, you read that correctly, line dancing, to Alan Jackson, in France. Very strange, but highly entertaining.

On the recommendation from one of the local shop keepers we searched out two different restaurants for dinner only to find out they were fully booked. Figuring we were destined to eat at one of the touristy cafes lining the town plaza, we were really happy to stumble upon a nice little bistro tucked back into a dark corner of the village. Our waitress was incredibly sweet and helpful, the food and wine were pretty good and the fact that every ten minutes the lights went out due to a faulty circuit breaker made our dining experience very memorable.

Those of you who know me and read this blog regularly, you know that I love outdoor markets, especially food markets. So, I was super excited the next morning when we woke up and walked outside to see that the main street through town was now a big market. We grabbed a pain au chocolate and a café in the village and then spent a few hours roaming the streets, checking out what was on offer. Charles only lasted for about two hours and then took off for a beer while I continued to roam for another hour or so. Although it wasn’t the best market, it was a great way to start the day.

After the drive-by-sighting of all the oyster beds the day before and checking out multiple stalls selling fresh oysters and various other shellfish we back-tracked about 30 minutes to the tiny little town of Mezé. Once there, we chose the nicest looking seafood shack and ordered a small mountain of shellfish for lunch. I am not a fan of oysters, but Charles loves them and he couldn’t stop going on about how they were the best oysters, and the biggest, that he had ever had. I pigged out on a big pot of moules and frites (mussels and French fries) and we shared some cracked crab and a really good bottle of wine. Mezé and its great seafood were definitely worth the stop.

So far we had been lucky with the weather and with our choices of towns to visit. I guess we were due for some ugliness and that came in the form of nasty thick fog and rain and a totally uninspiring town called Millau. After lunch we couldn’t decide where we wanted to stay for the night, so once again we consulted the Michelin Guide and chose a little town somewhere in the middle of the mountainous Cévennes National Park which was supposed to be beautiful. I can’t even remember the name of the town, but I do remember the hellish drive there on twisty little roads shrouded in really thick fog. After deciding the town didn’t have anything to offer we headed toward the next town that we thought might be interesting and arrived in Millau. I don’t even want to waste space writing about this place so I will just say, don’t go there. Don’t waste your time, keep on driving and don’t look back.

On Easter Sunday morning, after a quick breakfast, we programmed the TomTom to take us to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon so we could partake in a little cheese tasting. Home to the creamy blue-veined cheese, this little town was well worth the visit. We toured the Société cheese cellars and learned all about how Roquefort cheese is made. Although the tour was given in French they were kind enough to give us a very detailed six-page paper on the whole process. Apparently, thousands of years ago (or maybe hundreds, I can’t remember) there was a big earthquake and part of the mountain in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon collapsed. The collapse created a bunch of tunnels and caves that are now used to make the famous cheese. Each cave, with its different temperature and humidity level, creates a distinct flavor for the cheese. It was really very interesting and we got to taste a bunch of the yummy cheese at the end. Nice!

Albi, birthplace of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and home to a museum that houses a large collection of his work was last on our list of things to see. Toulouse-Lautrec is one of my favorite artists and it was really cool to see so many of his drawings, paintings and lithographs. We also took a peak at the gianormous Cathedral St. Cecil next to the museum and walked around town a bit before we had to run back to the car because it had started to rain. On to Toulouse!

We had booked an 8:30pm flight home figuring that we could have a stroll around Toulouse and a nice dinner before heading to airport. Poor planning on our part as it was Easter Sunday and we got into town at about 6pm. Most decent French restaurants close between lunch and dinner and don’t open back up until about 7pm. After driving in circles for about 30 minutes trying to find a decent place to eat before heading to the airport we settled on a classic… McDonalds. Really, how sad is that. Our last meal in the South of France was at a McDonalds by the airport. Surprisingly, our Cheese Royal (cheese burger) and Le M (big mac) were pretty good.

The flight home was uneventful, which was good. We breezed through immigration thanks to IRIS (a machine that scans your iris for identification allowing you to bypass the manual immigration procedure) and hopped a train and a taxi home. Even though we were only gone for four days it seemed like we did and saw so much. It was really fun to see where the road took us and not have reservations anywhere. Of course, we took a few wrong turns, but that only made the trip more exciting. Charles and I both want to go back to the Languedoc region someday because we enjoyed it so much and there is still so much more to see. Au Revoir!

The Language of d'Oc - Part 1

2010-04-06T17:13:00.002+01:00

Every year since moving to London Charles and I have taken a road trip over the four day Easter holiday. We decided to stick with tradition, so for our fifth annual road trip we went to the South of France, specifically the Languedoc region. {Sidenote: I cannot believe we are already in our fifth year in London! It was only supposed to be two.} A four day road trip is so appealing to us because we very rarely get to drive a car over here and when we do it's in the city for short traffic-jammed trips to the grocery store or Ikea. To be able to drive through the country-side at a leisurely place, listening to music, stopping to take pictures when we see something pretty, with no set agenda is such a nice break from the norm for us (you can read about last years trip here).

We had a very early (woke up at 4:30am) flight out of London, which put us in Toulouse at about 10:00am on Thursday morning. We grabbed our rental car, plugged in the Tom Tom, programmed it to avoid motorways and to take us on the most scenic route possible and took off. Our first stop was a patisserie and gourmet market for bread, cheese and fruit to eat as we drove since we had not had breakfast yet.

We had only booked the first night's accommodation and even though it was only about a two hour drive from the airport we took our time getting there. Using our Michelin Guide as a resource we stopped in Castelnaudary along a canal for lunch at a place supposedly know for great cassoulet. The food was good, huge portions, the wine was nice and the staff very friendly. Charles and I know only about 50 words in French between the two of us and our waitress didn't speak a word of English, so we used hand signals and a few words to let her know when we were done and ready for the bill. Apparently, she was not happy with the fact that we did not finish the massive portion of cassoulet that we had been served so she sent over the big mama proprietor to scold us. We forced down a few more bites and then headed out.

The next stop was Carcassonne which has a really beautiful old fortified cite. We parked the car and took a walk around. The cite is the closest thing to a real castle I have ever seen.

We didn't stay long in Carcassonne, as we had an appointment to visit a winery about 30 minutes away. Languedoc is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world so we had to make sure to visit at least one winery. We found, after a little bit of research, that it is best to call or email ahead of time to set up a tour and tasting. The winery we chose to visit was Domaine Begude in Limoux, just south of Carcassonne, and James, the owner gave a private tour and tasting. Very informative and really good wine.

After the wine tasting we made our way up to a little village called Caunes-Minervois where we spent our first night. The B&B we stayed in was run by a very friendly Scottish couple who had made dinner reservations for us at the hotel across the street. We were given a warning that the owner of the restaurant, Fredrick, was an odd guy, but that his food was great. Fredrick lived up to his reputation, as did his food, and he kept us entertained all evening with his quirky sense of humor.

After arriving to breakfast an hour late the next morning, we took off in the general direction of Sete, a busy fishing port on the Med. On our way we must have stopped at least 20 times to take pictures of the vineyards and houses we saw. Everything was so so green and pretty and so totally different than anything you see in the States.

I had read about an olive oil and honey tasting room in a little village called Bize Minervois so we drove there around lunch time. After getting lost in the village and not finding the tasting room we stopped to have lunch by the river running through the village. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm enough to sit an enjoy the wine we had bought from Domaine Begude along with some bread, cheese and salami.

After lunch we jumped back in the car and headed two hours to the coast to the town of Sete. Both James, the wine maker, and our B&B hosts had recommended this spot as a "quaint" fishing port that was not to be missed. Sete is anything but quaint, at least to us. Part of it was like a really cheesy strip of Florida beach and the other part was touristy, kind of dingy with huge fishing boats. The kind of fishing boats that are so big they have mini fishing boats loaded on the back. Not at all what we were looking for.

Because we didn't have accommodation secured yet and it was getting late in the day we consulted our map, picked a town about 30 minutes away and took off, fingers crossed that we would have better luck.

Part 2... check back in a few days.

Yummy Goodness

2010-03-30T17:56:00.001+01:00

We made a little trip to Cyber Candy in Covent Garden this weekend to pick up some essentials. Cadbury chocolate is quite good, but nothing beats good Hershey's chocolate!

Chalet Heaven

2010-03-10T11:40:00.002Z

For our annual snowboarding trip we were lucky enough to visit two different resorts in the alps this year. Thanks to our friend Ron who has a chalet in both Nendaz, Switzerland and Chamonix, France we were able to spend 10 days in absolutely beautiful resorts, plush chalets and we got some great snow as well.

We flew into Geneva, Switzerland (right over Lake Geneva) and drove two hours to Nendaz, which is part of the Four Valleys and about a 45 minute drive from Verbier.

Our chalet was located at the top of a hill that was too covered with snow and ice to drive so the chalet host (every home should have this, I think) picked us up in a snow mobile and drove us and all our luggage up to the chalet. I have to admit, we were totally excited by how nice the chalet was. Total luxury compared to the typical places we have stayed. The place was already stocked with all the basics so we made some drinks, started a fire, ate some cheese and then hopped in the hot tub. Perfect way to start the holiday.

Our first day out was a long one, starting with near white out conditions that turned into beautiful sunny skies and lots of nice powder. I will be completely honest and tell you that I got my butt kicked that day. I was so exhausted by the time I made it down to the ski bar for apres ski I was barely able to hold my hot chocolate rum.

The rest of the week followed in much the same way. A little fresh snow, a lot of sunshine, gourmet lunches on the mountain (at least compared to the stuff you get in California), apres ski, hot tub, massage, etc.

We made sure to stop and enjoy the view everyday at one of the many on-mountain bars while we sipped hot mulled wine.

After seven wonderful days we moved on to Chamonix which is only about a 1.5 hour drive from Nendaz. Again, this chalet did not disappoint. Located at the base of Mont Blanc it was all rustic goodness compared to the very modern chalet in Nendaz. Great fireplace, cozy couches and fully stocked with the basics.

Our first day out on the mountain was a half day and the weather conditions were pretty miserable. I think I only made two runs and then called it quits. The next day was just as nasty on the slopes so we opted to take a day off. Plenty of lounging on the couch and then a trip into the village of Chamonix. The scenery is truly stunning there! Jagged, snowy mountain peaks on both sides of the village. Chamonix is a very cute town. Just what you imagine a French mountain village to be. Apparently, summer is their busiest season. Lots of hiking and mountain biking.

I had such a nice day off that I decided to take another one while Charles spent the day on the slopes. Below is how I spent my day. I'm pretty sure I could easily adapt to a lifestyle of leisure.

On our last day, we decide to squeeze in a few hours of boarding before we had to hop a plane back to London. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different plans. As we were waiting in line for the next gondola to take us up the mountain we were informed that they were shutting it down due to high winds. The gondola that had gone up right before us and the one coming back down had slammed into the cable towers as they passed. Yikes!

So, now we are home, back to the grind in gloomy ol' London dreaming or our chalet heaven.

It's been a long time.

2010-01-28T12:28:00.000Z

It really has and I'm very sorry to my handful of loyal readers that I have not posted anything in the last 3 months. I just haven't felt like there was much to post about. We haven't traveled to any new places or done anything super exciting that I thought would interest anyone. Anyhow, after multiple requests (thank you) I've chosen a few pictures to help illustrate the one memorable thing we have done over the last few months.

Our trip home to California for the holidays! It was the first time we have been home for Christmas since moving to London (four years). It was a busy trip which spanned 3/4 of the state, but it still felt somewhat restful. We were able to squeeze in visits with all of our family and almost all of our friends.

The first stop was San Diego for the annual Chargers bus trip. This years theme was White Trash. We didn't have room to pack full costumes for the event so Charles grew a bit of a mustache and I wore a big pair of sunglasses. A pretty weak effort, I'll admit, but we had a great time nonetheless.

Next stop was my parents house in Bass Lake where my entire family had gathered plus Charles' parents. 25 people in total! I couldn't have been happier to be surrounded by my family.

After Christmas we drove up to Charles' parents cabin in Vallecito near Bear Valley and stayed there four days. We were able to get three days of snowboarding in and enjoyed some perfect conditions. Although boarding in the Alps is really cool and the resorts are HUGE, they just don't compare to the beauty of the Sierras.

I was just resting, I swear!

Then we drove over to Charles' home town of Santa Cruz where we got to see my friend Ange and rub here beautiful baby belly. We also reconnected with a few of Charles' friends at a New Years Eve party.

Charles was demonstrating his stellar dancing moves for us. See the clenched fists? That's kind of like a version of "the white man's overbite".

We finished the trip off with a quick visit to an old friend of mine who I haven't seen for 10 years! It was so nice to catch up with her and meet her family.

Now we are back in London and are trying to mentally prepare for the overload of birthday parties that are planned for the next two months. I think there is one each weekend, including mine and Charles! I've kindly opted to skip my b-day this years so as to lighten the party load for everyone ;o)

Cheers!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T10:53:00.000Z

A new view on Borough Market

2009-10-30T16:14:00.002Z

If you have been reading my blog for a while now, you are probably thinking "not another Borough Market post!" Never fear, dear readers, this one is different. I promise! Instead of showing you more pictures of all the yummy food sold here I decided to change things up a bit and show you... ready for it... all the signage advertising the food that is sold here! I know it's hard, but please contain your excitement.

A few weeks ago Charles' mom, Mary, was here for a visit and Borough Market was on her to do list. On Saturday morning we gladly accompanied her there and as I was happily snacking on all the samples and picking out goodies for our dinner that night I started to notice all the different signs. Some of them were just as interesting to me as the food they were selling so I thought I'd snap a few and share them with you. Hopefully you enjoy this new view on an old friend.

My favorite flower shop with an autumn twist.

Very nice on those really cold winter mornings.

The grass looks so pretty, but it's just not my cuppa tea, so to speak.

Someday I will buy a string of these lovelies and actually use them.

I will admit, I have tasted the fois gras and it was so good, but I just can't buy any. I'm obviously not a vegetarian, but I do think the animals we raise for food should be treated with a bit more respect than the poor geese that gave their livers and lives for this delicacy.

Great sausage!

I would love you Mr. Black and Blue Cow, if only you tasted like USD Prime *sigh*. But I will gladly eat you onion blossom!

Autumn in London

2009-10-23T13:37:00.002+01:00

This time of year used to be my all-time favorite. Growing up in a small town on a lake in California that was over-run with tourists all summer long, I welcomed autumn with open arms. The change from one season to the next was always so drastic to me (don't get me wrong, I totally loved growing up on a lake and the summers were great). Months of out-of-towners with their noisy boats and giant SUV's, golf carts and motorbikes to drive to the village store, booming sound systems competing to be heard suddenly gave way to near silence. The sound of a chain saw cutting up fallen trees to stock the wood pile for winter, the changing color of the leaves, a slight chill in the air and the smell of smoke from a burn pile were things I grew to love after a long summer. I do have to note, for my parent's sake, that I didn't always express this delight in the changing season very openly. I HATED cutting and stacking wood as a kid. It was so not a cool thing to do.

Anyhow, now that I live in London I don't look forward to this season nearly as much as I used to. The typical summers we've had in London over the past four years have been pretty, well... crappy. It's just not what I'm used to and I don't think I will ever grow to like it. So, when autumn rolls around and the outlook is bleak, ie: shorter days, colder temps and more rain, it can be depressing. Fortunately, we have been really lucky this year and the weather is taking it's time to cool down and the sun has been shining brightly more often then not. The change in the season feels a bit more like it used to back home. So, I am doing my best to take it all in and enjoy autumn once again.

This is the view from my front door. Gorgeous isn't it?

Walking to work this morning.

Market goodies in Autumn colors.

Cheers!

One Foot in the Grove

2009-10-13T10:46:00.000+01:00

We have been really lucky and the weather here in London is still on the nice side. It feels like a real autumn season and not the instant winter that we have had the last few years. The temperatures during the day have been about 62-65 F and the sun has been shining brightly. I haven't had to break out the winter coats yet and I am so thankful for that. So, in order to take advantage of the nice weather while it's still here we spent our Saturday afternoon roaming the neighborhood and checking out the sights. We decided to walk up the crazy busy, tourist packed Portobello Road. About half way up we saw this interesting group of musicians. They made things really easy on themselves and didn't even take their equipment out of the truck. They sounded really good and had quite a crowd around them. Very typical for Notting Hill on a weekend.

A little further up, underneath the motorway (freeway to us Yankees) was a really cool art exhibition called One Foot in the Grove. It cost £1 ($1.56 according to today's exchange rate) and was filled with a totally fascinating collection of artwork. Sculptures, scree-prints, paintings, graffiti, street art, photographs, bric-a-brac and pottery. This giant kewpie doll head could be seen from a block away and I'm sure even the cars on the motorway could see it.

Doesn't this thing look like it came straight from the Set of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? Every inch of the space was covered in art of one form or another. Look at the ceiling or rather, the underside of the motorway. It's covered in graffiti.

This guy is about 6' tall and made from found objects like spoons and wrenches and gears.

These screen prints are plaster directly on to the wall of one of the motorway supports. It was such a good way to spend an hour on a nice Saturday.

For lunch we met our friend Simon and ate at Harlem's Soul Food. They have such good ribs and fried chicken. After a filling meal we went home for a little kip (nap) and then headed back out for drinks at the Westbourne House where we met a big group of friends. This place serves some really good, yet stupidly expensive cocktails so we only stuck around for one drink.

Just down the street we made our last stop of the day/evening at the Elbow Room, a swank pool hall.

This is where I typically park my butt on one of the leather benches and watch everyone one else play. While I totally understand the principle of pool and how to aim and shoot I can never seems to apply this knowledge when I am playing. I am horrible at this game, but for some reason I decided that I wasn't going sit and watch all night so I played a few games. And you know what? I did pretty well. Winning the last game of pool for the night was the perfect way to end my Saturday.

Last two photos courtesy of the westbournehouse.net and theelbowroom.co.uk

Five days in "The City that never sleeps"

2009-09-14T11:59:00.001+01:00

Two good friends of ours from San Diego got married last weekend in New York and we were lucky enough to be able to join the celebration. We flew to NYC a few days early so we could so a little shopping, a lot of eating, hanging out with friends and getting some much needed alone time. We had SO MUCH FUN! This was only my second ever trip to NYC and I wanted to check a few of the must-see-sights off my list. The first major attraction being the Statue of Liberty. We took the ferry over with our friends Tim and Bill who had also never seen Lady Liberty. The weather was great (translation: very hot) and the hour wait in line was well worth it. As you can see, Charles and I did our very best to look like the tourists that we were.

We also made it to the Natural History Museum and Grand Central Station. Both very cool. We stayed in the West Village and spent a lot of time walking around Soho, the East Village and the Meat Packing district.

Because of a scheduling mix-up we had to spend an extra night in the city so we treated ourselves to a night at The Standard Hotel in the Meat Packing District. Amazingly cool hotel that looks out over the Hudson River and sits right on top of The High Line. I highly recommend a walk on The High Line next time you are in NYC. The High Line is an old elevated railway that was built in the 1930's to reduce traffic on the street. The railway hadn't been used since 1980 and was in disrepair with plans to tear it down. After years of planning and construction The High Line was re-opened in June of this year as a public park. The picture below shows a small bit of the park with The Standard behind and above it.

Because Charles and I love to eat, no trip to this city would be complete without hitting some well known eateries. Katz Deli was on the list and it was well worth the $15 for a delicious Reuben sandwich.

Based on the recommendations of our London friend Lauren who used to live in the West Village we also hit the following restaurants. The Blue Ribbon, Craft Steak, Clinton Street Bakery, August and The Spotted Pig. We did not have a single bad meal the whole time we were there.

Saturday we attended the wedding, which was lovely, and got to see a bunch of friends from San Diego. We both left feeling a little sad and sorry for ourselves because we live so far away from so many of our friends... but, we had such a great time.

NYC is such a cool city. Who knows, maybe someday we will call it home...

Sailing the Mediterranean

2009-09-09T15:36:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago Charles and I joined nine other friends on a sailing trip around the South Ionian Islands in Greece. We rented two 42' sail boats and hired one captain. A few of our friends are certified as captains so we had six people on each boat including the hired captain named Harry. Harry was a very nice older Greek gentleman who introduced himself to all of us and then excused himself so he could change into his sailing attire. This is what he looked like when he came back. He wore this outfit every single day - no joke. I still can't figure out what the weight belt was for.

Anyhow, after a somewhat rocky start to the trip, due to our hired captain failing to untie the boat completely from the dock, twice, which resulted in a rope wrapping around the prop causing enough damage to delay our departure until the next morning, where he, yet again, failed to untie us from the dock (umm, yeah), we finally set sail.

The scenery made up for the less than perfect skills of our captain. Warm to hot weather, calm seas for the most part and perfectly clear water (visibility of no less than 50'). The little bays that we stopped to swim in each day or to drop anchor in each night were beautiful. There was usually only about 5 other boats anchored in each cove.

Because there wasn't a whole lot of wind we did a lot of motoring. On a few occasions we were able to convince out captain (who didn't seem to want to actually sail) that we had rented a "sail boat" and not a motor boat and it would be really cool if he would tell us what to do so that we might actually be able pull out our sails and move through the water powered by the wind. Below is our team in action. I think we got up to 8 knots which is about 9 mph.

One of the things Harry had to let us do was drop the anchor because he couldn't do that and steer the boat at the same time. Charles and I became anchor pros.

The little ports that we stayed at every other night were exactly what you think of when you imagine a Greek fishing village. All but the last place we stayed were very small and quiet. The food was always very, very good and relatively cheap. In the mornings we would stock up on supplies for the next day or two, usually cleaning out the little market of it's supply of ice and beer.

We managed to cook a few really good meals on one of the boats on the nights we weren't in port. All 12 of us managed to fit around the table of our boat. Quite cozy, but such a good time. A few of the people on the trip were very new friends so there was a lot of getting to know you moments, but over all the group was very easy going. We managed to delegate tasks evenly, vote on plans of action and get things done without any problems. We had a total of seven days at sea and although we had a lot of time to lounge and relax, we still felt like we needed a vacation when we got home. Holidaying with a big group doesn't allow for much alone time.

A big thanks to all who went on the trip for making our first (and hopefully not our last) sailing trip unforgettable! A special thanks to Kip for planning the whole thing.

I promise, this is the last one.

2009-09-09T13:34:00.001+01:00

Really, it will be the last chilli post. Partially because the plants FINALLY produced fruit and partially because I think these post are kind of boring so there is no doubt in my mind that you do to. Anyhow, on to those pesky chilli plants.

Days after my last chilli post when the plants were starting to flower, these cute little things appear once the flowers dried up. Amazing! Finally! Actual chillies were starting to form (the chillies below are about 3/4" long).

Since then all but one type of plant has flowered and produced fruit (the chilli below is about 3" long).

The jalapeno plants produced enough for me to pick a few so that I could make pickled jalapenos and carrots and still have some left on the plant to mature more and get really spicy.

Now, I promise to try to stay on track for the next couple of months and only post things that have to do with traveling, living in a foreign country and experiencing different cultures. After all, that IS why I started this silly little blog.

Rain, rain... PLEASE go away!

2009-08-07T15:15:00.000+01:00

Seriously, it's August! You can't really tell from this picture, but the rain was coming down in buckets last night, for hours... and hours. I can't remember the last time it didn't rain more than two days in a row. At least I have some relief coming up at the end of the month. A week long holiday in the warm sunshine is definitely in order.

Country Bumpkins

2009-08-03T15:15:00.002+01:00

This weekend was my company retreat which we spent at one of my bosses cottage in the little village of Great Wishford, about 1.5 hours by train South West of London. We did this a few years ago which you can read about over here. Tom (my boss) and his wife Jacqui moved to a new cottage a few months back called Staddlestone. Most of the cottages in the village have names, usually relating to what the building used to be used for or because of a defining feature of the property. There are about six staddle stones (each about 3 ft tall) lining the driveway to the cottage, thus the name.

Shortly after arriving we settled down for afternoon tea. I had been looking forward to this part all week. Jacqui is an excellent host and cook and she made the yummiest scones and a cake and served it with clotted cream and homemade jam. So good!

After we had tea we took a walk around the village and surrounding farm land. Great Wishford is what I consider to be a storybook English countryside village. It is so charming. I was quite obviously a tourist as I walked around snapping pictures of every other cottage, church, pub and cow that we passed by. I love the thatched roofs and the plants covering the walls and front gardens.

Tom took us for a walk along the River Wylie pointing out graylings and trout. As you can see we didn't do a very good job or blending into our surroundings.

Why Charles and I are standing in the river, I don't know. Maybe it was because he wanted to see if he could make me fall in by tickling me.

Love the street signs.

On our way home we stopped by the village pub for a quick pint. It's just as sweet inside as it is outside and Tom was greeted by name by all the patrons when we walked in. That would never happen in London.

Back at the cottage we picked the vegetables to be cooked for our dinner, enjoyed some pre-dinner snacks and an aperitif and then a great dinner of pork belly with crackling (a new thing for me) and all the trimmings. Several bottles of wine and a few hours later we all crashed for the night.

The next day a few of us went for a ride on Hovis, Jacqui's horse, and a nice walk through the hills surrounding the village. I felt like an impostor riding a horse and I'm pretty sure Hovis thought so too. Even though I grew up in the Sierras I probably have only rode a horse three other times in my life.

The terrain changed constantly as we were on our walk.

This was my favorite part. I felt like I was riding toward Tara in 'Gone With The Wind'. The trees were HUGE.

When we got back from our walk we went back to the pub for a really good Sunday lunch. I think I gained about 10 lbs., but it was so worth it. I really need to get out of London more often. Thank you so much Tom and Jacqui for hosting us this past weekend. I'm already looking forward to next year!

So sorry.

2009-07-30T17:14:00.001+01:00

I do apologize for not posting much over the last month. To be honest, not much has been going on over here lately. Other than a last minute trip home to California to visit family and friends, which was amazing, we haven't been doing much. Mostly because of the weather, I think. The famous London weather has been rearing it's ugly, gray, wet, head. In my world it really is not supposed to rain in July.

On another note, I realized that I have not posted an update on the chilli plant progress (I'm sure you are dying to know how the little buggers are doing). Check out this post and this one as a little reminder. Well, after about 2.5 months of waiting and watching the chilli plant was showing little progress so we decided that chilli food was needed. We did a little research, found the ideal stuff and then ordered at chilli starter kit which included the plant food. We figured that we could use the started kit to grow a few more plants since we were having so much fun with the first one. Well, as you can see by the pictures below, it has gotten a little out of control. Our entire window sill in now lined with chilli plants of 4 different varieties. The building across from us probably thinks we are doing something illegal.

Unfortunately, although the plants are all growing big and strong, they are not producing anything! I'm really getting frustrated. I'm just about ready to toss them all and give up on this ridiculous endeavor.

We have even gone so far as pinching off growth to force flower production and hand pollinate the few little flowers that popped out (I can't believe I now know this stuff). But still, nothing. It has been over four months since we started this. Should we give up?

Row, row, row your boat...

2009-07-07T17:14:00.000+01:00

...really fast down the Thames River so you can win the Henley Royal Regatta. This past weekend we rent a car and drove an hour outside of London to attend the Henley Regatta. An Aussie friend of a friend arranged the whole thing so all we had to do was show up. Anybody can watch the races from the banks of the river, but we went for the royal treatment and reserved a table in one of the enclosures which have tents and tables, a dance floor, bar and food and a great view of the race course. Because this is a Royal event there is a dress code that you must follow if you are inside one of the enclosures, so Charles had to wear a jacket and tie and I had to wear a nice dress.

We got lucky and had a nice warm and sunny day.

The river was divided into three lanes and the far lane was used for spectators with boats. I particularly liked this one.

There were lots of really obnoxious club jackets to be seen.

And a lot of the men had on the traditional "boater hats." A lot of ladies were also wearing elaborate hats. Next year I think I will wear a big hat.

This was a great event and we plan on going again. Next time, though, I will wear sensible, but cute, shoes. Stiletto heels and grass don't mix well.

Ping Pong Party in the Park

2009-06-30T17:15:00.000+01:00

We are starting to see real signs of summer over here. I cannot tell you how happy that is making me. Don't get me wrong, it's not all bright and cheery. The forecast for today calls for severe thunderstorms and rain. Anyhow, the British definitely know how to take advantage of a good thing - whenever the sun comes out you will find every single outdoor space cram-packed with people. Parks, pub gardens, alfresco dining, farmers markets will all be overflowing with people desperate to enjoy the goodness shining down from the sky. We, like every good expat should, have learned how to mimic some of the habits of the natives. After all, this is NOT California where the sun shines 300+ days a year.

A few weeks ago, on a Friday, Charles decide that we were going to host the 1st Annual International Hyde Park Sunny Weather Weekend Memorial Get Together. On Saturday, the next day. Even with such short notice everyone got into the spirit bringing more food and drink than we could possibly eat and drink, but did, several games (beer pong was the envy of all passers-by) and even some music.

We had a great time, got a little bit of a sun tan, a little bit of a buzz, and ended the evening at a local pub garden discussing what we might do for the second installment of the 1st Annual International Hyde Park Sunny Weather Weekend Memorial Get Together to be held next time we had a sunny Saturday.